GlobalWin NCB or S-Flex or Nexus?

thetoad30 · Post by **thetoad30** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 7:34 pm

Hello,

I need some help here. I currently have a couple of Nexus fans inside my Antec P180. This rig is loaded pretty well and I need some airflow, but I want quiet.

I need a few more fans, and I'm trying to figure out which ones to get. I would like to keep the price cheap. I know about the SL Yate Loon's, but if I am going for quiet I want to stay away from these for reasons of variance.

I was curious if anyone has tried the NCB fans from GlobalWin or the S-Flex from Sony/Scythe? Are the claims reasonable, or more hogwash?

If you had a choice, would you choose the GlobalWin or the S-Flex? I'm looking for around 40-50CFM of airflow per fan, 120mm.

Thanks all

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 7:44 pm

Greetings,

I don't understand -- four 120mm fans plus the PS fan (plus the CPU and/or the GPU fans) are not enough to keep this beast cool? Did you try the stock fans? Even if they are louder -- do they keep it cooler? What about snipping out the grills?

thetoad30 · Post by **thetoad30** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 7:51 pm

NeilBlanchard wrote:Greetings,

I don't understand -- four 120mm fans plus the PS fan (plus the CPU and/or the GPU fans) are not enough to keep this beast cool? Did you try the stock fans? Even if they are louder -- do they keep it cooler? What about snipping out the grills?

I'm sorry I wasn't clear enough.

I currently have four fans in this rig. I have two Nexus in the back, with the top as intake and the rear as exauhst.

I then have the two tricools on low in the front and in the drive bay (I replaced the 38mm as it was just too "rumbly").

The stock fans are creating way too much noise now, and are failing. I have filed an RMA request with Antec but I'm not too keen on using these fans again. I had them on low initially, but then they refused to start. So I put them on medium and got lots of bearing noise and motor noise. Then I finally placed them on high, and that's WAY too much noise for me.

The one Nexus that is located on the top blowhole is starting to fail as well. It is making lots of noise and I don't know why. I have finally resorted to slowing it down to 700 RPM to make the noise go away.

I am looking at replacing my ATI Silencer 5 R2 (on an X850XTPE) with a ThermalRight V1-Ultra and placing either a Nexus 80mm fan on it, a GlobalWin 80mm NCB, or an 80mm to 120mm Adapter with any of the three (GlobalWin, S-Flex, or Nexus) on it. Have to check clearances though.

Does that help?

GHz · Post by **GHz** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 8:27 pm

I find it odd that all your fans are failing on you. There must be some other factor that's causing this. Fans don't just randomly fail like that... even sleeve-bearing fans will last you a few years. I'd suggest you try to figure out what that other factor is before you replace those fans. If there is something causing your fans to fail, then replacing the fans will only be a temporary solution.

Anyway, to answer your question: The GlobalWin NCB is the quietest fan I've ever heard. However, you'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference between a Yate Loon and the NCB at more than a few CM away. If you're worried about sample variation, then I'd be more inclined to trust Yate Loon, since every sample I've come across (over a dozen) has been good. As for longevity/reliability... if you want a fan that's going to last, you should be looking at ball-bearing (recommended: JMC) or FDB (recommended: Papst) fans. HTH!

thetoad30 · Post by **thetoad30** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 10:16 pm

GHz: Thank you for your reply. I cannot figure out why my fans are failing, I have never had such a failure rate either. I do hold the Nexus apart from the two Tricools that failed, though. The TriCools, I do believe, might have some kind of problem at their LOW setting. I think they are failing due to something with that.

The Nexus, I think, is failing because it's horizontal. This, somewhere I read I think, is causing undue stress on the sleeve bearing.

As for FDB bearings, that's what the S-Flex is supposed to be. As for the NCB, did it beat the Nexus in terms of Airflow and sound, then?

Thank you for your help!

