A real alternative to Nexus 120mm with open corners ?

charger2000 · Post by **charger2000** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 6:04 am

I have to build an HTPC, but I don't really want to mess with the closed corners of the Nexus 120mm, of course I want to place the fan on top of a Thermalright XP-120, I was thinking on an Ys-tech, but in the forum of silenthardware.de, it doesn't have big reputation... maybe an Aeroccol turbine 1000 ?

Please give me a clue !

sun.moon · Post by **sun.moon** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 7:05 am

Maybe you should take the Papst 4412 F/2GLL into consideration. On my SI-120 at 5V I can't hear it at all, and it has a bit more CFM than the Nexus.

ckolivas · Post by **ckolivas** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 7:19 am

I'm very happy with my aercool turbines so far (2 of them). They start reliably at 7v and are very quiet at that level. They run fine at 5v as well provided you start them at a higher voltage, but will not start reliably at that level. At 5-7v they are inaudible. The only warning I'd give is the theoretical advantage of using ball bearing fans over sleeve bearing fans on a heatsink. The ball bearing fans have a longer life at the higher temperature and get noisy before they fail instead of failing silently so they give you warning. IN all I doubt you'll encounter these issues and the Aerocool is a pretty good fan. The glacialtech silentblade has had some rave reviews as well but in these forums I've also seen reports of them going bad within 6 months.

charger2000 · Post by **charger2000** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 8:05 am

thanks for the replies guys

@sun.moon
my very first silent fan in an HTPC was a papst 8412 N/2GL, but after a couple of months it became too noisy, even at 7 or 5 volt, was well replaced by a Nexus, so I'm a bit worried spending good €€€€ in a fan that will last for...

Reading a sticky thread on silenthardware.de, using Babel of course...

, seems that Papst are out of... fashion, there aren't such good reviews...

sun.moon · Post by **sun.moon** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 9:53 am

charger2000 wrote:thanks for the replies guys

@sun.moon
my very first silent fan in an HTPC was a papst 8412 N/2GL, but after a couple of months it became too noisy, even at 7 or 5 volt, was well replaced by a Nexus, so I'm a bit worried spending good €€€€ in a fan that will last for...
Reading a sticky thread on silenthardware.de, using Babel of course... , seems that Papst are out of... fashion, there aren't such good reviews...

The older Papst fans with the black and white logo were as you described. The newer Papst fans with the emb blue and white logo (which fortunately I have) seem not to exhibit those issues. I recall reading a couple of threads at SPCR where this was mentioned.

I have three of those in my system at 5V. All I here is faintly my PSU and of course the Seagate HDD

But there are of course other good fans out there as well

frankgehry · Post by **frankgehry** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 10:12 am

There are clips available from thermalright that hold the fan from the top flange so you don't have to do any cutting. - FG

Michael Sandstrom · Post by **Michael Sandstrom** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 10:33 am

The closed corners of the Nexus 120mm should not be viewed as a problem. The fan's material is very soft and easily cut. I cut out the corners in less than five minutes using only a utility knife with a new blade.

mathias · Post by **mathias** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 11:01 am

Michael Sandstrom wrote:The fan's material is very soft and easily cut. I cut out the corners in less than five minutes using only a utility knife with a new blade.

Sounds dangerous, do yau think it can be done with wire cutters instead?

m0002a · Post by **m0002a** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 11:04 am

mathias wrote:Sounds dangerous, do yau think it can be done with wire cutters instead?

A hack saw works well. But it makes a mess, so do it in the garage or outside.

charger2000 · Post by **charger2000** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 11:18 am

frankgehry wrote:There are clips available from thermalright that hold the fan from the top flange so you don't have to do any cutting. - FG

it's kinda miracle to find a decent Thermalright reseller here, unfortunately I've never seen that clip in the online price lists...

nici · Post by **nici** » Fri Nov 25, 2005 11:30 am

I cut the corners using the saw on my Leatherman Wave, took me about five minutes..

DraGoNsLaYeR · Post by **DraGoNsLaYeR** » Tue Nov 29, 2005 5:53 pm

Is this the same fan except with open holes?

oakdad · Post by **oakdad** » Tue Nov 29, 2005 9:41 pm

How about this fan
http://www.svc.com/aaf-b12-e1.html

charger2000 · Post by **charger2000** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 2:20 am

oakdad wrote:How about this fan
http://www.svc.com/aaf-b12-e1.html

that is a little pricey, I was thinking about this:
SAF-S12-E1

Nik

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 7:39 am

DraGoNsLaYeR wrote:Is this the same fan except with open holes?

It's the exact same fan as the orange Nexus, including the closed corners.

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 10:39 am

Greetings,

How 'bout this one:

This fan is (apparently) made by GlacialTech? 1200RPM, claimed 26.6dBA, and I think it does have open corners...

nici · Post by **nici** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 3:40 pm

Glacialtec, SilverStone.. Both made by Everflow. They are cheap, about 5€, but they have closed corners(at least my glacialtecs do, not shure about the Stone).

CoolerMaster has some nice fans, the already mentioned aluminium and the 720rpm fan, and then theres the UV reactive green, blue, and red fans. I have a couple of the green ones, and as far as i can tell its jsut as good for noise as the nexus. Both are very smooth.

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 7:16 pm

D'oh! You're right, of course...
http://www.silverstonetek.com/products-fn121.htm

So, what's the big deal with closed corners, anyway?

The 720RPM CoolMaster fan that I had has a bit of a purr/growl -- depending on how you feel about it. It was not nearly as smooth as the Yate Loons I have had. Not bad, just not great.

nici · Post by **nici** » Thu Dec 01, 2005 8:25 am

NeilBlanchard wrote: The 720RPM CoolMaster fan that I had has a bit of a purr/growl -- depending on how you feel about it. It was not nearly as smooth as the Yate Loons I have had. Not bad, just not great.

I suppose there is some samle variance.. The UV fans i have are just as good as the Nexus, but all of the CM UV fans out there probably isnt. I have two or three of each Nexus fan, and they are all just as great. I suppose you are paying for better quality control when buyng a Nexus..