Pc Cooling & Noise

Bu11et_Proof

iam got a cheiftec dragon case and am looking for case fans but iam woried about noise the fans i had in mind are sunbeam 80 mm with green cathode, i was thinking about 3 fans but iam trying to keep the noise down, ive heard of fan controllers andthat would automatically keep the fan speeds down to so noise wouldn't be that bad. if anyone can give me any input at all i would be very grateful

Creamy Goodness

ys-tech and papst are meant to be the quitest fans around but i dunno if they do LED ones though.

have a look here www.overclockers.co.uk

Woden

i have to vantec stealth fans as case fans in my pc. i also hear that sharkoon make some nice low-noise pc fans. However i'm unaware of any stealth fans that offer neon, led's or cathodes or whatever but would be interested myself.

Fan controllers could be useful for you, and sunbeam also make one of those with what are apparently bright red and blue led's on the front, you could control individual fan speed and hence performance and noise. Once your happy with the temps you have.

Theres a selection of fan controller here on overclockers

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Controllers.html

just from a noise point of view, i have two standard antec case fans that came with the case, plus my hsf plus the two stealths running in my pc and while its by no means ultra-silent the noise doesn't bother me and i've typically have music or a game on so i don't even notice it.

Bu11et_Proof

Thanks for the qiuck reply, the 3 fans are 28db each as i dont know what 28db sounds like ill have to ask you guys is this tolerable, and the fan controller is a most theres plenty on overclockers to pick from so ill just have to read some reviews and narrow them down. as for the stealth fans with cold cathode i was looking all day and couldnt find any, as you said when your playing games the noise is the last thing on my mind. thanks again for advice

Woden

no probs. check out this link

http://www.glenbrook.k12.il.us/gbssci/phys/Class/sound/u11l2b.html

a bit down it give some examples of typical sounds in db's

a whisper is about 20db
while normal conversation is 60db

iirc the decibel scale is a log scale. So 20db is 10^2 times above the threshold of hearing (so the website says) while 30db is 10^3 times above the threshold of hearing.

If i read that correctly i think a 30db fan is 10 times louder then a 20db fan not just 50% louder perhaps someone could confirm this for me as i'm not sure

Anywho typical fans clock in at about 28-30db while stealths come in around 15-20db.

Good luck anyway and let me know if you find any stealth fans with led's or something on them

cheers

data

OfflerCrocGod

I thought it was every addition of 10Db meant a doubleing of loudness to the human ear?. So 30Db is twice as loud as 20Db.....I read that somewhere on the net so you can trust that......;).

Bu11et_Proof

Ok dataisgod i've done alot of looking, coz i also want silent fans but with some looks so ive seen some good results,

1. Panaflo (Low Volume) 80mm fans come in at 21db
but that with 24CFM air flow and 1900rpm

2. Panaflo (Medium Volume) 80mm fans come in at 28db
but that with 32.1CFM air flow and running at 2450rpm

3.Sunbeam CFK08-G Cold Cathode 80mm fan
also comes in with 28db and with 31.73CFM air flow and 2700rpm

so i was thinking is the difference between 2. & 3. that considerable if a fan controller was used and with no. 3 you get the added bonus of a cold cathode ?

Again give me your views,

but i will keep looking for the that silent fans with looks

Bu11et_Proof

sry about the second post but i didnt know how to edit my other post
take a look at this:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/files/fanspecs/fanspecs.xls

the way iam reading this chart if i had 4 (2 in 2 out ) of the above sunbeam fans i would be looking at 34.3 db and with 62.8cfm airflow. if i have read this wrong may god strike me down .but them specs dont seem too bad.

Woden

Offlercrocgod, twice as loud seems much more reasonable then the 10 times figure i was coming up with as thinking about it there are 50db fans out there which would make them a 1000 times louder then a 20db fans which doesn't seem reasonable to me.

Bu11et proof there is no real difference between 2 and 3 so i'd definetly go for the ones with the cold cathode.

i running two in two out at the moment with the two standard antec fans as exhaust and the stealths as intakes one on the case side and one at the case front.

microsoft office isn't running on this computer in college so i'll check out that article when i get home

(you can edit your posts by clicking edit just above post reply )

good luck

data

Woden

i've just realised you've already realised how to edit posts.

Ok i'm on another computer and xcel is working for me. Complicated table but i'd say your reading it correctly and that spec you posted seems entirely reasonable. I suppose the only way to find out it go ahead with it.