Aleksi · Post by **Aleksi** » Tue Feb 07, 2006 12:08 am

GHz, you got a small mistake

Papst doesn't have FDB.

There two non-ball long life bearings: Sintec sleeve bearing (Papst) or a REAL fluid dynamic bearing (Panaflo)

thetoad30, the S-flex is not a fluid dynamic bearing. Yes they can call it that legally, but it's not like the Panaflo FDB. Panaflo has never made a 120x25mm fan because it's been practically "impossible" to make the FDB bearing that small, so that it has the benefits and attributes FDB is known for. How to describe the Sony FDB... It basicly is more like a passive hydrodynamic (which requires large oil reserve to function... like the the Papst Sintec has) bearing instead of true FDB (active hydrodynamic).

Anyway, I'd personally go for 120mm Papst Sintec instead of any fans with ceramic or Sony FDB bearings. YOMV.

thetoad30 · Post by **thetoad30** » Tue Feb 07, 2006 12:17 am

hmmmm.... interesting... basically let me say this: I don't want to have to use a fan controller. I want to run at 12V if possible as it reduces my cable clutter.

I think the Nexus fans are pretty quiet, and anything below that is just wonderful.

Knowing that, (I have looked for the Papst and Panaflo, can't find them here in the US...) which fan would be a good one?

Thank you very much

thetoad30 · Post by **thetoad30** » Tue Feb 07, 2006 12:34 am

Just some more info, I looked up the Panaflo fans and I remembered that I have one on one of my computers at home... the 92mm version... compared to the Nexus this thing is loud to me... so I think Panaflo's are out... Papst I'm sure is the same thing...

Aleski, why would NCB not be a good choice? If it's quiet what's wrong with it?

And I looked at Panaflo... how is it FDB? It's got oil in it but how is it a true FDB if it still has contact like a sleeve bearing? Just wondering cause I don't understand the difference!

Thanks!

Aleksi · Post by **Aleksi** » Tue Feb 07, 2006 1:09 am

Hi toad,

at work right now, but will get back to you later tonight.

The explanation will not be short (sleeve, Papst Sintec, FDB, passive/active hydrodynamic etc), so I'll most likely send it to you as a PM.

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Tue Feb 07, 2006 4:12 am

I looked up the Panaflo fans and I remembered that I have one on one of my computers at home... the 92mm version... compared to the Nexus this thing is loud to me... so I think Panaflo's are out

That is probably an L1BX. They always had the reputation for being noisier than the L1A's. Anyway good Panaflo's are hard to find, not because they're not good fans but because most of the samples in retail channels are junk (literally!).

Aleski, why would NCB not be a good choice? If it's quiet what's wrong with it?

And I looked at Panaflo... how is it FDB? It's got oil in it but how is it a true FDB if it still has contact like a sleeve bearing? Just wondering cause I don't understand the difference!

FDB or not, what we're really concerned with here is noise level. The Globalwin NCB has received rave reviews (or as rave as reviews get on SPCR

) in this forum by the members that have tested them. Depending on what price you can get them for, I don't think you can go far wrong with one.

Aleksi · Post by **Aleksi** » Tue Feb 07, 2006 4:34 am

Hi Jaganath,

I somehow understood the OP was looking for fans with longer lifetime. OK, without knowing the details I also wonder how he/she can have so many failing fans. Although that depends on his system and fan age, I haven't got a clear view of the period of time all this was happening.

And bluntly, I will remain personally a bit sceptical concerning the new fans (Akasa, Globalwin etc) discussed on SPCR until we get opinions from a larger user base. It would be nice to have opinions from certain "older" users who have sampled literally hundreds of fans. Going even more off-topic, but I never understood the praising Akasa fans got, they are after all (by all indications) the same fans as Noiselocker, which are OK fans, but have had reports of clicking etc. Generally labeled with "you can get a better fan although it is OK".

I'm just as excited as everyone else about finding a new good fan, but lets wait a sec and get more opinions about them.

