I need quiet case fans

[Jarlax]

Hey gang,

I am trying to quiet down my case a little and the first step I would like to take is to replace the generic case fans with something brand name and quiet! What is the quietest case fan in 80mm size? I plan to replace 3 that are in my case and maybe add a fourth.

I am also thinking of replacing the 80mm fans in my Thermalright 480 watt power supply. But I want to see how much a good quiet case fan helps first.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[Moony349]

I would pick up some 80mm Panaflo's and hook them up to a fan controller.

 

[JKeefe]

Panaflo L1As and Vantec Stealths will do nicely.

 

[ShaftedTwice]

Panaflo L1As and Vantec Stealths will do nicely.

Can't agree with you more on that one, I second that opinion.

 

[Jarlax]

Thanks for the feedback guys! Is there a good site to shop for these fans? I have been looking at newegg and svc, but I didn't know if there was a better place?

 

[JKeefe]

Those are good places. I also shop for fans at Directron, Xoxide, and Silenx.

 

[SvO]

What about the papst 8412NGLE; 12 dB and 19CFM. Or the papst 8412NGML; 19dB and 26,5 CFM.

Silen X claims 14,4 dB and 28 CFM.

All 80 mm's. Silen X is not for sale here, but im curious if its really so silent and so effective.

What are the specs of the panaflo's?

 

[Jarlax]

Anyone have any expirence with the silenx fans? They sound good based on the specs, but I would rather have someone who actually uses the fans tell me they are good then trust the site. They claim:

Specifications:
Fan Dimensions: 80 x 80 x 25mm
Fan Input: 12V/1.2W
Fan Speed: 2200 RPM
Air Flow: 28 CFM
Noise Level: 14 dBA
Three Pin Connector
Four Pin Connector

 

[Hookem]

You could just 7 volt the case fans that you already have...It will quieten them up considerably.

The L1A panflos are hard to beat for quiet...High quality case fans.

I would 7 volt the ones you have first...Works great and is cheap, cheap, cheap...Well you will need some male molex pins.

 

[Jarlax]

Thanks for the idea Hookem. I thought about doing that but that will still not quiet up the PSU fans which are a large part of my noise level.

Maybe 7V the case fans and just replace the 2 cpu fans...hmm.

Does switching them to 7v reduce the effectiveness of the fan much?

 

[SunTzu69]

For my silent Vantec Stealths 80mm I went to Excaliberpc.com

good luck

 

[JKeefe]

Thanks for the idea Hookem. I thought about doing that but that will still not quiet up the PSU fans which are a large part of my noise level.

No reason you can't 7-volt the PSU fans, as well. I had both original fans in my Antec SmartPower 350W 7-volted for a while (in there now are a 7V 92mm Panaflow L1A and a 12V 80mm L1A). You'll have to cut the fan wires where they connect to your PSU circuit board, and you will lose any thernal control that the fans may have. You will of course also void your PSU warranty when you open it.

Does switching them to 7v reduce the effectiveness of the fan much?

It really depends on the fan. The air moved by a 7V fan is a whole lot more air than you get with no fan. My CNPS-7000 HSF only varies the CPU temp by 2 degrees when it is on full blast (whoosing noise) and when it is dialed all of the way down by a Zalman FanMate (silent). Of course, this is a pretty quiet fan already; it make no noise itself even at full speed.