Fan Testing Part 2 (Retesting + Noise)

[Martinm210]

:toast2:Here is my round two effort on testing fans. Round 1 was an attempt at measuring the PQ curve of the fan, but after enough testing I began to see fairly minimal differences across the pressure range and feel that it's not as valuable as focusing in on voltage differences on a fixed radiator. In addition, missing the noise element made the data fairly limited in use. So with that, I've reconfigured my testing method to test on a fixed radiator at a sweep across the applicable voltage options. While doing so, I'm also measuring noise levels as part A of this round.

In addition, I've found that noise level or quantity, is not enough to fully understand a fan, it must be recorded to capture the sound tone or "Quality" of the sound produced from the fan. While doing these videos, I'm capturing CFM and voltage in the background so that you can utilize two videos at a time to make direct CFM to CFM apples to apples comparisons between two fans. In the end, I think this video recording is more important than the dB numbers themselves.

So first up, is part A for the testing and charts, and I'll follow that with the video links for your own evaluation:

PART A - TESTING & CHARTS

Here is the new setup:
http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/1339/fantesting2setup.jpg

I'm purposely measuring noise point blank range at the fan to maximize resolution on the measurement. I wouldn't worry about the numbers as much as the relative differences, my meter may be in need of calibration too, but it's what I have so it's what I'm using.

I don't understand noise well enough yet either, so I'm just measuring at the hip. It's obviously interesting how a 30-40dB spec fan can produce over 70 at close distances. Also my ambient noise level hovers around 47-50db. I'm leaving my regular PC running in the background so that all the measurements I run have about the same ambient noise level. I think this may be more important than trying to measure in total silence which in itself is near impossible to do.

Tools
The radiator is an XSPC RS120. The fan is mounted without any sort of gasket (Finger Tight M4 Screws/nuts), I only place a piece of tape on the noise side to prevent air from causing problems with the noise measurement. I adjust voltage with my Mastech HY3005D lab power supply. Voltage is measured at the plug to the fan to eliminate vdroop in the wiring. Amperage is measured on the power supply display. RPM is taken from my crystalfontz CFA-633.

Test Proceedure
-Mount fan to radiator with M4 screws until nuts are a hard finger tight on all four corners.
-Set sound level meter to edge of fan/radiator just far enough to prevent touching.
-Run fan for 5 minutes to warm up fan and anemometer.
-Reduce voltage to zero to record ambient noise level.
-Increase voltage to 5V.
-Record amperage from mastech PSU, dB from sound meter, RPM from PC Crystalfontz CFA-633, CFM from Anemometer (if >9cfm)
-Increase to 6V repeat recording as noted above.
-Repeat measurements on even volts including 5V, 6V, 7V, 8V, 9V, 10V, 11V, 12V. Voltage held to .03v and measured at fan 3 wire plug.

TESTING RESULTS

Bare with me on the excel default formatting. I'll be working on changing some of the line and marker colors to improve contrast and readability.

Air Flow Vs. Noise

This chart represents a relationship between air flow and noise. It's probably one of the more important relationship folks are looking for, although I would caution about noise numbers being what they are. Noise quantity does not equal noise quality and that's something not presented here. Many of the 38mm fans seem to present better here, although subjectively I think their noise quality is lower than the 25mm fans. You can also get a sense for how strong or powerful a fan is by how far the lines extend upward on the air flow scale.

Regardless, the Gentle Typhoon is presenting well here with it's unique fan blade design. It does present a different tone than most of the fans, sort of a sound all of it's own. Other fans seem to rate relatively poorly that doesn't really fit with my own perception. The noise blocker fans seem to have a good smooth sound in my own perception, yet they measured higher numbers of noise quanity compared to others.

I would fall back to what I understand from noise level.

3db differences are considered "Barely perceptible". I've also probably got 1-2dB error in testing, so I wouldn't necessarily consider anything significant unless the difference in sound is more than 5dB.