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Tue Feb 07, 2006 4:45 am

OK, without knowing the details I also wonder how he/she can have so many failing fans.

Maybe very high temps are causing the sleeve bearings to fail prematurely? It is very strange.

bluntly, I will remain personally a bit sceptical concerning the new fans (Akasa, Globalwin etc) discussed on SPCR until we get opinions from a larger user base. It would be nice to have opinions from certain "older" users who have sampled literally hundreds of fans.

I think SPCR has got slightly "left behind" by the fan market; there are many new fans, and the SPCR Recommended Fans article is hopelessly out of date (this is not a criticism of the editorial team; I realise that there are literally millions of fans out there and it is simply unfeasible to test any more than a very small proportion of them). With that in mind, perhaps individual user reviews (from whoever is prepared to do them) is all we can hope for?

I never understood the praising Akasa fans got, they are after all (by all indications) the same fans as Noiselocker, which are OK fans, but have had reports of clicking etc.

I totally agree with you on that point. The one Akasa Amber fan that I bought sounded like a tractor at all voltages, but I refrained from commenting, as I may have merely got a bad sample.

Honny · Post by **Honny** » Tue Feb 07, 2006 6:17 am

The Akasa, Noiseblocker and also Coolink, are the same fans made by Y.S. Tech, as you probably know. I'm sure you didn't get bad sample, because mine, and some other 120mm Akasa amber fans that I saw had same high and annoying motor noise, exactly like the tractor. And ball bearing noise is also clearly audible.
The noiseblocker SX2 fan that I have, has lttle bit better motor noise than akasa, but still on low rpm it's louder than produced aiflow noise. Bearing noise was also little bit better than akasa, but nothing special.
The 120mm Coolink fan that I was testing, was the lowest speed model 1200, with 800rpm, well it was maybe worse than Akasa on same rpm. Same problems which were mentioned at the noctua/coolink HSF rewiev.
This seems to me, that these YS tech fans for noiseblocker are using better quality components, but they are much more expensive and still they are not silent enough for us.
Another disadwantage of these fans is, that they need higher rpm to reach same airflow compare to common fans, probably due to shorter fan blades and their design, but i think this blades design and lenght results to less airflow noise in compare to common fans on same rpm. Last issue with these fans is resonation of plastic material on higher rpm.
Altough many users believe that akasa is one of most silent fans, and I'm not able to explain them how they are wrong.
But to the question, I dont have experiences with NCB. And the Scythe S-Flex are not yet available in my country, but I dont expect anything good from them. On the photos they look exactly like the new Arctic Cooling fan 12025, which also has so-called FDB, and which really isn't good for silent computer, more info written in actuall thread about arctic cooling fans. So, just want to recommend you to buy first only one stick for testing before you will buy all pieces that you need.
I'm also looking for some fan which gives little more airflow than nexus, but will heve simmilar noise characteristics, and can say it's really difficult, trying every new model on the market, but still no outcome.
P.S. sorry for my bad english

Tibors · Post by **Tibors** » Tue Feb 07, 2006 11:52 am

thetoad30 wrote:I have looked for the Papst [...] can't find them here in the US.

Papst 4412 F/2GLL
The website lists it as an FGLL, but the FGLL doesn't come with a three pin connector. Another SPCR member recently ordered it and it turned out to be an F/2GLL. /2 means it has a RPM output.

GHz · Post by **GHz** » Tue Feb 07, 2006 10:14 pm

Aleski: Yeah I read about the sintec. It's just a sleeve-bearing with a large reservoir of lubricant. Oops

thetoad30:
Don't waste your time with Akasa fans. Since I got those, I started doing more research/evaluation on other long-life fans, and the Akasa was quickly beaten by other brands (JMC, EBM-Papst, and now my newest sample... Scythe S-Flex). If you want to see my review on them, you can do a search on my username.

You should also stay away from Panaflo if you're looking for a fan over 92mm... but even at that size, it isn't the quietest.

