Quitest 12-14cm fans at ultra-low voltage

Monkey Puzzle · Post by **Monkey Puzzle** » Mon Jun 07, 2010 5:19 am

Hi all,

I'm looking for ultra-low noise, slow-spinning fans to go in the project in my sig;

1) There's room for 9 x 12-14cms fans - either 9 x 12cm or 4 x 14cm and 5 x 12cm fans, and running them all at 5v

2) They'll be mounted horizontally, pushing air up through fins spaced 1cm apart, so don't need high static pressure.

3) Which 12cm and 14cm fans start up reliably at 5v and are very quiet? Any new ones to consider?

I was considering good old cheap and trusty 12cm yate loons DS12L.

4) What are the 14cm yate loons like?

5) Which San Ace fans are good, and are they available?

Any advice would be much appreciated. Cheers,

Tom

jaydeesan · Post by **jaydeesan** » Mon Jun 07, 2010 6:37 am

Monkey Puzzle wrote: I was considering good old cheap and trusty 12cm yate loons DS12L.

I think I will actually start a thread on this, but just really quickly - based on my experience, I can't understand where that myth comes from. I bought 5 of these in March (the NCIX special) and they ALL suck... errr, blow.... I mean they are no good. The same goes for the 92mm ones. All of them have this obnoxious buzz, and it only becomes more obvious when you slow them down. (I can see how they could be quiet at slow speed if it wasn't for that, but the only thing that is true about them as it is, is that they were cheap.)

[I swear by Noctua, not sure if you're willing to spend that much, but if you're going all out...]

gcwebbyuk · Post by **gcwebbyuk** » Mon Jun 07, 2010 7:53 am

Am a fan of Scythe S-Flex Es.

Have 5 of them in my case running at 450rpm. Very nearly silent at only 2 feet from my head.

You can hear the hard drives spinning more than the fans - 2 Samsung EcoGreen F2 in Scythe QuietDrives.

Monkey Puzzle · Post by **Monkey Puzzle** » Mon Jun 07, 2010 9:14 am

yate loons are pretty quiet in my experience

I've got a scythe s-flex f 12cm and it's loud even at 5v. Nasty motor noise i think. Could just be a dud i guess with dodgy bearings, but not keen to buy more at 12 quid each or whatever they go for.

How do people find the noctua p12? I read it has an annooying sound signature due to the notches on the blades... And the s12 won't cut it as I need some static pressure.

Wish they sold the fan in my seasonic x-750 oem and for a reasonable price...

jaydeesan · Post by **jaydeesan** » Mon Jun 07, 2010 9:32 am

2) They'll be mounted horizontally, pushing air up through fins spaced 1cm apart, so don't need high static pressure.

...And the s12 won't cut it as I need some static pressure.

hmm?

But regardless,

How do people find the noctua p12? I read it has an annooying sound signature due to the notches on the blades... And the s12 won't cut it as I need some static pressure.

I like mine very much. It's not as quiet as the S12 of course but very good with the LNA (about 900rpm; I have mine on Big Shuriken. I have also used 2 of them as case fans in TJ-08 when I had my gaming comp in it.) You can hear a bit of a noise when you put it in your face, but once away in a case, it's basically gone. Certainly no "annoying sound signature due to the notches", wherever that came from.

But why exactly would the S12s not work? You have 1cm spacing (!) and it doesn't appear all that long/deep way to go so...?

Monkey Puzzle · Post by **Monkey Puzzle** » Mon Jun 07, 2010 9:54 am

Easy now.

sorry for the confusion - didn't explain properly: What I meant is I don't need high rpm fans. 38mm deep fans would no doubt help with static pressure but as the fans will be pushing air through fins spaced 1cm apart I expect I don't need or want high rpm fans. And afaIk 38mm fans are generally built with hefty motors and are high rpm. I wasn't impressed with the panaflo 12cm medium fans I had - far too noisy when undervolted. Think I need to do more research into whether truly quiet 12cm 38mm deep fans exist that undervolt nicely (sanyo denki san ace?)

Monkey Puzzle · Post by **Monkey Puzzle** » Mon Jun 07, 2010 9:57 am

the S12 has large gaps around the blades - surely it'll suffer backflow when pushing against resistance?

The p12 noise signature is mentioned in one of the 12cm fan round-ups. Think it may have even been on spcr.

lodestar · Post by **lodestar** » Mon Jun 07, 2010 10:21 am

The quietest 140mm fan is probably the Fractal Design which runs at 600 rpm. I have one, and it is uncannily quiet at full speed. It is claimed to move 39 CFM, about the same as a 120mm fan at 1000 rpm. This is one UK source http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/140mm-Fr ... Fan-Mounts - I would strongly urge you to try one.

themaster1 · Post by **themaster1** » Mon Jun 07, 2010 10:42 am

Interesting, what kind of bearings has this the fractal fan?

lodestar · Post by **lodestar** » Mon Jun 07, 2010 12:18 pm

They don't say, but they quote a MTBF of 50,000 hours.

Quitest 12-14cm fans at ultra-low voltage

Quitest 12-14cm fans at ultra-low voltage

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Re: Quitest 12-14cm fans at ultra-low voltage