120mm Case Fans . . .

J

jnick

2[H]4U
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Hey all,

I'm looking for some opinions on case fans. I'm going to be getting a G70, modified, using a total of 6 120mm fans. I have done extensive research on the subject and have narrowed it down to 3 manufacturers.

Yate Loons D12SL - 28dbA, 47CFM

Scythe S-Flex (SFF21E) 1200rpm - 20dbA, 49CFM

Scythe S-Flex (SFF21F) 1600rpm - 28dbA, 63CFM

Now the Scythe obviously stands out due to it's specifications. No matter which model, the Scythe's paper specs are pretty amazing for both silence and performance. The question is, are they true to their specs? I know Scythe has a good reputation with heatsinks, but what about their fan ratings? Are these fans really that good?

Yate Loons are on the list because they are cheap, and everyone says good things about them.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!
 
Yate Loons for quiet.
Thermaltake Thunderblades or Aerocool Turbines for high performance.

Lian Li stock 120mm case fans are pretty good too.
 
I heard scythes are rebranded ADDA's, but I can't confirm for sure.

Anyway specs mean NOTHING! Testing standards vary widely.
 
Thanks for the info. Looks like I'm going to go with the Yates due to price/performance.

Any other suggestions are appreciated, however.

Thanks!
 
J-Mag said:
I heard scythes are rebranded ADDA's, but I can't confirm for sure.
Click to expand...

The S-Flex packages say Sony. I have a Scythe sleeve bearing fan lying here that has Young Lin Tech on the package.

I have 12 of the S-Flex "F" fans running right now within 3 feet of me. The best thing about them is that they have hardly any vibration and bearing noise, better than any sleeve bearing fan I've ever encountered. When I first got them, I put three on a PWM circuit for speed control. Big mistake, they growl loudly on PWM. They turned out to be fine for me even running full speed.
 
My Scythe Ninja's cooler with zalmann fan-mate is fantastic. :D
I appreciate silence and this is still acceptable quiet at max rpm. I think this is 20db model. I can hear the noise it makes but it's not much, and with min rpm it's inaudible and still cools quite effectively.
 
what brand fans are actually rebadge yate loons that are hand picked for quiet and airflow?
 
As enderW pointed out... check out this review..

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article695-page1.html

The Scythe Fans are highly rated for the silence and for moving CFM's.

The Nexus are indeed hand picked rebranded late loons.

Also getting a good score for moving good cfms while being quiet is the Noctua.

I personally have 4 of the Scythe F's in my system. I love them. Out of that review they moved the most CFMs but were slightly louder.

But I have them all on a vantec 205 fan controller..at 7v, they are nearly silent, and i cant hear them from my seat 3 feet away, and when I game, I turn them up to 12 v. I find they are the perfect fan for when I want a lot of air movement.. and when I still want good air movement but more silence. Most of the other fans dont provide enough air for me when im gaming... these fans are the perfect fit for me.
 
I've got some Nexus 120mms and some of the medium speed (1200rpm, I think) Scythe S-Flexes. The S-Flexes aren't as quiet as the Nexus fans, but they move a great deal more air. I wouldn't have any trouble recommending them to anybody.
 
Hmmm, I'm still not sure as what to do. I was going to go with the Yates, but then I'm hearing all of the good reviews on the Scythe's . . .

Remember, I will have six of these fans in the case.

What do you all think?
 
I would ask 3 questions.

1. Are you just looking for good quiet fans?
2. Did you ever need a lot of air moving.. Ie, gaming, full load situations, etc?
3. DO you plan to use a fan controller? (with 6 fans, I sure would)

It would depend what I reccomend, based on your usage and needs.
 
OK. from personal experience...

All my systems that I build use the Yate Loons... That's about 250-300 a year. I buy them by the 100s.

They're just a BIT louder than the scythes at full voltage while maintaining similar airflow.

I have 6 Yates in my case.

4 on a radiator. 1 intake and 1 PSU fan...
 
bradyapba said:
I would ask 3 questions.

