Nexus PWM 120mm fan details released, more yet to come...

[zistu]

While doing some random surfing, I found an update of the Nexus site. It announces a new series of fans based on PWM control. Right now it doesn't reveal too much detail on them, but I'm sure it will soon.

Summary:

80x80x25mm with PWM control
Noiselevel: from 16.2 dB(A)
Fan speed: 1000~2800 RPM
Airflow: max. 38 CFM

92x92x25mm with PWM control
Noiselevel: from 15.8 dB(A)
Fan speed: 700~2500 RPM
Airflow: max. 43.5 CFM

120x120x25mm with PWM control
Noiselevel: from 15.5 dB(A)
Fan speed: 500~2000 RPM
Airflow: max. 76 CFM
Detailed specs.

For all fans above:
Clear/Foggy chassis
incl. ultra-soft Silicone Fan Mounts
Link to source page

Did some Googling and some digging, but couldn't yet find any other details, nor figure what fan they could have used as "base" like the Yate Loon models.

I'm a bit disappointed it only lists the "minimal" sound/noise levels, do hope they include the max levels on the final product page too. And I pray they came up with a better cabling/connector solution compared to their other series of fans, but maybe that's just a personal issue

Will update the thread when I find more details.

Edit: added post, added link to 120mm detail page, and changed the topic/subject, to avoid confusion about yet another set of fans coming up.

[Firetech]

I contacted them back in July and it was "not yet in the schedule!" but good to see things have progressed since then.

[cpemma]

2000RPM full speed and a 'clear/foggy' chassis don't fill me with eager anticipation. A decent 120mm PWM fan would be nice for tower coolers (Ninja et al) but 'ultra-soft silicone fan mounts' won't help isolate a hard plastic chassis there.

[Felger Carbon]

2000RPM full speed and a 'clear/foggy' chassis don't fill me with eager anticipation.(

Amen. The Scythe is 1200 full speed; the Arctic Cooling 1500 full speed. 2000RPM is getting up into the industrial zone, competing with Rexus or Rexon or whatever that brand is.

[laserred]

Maybe we could get Mike to test the Scythe KamaPWM 120s. I got one from Jab-Tech for like $9, and when it's spinning lower than 65% on SpeedFan (about 870RPM) it's nearly silent. I'd be interested in seeing true lab results on these.

[kaange]

2000RPM is getting up into the industrial zone, competing with Rexus or Rexon or whatever that brand is.

But the minimum is 500rpm so the fan has a great range and with a good temperature based control, it can potentially give very quiet cooling at low load/temps and yet provide a lot of cooling for high loadings. It should work very well as a CPU HSF for those CPUs that have fairly low idle consumption but high full load consumption (like quad cores).

[cpemma]

It should work very well as a CPU HSF for those CPUs that have fairly low idle consumption but high full load consumption (like quad cores).

If it needs the full range you've got the wrong sink, the wrong processor and the wrong forum...

[kaange]

Or you just have a greater variation in requirement

[zistu]

Source + Details.

January went past without any updates, but Nexus published some info about the 120mm fan now.

Looks like they did their best, though I liked the Orange design more than this colour, or lack thereof. I've not yet found any places having them available for order yet, but may try a few when they become available.

I don't know enough to criticize the specs they posted, so I'll save myself the embarrassment, enjoy

[C. Zoui]

As soon as jab-tech gets this in stock, I will purchase it and the 120mm Scythe PWN and compare them both (via temp monitoring and subjective listening) as rear exhaust to the 1200RPM Slipstream.

PWN: teach your kids it's not a dirty word (maybe).

[Bluefront]

Nexus....joining a big bunch of fan-makers publishing misleading specs. Just who cares about the noise level @500rpm? Practically any 120mm fan is quiet spinning that slow. At 2000rpm this will be much noisier than their previous 120mm quiet fan.

As to the big rpm range.....useful in some applications, but at the high end of the range, it will be outside the usefulness as a "SPCR"-type fan. And I wonder who is making the thing....it looks like any number of cheap fans with a clear frame.

Well at least they didn't claim like 2db@500rpm like SilenX would have.

[C. Zoui]

Just who cares about the noise level @500rpm? Practically any 120mm fan is quiet spinning that slow.

That's a strength, not a weakness. You get a fan that should sound just as good at lower levels as the best quiet fans out there. Meanwhile, those with certain mobos can get the benefits of PWN control via the BIOS. No extra software, hardware, or manual manipulation is needed to pump out only the air you need at any given moment.

At 2000rpm this will be much noisier than their previous 120mm quiet fan.

As to the big rpm range.....useful in some applications, but at the high end of the range, it will be outside the usefulness as a "SPCR"-type fan.

This can probably be avoided by building a system with other "'SPCR'-type" components and good airflow capabilities. Just because the range is high does not mean you will inevitably use it.

And I wonder who is making the thing....it looks like any number of cheap fans with a clear frame.

Yes, because having a clear frame necessarily entails that a given fan is crap.

[Exel]

So anyone tried these yet? How do they compare to the old orange Nexus?

Anyone know if this thing comes with a manual switch so it can be set to run at 500rpm only?

[frenchie]

yep, I did try.

I got a Nexus 92mm PWM fan. Airflow is good and I don't mind the looks. It is plugged into the 4 pin CPU fan connector on my motherboard.

HOWEVER.... this thing has a really really (and I mean really) annoying whine. I don't know if this is due to the PWM or not but this fan is now the loudest part in my computer.

