The Best CFM/DBA Ratio Fans in 80mm - 120mm Sizes. Discussed Proven and Displayed.

[Time4aMassiveOC]

if there are no standardized noise tests enforced, which seems to be the case. then creating one with the most populor "high quality fan choices" should be realativly easy with the right equipment.


is there a standardized method to test cfm?
if not is there some way to go about getting a means to test a fans cfm yourself?

 

[Bad ConNecTioN]

How many pages back were you reading to spot this?

 

[Ven0m]

SilenX and TT data are a JOKE. They're everything but true. I couldn't stand noise of Silent Boost which was claimed to be 21dB. SilenX fans rotate at speeds way too high to allow them to be so silent, if we trust datasheets.

You want silent 120mm fan? get Nexus or GlacialTech
You want more speed? 3-blade Deltas should do the job

Or read some SPCR...

There are standarized methods to get noise and airflow/pressure curves, but a few companies seem to test fans properly. I think that a few of them are Delta and Nexus, perhaps Sunon too and some other.

 

[MVC]

People have made recommendations for other general plain black fans...

Anyone got any good recommendations for UV sensitive or LED fans?

Evercool aluminum framed fans. They move a decent amount of air and come with either blue or multi-colored LEDs.

 

[Time4aMassiveOC]

i think the real joke is that

everyone sits here talking about companies lying, and how there no way to be able to tell quality of fans in comparison to one another...

but they will sit there and act like they know of a good fan? much less a best fan (noise to cfm ratio).

where is it you guys get your information? and why is it reliable in comparison?


and when you endorse a fan. why not provide a review or some resource backing up your feelings.

im fairly well frustrated. since everyone seems to have lots of opinions without offering any real information other than "this is a good fan".

i plan on finding a way to comparison test fans by noise and cfm as well as any other pertenant quality of a fan.

 

[Voodoo Rufus]

It boils down to this. It is a known fact that SilenX and Thermaltake are known to cheat on their performance numbers, as the numbers they state are extremely unlikely to be obtained by any cheap computer fan such as we use, where the general measurements of dB are at 1m. Some people suspect Delta of underrating their fans as well. Measuring cfm data is hard to do, and the spec number is USELESS without knowing the PQ curve of the fan.

People swear by Panaflos or Deltas typically around here because many of us have bought them, and liked them. We compare our subjective results with those of other members, and the consensus is that they are good fans.

What you propose is to use the data of manufacturers who are in the business of making money, and sometimes are not the most honest of folks. So unless you have a better idea (such as buying or building your own fan test rig such as Joe Citarella has available to him), your methods are just as subjective as ours, and just as useless for objective results.

Also, other relevant characteristics of fans include the following:

bearing type and quality
motor undervoltability
blade shape
number of blades
aggressiveness of the blade design (determines how the fan will respond with differing rpms)
frequency response of the fan as a whole
vibration characteristics
production variability between samples
blade construction material
stator vanes and/or counter-rotation

And it goes on.

 

[LoneWolf121188]

Time4aMassiveOC: I for one am on your side. If I was in your position, i would be doing the same thing you are doing and saying the same thing you are saying (though perhaps in a bit lighter manner to avoid the banhammer). However, in the relatively short time I have visited this forum (8 months), I have noticed that whenever you try to challange a very widely held belief, asking for hard proof and confirmation, all you get is "are you crazy? OF COURSE you are wrong!". Dont get me wrong, this forum is awesome, but dispite the fact that we have several members that spend more on cooling than they do the rest of their system, this is not the place to introduce a radical new concept (and measuring true DBA/CFM values for fans isn't even all that radical...).

The above statement was not directed at anyone at particular, so please do not get offended by it. It was simply an observation that I needed to get that out there.

Now, back on topic:

I have in the past asked if there was a way to measure CFM, and apparently, you need very specialized, very pricy equpment to do that.

 

[SewerBeing]

Time4aMassiveOC and LoneWolf121188: while I can't speak for every person on these forums that say things (and people here are wrong too hey no one is perfect). I can however tell you that Larva and Voodoo Rufus know their stuff. However you didn't want to hear me say that so I went and asked Voodoo what books he has read (notice he just graduated with a bs in aeronautical and mechanical engineering) on the topic of fan design:

"Elements of Gas Turbine Propulsion" - Jack Mattingly
"Turbomachinery, Basic Theory and Applications" - E. Logan Jr.
Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics of Turbomachinery (4th Edition) - Dixon, S.L.

So there you go if you want proof that you were not lied to then may I suggest finding a comfortable place to sit and read those books. However those books assume a good background in fluid and thermo dynamics so I asked again what books he had read on the topic (note I limited him to 2 books)

Thermodynamics: An Engineering Approach (Hardcover)
by Yunus A. Cengel, Michael A. Boles
Fluid Mechanics with Student Resources CD-ROM (Hardcover)
by Frank M. White

And again these are college level text so not a fun read. However I doubt many people will put themselves through that torture so I suggest reading the spec sheets for the fans. If you look you will notice a few things first off if a fan spins faster it becomes louder. So can a fan spinning faster than another be quieter?? No it can not (assuming you don't mess with the number of blades and depending on how well it has been designed). So even if you do believe the SilentX and ThermalTake spec sheets, look at those of every other company and read the reviews on www.silentpcreview.com and mainly this one (thank you Encore2097). Finally thank you Voodoo Rufus for looking up the books you used for me

 

[LoneWolf121188]

Time4aMassiveOC and LoneWolf121188: while I can't speak for every person on these forums that say things (and people here are wrong too hey no one is perfect). I can however tell you that Larva and Voodoo Rufus know their stuff.

