Nexus Real Silent vs Scythe S-FLEX - what is more quiet?

krille · Post by **krille** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 5:20 am

Hey everyone!

First post, but I guess my story is quite short. After having owned a PC Power & Cooling 850 SSI I have now become allergic to noise. Right now my gaming rig (see sig) is unbearably noisy. Trying to fix this one step at a time. This time it's Case Fans + CPU Fan.

As for case fans, I'm thinking of either Nexus Real Silent or one of the Scythe S-FLEX. The Scythe fans are claimed to be 8.7 dBA, can this be true? Surely, Nexus @ 22,8dBA must be much louder than Scythe @ 8.7 dBA then, making Scythe the better choice, no? 22.8 dBA sounds very loud! Cost is not an issue.
What about lowering voltages? What would be the better choice with a fan controller?

I need up to three 120mm and two 80mm for chassis. (Cooler master stacker.) I definitely need one 120mm for my CPU HSF: Thermaltake Big Typhoon. I think the TT BT stock fan is really noisy (lots of vibrations), it definitely does not sound like the 16 dBA advertised.

I was also wondering if anyone knew of a way to reduce vibrations? Maybe you could use a bit of plastic, rubber or silicon or something to dampen the fans (place between fan and fan holder?

Thanks a lot!

~ Kris

McBanjo · Post by **McBanjo** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 5:52 am

Nexus is the favorite on this site it seems. 22dB isn't much and if you slow it down it sounds even less. A whisper is 40dB if I remember correct. Below 20 you can't really hear it.
Personaly I'm not a fan of sleeve-bearings tho, silent for a while but sounds like a chainsaw after 6 months or so. That's cheap brands tho, haven't seen any complains about Nexus so maby quality makes them last longer.

Most fan-makers claim their fans to be very silent while the reality is way different. Any fan is silent at 1km away

Then it depends how you mount them as well, in free air it's 20dB but in a case behind some ventilationholes it might be 30dB

AcoustiProducts does a lot of stuff for silencing, including vibrationdampers and from what I've read they are making good stuff
http://www.acoustiproducts.com/en/antivibration.asp

Here is a review on it:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article262-page1.html

krille · Post by **krille** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 7:05 am

Ok, so you're saying this AcoustiFan DustPROOF 120mm or this AcoustiFan 120mm are superior to the Nexus and Scythe? What is DustPROOF, is it better?

And to go with ALL of these products for every fan...?
http://www.webhallen.com/prod.php?id=48816
http://www.webhallen.com/prod.php?id=23461
http://www.webhallen.com/prod.php?id=40316

What about the Aerocool Turbine fans? They look werid, maybe a good thing?

What about other common brands such as ADDA, Enermax, Evercool etc? They are cheap, but are they as quiet?

~ Kris

Squish · Post by **Squish** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 7:20 am

The question is, "is Nexus still the best fan for silent computer ?"

Post by **MikeC** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 7:21 am

Both Scythe and Nexus fans are very good, but there are differences:

1) It has a Fluid Dynamic Bearing, compared to the sleeve bearing of the Nexus. It may have the edge in long, quiet life, especially when subject to high temperature. This is the same type of bearing used in the famous Panaflo.
2) When running at the same speed, the two fans are too close to tell apart, acoustically.

Scythe actually offers 5 120x25mm fan variants. The one you mentioned is rated for 800rpm and 33cfm -- 8.7 dBA is bogus or theoretical, it really can't be measured; others in the same series go 1200rpm/49cfm/20dBA, 1600/64cfm/28dBA. Personally I'd got for the 1200rpm model & add a fan speed controller -- gives you more options.

krille · Post by **krille** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 7:33 am

Ok Mike, so you recommend Scythe over Nexus but 1200 rpm w/ fan controller? Is the 1200rpm and 800rpm versions the same fan (ie same noise and flow with same rpm)?

What about the other acousti mounting equipment? Something you think I should look into?

~ Kris

Post by **MikeC** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 7:46 am

krille wrote:Ok Mike, so you recommend Scythe over Nexus but 1200 rpm w/ fan controller? Is the 1200rpm and 800rpm versions the same fan (ie same noise and flow with same rpm)?

yes

What about the other acousti mounting equipment? Something you think I should look into?

The black rubber sticks are probably easiest to use, and yes, they can make a difference. If you want the nth degree of quiet, then go for em. It's possible to DIY, but that takes a bit more work -- lots of examples in these forums.

Squish · Post by **Squish** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 10:10 am

It will be nice if somebody compare these two fans.

