Quietest OC-friendly CPU fan?

J

Jimmy the Greek

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Aug 20, 2002
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I've been using a Zalman CNPS9500 LED for the last 9 months, and it's kept my E6600 around 50 (3.2GHz @ 1.285v) to 55 (3.4GHz @ 1.35v) load. I can't complain about that, but it's too loud for my liking. I could probably tune it down (it's at max speed), but I'm sure it would lose most of it's cooling ability.

I'm looking for a fan that will be inaudible over the stock case fans of a P182, while still allowing me to reach these overclocks. Should I be looking at a Tuniq Tower, Scythe Ninja, or something else?
 
Looking at it as a physics problem the only way you can compensate for reduced airflow (because a quiet fan is not going to be moving more air) is to increase the fin area the air moves over. So yes, you probally need to be looking at one of the big towers with a 120mm fan. Dont forget the themalright ultra on your list. If you have the room a more expensive higher quality 38mm (1 1/2") thick fans pushes a lot more air at low rpms than the typical 24mm thick (1 inch) fans. A panaflow 120mm x 38mm medum speed fan on a speed control of some sort would likely be idea if you can get it to fit. Run it off a zalman fan mate 2 and you can dial in the quiet vs OC that works for you. I am not sure the wire fan attachment "thingies" that come with the heatsinks will take a 38mm thick fan. Even if you go with a 1 inch thick fan, I recommend a medium or high speed fan. You can turn down a high/medium speed fan but you cannot turn up a low speed fan.
 
I'd go with a Thermalright Ultra 120 extreme and a Yate Loon 120mm. That or a Tuniq Tower.
 
I had the same problem as you, but instead of buying a new HSF I just took the 92mm fan off and ghetto modded a 120mm fan on instead. Quiet, cools much better than the 92mm. I'm happy.
 
Oline61 said:
I'd go with a Thermalright Ultra 120 extreme and a Yate Loon 120mm. That or a Tuniq Tower.
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I'm leaning towards the Ultra-120.

The Yate Loon seems OK, but some people recommend the Nexus. What's the consensus on the latter? Are they actually good for cooling, or intended strictly for noise reduction?
 
Nexus fans are simply under-volted Yate Loon low speed's (big clue - pn of the white/black Nexus on jab-tech is the SAME as the YL branded ones). 4-4.5x the price for basically the same fan - yay vibration damping rubber "screws" for your extra $12. No brainer there if it were my system.
 
kush said:
Nexus fans are simply under-volted Yate Loon low speed's (big clue - pn of the white/black Nexus on jab-tech is the SAME as the YL branded ones). 4-4.5x the price for basically the same fan - yay vibration damping rubber "screws" for your extra $12. No brainer there if it were my system.
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I paid about £1 ($2) more for my Nexus fans than I did for my Yate Loons, if you look around (ebay, probably) you'll get a better deal.

The yates are good but I do prefer the nexus, the airflow isn't much lower but it's considerably quieter at full whack than the yate. They also look better imo (white blades / black frame) and have the 4pin connector as well as the 3 pin.

I currently have one on a freezer 7 pro and it keeps my e6300 at around 40c load @ 2.8ghz and 1.325v. So they're pretty good.
 
Raikiri said:
The yates are good but I do prefer the nexus, the airflow isn't much lower but it's considerably quieter at full whack than the yate. They also look better imo (white blades / black frame) and have the 4pin connector as well as the 3 pin.
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I'm probably going with the Nexus for the Ultra-120, but am not sure about the rest of the case. I have an Antec P182B on the way, and am wondering what would be the best option for the 3x120mm case fans:

1. Stock Antec Tricool fans
2. Yate Loons
3. Nexus

Would options #2 or #3 provide adequate cooling for the HDDs, mobo, etc, or would it be a microwave?
 
I use Nexus fans all round in my v1200+ and a yate @ 6v on my graphics card. Temps are great.
 
I have my Yate Loons at 7v (so basically Nexus fans for $3 instead of $12) and it's more than adequate to cool a heavily OCed system. After running tests with coretemp, prime95 and 3DMark06, there was a 1 degree temp difference between 12v and 7v on the 3 fans (front, read and CPU).
 
Raikiri said:
I currently have one on a freezer 7 pro and it keeps my e6300 at around 40c load @ 2.8ghz and 1.325v. So they're pretty good.
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How did you attach the Nexus to the AC7 Pro?

@ Jimmy the Greek
The Yate Loons will do a good job. However, I do recommend trying out the Antec Tri-Cools first before buying Yate Loons
 
You guys really thik that the Thermalright Ultra 120 extreme will do the job? It has no dedicated fan, or does it?
Well, you guys are the experts so i guess it must be better than the rest.
Thanks for the info...
 
Well if you have a very decent airflow inside your case, you don't need a a fan on the Ultra 120 Extreme. However, if you're unsure of the airflow inside your case, buy a fan for it. It can fit most 120mm fans.
 
Danny Bui said:
Well if you have a very decent airflow inside your case, you don't need a a fan on the Ultra 120 Extreme. However, if you're unsure of the airflow inside your case, buy a fan for it. It can fit most 120mm fans.
Click to expand...

Thank you sir...
 
I think you would definately want to get a fan for the Thermalright, especially for overclocking. You can pick up a Yate Loon pretty cheap, and it'll move enough air to make a big difference without making enough noise to notice.
 
here is my post with an antec P182 and a 120 extreme. I put a 3speed scythe on the cpu because I plan on overclocking. So I wanted the ability of speeding the fan up if needed. I honestly think that I will be able to leave the fan on low with how I have the rest of the airflow layed out.

This also has pics of how it will fit in the case...to give you an idea of space needed. I have aftermarket northbridge and southbridge heatsinks on the board, so that makes things a bit more cramped than if you used stock nband sb coolers.

max silent airflow in a p182 case with a Thermalright 120 extreme
 
@ NiViK,
Looks like a very cool system (no pun intended). I am going to be installing the TRUE and was wondering what you think about the "Scythe Ultra Kraze 120mm Case Fan - 3000 RPM"?
I know that they are insanely loud , but I will use a fan controller, monitor temps and crank em up as needed...
Thanks
 
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