I got it to replace a CPU fan that was old and noisy. Mounted the nexus fan, turned the computer on. All seemed fine because before speedfan starts, the fan runs at full speed and the noise of the airflow is much higher than anything else. After a minute, speedfan had gotten the speed down to 30%, which is enough to cool the CPU at idle, and enough to keep the fan running. And then I heard it !! the really faint beeeeeeep. I let it run for a bit thinking I was imagining it. But nope. Now that the whoosh of the airflow was gone, all I could hear was that whinning sound. Granted it's not loud, but those kind of high frequency sounds are much more annoying than the same sound level at a lower frequency.
I figured that maybe the speed was too slow... Increased it (gradually, 5% steps in speedfan, all the way from 30% to 100%) but nothing changed. The only time I can't hear it is when other airflow noise gets louder than this noise (around 70% in speedfan ratio).

Once again, I don't think it's a loud noise, it's just high frequency (and therefore annoying).

Conculsion : I'm trying to find a replacement for this fan... going to try an Arctic cooling one I think since a friend has one I can borrow.

[xev]

good to hear some experience results with these.

It seems that many PWM fans have whining issues.
But still would be nice to get some number results perhaps after Mike is done with the chamber and catches up with all the things that aren't getting reviewed during the building process.

[andyb]

Thanks "frenchie" for the info.

this thing has a really really (and I mean really) annoying whine. I don't know if this is due to the PWM or not but this fan is now the loudest part in my computer.

Does this fan come with a 4-pin molex connector as well.???

If it does can you compare the "whine" if it is audable over the hige amount of wind noise running through the molex (at 12v) and via the motherboard @ 12v (100%).


Andy

[frenchie]

It doesn't come with a molex connector but I think I have one somewhere...

I'm quite sure I won't hear the whine over the rest of the wind noise as long as it's mounted on the heatsink. When I get the other fan (should be by the end of the week), I'll take the Nexus off the heatsink and test it in free air to check for that whine.

I'll do the same thing with the Arctic Cooling one and let you know what it sounds like.


EDIT : I guess I should have read the forum better ; there seems to be a solution to the noise : viewtopic.php?t=48042
If someone could clarify the solution, that would be great !!!!
I'll still try the Arctic Cooling fan just because...

[frenchie]

HA HA !!!!!!!!!
Just got an Artic Cooling 9 PWM Fan (more like I stole it from a friend ) ... tried it... and MIRACLE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! works like a charm, totally quiet (dare I say silent !!!! ).

http://www.arctic-cooling.com/fans2.php?idx=110

For those of you interested, I have to warn you that you can only mount the fan to BLOW air (funky design). Appart from that, perfect is the only word that comes to mind.

The fan come with screws and 2 stickers... no soft mounting things.(forgot the word, sorry)

Needless to say I immediatly got rid of the Nexus piece of bull poop !!!!!!!!! I'll test it on the 12V line later though just for fun.

[frenchie]

I tested the on 12V... you can only hear airflow noise

On 7V... hard to tell... And I think my ears are probably looking for that whine now... But I would say that you can hear more noise than my Noctuas and definetly more than the Arctic Cooling. I'm talking about noise NOT generated by airflow here.

Can't make it more precise, sorry...

[HAHA]

I got all three Nexus PWM fans (80, 92, 120) and compared them with the classic ones. I even rigged them up side by side outside the computer and made sound recordings to try and determine differences. I drove all fans from my ASUS MB and checked RPM with Speedfan. However, it was difficult to draw scientific conclusions with this limited methodoly.

The new fans have higher RPM for the same voltage so they have a higher capacity when called for. When turned down to the same flow, they sound about the same. I tried to gauge flow both subjectively and with a simple device. All in all, I would say that the new fans are not more quiet than the old ones. Perhaps about the same for the same flow.

I had no problem with whine with any of the PWM fans. I never published any recordings because when I got to the 80 mm tests, I run into some vibration induced noise and realized I had to re-make the whole setup to eliminate this problem. I also never figured out a good microphone placement. If I don't place the mic on front of the fan, it won't capture the right sound. However, when I do, most of the picked up sound is noise from air hitting the mic and not the sound from the fan.

[Dodgexander]

found specs here 26 db max apparently!

http://azerty.nl/producten/product_deta ... 0-x-1.html

[kike_1974]

I bought 4 of these 120mm fans and I've found that they are not as quiet as the standard nexus silent case fans.

Of course, at 2000 rpm is was expected, I didn't even try them at those speeds. The problem with noise comes when they are controlled to lower rpms.

Using speedfan and my ga-p35-ds3 motherboard cpu_fan connector, y observed them at low rpms. I was able to get them down to 400 rpm (using the 4-pin fan connector and PWM), although they are specified from 500-2000 rpm only.

But at the speeds I've tried (400-700rpm) I have observed that they have nothing to do with the standard nexus fans. The PWM version have some motor noise (which I don't find in the standard ones), and they have a lot more of vibration. Vibration can be solved with decoupling solutions, but the motor noise can not be solved.

I don't understand how some people can say they are similar to the standard nexus when regulated at the same speed... At least my samples are far from them.

I'm going to RMA them and change them for slip streams or standard nexus.

PS. Sorry for my English

[joelmusicman]

I seem to remember from a review SOMEWHERE on SPCR that the clear plastic frames tend to be very stiff, so that's probably the cause of the increased vibration.

Why oh why Nexus, didn't you just make it white on black?!