QuietOC · Post by **QuietOC** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 10:17 am

MikeC wrote:Scythe actually offers 5 120x25mm fan variants. The one you mentioned is rated for 800rpm and 33cfm -- 8.7 dBA is bogus or theoretical, it really can't be measured; others in the same series go 1200rpm/49cfm/20dBA, 1600/64cfm/28dBA. Personally I'd got for the 1200rpm model & add a fan speed controller -- gives you more options.

I have the 1600rpm model S-Flex, and it is noticeably out of balance, so direct mounting to the Ninja caused the heatsink to visibly rock on the CPU. This may not be a common problem, but it rather disappointing at this price. There may be better options for less money.

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 10:21 am

Hello Mike,

MikeC wrote:Scythe actually offers 5 120x25mm fan variants. The one you mentioned is rated for 800rpm and 33cfm -- 8.7 dBA is bogus or theoretical, it really can't be measured; others in the same series go 1200rpm/49cfm/20dBA, 1600/64cfm/28dBA. Personally I'd got for the 1200rpm model & add a fan speed controller -- gives you more options.

Are all five Scythe fans that you are refering to, the S-Flex line, or are you including the 'DF' models?

I have the 'DF' 1200RPM model, and it is very quiet, indeed.

Tephras · Post by **Tephras** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 2:23 pm

krille wrote:I was also wondering if anyone knew of a way to reduce vibrations? Maybe you could use a bit of plastic, rubber or silicon or something to dampen the fans (place between fan and fan holder?

Thanks a lot!

~ Kris

As said above there are a lot of examples on different fan mounting solutions in the forum, a good thread on the subject is this one.

justblair · Post by **justblair** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 3:06 pm

I'm suprised that you are finding the TT fan noisy.

Are you running it full speed? ie 1300rpm.

The Nexus and the TT fan are very hard to tell apart when you run them at the same rpm IMO. The Nexus runs at 1100rpm ish out the box and the TT at 1300 rpm. But essentially they are from near identical mouldings, so give near identical noise performance. The Nexus hasd an inline resistor built in to it hence the lower rpm as standard.

I played around with both, and the TT fan controlled by speedfan dropped to below 800rpm and still worked well with my typhoon. At this it was very hard to hear. Using 8rdavcore I got it to drop to even lower rpm's, nearly 700rom and it was impossible to hear.

McBanjo · Post by **McBanjo** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 3:27 pm

krille wrote:Ok, so you're saying this AcoustiFan DustPROOF 120mm or this AcoustiFan 120mm are superior to the Nexus and Scythe? What is DustPROOF, is it better?

And to go with ALL of these products for every fan...?
http://www.webhallen.com/prod.php?id=48816
http://www.webhallen.com/prod.php?id=23461
http://www.webhallen.com/prod.php?id=40316

What about the Aerocool Turbine fans? They look werid, maybe a good thing?

What about other common brands such as ADDA, Enermax, Evercool etc? They are cheap, but are they as quiet?

~ Kris

No, I just said they had lots of stuff when it comes to antivibration-stuff

Dustproof means that the engine is sealed from dust, probibly helps eliminating some of the sound as well.
They are probibly a little louder than Nexus but will last longer since that brand has ball-bearing. The ordinary Acoustifan has sleeve-bearing as well so it should be basicly the same as a Nexus when it comes to the bearing but since apperently transparent fans are made from a more brickle material I would go Nexus.

If you have a Koneo-store around then buy your fans there. 150:- for Dustproof vs 279:- at Komplett and Webhallen.

Thats Swedish krona and not USD

Aleksi · Post by **Aleksi** » Thu Mar 23, 2006 10:22 pm

MikeC,

few words about the bearing... the term Fluid Dynamic Bearing seems to be used quiet loosely these days. Wonder why...?

The key to making a FDB work properly is precision. Panaflo / NMB-MAT have it, that's why the Panaflo FDB is a long life bearing / fan, even at high temperatures. In fact they are the only one who CAN make it with the required precision.

"a new version of FDB which doesn't require precision". If you don't do it with the required precision, the result can be a normal sleeve bearing regarding lifetime.

kenji · Post by **kenji** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 1:30 pm

I also question the noise of the TT HSF. I have one running in a HTPC and I can barely hear it at all when I turn off the other fans. You might want to mount it again or check to make sure it's operating properly, or better yet, isolate it first by testing it alone.

Nexus Real Silent vs Scythe S-FLEX - what is more quiet?

Nexus Real-Silent or Scythe S-FLEX?

Nexus Real Silent vs Scythe S-FLEX - what is more quiet?

Re: Nexus Real Silent vs Scythe S-FLEX - what is more quiet?