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fan grille testing noise/flow article

I did this on my 600T: top and bottom: MUCH quieter afterwards. (I no longer use this case)
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This is very interesting but it doesn't take into consideration how much room you leave between the grill and the fan itself. I know that if I use my radgrill stripe mounted directly to the fan it can be quite a bit louder than if I put a 1/16-1/8" spacer between the fan and the grill.
 
Yeah, I remember a test much like this back in the late 1990s where they discovered these simple facts:

1. Metal stamp-outs are restrictive and loud.
2. Wire grilles are the least-restrictive, aside from no grille at all.

I remember taking my Enlight case and cutting off the stamp-outs and replacing them with wire grilles.

It is nice to see them testing more modern shrouds and honeycomb stamps, which were not prevalent ten+ years ago. Maybe I need to cut the Honeycomb off the back of my Sonata and replace it with wire :D
 
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Honeslty, i'm not in this for the airflow, that's a bonus.
I'm in it for the loss of potential 'whine' in tone / "less noise".

More airflow is a bonus... and in theory allows for lower spinning fans... which helps the whole noise thing :)

Thanks for posting the pic cmadki4. ... did you try using a small dremel / cutting disc before that larger tool you have in the pic? I've gota dremel, nothing like whats shown though ;)
Wondering just how many cutting discs i'd go through making all those cuts, lol.

EDIT: I've also got the made-for-the-800d DemciFlex triple 120mm filter on top of my case, so any increase in airflow will be beneficial. If i'm not mistakne, DemciFlex states that thier filters measure about a 25% reduction in flow. ... which i can beleive, having felt the air with/without the filter on top!

EDIT #2: if you want the made-for-800d filter, no frozencpu doesnt have it and wont order it in. i just ordered direct from South Africa from DemciFlex. The dude was super helpful, and nice cheap shipping. Took about... 3 weeks to get here?
 
Momo said:
Thanks for posting the pic cmadki4. ... did you try using a small dremel / cutting disc before that larger tool you have in the pic? I've gota dremel, nothing like whats shown though ;)
Wondering just how many cutting discs i'd go through making all those cuts, lol.
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Hey, no problem. :)

I do have a Dremel for detail work, but the angle grinder is much quicker and easier for big cuts. Then I clean it up with files or the Dremel. Dremels go through cutting wheels like crazy, mainly cause they just aren't meant for moderately heavy gauge steel like computer cases are constructed of. An angle grinder or jig saw or both is worth the purchase from your local Harbor Freight :)
 
No harbor Freight here, but we have Canadian Tire... they are the king of 'cheap but decent' power tools. heh.

I'm almost never going to use an angle grinder... except now, where i've gotta cut the honeycomb out of the top of my case, and do the same to the back exhaust... lol
 
Momo said:
No harbor Freight here, but we have Canadian Tire... they are the king of 'cheap but decent' power tools. heh.

I'm almost never going to use an angle grinder... except now, where i've gotta cut the honeycomb out of the top of my case, and do the same to the back exhaust... lol
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Harbor Freight's equivalent here in Canada is Princess Auto. Don't bother with Canadian Tire unless it's a Christmas sale.
 
Back in the day, I bought an 80mm hole saw from Home Depot for like $50 (I'm an idiot) and cut out the 80mm stamped fan grill holes in a freaking oldschool steel case. Geez, that took me forever and it was a pain in the butt through hard steel.
 
Only reason I use fan grills is because I know at some point my fingers will end up in there...(or worse, someone elses) :eek:
 
I don't even have a grill on the far back fan on my push pull H60 setup. Should probably cut out the stamp grill though, but seriously, if you want to reduce noise and be cheap and quick, use. 1/8 to 1/4 inc spacer. (washers, nuts, whatever)
 
OP Wow interesting, I never considered the grill as adding to the noise of a fan. I'm using wire on my rear fan & mesh on my 2 top fans so I'm ok with noise, but didn't realize the mesh was that constricting of air flow. I foam lined 2 ducts which I put over the 2 top fans so maybe I'll switch to wire grills. thanx
 
I don't care about noise as much as airflow. Seems like the Hex grill is reducing my air intake by 10%
 
If i'm not mistaken, the impact of the air on the flat stamp-honeycomb grille will still have the same effect, if only lessened a little. See the silverstone articles linked for some nice animated gifs :)

djgizmo said:
I don't even have a grill on the far back fan on my push pull H60 setup. Should probably cut out the stamp grill though, but seriously, if you want to reduce noise and be cheap and quick, use. 1/8 to 1/4 inc spacer. (washers, nuts, whatever)
Click to expand...
 
... the reason i'm looking into this is that i've got a corsair H100 in the top of my Obsidian 800d, and i've got some of the best quiet fans around, both a push pull set of Noctua NFP12 and Couger CFV12HP.

Both at full speed make a bloody lot of noise. I've got to think that a lot of that noise is air turbulence through the honeycomb grills. Even at the 'quiet' h100 fan controller setting i can hear them. Which to be honest, i don't think i should be able to.
 
Spare-Flair said:
Back in the day, I bought an 80mm hole saw from Home Depot for like $50 (I'm an idiot) and cut out the 80mm stamped fan grill holes in a freaking oldschool steel case. Geez, that took me forever and it was a pain in the butt through hard steel.
Click to expand...

Add me to that list! You needed every "edge" possible trying to get that duron or 2500 barton to the max!

Worst pun evar.
 
I care very much about noise and found the article very interesting and useful.
 
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