At what decibel level would you label a fan as being a "quiet" fan

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damnathan

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 28, 2006
Messages
500
I realize manufacturers' specs aren't always the most honest, but in your opinion, at what noise level rating would you categorize a fan as being quiet? Also, if there is a fan that according to the specs was supposed to be quiet but wasn't, feel free to list it.

Thanks in advance for any input.
 
Anything under 35 decibels. The Thermaltake Cat Fans are really quiet and push a ton of air.
 
Honestly, it's all relative. Our ears tend to be drawn to the loudest thing in the room. Even if you have quiet fans, they'll still sound loud if your ambient noise level is even quieter. Furthermore, fan noise is more than just sound pressure intensity (decibels) but also the tonal character of the noise. High pitch buzzing noises are a lot more noticeable than a low hum, even at the same decibel rating. Fan noise is also greatly influenced by restriction - putting a fan against a grille or filter affects how the air flows through the blades and can induce a lot of turbulence. Some fans sound better against restriction than others. Lastly, fans can suffer from minor manufacturing defects, and sometimes two fans of the exact same model will sound different... this happens all the time with cheap yates.

To put it bluntly, decibel ratings are all but useless. If you want to find solid information on fans, you'll need to read subjective reviews. Check out some of the fan reviews on SilentPCReview.com, or maybe Bit-Tech.net. I don't like BT's flow measurement methodology though.

From what I've read recently, Scythe Gentle Typhoons strike an effective balance between airflow and noise and respond well to undervolting. Not cheap, though.
 
The human ear can't hear much under 12 dBA. Some fans have a low dBA but have either sounds that are worse than the overall loudness:
- Ticking
- Buzzing
- Whoosh of air through mesh
- Grinding
 
Icejon said:
The human ear can't hear much under 12 dBA. Some fans have a low dBA but have either sounds that are worse than the overall loudness:
- Ticking
- Buzzing
- Whoosh of air through mesh
- Grinding
Click to expand...

becomes very noticeable.

Ever try a 100% passive pc?
 
jeremyshaw said:
becomes very noticeable.

Ever try a 100% passive pc?
Click to expand...

Everything except the PSU, but mostly just to see if I could do it. It would've been fine except for the fact I needed to game on that system at the time....the overclocked video card kinda wanted some airflow :)
 
Kaldskryke said:
Honestly, it's all relative. Our ears tend to be drawn to the loudest thing in the room. Even if you have quiet fans, they'll still sound loud if your ambient noise level is even quieter. Furthermore, fan noise is more than just sound pressure intensity (decibels) but also the tonal character of the noise. High pitch buzzing noises are a lot more noticeable than a low hum, even at the same decibel rating. Fan noise is also greatly influenced by restriction - putting a fan against a grille or filter affects how the air flows through the blades and can induce a lot of turbulence. Some fans sound better against restriction than others. Lastly, fans can suffer from minor manufacturing defects, and sometimes two fans of the exact same model will sound different... this happens all the time with cheap yates.

To put it bluntly, decibel ratings are all but useless. If you want to find solid information on fans, you'll need to read subjective reviews. Check out some of the fan reviews on SilentPCReview.com, or maybe Bit-Tech.net. I don't like BT's flow measurement methodology though.

From what I've read recently, Scythe Gentle Typhoons strike an effective balance between airflow and noise and respond well to undervolting. Not cheap, though.
Click to expand...

I'm very familiar with SilentPCReview. This thread is mostly just to find out what other people think and how they would classify "quiet". It can vary a lot from person to person. I know I'm way more annoyed by little sounds like clicking/ticking than air turbulence.

Gentle Typhoons are actually quite reasonable when you can buy them in bulk wholesale ;)
 
Assuming the PC sits on the floor on the side/under of the desk (3-5ft) then "quiet" is about 5dBA over ambient noise level, this also assumes the fan does not have a whine or clicking, in that case the fan can even be below that level but still be found annoying by the human ear. That is why I always ask what RPM fans a person is running and if they find them loud, which gives a ball park of what kind of dBA they can deal with, and pick a fan that is under that, and not by the mfg's ratings, as they are all fluff.
 
Sound quality to me is more important than actual noise level. An extremely high pitched fan, even if not loud, can pierce through other fan and air flow noise when in a case, and can be very annoying.

Also important to take account how the fan sounds when mounted in different orientations and placement within a case. The only real way to know for sure is to try it yourself, as I find even the subjective testing doesn't always match up with what I expected.

Lone exception so far has been the Scythe GT's.
 
20. If I can hear it, it's not quiet.

Keep in mind that manufacturer-supplied db ratings mean absolutely nothing. For all we know, they take them at 100ft distance. Check with SilentPCReview.com before buying a fan if you really want it to be quiet.
 
my personal preference is anything under 35 dB.. but then again ive been running Tri-cool fans on high for over a year now so ive gotten use to the noise while everyone else that hears my computer complains about it.. its gotten to the point that i need the sound just to fall asleep and if my system for some reason shuts off while im asleep ill wake up right away..
 
I love how much money I spend on things to make my computer quiet and then when I go to sleep, I crank on my desk fan for ambient noise so that I can sleep.

I guess it's not entirely a facepalm because when I work, it's nice to have peace and quiet.
 
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