What DB Rating...

[Judaeus Apella]

is acceptable for a media computer? It can be a whisper and you can hear it, but won't drive you nuts or break your concentration... etc. What DB level would that be? Its been so long since I've done this, I can't remember.

[Spawne32]

i cant stand anything over 30 even in regular pc's

[fatguy1992]

i cant stand anything over 30 even in regular pc's

I can stand allmost any DB that a fan would put out, like my Scythe Ultra Kaze 3K RPM it does 45DB and i'v just ordered a Delta 4,600 RPM which does 65DB :).

[Judaeus Apella]

So anyway.... what DB rating is about what you might rate as a whisper? 32? 34?

[jason str]

Anything under 20 db is the way to go (almost silent) but is probably not going to cool as well or just install more of them.

[W1zzard]

below 22-23 dbA (measured from 1 m distance) would qualify as whisper in my opinion

[JayG30]

Anything under 20 db is the way to go (almost silent) but is probably not going to cool as well or just install more of them.

I have to ask because I believe I know the answer, yet when people recommend this I always question myself. If you add multiple lower Db fans, lets say two 20db fans, won't the noise add up to being similar to a 40db fan? Or does noise not act like that.

[Judaeus Apella]

I don't want it silent, because I don't want to pay the money for a Sythe or buy an underpowered fan. I need a good one cause this particular computer likes to overheat. (its not mine, of course... lol) The fan can be noticable, but not too noticable. It has to be able to deliver a decent amount of air.

[jason str]

I have to ask because I believe I know the answer, yet when people recommend this I always question myself. If you add multiple lower Db fans, lets say two 20db fans, won't the noise add up to being similar to a 40db fan? Or does noise not act like that.

No thats not the case you dont add up the db.

1 loud fan = will be loud

5 silent fans = will be silent

These work well and are quiet.
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/scsf49cfms12.html
I own these too but kinda weak.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103022

[Vapor]

Everytime you double identical "noisemakers" (they can be fans or bumble bees or bats or whatever), you add 3dB to the sound pressure.

With that said, you'd need one hundred and twenty eight 20dbA fans to match the same sound pressure as a single 41dBA fan.

[JayG30]

Everytime you double identical "noisemakers" (they can be fans or bumble bees or bats or whatever), you add 3dB to the sound pressure.

With that said, you'd need one hundred and twenty eight 20dbA fans to match the same sound pressure as a single 41dBA fan.

Thanks.

:up:

[W1zzard]

while 3 dba increase is double the sound pressure, most humans feel 10 dba to "sound twice as loud"

[Judaeus Apella]

Sorry, but none of this is helping me. I just want to know what DB rating is noticable but not too noticable. And stop being black and white, there's plenty of inbetweens in the grey scale area. Thats what I'm looking for. I don't want something silent but I don't want something too loud either, just something in the middle. Something with a little extra oomph, but not enough to make too much noise. Something acceptible for a hotter running than normal, family media computer.

[W1zzard]

actually "noticable" and "not noticable" is a black/white question.

why dont you just get a few components, build your setup and then see what needs improving? it's your ears

[Th3MadScientist]

Everyone has a different tolerance for noise, your best bet is to buy yourself a fan controller and play with the voltages.

[ex2cib]

why not just say what fan size you are looking for, then get suggestions on what to get. most manufacturers ratings are really off anyways, so dont buy any fans on ratings alone.

[Judaeus Apella]

Oh sorry... 120 is so standard to me, I forget to mention it. LOL

The size is 120. It doesn't need to be silent or loud, just not consumer grade. It HAS to be half way decent quality, ball bearing, and not cost more than about $7 per fan. It also has to be from NewEgg, or a similar site with acceptable shipping charges. A lot of these other sites want me to pay between $15 to $40 to ship a little $4 to $7 fan. I'm not paying that, its ridiculous. Newegg has great shipping rates, that's why I like them so much... I just wish they carried a better selection of quality parts instead of all the low grade consumer grade stuff cluttering their site.

I really need to start keeping up with this stuff soon... I have to rebuild my PC

[RPGWiZaRD]

Go for something between 20 - 23dB, that's almost silent as a whisper. I got a bunch of such case fans rated 21 and 22dB but despite having like 6 of them, the noise doesn't become much louder at all. Even one 32dB fan would stand out a lot more. For me around 25~28dB it's where the noise starts being obvious, not really annoying, maybe at 32~35dB+.

[Serpentarius]

So anyway.... what DB rating is about what you might rate as a whisper? 32? 34?

deep breathing is around 35++ dbA (for your ears only) ... if you wan to have comparison ...

if you cant stand your snoring ... around 50++ dbA, then you know it's loud .. :ROTF::rofl:



Everyone has a different tolerance for noise, your best bet is to buy yourself a fan controller and play with the voltages.

+1

[Judaeus Apella]

LOL

Hey I finally found an online referance to the fan that broke that I'm trying to replace. It was an Everflow R12122RBL that came free with my old Silverstone case. No wonder I couldn't find it, I thought it was made by Silverstone cause the name "Silverstone was written all over the fan.

It did 53 cfm at 32db. What happened was, somehow the blade caught on the front of the computer and the fan got stuck on its own blade, eventually burning out the motor. You know where they drill those holes through the case, where you mount the fan. It was so quiet, I didn't even know anything was wrong with it! I'm not really sure how it happened... but before I put a new fan on there, I'm cutting that metal out and putting a silencer between the fan and the case to space it away from it so this doesn't happen again.

So, what's a good 120mm fan under $8 that will push a good bit of air at a max of about 32db? (A little bit higher DB is okay, I barely heard that fan at all when it was working.)