P180 fan replacement question

[PowderBB3D]

Hi. I'm not going to post your typical "what should I use to replace my case fan" question threads - that's been done enough.

But I do have a small query. The manual for the P180 states that the stock fans run at 25dba on low and produce 39CFM. I hear people recommend Yate Loon fans as a replacement for these, but they seem to run 28dba to produce 47CFM. The stock fans on medium can produce 56CFM at 28dba according to the stats I've found... it seems that the stock fan easily outpaces Yate Loons (same noise level, more air moved).

Can anyone explain this to me, because I'm certain there must be something I'm missing here. Thanks.

 

[Zepper]

Fan specs on noise are mostly imaginary. The quality of the noise makes as much difference as the absolute level, and the distance and angle of the noise measurement makes a huge difference. There are ones noted in these forums for low and/or pleasant noise spectra and you wouldn't go wrong choosing one depending on your air flow needs. A separate fan controller can help to get the best results possible. Most fans can be made fairly quiet if you crank them down far enough with a controller (or internal resistors like the Nexus or Silen-X or the Antec you noted).

Here are some that are recommended: Yate Loon 120x25 low speed (their medium speed is supposed to be good too but I have't enough data yet - petrastechshop.com seems to be one of the few places to stock them), Sanyo 120x38 that petras sells for the best price I know of (definitely needs a controller and it has a HUGE hub so it works best as case exhaust or radiator fan for WCing - one of the best fans of this type ever made, IMO), Akasa Amber 120 (their smaller ones aren't as good), CoolerMaster 120x25 fans in general (low and slow); Panaflo L1A 80x25 (low and slow - the current PRC made ones aren't as good as their Japanese made precursors, but still pretty good), and their 120x38 can move good air for reasonable noise; Arctic Cooling open frame fans (when their bearings survive shipping), Delta 3-blade fans. There are more of course (some of the Scythe fans for example), but this should give you a good start. You can check http://www.silentPCreview.com for some good fan tests and there are other sites that have done some too like madshrimps.be . SPCR is a narrow-focus site, so if a fan can push much air (like the Sanyo mentioned above) it will likely go untested there.

.bh.

 

[PChang11]

You can check out these fans, too. I've used them all personally and they are all pretty quiet. The Yate Loon fans are good for the money, but not the most quiet. The GlobalWin fan is very quiet and is the same price as Yate Loons.

GlobalWin 120mm Fan
Cooler Master LED 120mm Fan
Arctic Cooling 120mm Fan

 

[Zepper]

The fans PChang linked are nice too. The Arctic Cooling one is only two wire (no speed sensor) - great for non-critical uses. The Global Win was one of the highest scorers in MadShrimp's comparo. There definitely are others. Adda fans are very nice but scarce here at a decent price - jameco.com has a few.

..bh.

 

[Dethfrumbelo]

I can vouch for the Yate Loons... they push a fair amount of air at ~1300rpm and are quiet. From 3 feet away all I hear is the whoosing of air.