Anybody try the Nexus "Real Silent" Case Fans yet?

Riffer · Post by **Riffer** » Wed Oct 08, 2003 12:38 pm

Just wondered if anyone has tried these fans yet:

http://www.siliconacoustics.com/nexus80 ... sefan.html

I wouldn't mind having RPM monitoring on my CPU HSF.

haysdb · Post by **haysdb** » Wed Oct 08, 2003 9:53 pm

I have one on order (from SiliconAcoustics), along with a 1500 RPM Papst. I have several Panaflo L1A's to compare them to.

David

Riffer · Post by **Riffer** » Thu Oct 09, 2003 2:26 am

haysdb wrote:I have one on order (from SiliconAcoustics), along with a 1500 RPM Papst. I have several Panaflo L1A's to compare them to.

David

Good.

Let me know when you have a chance to test them.

haysdb · Post by **haysdb** » Thu Oct 09, 2003 9:08 am

Turns out I DON'T have Panaflo L1A's for comparison. I suspect the L1A's I have may not be representative of this model. I'm ordering a couple more of the 80mm L1A's from a different source.

David

Post by **MikeC** » Thu Oct 09, 2003 9:35 am

OK, I own up to having had a sample from Nexus for a couple of weeks. I've been so busy that I hadn't even opened it up -- till now.

Here's my first impressions:

At the standard 12V, it is quite similar to the SilenX fan (from exoticpc.com or colorcase). Quieter than the Panaflo 80L, and slower. Naturally it also moves less air, a similar to the SilenX fan. It is quite smooth sounding. Some Panaflos can make a chuffing kind of noise as they are slowed down; this Nexus makes none that noise. Mostly, it's a lower frequency hummy sort of noise that ramps down fairly linearly. The useful range is probably 12-7V. At 5V, it's useless -- doesn't really move any air at all. Somehow it seems to be more prone to turbulence: As I bring my ear close to it, the proximity to the intake side causes an immediate and dramatic increase in turbulence noise. In comparison, a Panaflo reacts much less. It may be comething to do with the geometry and shape of the blades.

Overall, it's very nice, just about as quiet as any fan I've played with.

Caveat: My comments are based on a SINGLE sample. Anyone who has messed around with fans knows that they can vary substantially from sample to sample and batch to batch.

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Thu Oct 09, 2003 12:08 pm

MikeC wrote:OK, I own up to having had a sample from Nexus for a couple of weeks. I've been so busy that I hadn't even opened it up -- till now.

Here's my first impressions:

At the standard 12V, it is quite similar to the SilenX fan (from exoticpc.com or colorcase). Quieter than the Panaflo 80L, and slower. Naturally it also moves less air, a similar to the SilenX fan. It is quite smooth sounding. Some Panaflos can make a chuffing kind of noise as they are slowed down; this Nexus makes none that noise. Mostly, it's a lower frequency hummy sort of noise that ramps down fairly linearly. The useful range is probably 12-7V. At 5V, it's useless -- doesn't really move any air at all. Somehow it seems to be more prone to turbulence: As I bring my ear close to it, the proximity to the intake side causes an immediate and dramatic increase in turbulence noise. In comparison, a Panaflo reacts much less. It may be comething to do with the geometry and shape of the blades.

Overall, it's very nice, just about as quiet as any fan I've played with.

Caveat: My comments are based on a SINGLE sample. Anyone who has messed around with fans knows that they can vary substantially from sample to sample and batch to batch.

Sounds a whole lot like the acoustic signature of those $2 18cfm NMBs that I like so much. Can you peel back the Nexus label and see what's underneath?

Post by **MikeC** » Thu Oct 09, 2003 12:39 pm

Ralf:

Nada. One label. They bought enough to have their own label put on at the factory.

I have experience with those NMBs -- those were buzzier, at least the samples I had (a batch of nearly a hundred!). I prefer the Panaflos to the NMBs. These Nexus are much closer to the SilenX fan as reviewed by JohnC. When I have more time, I'll eyeball them more closely to see whether they might be from the same factory.

Riffer · Post by **Riffer** » Fri Oct 10, 2003 10:55 am

Thanks for the observations MikeC. I'll put this one on my list to try when the opportunity arises. A little expensive to ship by itself from Siliconacoustics.

haysdb · Post by **haysdb** » Fri Oct 10, 2003 11:13 am

They don't allow the option of Postal Service (USPS) delivery for fans. I ordered two fans and selected Postal delivery and the shipping charge was calculated as $50.00!

David

haysdb · Post by **haysdb** » Fri Oct 10, 2003 12:06 pm

I recieved one Nexus 80mm "Real Silent Case Fan" today from SiliconAcoustics, along with an 80mm Papst 8412 N/2GL.

