panaflo 80mm L1A VS. Vantec Sealth

[Bookie]

It seems that the favorite 80mm fan of this forum is the panaflo L1A series. But after doing a bit of research, it seems (from the specs) as if the vantec stealth is a much better fan. They are both rated at 21dba but the vantec has airflow of 27CFM compared to the panaflo's 24. Now this isn't much, but if you include the fact that the stealth is usually a couple dollars cheaper, then I'm curious as to why this isn't so popular in this forum? The only other difference seems to be that the stealth utilized double ball bearing whereas the panaflo uses hydro wave.

Does anyone have have experience with both that can offer an opinion? I'm planning on purchasing a good amount of one of these but want to make sure I make the right decision.

Stealth Spec Page
Panaflo Spec Page

 

[tallest1]

you might want to search the forums for an answer, this is brought up a zillion times. Though I do remember the conclusion being that Panaflo is better

 

[Bookie]

actually the only thing close in these forums to a comparison is with the papst: http://forums.anandtech.com/message...eadid=940571&highlight_key=y&keyword1=stealth

Unfortunately, I've read every post in this forum and there is no forgone conclusion.

 

[Bookie]

I also wanted to show this page: fan comparison which also doens't paint the panaflo to be as great as it seems from this forum.

They used more rigorous testing methods than the manufacturers use and as a result received less than stellar marks.

 

[Pothead]

the vantecs produce more than 21dba, many people have mentioned that Vantec stretches thier specs.

 

[aceO07]

Originally posted by: Bookie
I also wanted to show this page: fan comparison which also doens't paint the panaflo to be as great as it seems from this forum.

They used more rigorous testing methods than the manufacturers use and as a result received less than stellar marks.

According to the comparison report by Directron, you should consider the Enermax UC-001B-TC or the Directron Silencer. The Vantech Stealth was tested as being barely quieter than the Panaflo.

I don't know why you think the Panaflo fans are expensive. I got mine for about ~$3. Most of the cooling/overclocking website seem to really inflate the price of fans. Bgmicro.com is where I usually buy my Panaflos.

 

[SinfulWeeper]

I currently use both. The Vantec is clearly superior to the Panaflo. I dont know why people rave about the panaflo sooo much. Probably because it was the first popular quiet fan. But in IMHO the Vantec is much better. And in the same case the temps are lower also. It's clearly the better choice.

Also you don't need to mess around with pig tails. Just put it right on your motherboard 3 pin fans. If your motherboard also supports RPM monitoring, Vantec also has it. Panaflo does not.

 

[Mattster]

I also have both of these and like Pothead said earlier, it is louder than the Panaflo. I still prefer the Panaflo's over the Vantec's anytime.....

Panaflo does have a low-RPM model with the 3pin header that has RPM sensing, but those are a little difficult to find .....

Matt

 

[PCHPlayer]

The Panaflo's became real popular when there was a glut of inventory on the market. Some places were selling them for as little as $2.99 (BG Micro I believe). Personally I got 4 of them from All Electronics for $4.50 each. At that price, and considering they are good fans, it was tough not to use them. I don't know if you can still get them real cheap.

 

[VVarwick]

Man, a day late! I searched forever yesterday trying to find cheap panaflos. BGmicro had them a week ago for $3.19 but are sold out. He did not know when he was getting more...

I just checked allelectronics and they still have them for $4.50 each. I broke down and got 4 for $5.95 from so-trickcomputers.com last night. Best price I could find. At least they come with the 3 pin mobo header so I don't have to whip out the ol' soldering iron...


Warwick<FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT>

 

[Pothead]

Another option is the NMB or NBM fans. Dell uses these but 90mm version. SVC has them for $2.50, <18dba...not bad if you want quiet fans....I still prefer my Papst 12dba fans though, very expensive though.

 

[OulOat]

Some people complained that Stealth, while quiet, do produce an annoying high pitch whine that panaflos do not. Some people can hear it, some can't. And panaflos are cheap if you get them when mass quantities flood the market again. Also, I remember from some post that Vantec doesn't make there own fans, they just relabel other brands.