Here is the big overall chart:
http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/749/1airnoisebig.png

And one zoomed to better see lower speed areas:
http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/4318/1airnoisesmall.png

Radiator Air Flow Vs. Voltage

This is purely performance only showing you how much air is pushed through the radiator for various amounts of voltage. Generally the thicker (38mm), the higher the RPM, the more curved shaped blade, and the more number of blades produces more power. The Delta AFB SHE 38mm nearly 4000RPM fan is clearly king here producing nearly 10X the amount of air as some of our slowest speed fans. Of coarse all that comes with ALOT more noise, but we're not looking at noise in this chart.

http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/384/1bflowvsvolts.png


Air Flow Vs. RPM

This is more of a measurement of fan blade power or efficiency per RPM. The important thing here is to understand that there's a fairly good range of performance for the same RPM. Some fans have a straighter blade and require more RPM for the same CFM, etc.

http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/4186/1fcfmvsrpma.png

http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/8382/1gcfmvsrpmb.png

The San Ace with it's 38mm thickness and curved blades is producing the most per RPM, followed by the Gentle Typhoon.

Noise vs. RPM

And this is the noise measurement per RPM. Some fans tend to produce more noise per RPM and this could be a combination of the fan blade making the noise as well as the motor. There appears to be some give and take between CFM and Noise per RPM with many of the fans, but some seem to do both pretty well.

http://img2.imageshack.us/img2/206/1hnoisevsrpmb.png

http://img2.imageshack.us/img2/20/1inoisevsrpmc.png

Noise Vs. Voltage

This chart is all about noise "Quantity" and nothing more, again I would caution that noise quantity is different than quality. This does not quantify the "motor Ticking" or other types of "irritating" noises that you would consider when comparion the noise of one fan to another. The Ultra Kaze 1000, the LED version of the Yate Loon D12SL12, the Noise Blocker XL-1, and straight blade yate loon D12SL12 are among the more quiet fans. Again this is just noise quantity, not quality or tone!
http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/4042/1cnoisevsvolts.png

RPM Vs. Voltage
This is just a simple look at RPMs. Some fans have an ability to reach fairly wide ranges of RPM, while others are more specifically designed for one area only. This should give you some sense of the fan's ability to change RPM by varied amounts of voltage.

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/2815/1drpmvsvolts.png

Air Flow Vs. Power Consumption

This is likely not of concern for most users, but I have seen a few fans claiming to be environmentally friendly regarding energy efficiency, so I thought I'd plot this comparison. It is a relationship of energy efficiency vs. air flow produced. This should also give you a sense of power requirements for fan controllers, etc.

Also some fans like the nanoxia, claim to be a "Green" fan. It is green in color, but it was more of average than a top electrical efficiency fan. The Gentle Typhoon and a few other were generally more electrically efficient.
http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/2267/1epowerconsumption.png

and a closer up..
http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/5264/1epowerconsumptionsmall.png

Part B - VIDEO RECORDINGS FOR YOUR OWN NOISE QUALITY REVIEW

To help with the problem that noise level doesn't necessarily fit with noise quality, I'm including some video recordings to capture the fan's particular noise quality traits. I'm testing on the same platform and recording the CFM and voltage in the video for reference. The only difference is I'm not adding a piece of tape to seal (Between Fan/Rad) since I'm not measuring noise level. This may result in slightly lower CFM numbers than the charts, but they are all tested equally the same, so the CFM numbers on the videos are good relative numbers. Anyhow, pay particular attention to the sound tone and motor ticks when undervolting. These are important traits I don't think you can capture in a number and I feel are much more important the the dB number I've included in the charts. Note that the anemometer isn't very accurate until about 10cfm, number below that are not to be trusted, you'll see what I mean when you watch the video.

Note that the JVC camera used does have automatic gain control, so these videos should not be used to compare sound level, they are only good for tonal characteristics and quality...not quantity.

