Lian Li K62 Fans

[bahrieinn]

Hi everyone,

I just put together my system last week in the Lian Li K62 case. I really love the looks and ease of use of the case, but I was wondering about what people thought of the sound levels of the stock fans. As this is my first build, I don't really have any relative sense (nothing to compare to) of whether they are considered loud or not. (I'm guessing they're probably not bad in that they don't emit any high pitched noises, only "airflow" noise mostly)

So basically, what do you guys think of the stock fans on this case? And have any of you modified it for quieter results, if so any suggestions? Also do you guys know the approximate CFM of the stock 140mm's and the 120mm in the back? Because if I'm looking for other fans to use, I want to try to retain approximately the same CFM (maybe a little less) if they can be considerably quieter.

Thanks!

 

[saaiello]

Well what you can do is control the speeds of the fans atleast the ones connected to the motherboard with speedfan. If you say its just airflow noise that you here then getting new fans will not be any quieter at the same CFM rating what you need to do is just slow some of those fans down either with speedfan or buy a drive bay fan controller like THIS.

 

[JohnnyLucky]

I have the Dragon Lord K-60. It has the same stock fans as yours. The noise the fans make is at a lower frequency so it is not as noticeable. Part of the reason for that is the three 140mm fans run at a lower rpm yet the cfm is still equal to higher rpm 120mm case fans. Ventilation, airflow, and cooling are excellent.

I have made only one change. I added a Coolermaster 4-in-3 bay device with a 1200 rpm fan. I installed it in three empty 5.25in exterior drive bays just above the bottom front case fan. I did to balance the intake and exhaust a little bit.

Stock Cooling Fans:

System Fan (Front) 140mm Fan x 1 (1000RPM)
System Fans (Top) 140mm Fan x 2 (1000RPM)
System Fan (Rear) 120mm Fan x 1 (1500RPM)

I don't know the cfm of the stock case fans.

 

[AMW1011]

I don't own the case, first of all, and sound levels are very subjective, second of all, (The actual DBA does not constitute as loud for everyone, it depends on how people hear the given frequencies that each individual fan is at and how well they do with ignoring sounds or placing them as background sounds).

Keeping all that in mind and only going by what I have read, the fans in the PC-K62 are supposed to be very quiet as the 140mm fans spin at only 900 RPM, and Lian Li makes great quality, quiet, average airflow fans.

One of my biggest criticisms of the PC-K62, is that the 140mm fans are simply a little slow, they push about 60-60 CFM, which is pretty good, but not great, at least in my eyes. For a reference, an Antec 900 has 3 120mm fans pushing 79CFM at their highest level and the 200mm fan pushes 134CFM at its highest level. The differences may not be great for you. The only time you will see a major difference is when you have a lot of heat being dumped into your system like an overvolted 58xx card in crossfire or a GTX 4xx card.

If you turn out to not be bothered by too much noise and you want to upgrade the fans, look up Yate Loon Low, medium, and high speed fans. Yate loon fans are great quality for a great price and are very highly regarded. The problem? Some of their models were hard to get in the states so many don't know of them, but one of my favorite stores carry them now:
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php

I am debating whether or not to buy a new case, and if I do it will likely be a PC-K62 with new fans. These are the 140mm fans I have picked out:
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=36_316&products_id=27147

I'm going for a red LED theme. The CFM is extreme, 140 CFM, but the noise levels are going to be a deal breaker for most people, 49 DBA is a lot. If this helps you at all, I plan to get those because I am very tolerant when it comes to fan noise and I don't believe it will be a problem, but if it is then I can always get a fan controller. You can rarely get away with pushing a fan past its rated RPM level, but you can always lower it.

That is just how I see it. Do take note that I am more tolerant than most. For example an Antec 900 with all its fans turned up to high and 2 loud GPU coolers don't bother me at all. That is very bothersome for a lot of people.

Lastly, I don't mean to put you off from the PC-K62, the cooling is still great. I'll be honest, I don't believe there are any cases on the market that are getter than it for the price. Great cooling, awesome features, very beautiful looks with an assortment of optional accessories, and made by the highest quality manufacturer out there, Lian Li. For a reference I am debated whether I should sell my cannibalized Antec 900 and my $350-new Silverstone TJ07 for this case and some added goodies, that should give you an idea on my opinion of this case.

And let's be honest, you can see the quality and great design for yourself.

For extra parts and accessories the same site is a great source. Here are the optional side panels:
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=130_158_714

Note that I doubt that the side fans are a good idea unless your GPUs are overheating, which is almost impossible in this case for any stock GPU(s) to overheat.

