Help for a fan/silentpc noob

pehavens · Post by **pehavens** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 7:48 am

Hello all,

I have just completed a build of a computer that I plan to use as an always on Media Center. It resides in a guest room / office in the house. It is working great, but is too loud. The culprit, I think, is the 120mm case fan at the back.

So what fan should I get to replace the one that was included with the case and how do I control the speed of the fan? I have read many of the reviews of the fans here on the site and they are full of great information. But I am not sure how much CFM I need. If I buy a Scythe S-Flex, which one do I get, and if I get one that is too fast and thus too loud, how can I slow it down?

I am sorry I know these are very basic questions. I am very new to this stuff. My apologies. I will continue to look through the posts and try to figure out the answers.

Here are the details on the PC:

Case: Antec Sonata II
Case Fan: 120mm Antec case fan that came with the case (no other markings) Only has two wires.
Power Supply: Antec Earthwatts 650
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P 775
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 (stock heatsink)
Video Card: EVGA 8600GT 256MB

Thanks for your help.

-Peter

tehfire · Post by **tehfire** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 9:05 am

I'm a huge fan of Scythe S-flex fans so I'll naturally recommend them, but some other alternatives are Scythe Slipstream fans, Noctua P12 fans, and Yate-loon fans. As I don't use them, I can't tell you which ones are best.

I would replace that case fan with an 800rpm S-flex or Slipstream. I would also get a Zalman FanMate 2. This has a knob on it that lets you adjust the fanspeed to whatever level you want it. In all honesty, you could probably get away with the fan spinning at 600rpm. That'll adequately cool your computer and it should be very quiet (much quieter than the stock Intel HSF, anyways.

pehavens · Post by **pehavens** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 12:07 pm

tehfire wrote:I'm a huge fan of Scythe S-flex fans so I'll naturally recommend them, but some other alternatives are Scythe Slipstream fans, Noctua P12 fans, and Yate-loon fans. As I don't use them, I can't tell you which ones are best.

I would replace that case fan with an 800rpm S-flex or Slipstream. I would also get a Zalman FanMate 2. This has a knob on it that lets you adjust the fanspeed to whatever level you want it. In all honesty, you could probably get away with the fan spinning at 600rpm. That'll adequately cool your computer and it should be very quiet (much quieter than the stock Intel HSF, anyways.

Thanks for the advice tehfire. The zalman fanmate 2 looks like a good idea. I was wondering if the MotherBoard BIOS would allow me to adjust the fan speed as an alternative to the zalman. I was thinking it probably would and might even adjust the fan speed as the temperature rises in the box. I will have to look into this. Regardless, for this to work I am going to have to upgrade to a 120mm fan that has 3 or 4 wires and connect it to the motherboard.

Wouldn't be best to buy a fan with a higher maximum RPMs and then tune it down? That way if I need more I can crank it up?

Thanks again,

-Peter

ACook · Post by **ACook** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 2:02 pm

what's your experience with the UD3P board?

pehavens · Post by **pehavens** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 5:12 pm

what's your experience with the UD3P board?

So far it has been great. I haven't done much with it though, mostly just installation. I have Windows 7 Beta running on it and installation was a snap.

I chose the motherboard due to avsforum htpc guide.

Nothing to complain about, but I haven't really done anything special with it yet.

jhhoffma · Post by **jhhoffma** » Sun Jan 11, 2009 5:25 pm

Well the stock Tricools are 4-pin Molex so they will not work on a mobo header. You can modify them to a 3-pin header, but you won't get an RPM reading.

To be honest, you can do better than a Tricool fan. Scythe Slipstreams are dead quiet at 800rpm. You can also get the 1200rpm version and slow it down however you choose.

If you do go this route, definitely try using the case fan on the SYSTEM FAN connector as it seems that this header can be controlled by the BIOS (per its description).

Chris Beard · Post by **Chris Beard** » Wed Jan 21, 2009 8:09 am

Many of the recommendations given on the forums are probably inappropraite for a 'casual' silencer for want of a better term as many of the members will make modifications to their case which will alter their choice of fan.

First try setting the tricool fan you have in the case to low. There is a switch on the cable or fan (can't remember which as I've only ever played with this fan once before getting angry with it and throwing it away) which has 3 setting L, M, and H.

If you are using a case with a set of small honey-comb shaped holes blocking the airflow out of the case - like the sonanta - then I would recommend a sharkoon golf-ball fan running at 1000rpm. This is because the fan is designed to deal with turbulence such as that created by the overzealous rear fan-guard.

If you're on a tight budget get a yate loon fan. In the UK don't pay more than Â£5. If you are on a really tight budget read about fan voltage mods and consider altering the voltage your existing fan runs at.

Buying higher RPM fans and then lowering the voltage or using PWM can cause clicking or other unpleasent noises, so no - buying a high RPM/CFM fan and then lowering the voltage is not neccesarily a good idea. That said if you are worried about the airflow and you are comfortable doing fan voltage mods then you might consider the 2000rpm version of the sharkoon.