 

[keyeye]

This topic was really popular when the stealth 1st came out. I believe that the conclusion was that most, including myself, felt that the stealth was significantly noisier than the panaflo by subjective measures (probably due to the pitch). The stealth is IIRC a rebadged Nidec, which makes quality fans.
I have the panaflo L1A (from allelectronics- no soldering when I got them, just cut off a tab from the 2pin connector), the NMB from svc or case-mod, and a stealth.
The quietest, cheapest, and moves the least air, IMO is the NMB (2 bucks at case-mod). I do like the panaflo. I'm just not a fan of the stealth.

 

[r1013a]

Last Thursday BGmicro still had the panaflos. I placed an order for a few and now almost a week later I still haven't been charged and there not on the site anymore..

Looks like I may end up paying double or triple price myself if I decide to still get the panaflo.

Any alternatives, other than the ones mentioned here?.. dependable, decent priced, and quite.

 

[treemonkey]

What processor? How about an NMB on an slk-800? I was thinking about doing this on a 1700+ t-bred.

 

[farmercal]

I also have used both fans mentioned and can tell you from experience that the Stealths make more noise than the Panaflos. I spent a lot for the stealth believing the manufacturers claims at being better with silence in mind. By the way I got my Panaflos for $2.50 each about six months ago.

 

[Awakened2002]

I bought my panaflos because of the good price i found at the time. I got 10 for $36 shipped from a guy on ebay. Brand new and unused...they work great for me. Otherwise, i would've got the vantec's if i couldn't find the pana's for cheap.

 

[Bookie]

well I went ahead and ordered one vantec yesterday because I can't find the panaflo's for less than $9 in stock. I'm just going to evaluate the vantec before buying a large quantity of them. I've seen many posts about bgmicro and their cheap prices, but I've also seen a lot of people who aren't happy with that vendor, plus I haven't been able to find them in stock at their store in the last couple of weeks.

 

[VVarwick]

Originally posted by: Bookie
well I went ahead and ordered one vantec yesterday because I can't find the panaflo's for less than $9 in stock...

You should have read this post more carefully...As mentioned earlier All Electronics Corp has them for $4.50, in stock. Flat $6 shipping fee.


Linky

 

[mee987]

Originally posted by: Pothead
the vantecs produce more than 21dba, many people have mentioned that Vantec stretches thier specs.

not just on fans either...

Interesting to see was the Vantec unit actually tipped a little bit over the advertised rating of 50mV (+/-1.0%) on the +5.0V rail.

^ from the 4-way psu shootout @ AT

 

[lookin4dlz]

I read 15-20 reviews of the Vantec Stealth 80mm fans. Based on the good reports of silence achieved with the Stealth's, I ordered a couple today (SVCompucycle for $9 - could've bouhgt for a couple $ less elsewhere, but also bought round cables which made this the best deal) which should arrive in 5 days. Currently, I have some loud standard Antec case fans (34dBA) which I quieted using the 7v mod.

 

[spanky]

question: how will this panaflo do while paired with an svc gc68 on an xp1600? i do not overclock, but just want a stable quiet rig. is the gc68 not a worthy heatsink?

 

[OulOat]

Originally posted by: spankyOO7
question: how will this panaflo do while paired with an svc gc68 on an xp1600? i do not overclock, but just want a stable quiet rig. is the gc68 not a worthy heatsink?

It will do fine. Sure, it will be nothing to brag about, but your cpu will be fine.

 

[ChefJoe]

Be careful with ordering stealths. I thought I'd give the stealths at coolerguys.com a try during their recent sale. What I got was a PCToys stealth pro. AFAIK, it's a knockoff that they posted as "stealth". They turn and run just fine, but I wouldn't have tried brand x for the price I paid, I should have stuck with panaflo,.

 

[1luckymf]

Panaflos here!!! Nice and Quiet..