Best silent fans with a high CFM

[Guest]

looking a fan to use with my kuhler 620 [just ordered it] and possibly for use as case fans. i want something dead silent that still has great cooling potential. are there a specific dBA and CFM ranges i should be looking for? i am trying to go as silent as possible, i have a factal define r3 case and a gtx 670 with a direct cu2 cooler which are both on the quieter end.

looking for both 120mm and 140mm fans.

 

[rubix_1011]

Silence and high CFM don't exactly go together. This is like driving a Bugatti Veyron and expecting good gas mileage. High CFM generally requires high speeds and noise being generated by the chopping of the air.

 

[cdfrantzis]

In general, as rubix_1011 said, you really can't have both. However, the larger the fan, the quieter it is per CFM for the most part. So go with 140mm fans over 120mm fans.

 

[Guest]

what dBA range should i be looking at?

 

[CaedenV]

As the others have said, CFMs cause noise, so it is hard to get a good balance of both. Look into larger fans (140mm+) which can push more volume of air with less overall pressure. In general you get what you pay for.

I have been playing with some Corsair AF series fans. They have some that are geared for performance, and others that are geared towards silence. They get quite loud when they are pushing a lot of air, but I have mine on a fan controller to knock them down to ~800rpm where they are near silent, but moving a fair amount of air. Another nice thing about 140mm fans is that what noise they do make (though this could also be the brand) is a much lower frequency, which makes it sound more like a low rumble in the background, compared to normal fans that have a bit of whine to them. The low rumble is much easier to tune out when everything is quiet, and once I have some background noise (even at -70dB on my amp) then it covers the PC noise completely.

Also, look into getting some dampening material. Anything with a nice dense foam can eat quite a bit of noise. On my last case (Thermaltake V3 Black) I installed some cheap foam padding that I picked up at my local fabric store (lol, that was a really fun conversation) and it helped quite a bit. I recently got the much better CM690, and this time I think I am going to order some actual acoustic foam padding for it, and with all the extra surface area in this case I am expecting it to work even better.

 

[Guest]

the fractal define r3 IS a silenced case, it has thick dampening material, unfortunately that doesnt do a bit of good for fans because they blow out of areas were there is no dampening fabric, works for all the other components though

 

[CaedenV]

nice completely missed that you are on the r3 already.

Anywho. Look into those Corsair fans, they work well and are not terribly expensive. If you have real money to blow then take a look at Noctua as they are simply the best... but you pay for it... and they are butt ugly lol. But acoustic performance is way more important than looks. You only look at your case when you want to, but you hear your case all the time.

 

[rubix_1011]

With the H60, you aren't going to be able to fit a 140mm fan to a 120mm mount unless you have some sort of adapter fitting.

 

[jijomathew]

coolermaster r4 series 120mm 90+cfm 19dba 2000rpm fan is available

 

[Guest]

i love my define r3, you wouldnt know my compooper was on if it wasnt for my damn heat sink [my kuhler hasnt come yet and this zalman heat sink majorly sucks] i dont even have my cooler master fans plugged in, they sound like a vacuum cleaner when they are on. my fractal fan controller died on me unfortunately so i cant make the noise of my CM fans tolerable

who ever mentioned an h60? yeah i know, i was planing on using a 140mm shroud and a custom adapter plate for my kuhler 620 [assuming i need it].

 

[humphreybot]

here is just one example of a fan that has high air flow (90CFM) AND low noise (18db) http://www.microcenter.com/product/395713/XAF_Series_140mm_Blue_LED_Case_Fan

 

[JamesSneed]

here is just one example of a fan that has high air flow (90CFM) AND low noise (18db) http://www.microcenter.com/product/395713/XAF_Series_140mm_Blue_LED_Case_Fan

Haha to funny. By the way the fan is rated for 800 to 1,200 RPM. Want to guess which speed they used for CFM rating and which for noise(Hint its not the same number)? Just because specs say something has high CFM and low noise doesn't make it true. Also note the static pressure of this fan is terrible so never use on a heat sink or radiator.

Review of said fan:

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1819/7/

 

[rubix_1011]

Static Pressure > CFM when it comes to radiators.

 

[dannoddd]

Noctua NF-F12, google it to see the hundreds of reviews with nothing bad to say.
Plus you get a 6 year warranty, and it's PWM. You can't go wrong with it.

 

[Guest]

whats your take on the 140mm bitfenix spectre pro? seems to be a good balance between CFM, static pressure, concentrated airflow and dBA, i would probably use a 9v reducer as such http://www.xoxide.com/phobya-adapter9v-20cm-black.html

 

[Guest]

why am i not playing borderlands 2?

 

[ram1009]

looking a fan to use with my kuhler 620 [just ordered it] and possibly for use as case fans. i want something dead silent that still has great cooling potential. are there a specific dBA and CFM ranges i should be looking for? i am trying to go as silent as possible, i have a factal define r3 case and a gtx 670 with a direct cu2 cooler which are both on the quieter end.

looking for both 120mm and 140mm fans.

i want something dead silent that still has great cooling potential.

People in Hell want ice water and you both have the same chance of getting your wish. Where did this oxymoron "silent fan" originate? There's this thing called PHYSICS. Maybe you've heard of it.

 

[JamesSneed]

The Scythe Gentle Typhoon is one of the better 120mm fans for a radiator / heatsink:

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=36_1130_49_1043&products_id=24748


For case fans I prefer a PWM fan, the Noiseblocker NB-BlackSilentPro makes lower pitch sound which to me sounds like it not making as much noise as it is:

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=36_407_696&products_id=30445


Edit: Check out http://www.silentpcreview.com/ Also, to be honest if your looking for silent you cant use fans but if your looking for quiet you want the largest slowest moving fans possible. While im being honest the kuhler 620 was a bad choice if this was your goal.

 

[Guest]

I ended up reducing the fan voltages to 7v by modifying molex connectors, its pretty quiet now

 

[rubix_1011]

Please select a best answer and I'll close the thread. Thanks for checking back in.

 

[DarthTengil]

I use SilverStone SST-AP141 140mm fan with 64.34 CFM in 1500 RPM and 30.1 db at full speed. This one is not just fan but spcial-made intake fan that compimaze the air to a air-swirvel "mini-twister" that blows straight at the components, other fans only work as a outake fan that spread the air on the sides and will inside a case blow around the component and not into it.

 

[rubix_1011]

This topic has been closed by Rubix_1011

 

[Guest]

Best answer selected by vanwazltoff.