Tricool Exhaust @LOW Setting or Nexus @ 5V

oscar3d · Post by **oscar3d** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 3:34 pm

Hi:

I know this has been asked many times.
On Antecs P150 or Sonata I-II cases there is a Tri-Cool fan that works as an exhaust. When set to it's LOW setting is silent enough.

But I've seen many people replacing the Tri-Cool fan for a Nexus 120mm fan and set it to 5v.

Is the Nexus a better choice than the tri-Cool for silence purposes?

Also which has more CFM, meaning which one exhausts better? Tri Cool @ LOW setting or Nexus 120 @ 5v?

Krazy Kommando · Post by **Krazy Kommando** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 4:58 pm

nexus is easily quieter than the tri-cool on low. however, the tri-cool does push alot more air

JazzJackRabbit · Post by **JazzJackRabbit** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 5:07 pm

Uhmmmm... AFAIK Tricool at low spins at about 1200RPM, Nexus spins at 1000RPM at 12V, if you 5V it, it will probably spin at 600 or so RPM. These are not even in the same category, you're comparing apples and oranges.

BTW why is this thread in the CPU cooling and not in the fans/cases categories?

Firetech · Post by **Firetech** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 5:46 pm

JazzJackRabbit wrote:Uhmmmm... AFAIK Tricool at low spins at about 1200RPM, Nexus spins at 1000RPM at 12V, if you 5V it, it will probably spin at 600 or so RPM. These are not even in the same category, you're comparing apples and oranges.

I'm interested in the result of this one too but I read somewhere that:
HI=1700rpm
MED=1100rpm
LOW=700rpm

I'd like to know the flow figure comparison (which I'd probably find if i did a SPCR search!)

spolitta · Post by **spolitta** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 8:08 pm

As I told you in the other thread the Nexus at 12V is still a touch quieter than the Tricool at Low, and for the record Nexus at 5V is the quietest 120mm fan SPCR knows of, period.

geekbanter · Post by **geekbanter** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 8:33 pm

Amen spolitta, doing a side-byside comparison right now. A nexus @ 12V and Tricool on low are fairly close in CFM and db as far as I can tell. The tricool has some bearing noise at this level while the nexus is nice and smooth. I can just barely hear the nexus at 5V.

Ahhh silence... its worth the money.

Firetech · Post by **Firetech** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 8:39 pm

spolitta wrote:As I told you in the other thread

Which thread was that?

spolitta · Post by **spolitta** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 8:52 pm

Firetech wrote:
spolitta wrote:As I told you in the other thread
Which thread was that?

I was actually telling oscar3d, the thread is "Scythe Ninja on an Antec P150 Case (Pictures?)"

Firetech · Post by **Firetech** » Sat Jan 28, 2006 10:26 pm

spolitta wrote:I was actually telling oscar3d, the thread is "Scythe Ninja on an Antec P150 Case (Pictures?)"

Aha! Now I understand

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 7:33 am

Nexus 120 at 5v is more silent than the Tri Cool @ LOW. It's not even a close contest.

Firetech · Post by **Firetech** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 9:12 am

Ralf, maybe I'm looking in the wrong place but neither the fanspecs.pdf or gmJamez's testsheet even mention Nexus, Tri-cool or any other of the fans being discussed on-forum recently. Am I looking at the wrong sheets/articles?

spolitta · Post by **spolitta** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 12:04 pm

Firetech wrote:Ralf, maybe I'm looking in the wrong place but neither the fanspecs.pdf or gmJamez's testsheet even mention Nexus, Tri-cool or any other of the fans being discussed on-forum recently. Am I looking at the wrong sheets/articles?

Are those based on the manufacture’s spec?

Jonas/Viper · Post by **Jonas/Viper** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 12:23 pm

How about running the Tri-Cool on lower voltages and lower selector settings? I don't have a Nexus 120 mm to compare it with, and I've not bothered to remove it from the case to rid of the turbulence from the fan guard, but my Tri-Cool runs rather quiet on 7 V at the Low setting.

spolitta · Post by **spolitta** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 12:33 pm

Jonas/Viper wrote:How about running the Tri-Cool on lower voltages and lower selector settings? I don't have a Nexus 120 mm to compare it with, and I've not bothered to remove it from the case to rid of the turbulence from the fan guard, but my Tri-Cool runs rather quiet on 7 V at the Low setting.

I made a thread asking people if they can run Tricool on Medium and 5V and see if it’s any good, from what I remember at medium 5v it started up fine and I couldn’t hear it, but the ambient noise was quiet high so I cannot make any conclusion based on that.

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 5:18 am

Firetech wrote:Ralf, maybe I'm looking in the wrong place but neither the fanspecs.pdf or gmJamez's testsheet even mention Nexus, Tri-cool or any other of the fans being discussed on-forum recently. Am I looking at the wrong sheets/articles?

Beats me. I'm speaking from first-hand experience. I wouldn't give a lot of weight to any published fan specs.

Firetech · Post by **Firetech** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 6:29 am

Ralf Hutter wrote:Beats me. I'm speaking from first-hand experience. I wouldn't give a lot of weight to any published fan specs.

If that is the case Ralf, then a lot of the articles/'recommended' lists either shouldn't be there at all, or at least not in the format they are because they are based on published fan specs.

Is there therefore any likelyhood of the Recommended Fans list being updated with 'actually tested by SPCR' speed/noise/airflow figures at the 3 popular voltages, as mentioned at the start of the article by Mike Chin in 2002?

Sorry, I'm a bit confused by this

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 5:49 am

Firetech wrote: Is there therefore any likelyhood of the Recommended Fans list being updated with 'actually tested by SPCR' speed/noise/airflow figures at the 3 popular voltages, as mentioned at the start of the article by Mike Chin in 2002?

Yes, eventually. That article would become the Holy Grail of fan noise/performance ratings, as much as you can try and quantify something that has a certain amount of subjectivity built into it.

In the meantime, you won't go too wrong if you choose some of the fans that are constantly recommended in these forums. This very thread would be a good place to start.

Firetech · Post by **Firetech** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 10:18 am

Thanks Ralf, but going by the dates it won't be here anytime soon, is Mike still collecting fans?

I'll take the good advice offered in the threads (as always) but reserve the right to respond appropriately to anyone that suggests "read the recommended list!"