VIDEO LINKS

ADDA HB = ADDA AD1212HB-A71GL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FlZvjwMySc

Delta AFBSHE = Delta AFB1212SHE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgHKP_mBZJg

Gtyphoon AP15 = Servo Nidec Gentle Typhoon DC1225C12B5AP-15
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLgJomTh74w

Kool25MBK = Koolance Fan-12025MBK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEM1IhBQ2xU

Kool25HBK = Koolance Fan-12025HBK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ji-f9ywCcqM

Kool38HBK = Koolance Fan-12038HBK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiNcYXlVTKk

Panaflo M = Panaflo FBA12G12M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqMWeTYLrD4

Panaflo U = Panaflo (NMB MAT)FBA12G12U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmfJpveSOjk

San Ace H1011 = Sanyo Denki San Ace 109R1212H1011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dCBSux7cvc

Kflex M = Scythe Kama-Flex S1225FDB12M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLVYsJ8SStQ

Kflex H = Scythe Kama-Flex S1225FDB12H
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MP1pVShKyRk

Sflex-E = Scythe S-Flex SFF21E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcJ4Yr2krTk

Sflex-F = Scythe S-Flex SFF21F
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ygYCWhwP7c

Sflex-G = Scythe S-Flex SFF21G
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrtRQD2q1vM

SlipStream SH = Scythe Slip Stream SY1225LS 12SH
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO4Tk2FzZBs

ScyUK3 = Scythe Ultra Kaze 1000 DFS123812H-1000
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMNxyDxmgAE

ScyUK3 = Scythe Ultra Kaze 3000 DFS123812H-3000
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gb-0usGR-Ok

Nanoxia FX2000 = Nanoxia FX12 2000
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NWkB0U6UOU

NB XL-1 = Noise Blocker XL-1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3stzdNw0K0s

NB XL-2 = Noise Blocker XL-2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvX_z9OzI0M

NB XLP = Noise Blocker XLP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWU1ptI8J7E

NB S1 = Noise Blocker M12 S1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXCjqxmS3mM

NB S2 = Noise Blocker M12 S2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GNDu5Fn5bg

NB S3 = Noise Blocker M12 S3 HS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrYiC9Xq8uw

SilverStone 25BU = Silver Stone (Everflow) R121225BU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=257bRrU--Z0

Thermaltake TT-25 = Thermaltake TT-1225 (Thunderblade)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TEWJ5Ibz34

Yate SL-C = Yate Loon D12SL12 Curved Blade
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=909stCuDbtM

Yate SL-S = Yate Loon D12SL12 Straight Blade
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA0bGsC1VLw

Yate SL-LED-S = Yate Loon D12SL12 LED version with Straight Blades
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAqIY_S4aT8

Yate SH-C = Yate Loon D12SH12 Curved Blade
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCLssN0yQ8U

Zalman ZM-3 = Zalman ZF1225ASH
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7Yy3U2QYdo


Testing accuracy and Repeatability
I'll be checking some more results after I get the last couple of fans done, but I have included two tests on separate days of the GT AP-15 to give you an idea (In the first chart). My ambient noise levels varied to some degree, but I believe measuring very close to the fan eliminates most of that error for measurments several dB higher than ambient. Noise levels in the 50-55db range would be more suspect. Anyhow, for a hobby built test rig, I'm generally pretty happy the results are at least looking good from a relative sense. I would not take any of the actual numbers as absolute, the CFM is arbitrarily calibrated per a fan, so I know there's error there, I believe I'm reading high CFM if anything. My noise meter is also just a cheap meter, so I'm not sure it's accurate. In a silent room my sound level meter will only read down to about 39dB which is the limit of the meter. This is why I chose to keep a constant background noise present which kept the ambient noise level in the range of 47-52dB.

Bottom line, the equipment is cheap, not lab grade and only good for relative comparisons. I would also like to reiterate that noise quantity in dB is not the same as noise quality, don't take the dB numbers as a definitive measurement of good vs. bad, the only way to be absolute there is to try each of your preferred fans and decide for yourself.