The Papst is no quieter than any number of other fans in the box of "spare" fans. It makes a sound like a playing card in the spokes of a bicycle tire. I am VERY disappointed on an absolute basis, and even more disappointed considering the price.

The Nexus on the other hard? Lovely, simply lovely. NO bearing noise at all, unless I stick my ear so close I risk getting it knicked. It just makes a sort of "humm", like a turbine spinning.

I still don't have "quiet" Panaflo L1A's to compare to, so I can't say whether it's quieter or not as quiet, but I can tell you, it doesn't matter because this is now MY personal case fan of choice. It's even a 3-wire fan with RPM monitoring, an added bonus.

I am returning the Papst fan and buying more of the Nexus. Keep in mind, I have just ONE SAMPLE of the Nexus fan. I can only hope the others will be as quiet.

David

CoolColJ · Post by **CoolColJ** » Fri Oct 10, 2003 2:49 pm

haysdb wrote:. It's even a 3-wire fan with RPM monitoring, an added bonus.

Well then why choose a panaflo?

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Sat Oct 11, 2003 4:42 am

CoolColJ wrote:
haysdb wrote:. It's even a 3-wire fan with RPM monitoring, an added bonus.
Well then why choose a panaflo?

Well, for people on a budget the Panaflos are at least half the price. Those Nexus fans are $15 at Silicon Acoustics.

nbac · Post by **nbac** » Sat Oct 11, 2003 4:50 am

Another good fan I can't buy here

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Sat Oct 11, 2003 5:37 am

nbac wrote:Another good fan I can't buy here

Sounds like yet another reason to move here to Sunny California. The weather's great, you can buy all the neat stuff you see here at SPCR for good prices and the Terminator's our Governer. How the heck can you beat that package?

nbac · Post by **nbac** » Sat Oct 11, 2003 6:04 am

I can't

CoolColJ · Post by **CoolColJ** » Sat Oct 11, 2003 2:10 pm

Well Panaflos are fairly expensive here.

haysdb · Post by **haysdb** » Tue Oct 21, 2003 2:27 am

I received two more of the Nexus fans today. They are identical with the first sample I received, which is to say very very quiet. A wee bit of vibration, but the quietest bearings of any fan I have heard to date, which number quite a few.

Five Panaflos are due on Wednesday from Case-Mod.com, replacements for five I returned. I am still looking for a truly quiet L1A. At this point, I definitely prefer the Nexus as quieter with RPM monitoring to boot, but I'm not prepared to declare a winner until I have checked out this next batch of L1A's.

Another fan I am impressed with is an NMB 3110KL-04W-B19. A bit of whine at higher voltages, but the one I have is very smooth, less vibration that any other fan I have. A nice fan, especially for the price ($2.99). Are these consistantly good or did I just get a quiet sample?

David

silvervarg · Post by **silvervarg** » Tue Oct 21, 2003 3:09 am

Have you tried to undervolt the Nexus?
If so, how does it behave?
Any clicking or buzzing?
How low does it go before stalling?

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Tue Oct 21, 2003 6:43 am

haysdb wrote: Another fan I am impressed with is an NMB 3110KL-04W-B19. A bit of whine at higher voltages, but the one I have is very smooth, less vibration that any other fan I have. A nice fan, especially for the price ($2.99). Are these consistantly good or did I just get a quiet sample?

David

Those are the ones I used to get for $2 from SVC.com when they still had them. I love them and have used lots of them on customer systems.

Where did you get yours for $2.99? Are they still available?

haysdb · Post by **haysdb** » Tue Oct 21, 2003 8:55 am

Ralf Hutter wrote:
haysdb wrote: Another fan I am impressed with is an NMB 3110KL-04W-B19. A bit of whine at higher voltages, but the one I have is very smooth, less vibration that any other fan I have. A nice fan, especially for the price ($2.99). Are these consistantly good or did I just get a quiet sample?

David
Those are the ones I used to get for $2 from SVC.com when they still had them. I love them and have used lots of them on customer systems.

Where did you get yours for $2.99? Are they still available?

Directron.

haysdb · Post by **haysdb** » Tue Oct 21, 2003 9:06 am

silvervarg wrote:Have you tried to undervolt the Nexus?
If so, how does it behave?
Any clicking or buzzing?
How low does it go before stalling?

With a Zalman FanMate, the Nexus will run and also start at the lowest position. Absolutely no clicking or buzzing on my samples. With just the FanMate, I cannot get one to stall. I have to add a resistor cable to stall it. I don't (yet) have a Multimeter so I can't give you it's true voltage range. The specs say 10.2V to 13.8V, but it does seem to handle lower voltage than this.

