Case Fan suggestions

[Abydosone]

Hey all. I am considering getting the CM Storm Scout to replace my Raidmax Sagitta 2 case. Upon reading reviews of the Scout, some have said that the included fans are a bit on the noisy side.

What I am looking for is a nice quality fan (very low noise) that sports a red LED to replace the ones that come with the case. I currently have an Antec Tri-Cool fan, and that is too loud for my taste. What would you recommend?

p.s Cooler Master's R4 series has a red led, but I have not read anything about its noise levels yet.

Thanks!

 

[acer0169]

I love the antec 3-speed personally, they can be a little noisy but it's not a rattle or hum, more of a 'wooosh' made from the amount of air they push (the air flow is amazing on them puppies) but they don't have leds.

If you're after a quiet red led, head over to ebuyer.com. It's where I get all my stuff and they had some silent red led fans for only a few pound (maybe around 6-10USD?).

Hope that helps.

 

[ragsters]

If you put the antec tri cool on low they don't sound that noisy.

 

[geofelt]

Fan noise comes mainly from running at high rpm's. Slow them down with a fan controller. Zalman fanmate is cheap.

 

[Abydosone]

Thanks all.

Yeah, I have the Antec on low speed and it sounds fine I guess. I know the TT Thunderblades are noise monsters, so I won't touch those.

 

[JohnnyLucky]

It gets kind of crazy with case fans and noise. The biggest problem is that one person's quiet pc is another person's jumbo jet. Individuals wind up purchasing high rpm, high volume fans and then turn right around an throttle them down to a lower rpm and lower volume to reduce noise. That has a tendency to reduce ventilation, airflow, and cooling. Typically individuals throttle down to 600 to 800 rpm's. Scythe has quite a few variations of their fans including an 800 rpm version of the Scyther S-Flex series. Unfortunately they don't come with a red led.

There are other factors which contribute to fan noise. Part of the noise is caused by air moving through and around components and the case itself. Airflow is disrupted. Turbulence is created. This is usually where the vendor specifications are suspect. They measure noise by placing a microphone near a fan sitting out in the open. It makes the specs look better.

I was at a Fry's Electronics store this morning and took a look at the Storm Scout. It is a mid-tower case. The handles on the top panel make it look larger than it actually is. It comes with two case fans - one 120mm fan and one 140mm fan. There are provisions for mounting additional fans.

If you want a quiet pc case to go with quiet fans, then you might want to take a look at the CoolerMaster 690. It is supposed to be a fairly quiet case with good ventilation, airflow, and cooling.

 

[jsc]

I like the Scythe S-Flex fans. They come in different airflow (and therefore speed and noise) ratings. Alas, they have no LED's.

 

[acer0169]

Just thought I'd suggest.. if you head over to quietpc.com they have some amazing case fans which are dirt cheap and silent. You can get 30+CFM which are completely silent!

 

[Canuck1]

I thought the Antec Tri-Cool would be good. I am looking for some case fans, too. A no-name one of mine, died. Actually, it might be an older Yate Loon. I'll have to check. It's a 92 cm fan, though. I wanted to replace it since it is chugging away, making an annoying grinding sound now.

I don't need a fan with any LED lights so what to get? I would like it to have 60+ CFM, though. It is for the fan mounts at the front which cool the hard dr ives.

 

[geofelt]

I thought the Antec Tri-Cool would be good. I am looking for some case fans, too. A no-name one of mine, died. Actually, it might be an older Yate Loon. I'll have to check. It's a 92 cm fan, though. I wanted to replace it since it is chugging away, making an annoying grinding sound now.

I don't need a fan with any LED lights so what to get? I would like it to have 60+ CFM, though. It is for the fan mounts at the front which cool the hard dr ives.

A 60 cfm 92mm fan will be very noisy since it needs to run at a very high(3000+) rpm to deliver that kind of air flow. Hard drives do not need much flow for adequate cooling. Just enough to keep the air flowing. Something like 1500 rpm is about as slow as they come, and should be fine for hard drive cooling.