SilenX disappointment

jayn · Post by **jayn** » Sun Feb 13, 2005 12:05 am

This was a while ago, but seeing the unacceptable marketing of that company, i would like to share my story:

Several months ago, I purchased a variety of fans for my new system. I was skeptical of SilenX's 80MM fan 11 db fans but i purchased one anyways just for the sake of trying it. I also purchased 5 nexus 80MM mans.

While the nexus is a charm, the silenx are total garbage. LOUD motor noise with severe clicking. There is no way it is 11 db. I'll be glad to send this fan to Mike here and he can write up a review on it. I live in Canada and i will pay for postage. Hopefully no one else get ripped by them again.

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ckolivas · Post by **ckolivas** » Sun Feb 13, 2005 5:49 am

I've got quite a few silenx fans I bought a while ago. They are nowhere near quiet but they are also not the low flow rates they claim. I have no idea which hole they pull their numbers out of. Nonetheless they undervolt well, and when undervolted, I found them very useful and quiet fans with equivalent quietness to the Nexus fans at the same flow rates. This worked out quite good for where I put a zalman fanmate in to control the flow rate for extreme situations.

Sizzle · Post by **Sizzle** » Sun Feb 13, 2005 8:25 am

Here we go again. I certainly don't condone what SilenX did in these forums (which happened before my time), and their claims of noise and airflow are certainly not realistic. I have had several of their 80mm fans, a few 92mm, and their 40x10mm fan. I have had a few of the 80mm's click, and the 92mm's clicked. Most of the 80mm's I bought are certainly less noisy than any Panaflo L1A I have ever had (Japanese or Chinese). The 40x10 mm fan is also the quietest 40mm fan I have ever had as well. They are pricey, but if I could not get a Nexus 80mm fan, I'd certainly get a SilenX 80mm before I got a Panaflo 80mm L1A.

If you think your fans are loud, then contact their support, they will take them back. I sent the clicky ones I got back and they gladly replaced them for me.

Currently I have a 80mm SilenX exhausting my wife's Antec PSU and cooling her hard drive, and they are operating quietly.

wooglin · Post by **wooglin** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 8:32 am

Chiming in.... I bought a couple of the 80mm (14dba - non-thermistor) fans for my last case. Both were quiet at 12V, and very quiet at 7V. no clicking or motor noise. They had trouble starting at 5V, so I kept them at 7.

I wouldn't call them as quiet as the 120mm Nexuses that I'm using now, but quiet enough.

ckolivas · Post by **ckolivas** » Sun Mar 06, 2005 2:24 am

Comparing the different size SilenX fans I have (all of them the so called 14dB ones) I found the 92mm ones that I have had (x2) were by far the best, being quiet at 12v and exceptionally quiet at 5v not having any trouble starting down to about 3v. The 120mm (x1) came second also dropping to 3v, but the 80mm ones (x4) coming in last (thermistor ones) and they did not start at 5v but were still quite quiet at about 7v. I have no experience with the non-thermistor ones but from your description it seems they're very similar. I couldn't really afford to import that many Nexuses to try here (they're damn expensive by the time they come from the US to .au) so the only size I've compared were the 120mm ones (x1); and at roughly the same flow (on my face) they were equivalent in sound to me. I guess I've been lucky and none of mine have been clicking at any voltage. The (x4) I specify above is how many samples I have for comparison.

sammy_jankis · Post by **sammy_jankis** » Sun Jun 26, 2005 12:17 am

I've got two 80mm SilenX 11dB fans... they blow enough to drop my CPU temp by about 6ºC @ load and I can't hear them over the Zalman 7000Cu on the lowest setting. I have to stop the Zalman just to hear them. No clicks either.

TDK · Post by **TDK** » Sun Jun 26, 2005 2:46 am

Incase anyone hasnt noticed the 14dba 80mm silenx fans used to be the 15db ones from adda however if you look at the specs now the 14dba one spins at 2000rpm meaning its at least 20dba and the 11dba one is actually the old 14dba one. They have done this so that they can charge more for the quieter one even though its the same fan.

Also the temperature controlled fan models spin at 2500rpm if you cut the temperature sensor off.

vine-au · Post by **vine-au** » Tue Sep 13, 2005 10:11 pm

old thread but ive got to put in my 02. There seem to be a lot of people bashing SilenX - and ive only ever had great experience with them.

I had three 80mm SilenX fans in my last case and had absolutely NO PROBLEMS with them. very quiet, moved a decent amount of air, kept it all nice and chilled. I also bought a SilenX 520W PSU and it runs like a dream, silent and cool. I recently upgraded to an Antec P180 case and installed an additional SilenX 120mm in it - undervolted to about 7v. wonderful fan, virtually silent, no motor clicking, no whine. the loudest component in my case is my Tt BigTyphoon, and that's a fairly quiet cooler.

I might have missed the SilenX "incident" (before i joined the forums) and I'm not condoning any misleading marketing they did - but I couldnt be happier with their products. They are expensive yes, but no more than other high end fans. they did wonders for reducing the noise in both my rigs. anyway, thats my experience with them.

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