1. Are you just looking for good quiet fans?
2. Did you ever need a lot of air moving.. Ie, gaming, full load situations, etc?
3. DO you plan to use a fan controller? (with 6 fans, I sure would)

It would depend what I reccomend, based on your usage and needs.
Click to expand...

1. Sort of. I want a balance between the both.
2. I mainly use the PC for gaming, aside from school work/surfing the web.
3. At this time, no I do not.

Arcygenical - What Scythe model do you have? The 1,200 RPM?

With 6 Yate's in your case, how bad is the noise?
 
I have 5 yates in my case, and they are still pretty damn quiet.

I recommend you invest in a fan controller, so you can crank them back to 5v (almost inaudable) for regular use, and crank them up for gaming or other stressful tasks.
 
I just replaced my two case fans with Nexus fans and running full speed (12V) they're BARELY audible. I also, the one of the now homeless Lian-Li case fan was put back to work in my power supply with awesome results as well.

But yeah I give the thumbs up to the nexus fans
 
My answers are pretty simple then.

Invest in a fan controller. My Vantex/Nexus 205 controls all 5 of my fans...its only $16 at newegg.

For gaming the late loons and nexus dont move enough air for my liking. The 40 CFMs they move, just isn't enough cooling for when im gaming.

They are great fans, all three you will be happy with for silence, and ok air movement.

the Loons, nexus, or the 1200 rpm scythe..... but not for gaming.

If it was me, i would get a controller and the scythe 1600rpms. Great for gaming and their 63 CFM's, and still pretty quiet all things considered (the quietest 60+ CFM fans ive ever tried, and ive tried 4)... and when volted down to 7v, and about 35 CFMs, they are whisper quiet.

If your dead set against a fan controller, and dont want the slightly louder 1600 scythes, than the Loons, nexus, or the 1200 rpm scythe are all great choices for silence and ok air movement, and are going to work about the same. I would pick the Loons becuase they are the least expensive and very quiet.

So to sum up...

My choice 1 is

1. Fan controller and the scythe 1600rpms for the win.
2. If not 1, than Late loons. For the price, silence, and decent CFM.

my 2 cents!
 
jnick said:
Arcygenical - What Scythe model do you have? The 1,200 RPM?

With 6 Yate's in your case, how bad is the noise?
Click to expand...

Yes, the SFF21E (1200RPM, 49CFM).

I don't for a second, believe that it pushes 49cfm at 20.8dba. It's only a smidgen quiter than a yate loon. An 8dbA difference should roughly be 3x louder. It also rotates at 1150rpm, wheras the Yate rotates at closer to 1300.

With 6 of them... at 12v they're fairly loud (now, I'm a very subjective listener...). About the same as a 7800GTX GPU (The big 2 slot cooler). At 8v or so they're practically silent, and still move alot of air through my radiator (about 80cfm for 4 fans).

At 6v I hear my PSU fans over them, and if I manually stop those my case is almost DEAD silent.

All of this is from about 3ft. Case is at EAR LEVEL.


For the record, I've used almost every 120mm fan on the market... The good ones at least. From the aluminum frame ones, the turbine styles, Enermax Enlobal and hell even the dual afterburner style Delta fans (2 sets of fan blades).

I still use the yate loons for all the systems I build. At 1.75 in lots of 150, I really can't go wrong. 3.00$ for more than 3 at a time at jab-tech... Amazing deal.

Additionally, I'd say, from CONCLUSIVE testing, that 6-7% have a noisy bearing. Lots of oil will fix this, although slow down the fan by about 100rpm. Normally I don't care about this, as my customers arn't generally that descerning... But I do give them the option of getting cherry-picked fans for a slightly more expensive cost (10% of my enhanced cooling profile, so an extra 5$ or so).

So, order about 5 for 16$ and have an extra or two lying around. You'll always use them.
 
Wow . . .

Big thanks goes out to everyone for the help and suggestions.

I'll either be going with the Scythe F & Fan Controller or the Yate Loons.

Thank you again!
 
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