Best way to reduce case fan noise

J3MINI

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Mar 14, 2015
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I own the Corsair Spec 03 gaming case , fits my little setup perfectly. As has been said from people the stock fan at the front was obnoxiously loud , so i swapped that out for a Cooler Master Jetflo 120mm hoping this might settle noise level down a little...

ehhhh not so much....

I've swapped to each of the 2 supplied adapters that offer a silent mode , i've gone as low as i can in my bios that controls fan speed and there's still an audible drone which almost sounds like a washing machine on final wash . That drives me up the wall after a few hours.

Any recommendations? , judging by the fact that my mobo has only one slot for a case fan i might have to go for a controller , but i'm open to advice :)

Specs -

EVGA Supernova 550w G2
Asus GTX 960 2GB Strix
H61M-DS2 DVI (Intel Core i5-3340 CPU 3.10GHz)
Arctic Freezer Rev.2
8GB Ram
500GB SSD

 
Just to make sure, your sure the noise is coming from the case fan? Like you've physically unplugged it an turned on the computer to make sure.

If so yeah a fan controller might help. Other than that all you can really do is try different case fans. Noctua are generally the best for quiet performance but they make you pay a premium for it.
 

the_crippler

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Jun 14, 2010
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Quality fans are the best solution, but you already know that.

A lot of the noise from fans comes from case vibration. I've had a lot of luck with rubber mounting grommets from MNPCTech:
http://mnpctech.com/case-mods-gaming-pc-liquid-modding-custom-computer-mnpctech-overclock-cooling-fan-grills/fan-silencing-grommets-sound-dampening-silent-pc-computer-quiet-anti-vibration/fan-silencing.html

They require that you gauge the holes out a bit. If you don't want to do that, there are rubber replacements for the screws themselves, which I've had 'ok' results with.
 

J3MINI

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Definitely , my PSU runs as silent as a mouse , and the CPU cooler is fine :)

 

the_crippler

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I've often found mice to be quite noisy, especially when placed in a computer case.
 

J3MINI

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Mar 14, 2015
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Thats something i will look into!, Thanks :D

 
A good source for quiet computing is www.silentpcreview.com
They have suggestions on the best quiet fans.

Your best option might be a simple zalman fanmate. It has a rheostat and knob that lets you adjust speed to your best balance between noise and cooling.
 

J3MINI

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Mar 14, 2015
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See what you did there lol , would be a bit messy too!

 

J3MINI

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Thankyou! , i'm having a hunt around to see what i can get :)

 

J3MINI

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About £17 in my currency , a fair price for what seems to be a well reviewed fan!, dunno why i didnt think to do 140mm first!

Thanks for suggesting that :D
 
As people have suggested the 140mm fan sizes are pretty good for air to noise ratio. The jetflo is one of the loudest 120mm fans out there, nothing close to quiet. Phanteks and noctua have some good fans. Unless the case is really loose/rattles the vibration dampers may or may not do a whole lot. I used to use them and was unable to in my new case but with quality fans that aren't out of balance it's not really an issue.

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/phanteks-case-fan-phf140spbk

Noctua has two different lines, the standard and the redux. If you need the noise adapters (voltage reducers) and rubberized corner pads, go with the standard. If not the redux may be a little less expensive. I'm using these in my case along with the stock phanteks listed above,
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/noctua-case-fan-nfp14sredux1500pwm

There's also a 1200rpm version. I used a controller similar to the sentry to turn down the speed of all my fans, they do get a little louder than I'd like on full speed but move a ton of air. Turning them down results in whisper quiet with good airflow. Most of my noise is air noise going through vents/filters, not the fans themselves.

Another reason noctua are popular isn't just that they're quiet, many people prefer the tonal quality of them. Manufacturers list fans by dba (decibel) reading which is a measure of sound pressure. The problem is low tones like bass at 20dba are far less noticeable than a whistle at 20dba. Higher pitched sounds are more 'piercing' which is why sirens are often higher pitched, the sound carries and gets people's attention. It's possible to have one fan sound louder than another simply because it produces a slightly higher pitched 'whine' vs a more subdued 'hum' even with both sharing the same dba rating.
 

Karadjgne

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Most decent fans running 8-900 rpm are pretty quiet. I can barely hear the el-cheapo led stock CoolerMaster intake fan on my 690 II, but it's also a rifle bearing fan in a vertical position, so that's an important factor too. The hydraulic bearing fans are good vertical or horizontal, same with the double ball bearing fans, but sleeve or rifle bearing fans can get really loud with transmitted vibration when used horizontally.