If you want something quieter than Nexus, then GlobalWin might be for you. Unfortunately, I only have 1 sample to speak of, so if samples vary a lot you might get a dud. You will have to turn down the fan speed by some means since at 12V it's way too high. There's nothing wrong with NCB except that it likely is no better than a standard sleeve-bearing. I think Aleski is skeptical because there are only a few here that have actually sampled this fan (me, Felger Carbon, and ???). Nobody wants you to go spend money on a fan based on our recommendation and then get let down

Aleksi · Post by **Aleksi** » Tue Feb 07, 2006 11:38 pm

GHz, are you calling me Aleski just to piss me off?

GHz wrote:Aleski: Yeah I read about the sintec. It's just a sleeve-bearing with a large reservoir of lubricant.

Ummm... No.

Well, yes if you want to über-simplify it.

thetoad30 · Post by **thetoad30** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 12:15 am

Aleksi,

I looked at the Panaflo fan... it's 21 bucks! That's way outta my league for a fan... even the Nexus at 15 was a little steep for me knowing I will be replacing these things every so often... the NCB fan is only 8 bucks... I can handle that...

What I am wondering is if the airflow of this fan is better than the Nexus? Reminder, I am running these at 12V.

So, is the noise of 19dBA accurate? Or is this NCB fan way louder than the Nexus at 12V? What about airflow, as mentioned above?

Thanks!

Felger Carbon · Post by **Felger Carbon** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 1:19 am

GHz wrote:If you want something quieter than Nexus, then GlobalWin might be for you. Unfortunately, I only have 1 sample to speak of, so if samples vary a lot you might get a dud. You will have to turn down the fan speed by some means since at 12V it's way too high. There's nothing wrong with NCB except that it likely is no better than a standard sleeve-bearing.

I just posted today about my now six GlobalWins. No noise variance at all at 1028RPM. The RPM range covers a 15% span, so some variance there. You'll need a fan controller for sure, but what's new?

winguy · Post by **winguy** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 1:26 am

How about Arctic Cooling AF12025 and Arctic Fan 12 ? Any opinions on these (and the different sizes of the respective series)?

thetoad30 · Post by **thetoad30** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 3:48 am

Felger Carbon wrote:I just posted today about my now six GlobalWins. No noise variance at all at 1028RPM. The RPM range covers a 15% span, so some variance there. You'll need a fan controller for sure, but what's new?

Carbon,

Can you tell me how the 12V sound compares to the Nexus at 12V? What about airflow? Are the specs for the GlobalWin fan accurate?

Thank you

Sooty · Post by **Sooty** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 4:18 am

thetoad30 wrote:I would like to keep the price cheap.

I don’t know where you are, but I’ve just checked UK suppliers. £22.33 from QuietPC for the S-Flex 800rpm version! That’s mental money

The Nexus goes for £12, which isn't cheap.

thetoad30 wrote:I was curious if anyone has tried the NCB fans from GlobalWin or the S-Flex from Sony/Scythe? Are the claims reasonable, or more hogwash?

I believe SPCR have an S-Flex sample, and rate it close to the Nexus.

thetoad30 · Post by **thetoad30** » Wed Feb 08, 2006 4:23 am

Sooty,

Yeah I'm in the US. That's way too much cash for a fan... over here they can be found for $15. That's on par with the Nexus, but from what I'm hearing, the GlobalWin might be a better choice. I am awaiting Carbon's answer on airflow and advertised noise, but from what I'm hearing the noise is less than or equal to a Nexus for $8. I can "buy" that.

Now if only the airflow is equal to or greater than a Nexus... then I'm all set! I'll be getting a few 120mm fans and perhaps an 80mm if I can't fit a 120mm on top of a fan adapter and a new V1-Ultra.

GlobalWin NCB or S-Flex or Nexus?

GlobalWin NCB or S-Flex or Nexus?

Re: GlobalWin NCB or S-Flex or Nexus?