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silent 90mm fans

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ObiwanShinobi

Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2006
So I had two thermalblade 90mm fans and I just found out they were making the most noise in my case. so I unplugged them, I hope that wont mess anything up considering they were just exhaust and I still have a 120 exhaust. But I was wondering if anyone could reccomend some low cost low noise 90mm fans that are possibly LED for me.
 
Maybe somthing silent with a 5v fan mod. 20db is the loudest fan in my case right now.
 
You had 3 exhaust fans...how many intake fans do you have? Have you considered getting a fan controller and turning down a 90mm that might normally run in the high 20's dBa range but would quieten down to almost inaudible once you turned it down to around 7v or less? As long as there is good incoming airflow, the lower cfm output from 2 90mm fans, plus the 120mm exhaust should still give adequate cooling.
 
Well what 90cfm fans do you know are silent at 5v that I can plug into my fan controller?
 
stevejr said:
What is "low cost" to you? I noticed these 92mm led fans at Performance-Pcs

http://www.performance-pcs.com/cata...d=3113&zenid=bf52a41f0c8f3cd8a834ab3ab8e74eb3


Would any of these work for you?
Them Blackfire fans are not even close to being quiet. The only good thing about them is the LED has its own tail. They look good though.

Here is a good fan that will run at full power and give good results. If you drop the voltage a little bit on a controller it will be even quieter.
http://www.jab-tech.com/NEXUS-92MM-REAL-SILENT-CASE-FAN-DF1209SL-3-pr-2858.html
 
Obiwan...the 5v number is a bit of a problem...a lot of fans don't even start to spin until about 6v or 7v..and at 6 or 7volts the dBa will be so low that it's inaudible. The cfm's will, of course, be much lower...so it's a trade-off. But just about any fan that can be turned down to around 7v will be almost silent.

Because of the need for good airflow and quiet running, the 120mm fans are the best choice...good cfm's at relatively low rpm's.And you can turn down a 120mm just a bit...make them almost silent...and not lose much cfm.

So, do I take it that you have a fan controller? Did you have your thermalblade's hooked up to the controller...and if so...were you able to turn them down?
 
stevejr said:
Obiwan...the 5v number is a bit of a problem...a lot of fans don't even start to spin until about 6v or 7v..and at 6 or 7volts the dBa will be so low that it's inaudible. The cfm's will, of course, be much lower...so it's a trade-off. But just about any fan that can be turned down to around 7v will be almost silent.

Because of the need for good airflow and quiet running, the 120mm fans are the best choice...good cfm's at relatively low rpm's.And you can turn down a 120mm just a bit...make them almost silent...and not lose much cfm.

So, do I take it that you have a fan controller? Did you have your thermalblade's hooked up to the controller...and if so...were you able to turn them down?
They thermalblades were hooked up to a controller and they were turned down. Still made a bunch of noise. Cant fit a 120 there either. Like I said I need 90mms that are silent at about 5-7v. Preferably UV or led ones.
 
I found clear frame fans tend to be louder. So far, I only found one clear housing (LED fans are housed in clear bodies mostly) fan that is close to bieng silent. It was a 120MM Coolermaster fan.

I heard these are not really all that loud. Not silent (specs lie). It should fill or get close to what you are looking for.
http://www.svc.com/al9025-4ld2.html
 
Enablingwolf...I agree...those fans are rather loud...unless they are on a controller. Obiwan was asking about led fans and that's why I gave him that site...there are a few others on that site that he could have looked at as well...but the led selection is limited.

The regular 90 (92mm...same) fans offer a lot more...better fans...quieter. That Noctua looks really nice...and it's probably very quiet...but I don't know how to convert their noise specs into dBa...
 
I even tried them Blackfire on a controller to the point of them not bieng able to start. Matter of fact, I got one for my hard drives. It is the lowest I can take it and still start. Right now It is the only fan can hear in my case. I do love they way they look. They just suck for how loud they are. I have 3 Blackfire fans. The 120MM are about the worst. They have motor noise really bad, even at low speeds. They are about the best for LED and fan controllers though. That extra lead for the LED is really nice. When they are undervolted. (The LED does not dim.) Just about every LED fan out there will dim undervolted. So it negates the feature of using LED if your dimming them.

I finally gave into the plain old black bodied fans for quiet. I used to try out fans to find that perfect balance of good looks and quiet. It was something I just had to bite the bullet on and use ugly black body fans. Seems LED and silent are not even of the same species.
 
Enablingwolf...I have one of those 120mm Coolermaster fans as the front fan in my Cooler Master case and yes, it's quiet...not silent...but I have it controlled and by just turning it down just a little it becomes silent...and the blue led's are nice as well.

That 90mm led fan at svc looks pretty good...on a controller maybe that will be just what Obiwan has been looking for.
 
I got the purple one for the coolermaster. I enjoyed it until one LED went out. Yes, it did not take much to make it silent or darn near to it. It is about the best LED fan out there for quiet cooling. :D


It is hard to go wrong with Nexus. I have a 120MM in the front of my case and I cannot hear it on full power. That dang Blackfire makes the rest seem silent. I gues it is all about ambient sounds and the relative silent your looking for. Even to the point of how good your hearing is. My wife cannot hear the computer. To me it sounds like a jet plane. (Even though it is near silent.)

Even though, I never used that AL9025-4LD2 fan. I know someone who raved how quiet it was. I assume controlled it would be a good fan for looks and quiet. The only true silent fan, is one that is turned off.
 
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the EVERCOOL AL9025-4LD2 LED ALUMINUM FAN WITH BLUE LEDS 38.4CFM 12DBA might not be a bad idea. But im thinking about just forgetting the lights and getting the cheapest silent 90mm fans I can get. I need 3 as I need one for my psu. And I also need a cheap silent 80mm for my psu also.
 
The smaller the fan. Louder it tends to be.

For cheap 92MM fans. I like these. They do well on controllers.
http://www.jab-tech.com/Panaflo-H1A-Z-92x92x25mm-case-fan-FBA09A12H-Z-pr-3404.html

(The regular M1 fans are pretty good on a controller too, but almost $9.00 a shot.)

They are far from perfect. They do have a little bit of buzz to them. I found getting cheap shows itself. For a good fan the one(Nexus) I linked up before is a good fan. It undervolts good, and have little motor noise,

The 80MM your going to be hard pressed to find a good cfm and price ratio. My pick would be this model.
http://www.jab-tech.com/NEXUS-80MM-REAL-SILENT-CASE-FAN-SP802512L-03-pr-2857.html
 
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ObiwanShinobi said:
But im thinking about just forgetting the lights and getting the cheapest silent 90mm fans I can get.

If you're looking for cheap 92mm fans these arctic cooling fans aren't bad, but I prefer running slightly-faster fans like the panoflos that Enablingwolf listed on a controller personally. I agree that you should forget looking for lights on fans if you want quiet though. You're better off just getting a couple cathodes for "color" and get normal black case fans.
 
Having faster fans, gives that little bit of cooling overhead if you need it. Even if you don't want the extra sound output. That is why we use fan controllers though.
 
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