 

[bahrieinn]

Thanks for the constructive responses!

@SAAIELLO I'm definitely considering getting a fan controller as I think that will sort out a lot of issues with sound, when the performance isn't needed. I'm getting, decent temps, and I only did a mild OC of my i7 860 to 3.6@1.23v, and my Hyper 212 Plus has done really well IMO (it hovered around 67-71C under full load Prime95 for 8 hrs). So, I think I can afford to turn the fans down most of the time for regular tasks. I've played around with speedfan, but I think I'd much rather prefer having hardware controls.

I've never installed a fan controller, but is it possible to control 2 fans with one knob, (maybe if 2 fans were connected by a Y-cable, to the controller)..or does that not work..?

@JohnnyLucky That sounds like a good idea, taking advantage of the empty bays. Since I only have 1 DVD drive and 1 HD, I always felt that mid front area would be a good place for extra intake. Did you notice lower temps after you put the 4-in-3 bay fan in?

@AMW1011, That's a good point about frequency over DBA, since I feel a lot of manufacturers always list ridiculously low dBAs but again, it could be low level at high pitch, which is definitely harsher on the ear. Have you guys seen this video? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDeINlrCSTc
I think it illustrates the importance of the frequency for sound levels.

I've been looking at a lot of 140mm fans lately too, and in many forums the Yate Loon's are almost always part of the discussion, so they seem really well regarded to me. But unfortunately I don't share the same tolerance for noise levels as you.. , but then again with a fan controller, I could always decrease RPM as you noted. As per that video, I'm really liking the Thermalright X-Silent fan so far, but it doesn't have LED's! And strangely, I always thought LEDs looked tacky, but after owning this case, they've really started to grow on me; I think Lian Li definitely managed to keep it classy and relatively understated with this case.

Also I've heard Noiseblocker fans perform pretty well. I've heard really mixed reviews about how bearing type affects horizontal fan mounting. What are your takes on that? Should I ignore that and just go for quality long lasting bearing types?

Anyway, I do not regret getting the K62 at all! So if anyone reads this, I'm mostly bored and looking for ways to improve the case, but overall it already has really good airflow and it just looks amazing.

 

[AMW1011]

FYI, one of the best things about Yate Loon is that they are very honest with their DBA ratings, so you need to take that into consideration. That 49 DBA fan may be labeled as 40 or less DBA by other manufacturers. And on that note, Thermaltake and the cheaper brands Apevia and Logy's (same as Rosewill fans at Newegg) are known to have terribly under-estimated DBA levels, making them louder than they appear in the specifications.

For the best fans I recommend Antec, Yate Loon, and Scythe. Thermalright makes great products, but isn't really "known" for their fans so I would guess that they are just re-badged fans from another company, but this is a guess. I will tell you that the "7 blades" they boast as the source for their low DBA levels is BS, the Yate Loon fans have 7 blades too and they are rated at 9 DBA more. I would guess this is all marketing. I'm not saying it is outright false, just saying that it seems too good to be true and I've experienced this first hand a lot.

In my opinion, I would get the Yate Loon Medium speed fans and a speed controller so you can turn them way down when the PC is idling and turn them up when gaming or using a CPU intensive application. You could also get away with taking out the front intake fan, since there is plenty of ventilation that it shouldn't effect temps. too much with all the negative air flow (more exhausting air than intaking air which created negative pressure inside the case and forces air through any opening into the case on its own)

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=36_316&products_id=27145

Look at those specs. Those are much more accurate specifications. There are many fans that say they produce ~60CFM but at 1000 RPMs or lower. This fan does that at 1400 RPMs. So either this fan is absolutely terrible, or the other fans are very disingenuous. I'm going with the latter, especially since Yate Loon has an excellent rep. This is all an estimated guess, I admit, since I haven't tested all these fans myself. I will point out that my Antec Tricool fans on low, rated at 39 CFM and 25 DBA, are just as quiet as my Silverstone stock fans which are rated for 40 CFM and 18 DBA and move FAR more air, even though they are rated as 1 CFM lower.

 

[JohnnyLucky]

I installed the bay device when I first built the system so I do not have any before and after temperature readings.

 

[-jB]

did you guys need any Y splitter to connect all the fans ? or can i just connect it to my PSU ?

 

[Bigmac80]

I had those fans on my Lian-li case. I ended up changing it to 140mm Gelid Wing 80cfm fans. They are quite and push alot of air. But those Lian-li fans are pretty quite also. Noctua or Gelid Wings is what i would change it to.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835426027