Summary
There are alot of good fans here and considering the human ear is only capable of sensing 3dB rises as "Barely Perceptible", I would consider that a good indication of why fan preferences are so varied. They all have similar noise characteristics. I think I have collected a good group of performance numbers, particularly the CFM vs Volts chart, I would use that to give you a sense of fan powers.

Subjective Notes

I don't necessarily think there is a means to accurately identify which fans are necessarily better than others that would be agreeable to all. There is far too much personal preference that determines which tone or characteristic sound and power requirement is desireable. With that said I see several generalities:

-Motor noise is generally smoother the smaller the fan motor hub, but also a higher pitch. 38mm fans with the extra large fan hub general have more of a pulsing or motor ticking type of sound when running very low rpm levels. This measures low from a dB standpoint, but it's a noise that many may not like...you really need to listen to the videos to see that.
-Noise tone and quality often times varies across the voltage range, sometimes it can even get worse at one voltage and get better with a higher voltage, it's one of those sound dynamics that occurs.
-Fan generally produce more CFM per RPM the thicker the are, the more curved the blade, and the more number of blades.
-There is no consistency between fan families. I've seen several cases where the same series of fan has very different sound responses, you simply can't depend on consistency there.
-It gets really really hard to choose between fans in the ultra silent 1000 or less category. My instruments were simply not able to measure CFM levels that low and to my ears, they are all silent down at that level.

Recommendation
As much as I've tried to quantify things as scientifically as I'm able to with the equipment I have, I would emphasize that you listen to the videos as the primary means to compare fans and make your own personal preference choice. A really handy way to do that is to start up two window browsers with a video in each window, then use the sliders to match up similar CFM levels and pause each movie. Then go back and forth between each fan and see which one you like the sound tone of better. I think this is different for everyone, and you should make your own decision on what you like...not what I or anyone else likes. You can also use the charts to understand things like how powerful the fans are, what RPM range they can produce, power requirements, etc....but I'd use the video as the main tool here.

Final Notes

If I had to pick just one fan for my needs. I want something very quiet, but something that also has a decent amount of performance. While being a bit on the ugly side, the Gentle Typhoon AP-15 gets my top pick for producing the most CFM per noise level and quality of the fans tested. 9 volts in particular is my favorite spot which is still producing a good 22+ cfm on the radiator.

For the high speed stuff, I'll give my kudos out to the San Ace. I still think it has that common 38mm fan motor noise when undervolted, but it's the smoothest of the bunch from what I can tell.

As far as the <1000 RPM range, I think all of the fans (except the high speed 38mm fans) are good and really hard to separate. I couldn't really measure CFM below 10CFM, so I really couldn't tell you much with my test setup other than CFM is pretty crappy down there and you better plan on many times more radiator than someone with strong fans.

Bottom line:

King of Power @12V = Delta AFBSHE
King of Low Noise @ 12V = Noiseblocker S1
King of CFM per Noise Level/Quality = Gentle Typhoon AP-15

And most importantly...

I wanted to give a HUGE thanks to Hondacity, Alex from Petra's, Linus from NCIX, and Martin from feser-one for donating these fans to test. Also KaptCrunch for helping me out with the sound meter. This test would not have happened without their generosity..:clap::clap::up:

THIS TEST IS DONE!!:D


Update 5-19-09:
John from Madshrimps cleaned up my mess of data in a nice fan by fan with video layout here (http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&number=1&artpage=4122&articID=936) as a rehost for you in an easier to follow layout with detailed graphs for each fan, thanks!

