Which Rheobus is better?

[HiTek21]

Lately I've been leaving my computer on while I sleep so my friends can transfer files to my PC, and I changed out my PSU to the Antec True 550w w/ Fan Controller and its a big step in terms of noise levels. I turn the fans down almost completly off while I'm asleep but I can still hear the rest of my fans. I've seen 3 different Rheobuses that I'm intereted in and want your opinion on which is better.

my choices are but feel free to add any that you think is best

Vantec
Zalman
Sunbeam

I like the vantec because the LED's aren't too bright but I hear that it makes some humming sounds, I could be wrong though, I heard good things about the sunbeam but I think the LEDs are too bright, and I haven't heard anything about the Zalman.

I have a total of 5 fans not including the Heatsink fan and PSU Fans.

I have 2 NMB and 1 Panaflo L1A 80mm fans in the front of my case
1 panaflo 120mm Rear (I wired in a rheostat to control the speeds)
and 1 Sunon 92mm that came with the case.


Also a little off the subject of the rheobus, I just installed a Western Digital 120gb SE Drive and It makes a high pitched sound, barely noticeable when i'm surfing the web or playing games but when I'm sleeping I can hear it through the fans. Is there any way I can silence the HDD without sacrificing cooling?

TIA

 

[Corporate Thug]

for the price, really like the vantec

 

[BG4533]

I prefer the Sunbeam partly becuase it can adjust its voltages all the way to 0. The Zalman can only adjust to 7v on some lines and 5 on the switches, not sure about the Vantec. All of those are nice units though. I think the Vantec might use some sort of pulse width modulation that might make certain fans make strange noises at low voltages. Don't hold me on that though.

For the HD, you can get things like the SmartDrive2 that would silence it without sacrificing cooming, but it is like $90 or something. Another option would be to wrap it in foam and always keep a fan over it. I recommend you search through Silent PC Review for ideas. There are tons of posts over there with all sorts of ideas.

Brian

 

[beatle]

Don't get the vantec and try to turn down your panaflos. Since it uses pulse width modulation you will actually make them louder. I found this out the hard way.

 

[dionx]

i like the sunbeam. leds arent a problem since i have a chieftec dragon case that has a door to cover up the bays. besides, when you turn the fans off, you feel a click and the LEDs turn off.

 

[jodhas]

sunbeam.

 

[amcdonald]

I bought a sunbeam, which is excellent other than the LED's
My newest case doesn't have a door, so I bought a zalman to replace it.
The led's aren't bright, and they dim/brighten in relation to the voltage sent to the fan.
Never tried the vantec because I've heard of too many people having problems with it.
I recommend the zalman if you don't want the blinding sunbeam.

 

[0roo0roo]

silent drive!

and vantec isn't bad, i can't hear the buzz unless i put my head up to it. the advantage of the vantec is it doesn't put out as much heat or use as much power as the normal ones.

 

[EeyoreX]

I like the Sunbeams. I have two of them. The LEDs are bright, but they are just with the prong dealies, so they are easily replaced with LEDs from a number of sites, so you can get dimmer ones. The Sunbeams are great because, as someone said, they can be turned off completely, which is nice since I turn off several of my fans when my PC is unused. Also it allegedly supports up to 20 watts per channel (4 channels) and can support CCFLs as well.

\Dan

 

[pelikan]

My WD was making that high-pitched sound. I just took it out of the cage and laid it on some foam on the bottom of my case, in front of my intake fan. No more high-pitched sound. It seems to stay cool. Another guy said he removed his HDD cage, leaving the HDD in there and sat it on some foam at the bottom of his case in front of an intake. That worked too and provides air flow under the drive as his HDD is 1cm above the foam.

 

[everman]

Doesn't the Vantac use pulse width modulation? whereas the sunbeam uses Rheostats. I've been using a sunbeam for a while now and works perfectly.

 

[bluntman]

I bought the Sunbeam after reading several reviews on the Vantec (the Zalman isn't widely available up here in Canada). I didn't like the fact that the Vantec "buzzes" when you turn down the rheostats, but aside from that the Sunbeam and Vantec were almost even (in my books). Many people didn't like the graphics on the Sunbeam unit and fortunately the units up here are blank. Personally, I found the Sunbeam LEDs quite bright. Luckily I have a case with door, but whenever I open it up I can feel the LEDs burn a hole in my retinas; the dual colour LEDs is a nice feature though.

 

[pelikan]

I am thinking of getting the Sunbeam and disconnecting the LED's.

 

[BG4533]

You can also gently push the LEDs of the Sunbeam in a bit, so they dont stick out as far. This makes them seem a lot less bright. One of the channnels of my Sunbeam burnt up the first time I turned it on. The resistor closest the molex connector looks scorched. I think it might have shorted on something.

 

[sanaka]

I think mine's a Sunbeam (older model with no graphics screened on) and yeah the LEDs were killer. Their leads are just pushed into little headers and can come right out, so you can stick in whatever LEDs you want. I pushed mine in like someone said and also put a couple layers of masking tape over them, so they're tolerable now. I also did a tweaky little mod where I bolted on a strip of 1/8" thick blue plastic over the LED holes, to dim them further but also thinking the red light through blue plastic would make for purple LEDs. Wrong! I realized you can't tint an LED since it's light is all at one wavelength

Other than too bright LEDs the things been great. The aluminum bay cover it came on snapped right in to my LianLi.

Peace
Sanaka

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: everman
Doesn't the Vantac use pulse width modulation? whereas the sunbeam uses Rheostats. I've been using a sunbeam for a while now and works perfectly.

yup i have two sets of vantec

some complain theres a buzz if you lower the speed, you can't hear it unless your head is right in front of it i like the fact that the pwm doesn't waste as much power as the sunbeam one which also creates a lot more heat. extra heat not all that needed inside case leds aren't blinding on the vantec either. some light leaks out the back which is nice if you have a window. light from cold cathode can be seen through front of vantecs light rings, mix of two colors is neat u cant see that in the pictures though.