Hi Bilbo...
Yes, that's a given. More spin, more air, more noise. I've learned that the amount of air moved is more important than fan noise as long as it's not shreiking for the Messiah :lol:
Ross
Sorry no. While fan speed (in RPMs) is indicative of increased noise, the relationship is NOT a linear one. Fan diameter is the biggest issue: the smaller they are the noisier they are. This over-rides RPM speed. You have to slow a tiny fan down a very great deal to stop them being noisy. Then they're useless.
The design of the fan blade is crucial too: poor tip design results in tip-vortices which make a lot of noise.
YS-Tech has largely solved this issue with their TMD (Tip Magnetic Drive) fans which do not have a motor in the center - but rather a motor around the outside of the fan. There is no tip to the blades, because they're surrounded by a plastic strip - so they are very quiet indeed. They also pump air into the middle of the fan, because there is only a very small "dead spot" compared to traditional fans.
TMD fans do make a strange sound when they start up though.
These would be my choice if possible, but they only make a stupid 67 mm fan, no 80mm or 120mm fans - which is a real shame, because technically they are far superior to even a Vantec Stealth - which are pretty good when run at a speed slightly lower than their standard rating. (It's what I spec mostly)
The type of motor, and how many ball bearings they have is also an indicator of noise. More bearings = better. Plus, ball-bearing fans also last longer.
On top of this, fans accumulate a lot of dust, and the blades themselves behave differently when coated in dust: more noise + less throughput. That is why you need to clean fans regularly.
I used to run a box with 13 fans in it -- don't laugh, I had to - to keep an old T-Bird 1.0 running at 1.66, and to keep the R8500 video card with 2 full CPU heatsinks on it cool, after extreme over-volting and overclocking.
However, over the years I have altered my stance on fans: they stink.
These days, I only buy cases which have 120mm fans (front and rear). I buy passively cooled PSUs, or items which have 120mm fans which only operate when the thing gets hot. I also specify passive CPU coolers such as the excellent (but hard to install on some mobos) Thermaltake Sonic Tower, and then I install passively cooled graphics cards too. If the motherboard I want doesn't have a passive northbridge HS, then I make one for it. usually from an all-copper CPU heatsink, or I order an ABIT OTES heatpipe motherboard cooler, and modify it to suit.
This means PCs I build these days have a maximum of three fans - and all are 120mm. I run them through a fan-bus which allows me control over inlet and exhaust fans, and I keep the RPMs low unless I'm gaming.
The rule I follow is this: I put enough air through the case to avoid crashes, but no more. Even though heat kills components, the useful lifetime, when at maximum operating tempertaure is still much longer than the useful life of a PC. It certainly IS possible to have components cooled TOO MUCH.
The big thing is that having a quiet PC is a genuine pleasure. If you have a noisy box now, and think you like it, then you are mistaken. Build a new box. Make it a quiet one. I guarantee you, you will NEVER own a noisy PC again. And that's a fact.
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