[blkgti]

I'm new to the Cooling forum and I see the SF2 recommended here over other alternatives. Having tried the SF2, along with other fans, I don't think it's a very impressive product. Not that it ultimately doesn't cool well; it does, but that comes at a relatively high cost with respect to the annoyingly high-pitched "whiney" noise generated by the fan at high speed. Nor do I think that its CFM rating is realistic, as I experienced no change in load temps after I switched to the much quieter Panaflo U1A. A Tornado lowered my temps a bit over the U1A and the SF2, so it's not as if my SLK-900a couldn't benefit from greater airflow. I guess I'm puzzled as to why the SF2 seems to be the fan of choice for many forum participants.

[archilochus]

Probably because you can configure it three diff. ways, out
of the box. It has its own rheostat switch. Run it with the
temp probe. Or full thru a controller or not.Sometimes to much
air is counter productive.Are all of these fans you are reffering
to 80mm fans? THE FANMAN

[stan03]

yea its just that it fits the most number of "good things", it comes adjustable, with a thermal probe, and does push a good amount of air. Its also pretty quiet when turned down. I have 3 of these in my case..... and i don't hear the "whiney" noise you are talking about.

[ProBoner]

The whiney noise is usually due to the fan grill. Once removed, the fan does quiet down a little.

To me the main selling point is that its a very good product for $10!

[archilochus]

Also a good idea to cut out the metal fan grids on case.This
is were most of the noise comes from.I call them restricter
grids.Cut them out,less noise/ more air.WIN/WIN.
THE FANMAN

[blkgti]

Originally posted by archilochus
Probably because you can configure it three diff. ways, out
of the box. It has its own rheostat switch. Run it with the
temp probe. Or full thru a controller or not.

All that is very true. In my case, I couldn't run it full speed off the mobo, as its noise quotient was extremely high. The rheostat is a nice option, and it took advantage of it before I got a fan controller. However, it didn't think the thermal probe was that effective.

Sometimes to much
air is counter productive.Are all of these fans you are reffering
to 80mm fans? THE FANMAN

Yes, all 80mm fans.

[blkgti]

Originally posted by ProBoner
The whiney noise is usually due to the fan grill. Once removed, the fan does quiet down a little.

I don't use fan grills on any of my CPU fans.

To me the main selling point is that its a very good product for $10!

I guess that's where my opinion differs, especially when there are alternatives on the market that cool just as well without the highly annoying noise. Truly, I can't see how the price figures into this, as $10 vs. $12 (for example) vs. even $4 is of no consequence whatsoever. Hell, these things are cheaper than pizza.

[blkgti]

Originally posted by stan03
yea its just that it fits the most number of "good things", it comes adjustable, with a thermal probe, and does push a good amount of air.

While the value of the thermal probe may be questionable, especially in an OC'd system, being able to attenuate its speed is a nice feature. Of course, this is negated by the simple fact that other fans can provide the same cooling effect without the need to turn them down in order to escape the grating noise.

Its also pretty quiet when turned down. I have 3 of these in my case..... and i don't hear the "whiney" noise you are talking about.

Sure they're quiet when turned down :-). I don't hear the "whiney" noise, either, when I turn mine down. But, that's hardly the point, as one can't explore the SF2's cooling prowess with its speed attenuated to such a degree. Wouldn't you agree?

[stan03]

no cause sometimes i need quiet and sometimes i can have the option of using it at full blast

[blkgti]

Originally posted by stan03
no cause sometimes i need quiet and sometimes i can have the option of using it at full blast

At the risk of sounding argumentative, I don't think you understood what I wrote. To wit, if you need to turn it up full-blast, than you have no choice but to agree that the SF2's cooling ability cannot be fully explored when it's turned down. As such, the SF2 running relatively quietly when attenuated is a moot point.

[Valk]

for me... its orange... it moves 70+ cfm, fits a 80 mm mount and its friggen orange O_o. all of the other fans on the market are irritatingly black and boring. I got a red round cold cathode kit for my smart fan 2 when i was using my sk7 and i have to say, that just looked so damn sweet with the cathode just under the grill.
if you remove the grill, the noise level at full bore is not so bad. its somthing you have to get use to though. compare to somthing like a tornado =\. Since i use an sk6+ now for my tbred, i cannot use the smart fan 2 effectively. but i think for the noise level when compare to other 80 mm fans, its resonable. the speed controller is a real plus as i dont ahve to spend $50 on a controller where i only need control over one fan. i just wish it was as nice as the other thermaltake controllers.

im canadian though. I got my smart fan 2 with a volcano 9. that heatsink is now cooling my roomates xp 1800+ and he does not overclock. it was good for the money i think.

[blkgti]

Originally posted by Valk
for me... its orange... it moves 70+ cfm, fits a 80 mm mount and its friggen orange O_o. ...

Yup, there's no doubt it's orange :-). I do, however, doubt that it moves 70+cfm of air. As I mentioned in my original post, my load temps were virtually unaffected when I replaced the SF2 with a Panaflo U1A. Supposedly, the Panaflo moves ~25cfm less air compared to the SF2, but there was no indication of that in practice.

[dalilman52]

panaflos move air in a diff pattern than sfII's, they move in a straight circular while sfII's move in cone, so u may be not using all the cfm's from the sfII blowin on the hs
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[stan03]

Originally posted by dalilman52
panaflos move air in a diff pattern than sfII's, they move in a straight circular while sfII's move in cone, so u may be not using all the cfm's from the sfII blowin on the hs

where did you hear this? can you post a link or something.... iv never heard of that.

[blkgti]

Originally posted by dalilman52
panaflos move air in a diff pattern than sfII's, they move in a straight circular while sfII's move in cone, so u may be not using all the cfm's from the sfII blowin on the hs

Unfortunately, I don't know enough about air circulation patterns to gauge the application of the concept, but let's take the comment above as it stands. Assuming the SF2 moves air in such a way that my Thermalright HS' miss out on some of the airflow (I've used it on a SK-7 and a SLK-900a), then it stands to reason that it may not be the best product to use with those HS'. Once we add-in the SF2's very unpleasant sonic behavior, it would seem that it's not a good recommendation for all folks. Yet, I see it recommended without fail for Thermalright HS's and any other HS one can think of. I guess I just don't get it. Is it recommended so often, because folks may not have tried other fans, or is there something I'm missing here?

[Valk]

well, all i can say is that for me, it is all about the flexability. My machine never runs at the same speed for a long time because i have different performence desires. somtimes i want stupid fast framerates, others i want to be able to sleep... generally, i have been able to keep my amd processors cooled with the smart fan 2 at 3000 rpm when running at stock speed. this is almost inaudible. the only time that noise starts to kick into the picture is between 4300 and 4800 rpm. and the difference in cfm at these speeds is not so hot.
I will not disbute that there are better sollutions, It also has to come down to availability i think. volcano's and smart fans can be baught at any computer store locally. and beyond that. i honestly couldnt tell you why so many people recommend them. its an attractive fan at the right price.

[xtern]

personally I don't like them, they are louder than other fans i have at 7 times the price! It's nice to control the speed, but you can't really let them blast b/c of the annoying sound, defeats the object.

[dalilman52]

Panaflo axial fans suit a wide range of applications. They force air out in a "funnel" type pattern, and are ideal when cooling a specific area such as a power supply that is surrounded by numerous components with minimum ventilation available.

this is straight from panasonic's website
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[stan03]

Originally posted by dalilman52


this is straight from panasonic's website

and the sfII?

[dalilman52]

well the sfII, u can just stick ur hand infornt of it and be able to tell it doesnt blow in a straight pattern...
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