Update: 9-7-2010
In pursuit of learning more about audio and noise and attempting to quantify noise quality..., I did some experimentation with extracting noise profiles from the recorded audio of the original videos taken in part B. I've also been playing around with weighting curves. Here is a chart defining various "Weighting" standards, most common in the us for environmental use is the "A-weighting method. It's basically just a method to make pressure levels better fit what the human ear perceives as noise. For example, we're much more annoyed by a tone at 3KHz vs 100Hz, so it gives those frequencies more emphasis.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/c2/Lindos3.svg/666px-Lindos3.svg.png

One particular area, I'm finding more about doing some noise profiles is AGC (Automatic Gain Control). Some camcorders have what is called automatic microphone gain, in which they adjust the microphone gain on the fly. I'm finding through this research and spectrum work that the JVC camera I used did in fact have some microphone gains done automatically on me during my recording work. This was found by doing a spectrum analysis on the blank portion of the videos. It appears I had most of the videos fit in one of two gain levels separated by about 10dB. Unfortunately this means you should NOT NOT rely on the sound output of the video as a means to evaluate noise level, you can only use them to listen to tonal and or rythm sound quality differences. My JVC seems to have somewhat randomly selected different microphone gains on different recordings, each of which is pretty much exactly a 10dB separation. Not sure why and there is no way around this, but you should be aware of it regardless. Here is a small sample of the microphone profile from the beginning quiet portions of each video:
http://a.imageshack.us/img228/4097/noisemicrophonegain.jpg

Below I tried to correct out this microphone noise and difference from each profile... basically took the microphone hiss noise with ambient noise profile and subtracted that from the fan recording, the adjusted it per the A-weighting curve to give additional emphasis on the 1-6K region. At this point I don't know if that's good or bad or completely wrong to do all together...just an experiment as I learn more about audio. This is what that little experiment gave me so far. I suppose it's more accurate than not correcting at all, but noise levels are a bit more complex than simple addition/subtraction. I'm not quite sure if a +10 microphone gain automatically equates to +10 across the board, or something different.

http://a.imageshack.us/img844/6232/fantestingnoiseprofiles.jpg

Anyhow, I am still quite impressed with the Gentle Typhoon's "Different" noise profile compared to the others (regardless of this profiling effort), but many have also noted that they really like the San Ace best. This is a good example to emphasize how sound quality preferences differ between individuals. What you or I or the next guy likes, doesn't really matter. We all think a little differently when it comes to noise, and in the end regardless of any detailed scientific efforts to quantify noise.....it's still EXTREMELY SUBJECTIVE and you should decide for YOURSELF!..;)

UPDATE ROUND 4 TESTING 9-25-2010

Building upon what I learned previously, plus having access to much better video/audio tools. I made a mini 6 fan test including the following:
http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/82/noctuasilverstonevsgt.jpg
http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/6316/budgetfans.jpg


Here are the videos in no particular order:

Fan Test 4 Yate Loon D12SM12 Curved Black
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vILqRsVDqX8

Fan Test 4 Servo Nidec (Scythe) Gentle Typhoon D1225C12B5AP-15
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AmF1Z0M8JY

Fan Test 4 Rosewill DF1202512SEMN BlueLED Clear
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLXsDcQvRS4

Fan Test 4 Rosewill DF1202512SEMN Black
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hE48YxQwnOo

Fan Test Round 4 - Noctua NF-P12
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuTm9XysZVA

Fan Test 4 Silverstone AP121 HA1225L12SF-Z
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cec_HlQK4IQ

Please use the videos to compare noise quality differences. I liked the GT and Noctuas as the high end and the Yates as the budget fan, but I'd suggest you decide for yourself.


Cheers!:toast:
Martin

[Hondacity]

OMG!!! the YL-SHC have the same output as 12038hbk on the RS120, this is just ...ummmm

that SA-H1011 is just awesome, i gotta try one, i wonder how it sounds,

have you started recording audio?

Thanks Martin, go easy testing :)

[silverphoenix]

I'm thinking I may do some testing as well, but probably nxt semester, going through school = lotta $$$$ hehe. Honda you wanna test any San Aces? I have a couple spare ones I'm not using that I could loan out but they have those funky server connectors on em.