Tbh i wouldn't get too hung up over it at the end of the day after you install them you won't care that much after a couple of weeks

Bu11et_Proof

thats true when i get them and pay the money for them, its not like i wont use them. any ways thanks for all replys and ill will keep you posted on the out come.

Woden

no probs and show us some pics when you get it up and running

Capt'n Midnight

dB is a measure of the energy in the sound - Phons (SP) are the level it appears to be. ie. One watt of sound (eg: sine wave) energy at 60Hz won't sound as loud as at 3KHz. So yes a 10dB increase is 10 times as much energy but it only sounds twice as loud *unless you have a hangover.

So two 28dB fans will sound as loud as a 31dB one. But you get beat frequencies and that causes droning...

For a given amount of air flow Big SLOW fans are best, less power needed to run them and quieter.

How about this theory - run the fan super fast - so the high pitched noise it makes is ultrasonic - extrememly loud and cats, dogs and bats will hate you - but you won't hear it. ( In power stations very high pressure steam leaks would make ultrasonic noises - looking for an invisible leak from a pipe glowing a dull red, with gas escaping at about the speed of sound with a wet rag on a stick is not fun.. )

Woden

so just to make this clear for myself

does that make a 30db fan twice as loud as a 20db
and a 25db fan 1.5 times as loud as a 20db fan etc?

Sir Random

Cool & Silent requires as much passive cooling as possible and the optimal use of any fans.
I have a coolermaster 80mm cooling my CPU, NB & GFX (which are all using Zalman heatsinks). I also have a sharkoon silent 80mm fan (connected to mobo system fan1 so it runs below full speed).
My P42.4 runs nice and cool with no noise at 3Ghz.

mickger

Originally posted by Bu11et_Proof
Ok dataisgod i've done alot of looking, coz i also want silent fans but with some looks so ive seen some good results,

1. Panaflo (Low Volume) 80mm fans come in at 21db
but that with 24CFM air flow and 1900rpm

2. Panaflo (Medium Volume) 80mm fans come in at 28db
but that with 32.1CFM air flow and running at 2450rpm

3.Sunbeam CFK08-G Cold Cathode 80mm fan
also comes in with 28db and with 31.73CFM air flow and 2700rpm

so i was thinking is the difference between 2. & 3. that considerable if a fan controller was used and with no. 3 you get the added bonus of a cold cathode ?

Again give me your views,

but i will keep looking for the that silent fans with looks

any ideas where i can get the panaflo fans online???? they seem to be the best

Col_Loki

You might want to look into papst fans and sharkoon ultra silent ones.

Papst make very quiet fans and are well known for it. The sharkoon ones are very quiet and come with a variable knob that you can change the RPM of the fan.

www.hitide.ie <- Definetly worth a look, great stuff for silence.

Adeptus Titanicus

As a proud owner of three Sharkoon Ultra Silent fans, I can vouch for them, but only when they are turned down low. You only get a whisper noise. Turned up with a good airflow they hum a little, but no tornado... SInce I replaced the heatsink on the 9800Pro with the Arctic cooler, the case is very quiet when the fans are all low.

Col_Loki

I can vouch for them, but only when they are turned down low

Yea definetly, at full they arent noisey as such like most of the case fans, but still noticable. The adjusters are great and keep things nice and quiet i must say. Im using 2 of them in my other rig (one on the CPU) and its very quiet as a result.

Capt'n Midnight

Originally posted by Dataisgod
so just to make this clear for myself

does that make a 30db fan twice as loud as a 20db
and a 25db fan 1.5 times as loud as a 20db fan etc?

30dB is ten times the power of 20dB

It's all subjective - but have a look at these.
Perhaps a little white or pink noise would mask out some annoying sounds

Has anyone tried anti-noise (mic + speaker to cancel out measured sound)


Calculator
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/sound/phon.html

Equal loudness curves
http://www.esat.kuleuven.ac.be/~spchlab/exercises/HD69/tools_mad/audiometer/audiometer.html

Technical
http://ccrma-www.stanford.edu/~jos/mdft/DB_SPL.html

Speech
http://www.ling.mq.edu.au/units/sph301/auditory_representations/intensity.html
In the sone scale a sound with a loudness of 2 sone is twice as loud as a sound with a loudness of 1 sone and half as loud as a sound with a loudness of 4 sone. The sone scale is illustrated in figure 2.