120mm Fan Roundup: 17 Fans Compared
 

17-Way roundup of 120mm fans from different manufactures including Scythe, Aerocool, Nexus, GlobalWin, Spire, Coolermaster, Papst, Coolink, Acoustifan, mCubed and AC Ryan. We test their performance both temperature as noise wise - and include sound samples of the fans running at different voltages so you can compare them head to head. Are all fans created equal? Let's find out.

http://www.madshrimps.be/gotoartik.php?articID=421

wow

huge differences between the voltages


now we need subjective noise comments for 7V and 5V :D

there there, see the "+++++++" ratings; more ++++ means more irritating motor noise up close, less ++ means less motor buzzing noise when held next to my ear:)

Great job as usual!!
It's 4am here so forgive me if I've missed something but I presume one of the Coolermasters wasn't giving a 'measured' rpm reading. The chart looks unfinished without something written in that box though. i.e. 'No Reading"

yes, the missing value is because the RPM is below the threshold of the RPM sensor of the motherboard

Cheers!

heh, that confused me, I thought wtf only ++ for the GLL. But know I understand.

might want to change it, it's not very intuitive for someone who just pops up the review without reading the introduction in detail


having them compared at the different voltages would be nice as it's not really a apple to apple comparison of a motor when one has to do 1500RPM and the other only 900RPM

charts with the subjective nosie reading and the performance would be nice too =P

thanks, good input:) added that small explanation to the 7/5 comparo pages.

might be a bit hard to do a subject noise + performance chart;

it could uncover discrepancies between the dba reading and the subjective noise, what the purpose of the subjective noise ratings is ;)

yes I know, that's why they are there and included:) dBA value doesn't tell everything and even the sound samples can be confusing

sound samples of fans are difficult because they depend on the sound setup of the reader as well, they are nice for HDs but for fans they can be misleading

maybe a compilation of all the samples to shed more light on it? small movie with sound & pics?

that would be intresting if it's done at a similar RPM

that's pretty much a job which can not be done, the way I tested the fan "subjectively" was by hooking them to an old PSU where I removed all fans from and did this in a dead quiet room.

to get the RPM readings and change them so they would all the same I have to make sure that the RPM monitor on the mobo is trustworthy or not... and then get a system running but that adds noise, the HDD is really responsible for an elevated ambient noise reading.

The article really annoyed me, and this is why: I think there's a significant group of people who would benefit from a quality review of 120mm fans, problem is, this one is a tease. With an "ambient room noise" of 34db, how are we supposed to decide which fans are the quietest? Say fan X is 22db, and fan Y is 32db. On the madshrimps test chart, they're equally ranked, because the damned room is so loud that you can't tell the difference! Come on guys, you can do better...

34 db is dead silent.

The values mentionned by manufacturers are tested in special room, and not a real world situation....

As 34 is unhearable, there is no difference between 22 or 33 dba....

maybe you should look up HOW <30dBA readings how measured. how much is costs to build a room capable of such low noise levels and how much an accurate <30dBA dBA meter costs;)

I'm convinced, that right now, in your room, without any PCs running you have >30dBA ambient noise.

:hello:

from www.globalwin.com.tw similar docs can be found at other companies, following ISO standards

[attachment]
http://www.iso.org/iso/en/CatalogueD...CSNUMBER=21750

Also check out this article: http://www.madshrimps.be/gotoartik.php?articID=268

I am in a quiet living room. The ambient sound is probably 20-23db or so. When I have a Vantec Stealth fan rated 28db on, I can EASILY hear it, and it annoys me. So if the room was 30db as you say, I wouldn't be able to easily hear that fan.

that fan is rated by the manufacturer at 28dBA, measured in that special room.

your room is NOT 20-23dBA (dB != dBA) I'm quite sure of that:)
here's more reading material: http://www.madshrimps.be/forums/show...threadid=21822

get a dBA meter and do the test if you don't believe me

I have a fridge in the other room. The heat is through a radiator, which is not making any noise. I'm telling you, this place is near silent. The only thing you can hear is the computer.

I'm not saying where you are it is not silent.

what I am saying is saying is that is doubtful your room has <30dBA readings... more like 30-35dBA and that is REALLY dead silent for most people.

Panaflo 120mm
 

Would love to see the Low, Medium, High speed Panaflo 120mm fans included in the roundup. I use the Medium speed for all my computers. They are very quiet and move a lot of air.

Alastor: Radiator? Or, Condensor and evaporator. The sound of a fridge comes from the compressor.

I think the radiator is part of his house heating system:)

@MacGyver: I mailed Panaflo and Delta back in December about this roundup, to no avail.

Radiator for heating .... using water or steam I imagine, with a pump circulating water in the system; something that I used in my old house 30 years ago. I hope the water expansion tank does not make much noise and the cracking pipe noise waking me up at the middle of the night no longer holds true.

I just got some of the rubber mounting slicks for casefans and I think they need much more pimping than they got in the first roundup.


I also got an Accellero X2 as the x1800XT is killing my ears now at IDLE. But that thing definatly will get a ducttaped 120mm fan instead of the small 60mm one once I start clocking =O

Just joined your forum. Excellent fan review. Lots of effort and very usefull.

May I suggest that to keep it usefull, that it be updated occasionally with newer products as they become available. And no need to include everything out there. Just the potenially good candidates based on preliminary user comparisons with known ones.

So let me start by adding one for your future list:
SilentX Ixtreme Pro 120mm fan:
IXP-74-14 64 CFM @1500 RPM 14 dBA 0.2A

BY the way, does anybody have first hand experience yet with the new Kigwin BigAir. I need to change my X2 4400+ stock cooler but don't want to remove MB. Seems good contender, but could only find one review. And cannot fiond anyone selling it in the UK ! ANy info? Thanks.

how occasional would that be? :) I don't have a setup that I can dedicate just for fan testing;)