silent fan question and placement/push/pull questions

Ok, so a few questions here. I took a small break from my watercooling endeavors, but I'm back with a vengance. I've got some fan questions:

I'm going to be running a 2 block system on my CPU and GPU. NB is passive. I've built a large enclosure that the whole case will sit on (see http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=305392&highlight=not-uncarved for details). My hard drives will be IN the box, so their heat will not contribute to the case heat. I'm going to keep one 80mm window fan and one 120mm blow hole fan in the case.

My ultimate goal is as quiet a PC as possible. Now - my original idea had a 540cfm blower as the exhaust of the box, with the HC as the only input. like Cathar's box. This has been working great - but if I want to go quieter I think some 120mm fans could be nice. My question is: how should I place fans? Will 2 120mm fans in place of the blower work? in the same spot? Should I do those AND 2 shrouded to the heatercore in a push configuration so I get pull from the rear 2 fans and push from the shrouded 2 fans?

Additionally (and I know this has been discussed ad nauseum, but I can't find a diffinitive answer searching) what fans will give the quietest performance, and what is the easiest way to adjust their speeds/noise (what fan controller will be simplest?)

Please look at the original thread for bearings. I'd appreciate all input. Thanks!

As far as fans and controllers:

If going with 120mm fans some of the quietist are the Vantec Stealth fans but they don’t move very much air for 120mm's If you want fans that move more air try Panflows or aluminum fans. They mover lots of air at little noise. As for fan controllers try a Sunbeam or a Nexus 305. These controllers allow for complete turn off of fans. Which means that during down time or light usage fans can be turned down to a crawl or completely off to reduce noise and turned up to full blast during intense applications.

There are no negatives in regards to performance with a push pull configuration. If you have the space for two fans and two shrouds by all means do it. Otherwise just pull.

so I've done some more reading. Panaflo M1A's seem to be a favorite - but how can I be sure that I get the japanese ones and not the inferior ones from China?

Additionally, can someone who has used 120mm fans on a fan controller give their experience? I plan to run these fans as quiet as I can, so I want to get fans that I KNOW will work well undervolted. And I want to do this with controller. Basically, I want to make sure there isn't a whine or clicking when the fan is running at 30% power.

If you want to use 120s, have two intakes instead of the blower, and the other two exhausting (pulling through the HC)
that should work

SenC.

To keep the noise down, you need to run the fans at low speed or the turbulence from even a quiet fan will make noise. I would suggest 4-120mm running at 7V with 2 pushing and 2 pulling. I'm using 4 evercool aluminum fans which are silent in this configuration, but any good quality fans will work.

can someone reccomend the best online US stores for buying fans and controllers?

Additionally - is the 25mm vs. 38mm thickness significant? The Panaflo M1s are 38 and supposedly produce more pressure. I would like some clarification.

Thanks all

I have a Torin blower blowing and a Evercool 120mm sucking all hooked up to a Fan Master Super Flower controller. My aim is also quietness. Currently, my Evercool is running at 1800rpm which is fairly quiet. Most of all, the blower blows a large amount of air at 8V or so and is definitely quieter than the Evercool at 7V which is saying a lot. If you already bought the blower, you should try to see the minimum voltage it will run at.

the blower I have is massive overkill for what I'm doing - I'm going to be selling it soon actually. Which is a shame, cause it's amazing, but I think I'm under utilizing it.

I think I'll go with 2 evercool aluminums and 2 panaflo M1a's so I can, if nothing else, help others with choices.

Now - can someone reccomend a 4-knob fan controller that will definitly work with all these fans without having to switch wires or get adapters? I say this because I got a 120mm fan for a blowhole in my case, and the fan controller I have for case fans has 4 male 3 pin connectors, but the 120mm I got has only 1 4-pin connector. So do these fans definitely have a FEMALE 3 pin connector, or can I at least find a fan controller that will be compatible?

BlueMan said:

so I've done some more reading. Panaflo M1A's seem to be a favorite - but how can I be sure that I get the japanese ones and not the inferior ones from China?

Click to expand...

I think that Jab Tech sells only the Japanese ones, but I'm not entirely sure. Talk to their customer support before ordering. People have some discussions about this going on at silentpcreview.com forums.

Here's a link to the product:

http://www.jab-tech.com/customer/product.php?productid=2094&cat=81&page=1