Need suggestions for quiet 120mm fans for case

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digerati
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Need suggestions for quiet 120mm fans for case

Post by digerati » Wed May 21, 2003 12:23 am

I'm getting an Antec Sonata case to replace my old Antec SX830.

The Sonata comes with one 120mm exhaust fan but also has a slot for an internal 120mm fan to pull air in.

I don't know what kind of 120mm fan Antec put in the Sonata, but I was wondering what would be considered a good quality quiet 120mm fan to either add to the extra fan slot in the case, or to replace the 120mm fan antec included all together.

I couldn't find any recommended 120mm fans which is why i posted here.


Thanks!

dago
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Post by dago » Wed May 21, 2003 12:52 am

I was in the same situation ... asked questions ... and put up the following page

I finished using a papst 4412F/2GL as inside fan and enermax UC-12FAB as back fan (both were the only easily available/affordable fans here).

But the psu seems to be the louder element. Planning to remove the fans and to put a new ducted one inside.

Katana Man
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Post by Katana Man » Wed May 21, 2003 9:22 am

I wrote this in another forum:
I currently have these 120mm fans:
Papst 4412
Coolcase's JMC 120L
EZ Fan FP108MS3
Panaflo L1A
Globe 12L

All are good quiet fans. All look great on paper. I do not have any testing equipment, but in my opinion, the Papst 4412 wins. I recommend it.

PretzelB
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Post by PretzelB » Wed May 21, 2003 9:36 am

No one has reviewed them but I stumbled across these Titan fans on sale and bought two for my latest case. http://www.pcmods.com/details.asp?prodID=596

They aren't silent but I don't think my Panaflo L1A is silent either. But they do move a good amount of air and they aren't very noisy at 7 volts. I have them at 5 volts right now and I think the northbridge fan is the loudest element in the case but I haven't confirmed that yet. Also, they are obviously not moving as much air as they were before. It's possible that at 5 volts a quiety 92 or 80 mm fan may be better.

To me, the price was too good to NOT give them a try. I've been happy so far.

dago
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Post by dago » Wed May 21, 2003 9:50 am

I think that the 'final' decision for 120mm fans should be : Take the one which are available near you. The troubles/price difference is not worth the eventual sound difference.

Of course unless someone wants to make a review ;)
(/me volunteer to donate an enermax)

andrewr
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Post by andrewr » Wed May 21, 2003 11:41 am

I have a 120mm antec fan(in a sonata) running @ 5v, and its very quiet. It still pulls a reasonable amount of air. At 12v its far too noisey. 120mm is definately the way to go if you want low noise and lots of airflow :)

I agree with dago, IME pretty much any fan I've used is quiet at 5v, there are some exceptions.

jackal2513
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Post by jackal2513 » Wed May 21, 2003 2:00 pm

papst, no contest
panaflows a cheaper alternative

JimK
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Post by JimK » Thu May 22, 2003 7:44 am

Do you need a second fan? Perhaps just the exhaust fan will be enough.

You could get one quieter fan and use it as an exhaust, power it from the "fans only" lead and this summer when the temps go up the PSU will raise the fan speed. If you need to cool the Hard Drives, put the Antec fan on the HDD rack and run it at 5v to start or "fans only" just for the summer. I think the Antec at 5V inside the case on the HDDs will be quiet enough until you get other things silent. There may be a better 120mm fan available this fall and then you can move the former quiet exhaust fan to the HDDs and put the new one in as exhaust. :)

Katana Man
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Post by Katana Man » Thu May 22, 2003 9:35 am

If you use a normal PSU, then you can probably get away with just an exaust fan. But if you will be using a quiet PSU, then you'll want a front intake fan to create positive air pressure. Negative air pressure directly competes with a quiet PSU air flow.

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