David

ez2remember · Post by **ez2remember** » Tue Oct 21, 2003 1:37 pm

haysdb wrote: Another fan I am impressed with is an NMB 3110KL-04W-B19. A bit of whine at higher voltages, but the one I have is very smooth, less vibration that any other fan I have. A nice fan, especially for the price ($2.99). Are these consistantly good or did I just get a quiet sample?
David

I find these fans to be very quiet, but when undervolted I do get a constant ticking from the bearings. Mind you I have only 5 of them, I might of have a bad batch, but others have experience this too.

my fav fan is the Panaflo lia, but the nexus sounds interesting if there is no motor/bearing nose.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

energy · Post by **energy** » Wed Oct 22, 2003 10:37 am

Another fan I am impressed with is an NMB 3110KL-04W-B19. A bit of whine at higher voltages, but the one I have is very smooth, less vibration that any other fan I have. A nice fan, especially for the price ($2.99). Are these consistantly good or did I just get a quiet sample?

I like these very much but they are a little underpowered for most uses.

Very consistant from fan to fan (sample of around 20), the smoothest bearings I've seen, but being ball bearings they do have a swooshing sound to them especially when undervolted.

The Panaflos could be better - they are a nice fan but I'm dissapointed at the QC - from a sample of ~50. Sure, they are reliable, but quite a few have that "chuf chuf" noise even at stock voltages, some have this noise only when mounted in certain positions, others have it pronounced and under all mounting positions. Some vibrate quite a bit too, and all of the Japan models I've seen have quite a bit of "flutter" to the hub when viewed from the top and spun slowly which cannot be good for noise or vibration.

Then again, they are whole leagues higher than what Papst passes off as quiet fans these days, with sand for bearings

I am however quite impressed by the Panaflo H1A, sure its not quiet, but it is much quieter than any fan that I've seen at 40CFM. That bearing seems to really do its job.

haysdb · Post by **haysdb** » Wed Oct 22, 2003 9:13 pm

I have three of the Nexus fans. All three are utterly quiet, from the high range to the low range of a Zalman FanMate. Absolutely ZERO noise from the bearings, regardless of voltage. All three came from the same source, two in one order, so it's a safe bet that at least two of the three, and possibly all three, are from the same "batch". All three have a little white sticker on the side that says C3902.

I have had 12 Panaflo 80mm L1A's and not a single damn one is what I would call truly quiet. They move more air, but I would never consider running them at 12V, whereas I WOULD consider running the Nexus fans at 12V.

It appears my L1A's are from two batches. The first number on the label of five of them is 9120AD-1J. The other two are OH17AN-1J. All are model FBA08A12L. All seven are "Made in Japan".

David

al bundy · Post by **al bundy** » Wed Oct 22, 2003 11:22 pm

haysdb wrote:I have three of the Nexus fans. All three are utterly quiet, from the high range to the low range of a Zalman FanMate. Absolutely ZERO noise from the bearings, regardless of voltage...

I have had 12 Panaflo 80mm L1A's and not a single damn one is what I would call truly quiet. They move more air, but I would never consider running them at 12V, whereas I WOULD consider running the Nexus fans at 12V...

Thank you David for posting your impressions of the Nexus fans. This is very helpful, especially the comparison to the Panaflo fans.

I'm going to buy a batch of these Nexus fans in my next fan restock, they appear to be a winner.

haysdb · Post by **haysdb** » Thu Oct 23, 2003 2:13 am

Al, I hope you agree or I'm in big trouble!

al bundy · Post by **al bundy** » Thu Oct 23, 2003 2:59 am

haysdb wrote:Al, I hope you agree or I'm in big trouble!

Nah, in upcoming builds I'll use them all pretty quickly regardless. The feedback here just finally convinced me to give them a try, which I was considering doing anyway. Thanks!

haysdb · Post by **haysdb** » Wed Oct 29, 2003 8:43 pm

I am using one in a power supply and two as front case fans. I will be using another as a rear case fan. I don't have any cpu heatsinks that will take an 80mm fan. At only 1500 RPM, it'd be pretty marginal as a cpu fan, I would think.

David

al bundy · Post by **al bundy** » Fri Oct 31, 2003 1:37 am

haysdb,

I finally received my new inventory of Nexus Real Silent fans, and I completely agree with you about the amazingly silent performance and high build quality of these fans. Quietest fan I've ever tested, and I feel like I've tested every fan in Creation.

They are easily now my new favorite, hands down. In silence they even beat the Jamicon fans (and absolutely beat the hell out of my Panaflo and Papst 80mm fans).

Thanks very much for the reference!