I was in no way suggesting otherwise...I guess after rereading my post, it kinda sounded like that, huh? Well, then I misstated what I was trying to say. However, its getting kind of late, and if I try to clarify myself, I will probably screw it up even more becuase I'm half asleep . I think you get what I was trying to say though.

 

[Electron Chaser]

Where was I when this thread came out? Oh yeah I was on vacation that's right.

Great post SB at least everyone now knows what few of us knew already Voodoo Rufus does have a better then the average bear understanding of fluid and hydro dynamics. LOL

 

[SewerBeing]

LoneWolf121188: I know what you were trying to say and yes most people here (including myself sometimes) don't post their sources. I was merely saying that in this case even if neither of them posted their sources they are still correct because they have the experience and knowledge. If someone does not post a link to something instead of bashing him you should assume its true and head off to google and if you can't find anything there then you should ask for a link nicely.

Thank you E.C. (I didn't know you had time for vacations these days ) and better than average might be an understatement they did let me graduate after all

Sorry for the off topic folks.

 

[Time4aMassiveOC]

i wouldnt doubt they do lie.. thier specs blow everyone else completly out of the water. no fan can even come close to touching thier specs. its a joke to even line them up next to eachother.

i would...except


if i was a fan company and i thought i put out a good quality product for the money. i would not sit idly by while the top 2 fan companies lied about thier products performance "so obviously that thier performance is almost beyond he realm of belivable posibility"

i cant belive they have not been disputed.

cause i mean really... what is everyone qualm about silnex... it certainly isnt that they arnt quiet. because they are most definatly super silent. everyone seems to think they lie about the cfm. well frankly these fans are so expensive i cant belive someone hasnt filed suit against them yet just to get them to prove it.

and well... lol i think peoples opinions of thermaltakes silentcat are much more mixed.

many people say they have to lie about thier dba. because it doesnt sound like 21.

well most people dont know that dba is not linear as was previously brought to my attention in this forum. so i can see why they dont belive its 21dba even if it really was. if they had to say compare it to silenx or any other 14>dba quiet fan they had in thier system

and then of course they dont belive the cfm rating.


i think im just going to sue them both for false cfm advertising and get a real answer

 

[Phextwin]

i think im just going to sue them both for false cfm advertising and get a real answer

Based on what? There are no standards for sound measurement - ergo they have not broken any false advertisment laws.

And AFAIK there are no standards for airflow measurement - though it should be a lot harder to fudge those results imo. Uneven air pressures could do this i guess.

 

[Etacovda]

have the airflow chamber set between two rooms at differing pressures... 'WHOOPS!'

America: Sue first, ask questions later™

 

[Time4aMassiveOC]

Time4aMassiveOC: I for one am on your side. If I was in your position, i would be doing the same thing you are doing and saying the same thing you are saying (though perhaps in a bit lighter manner to avoid the banhammer). However, in the relatively short time I have visited this forum (8 months), I have noticed that whenever you try to challange a very widely held belief, asking for hard proof and confirmation, all you get is "are you crazy? OF COURSE you are wrong!". Dont get me wrong, this forum is awesome

yes sometimes people can be totally off topic, or while on topic say a whole bunch of stuff with no links to back it up.

admitedly its not always nessisary to give links when you are helping someone with a simple answer or if it's just a light conversation.

however when you are trying to convince someone of something or are stating something as a fact its pointless to make any arguement if there is no link to back it up.


oh well no matter what i say the silly people will remain themselves. and thats fine with me cause they make the world less dull.

 

[Time4aMassiveOC]

Based on what? There are no standards for sound measurement - ergo they have not broken any false advertisment laws.

And AFAIK there are no standards for airflow measurement - though it should be a lot harder to fudge those results imo. Uneven air pressures could do this i guess.

since there isnt a standard distance for measuring dba they could say whatever they want.

if i were to sue it would be for silenx only and for cfm only.

i would think cfm would be harder to get away with.

i wonder how much i should sue for....

 

[Time4aMassiveOC]

It boils down to this. It is a known fact that SilenX and Thermaltake are known to cheat on their performance numbers.

known fact? i think not. those are some heavy words to be throwing around.

known populor speculation? yep

correct me if im wrong but nobody has proven that silenx fans do not push out the cfm specified.

so isnt it kinda wrong to sit there pawning it off as a fact?


cause if there is some proof id love to see it.


yes i know dba cannot be compared to eachother as presently there is no standard for measuring a fans dba as was linked to earlier in this thread

 

[larva]

It's a known fact. Those fans make a given amount of noise. About twice what they are rated by Thermaltake. I'm sorry but this thread has gone back to it's original character. If you can't understand what people are telling you there is no point asking, and this thread is done.