What is the quietest case fan?

chicabobo · Post by **chicabobo** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 9:45 am

I am planning to replace all my case fans in my Coolermaster case. I'm replacing the two front and two back fans. I was using the stock fans but they are starting to make noise as the case is about 3 years old.

I was considering three different kinds of fans over at HeatsinkFactory but I am not sure what is hype and what is a "real" quiet case fan.

I am looking at the following fans:

Vantec Stealth 80mm

Enermax Adjustable Speed 80mm

Panaflo FBA08A12H1BX 80mm

The enermax and the Panaflo both have almost identical specs when the enermax is at full speed so I am leaning towards the Enermax as I will have the added adjustable speed feature.

What do you guys think?

Bluefront · Post by **Bluefront** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 10:19 am

You want the quietest? This Coolermaster is quieter than the ones you mentioned. The only quieter 80mm I ever heard (at 12v), is a low-speed sleeve-bearing Yate Loon......hard to find.

BenW · Post by **BenW** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 10:23 am

Bluefront wrote:The only quieter 80mm I ever heard (at 12v), is a low-speed sleeve-bearing Yate Loon......hard to find.

aka nexus?

Bluefront · Post by **Bluefront** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 10:26 am

Nope....a real Yate Loon. Never paid the price of a Nexus.

Tigr · Post by **Tigr** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 12:46 pm

Definitely not Enermax! No idea about the others...

Ackelind · Post by **Ackelind** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 2:07 pm

The 80mm nexuses aren't even made by Yate Loon.. i belive they are Top motor or something, I can't really remember the name.

Bluefront · Post by **Bluefront** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 2:28 pm

Here's the quietest 80mm I have.....Yate Loon D80SM-12S. If you can find one, let me know where. It's a 3-pin fan, .14A.

mathias · Post by **mathias** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 2:33 pm

Ackelind wrote:The 80mm nexuses aren't even made by Yate Loon.. i belive they are Top motor or something, I can't really remember the name.

They're said to be made by bi-sonic. The 92mm was said to be made by top motor, but someone got top motor fans with the same model number and found them to be lousy.

This kind of post belongs in the fans and control forum, there isn't really such a thing as a case fan, ie. case fans are CPU fans also.

frankgehry · Post by **frankgehry** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 4:02 pm

80MM YATE LOON --
Here's a link for a yate loon 8025M-12. This is an earlier naming convention but is equivalent to the D80SM-12
http://www.pctekonline.com/8cmcasefan.html
email them to make sure this is what they are actually shipping before you order anything.

92MM YATE LOON --
Here is a link to my review of the tekgems yate loon 92mm. The fan blades are different from the nexus but I'm sure yate loon makes the nexus as there are too many other similarities including the bearing smoothness typical of the 120, 92, and 80mm yate loons.
http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewto ... ht=tekgems

I have the 80, 92, and 120 nexus and yate loon models and I would be very surprised if they not all made by yate loon. Someone did a web search a while ago and compared photographs of nexus models to everything else out there and based on frame details, etc. determined that the 80 and 92 nexus models where made by dynaeon (topmotor (antec)) or bi-sonic. At the time, this seemed to be a very obscure but important bit of fan trivia that I passed along in several posts (I wasn't the only one). I think they are all nexus now. - FG

Bluefront · Post by **Bluefront** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 4:19 pm

Frank...I'm not sure if those two 80mm Yate Loons are the same. I have one example of each....the D80SM-12S is the quieter, noticeably so. It might be one of my examples is abnormal.

frankgehry · Post by **frankgehry** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 4:33 pm

That could be. I have a chieftec/yate loon D80SM-12 that is very quiet but I'm not sure about 8025M model. I think someone else posted about this one so I'll see if I can find a link. - FG

frankgehry · Post by **frankgehry** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 4:38 pm

Last post on first page of this thread

http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewto ... ht=8025m12

sthayashi · Post by **sthayashi** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 8:07 pm

chicabobo wrote:Vantec Stealth 80mm

Enermax Adjustable Speed 80mm

Panaflo FBA08A12H1BX 80mm

This is sacriligeous to say on SPCR, but of the list you've given, 80mm Vantec Stealth is the quietest.

This isn't to say that there aren't better options if you look around, but that's my recommendation if you plan on limiting yourself to the above 3 fans.

mathias · Post by **mathias** » Thu Sep 01, 2005 8:43 pm

chicabobo wrote: I was considering three different kinds of fans over at HeatsinkFactory but I am not sure what is hype and what is a "real" quiet case fan.

If you're limiting yourself to fans available at heatsinkfactory.com, why not get a panaflo L1A?

Deathlife · Post by **Deathlife** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 3:46 am

Oh my god, please whatever you do DON'T choose enermax, im a "sufferer" of of it and is no way silent even a the lowest rpm.

Have you considered Paspt? There are different models, from 9dB to 21dB and so..

Also, what about Silenx? They have atonishing specs, but I would relay too much on their specs after reading what I read in several forums.

chicabobo · Post by **chicabobo** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 8:07 am

Wow, thanks for all the suggestions! The Yate Loon D80SM-12S sounds great but it sounds like its pretty hard to get the right model or version. They are certainly inexpensive though. I'll probably pickup a few from the link mentioned just to them checkout. For 3.00 each why not?

I've considered Papst but those are like 15 -20 on evey site I find. The Nexus seem to be really great too but are about 12 each which is a little high for me.

I am thinking the best / cheapest choice would be the Panalfo L1A as mathias suggested.

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Fri Sep 02, 2005 7:00 pm

Hello,

I have good luck with this Enermax:

It may not be the quietest, but it may be quieter than any of the three on the list...and a little FanMate action will always help!

What is the quietest case fan?

What is the quietest case fan?

Re: What is the quietest case fan?

Re: What is the quietest case fan?