[Hondacity]

what model is it? i'll send you a pm, thanks for the offer man :thumbsup:

[ecat]

Great work Martin, thanks. I'm looking forward to the rest of the results

[Zehnsucht]

Good testing as always, but in my HUMBLE opinion, it would be more useful to measure the rise in noise compared to fan off instead of absolute values.

[Vapor]

:bounces::bounces::bounces:




:D

[Martinm210]

OMG!!! the YL-SHC have the same output as 12038hbk on the RS120, this is just ...ummmm

that SA-H1011 is just awesome, i gotta try one, i wonder how it sounds,

have you started recording audio?

Thanks Martin, go easy testing :)

Yeah, I'll need to suppliment with an audio recording of some sort. I've been running a few experiements, but havn't landed on a method yet. For example, the San Ace does really really well on cfm per noise level, but it's not as smooth of a noise as some of the others. I've also read a little bit how every one person has a different sensitivity to noise and what is perceived as loud or annoying. So matter what the tool to measure noise, it's only a really rough guide and it's pretty much impossible to quantify noise that would be agreeable to everyone out there.


Good testing as always, but in my HUMBLE opinion, it would be more useful to measure the rise in noise compared to fan off instead of absolute values.

I've got the ambient level recorded for every test. They are all right in there at about 47-49db. So while the relative numbers won't be much different, I could easily enough make a chart for dB rise vs noise or whatever..:up:

[MpG]

Any idea on the sound levels by position? To look at your photo, you're measuring sound from the side of the fan housing. Whereas if the meter was held in front, you'd probably get a different picture, depending on the nature of the airflow coming out of the fan.

[septim]

SA H1011 still going strong... if we could only find more without resorting to hijacking server fans... hehehe...

[BDW88]

I do love my San's thanks for the testing Martin.:up:

[Sadasius]

Yeah, I'll need to suppliment with an audio recording of some sort. I've been running a few experiements, but havn't landed on a method yet. For example, the San Ace does really really well on cfm per noise level, but it's not as smooth of a noise as some of the others. I've also read a little bit how every one person has a different sensitivity to noise and what is perceived as loud or annoying. So matter what the tool to measure noise, it's only a really rough guide and it's pretty much impossible to quantify noise that would be agreeable to everyone out there.


I think a sound bite is the only way because just like you said some consider it noise while it does not bother other people. I have noticed this too on many different types of fans and users. Some fans I cannot stand the sound of while others do not bother me at all. I know most don't like the sound of the San Ace but to me it sounds good and is not annoying in the least. Delta's bother me though and will admit that. Has a high pitch whine I cannot stand.

[BrightCandle]

Thanks for doing this, although equally I'm not quite sure to make of the data.

If you did some recordings I suspect some analysis of the frequency of the noise might help understand which fans have more annoying noises. The human ear doesn't hear all frequencies equally, maybe there is a correlation?

[Martinm210]

What sort of video recording would you want to see? Is it important to see any of the guages (CFM or dB) while you listen to the sound, or is something like voltage good enough?

I'm finding it kind of hard to keep the video camera close to the fan so the audio is very clear while video recording the guages, but I'm not sure that's important for anyone anyhow..

My little JVC digital media recorder seems to do ok with the audio, but I'm thinking of running the video/audio on a separate pass and maybe setup the camera on a tripot or find some means to fix the measurement point so they are all the same.

I like the idea of running the test while mounted to a radiator, there's a pretty significant increase in noise mounted, so I'm at least sure I want to do that.

[Sadasius]

Maybe just edit in important information on the video's in case they are used in links in other places and such. But graphs I don't think are needed or anything like that. Just something nice and simple that does not take much to download to listen to. Just so people get a feel for the fan if they want to purchase one or not. It will help eliminate many questions from people looking for fans for their rads and stuff and listening to other people's advice when in reality the fan may not suite them at all.

[[XC] riptide]

Martins back. Yay! :worship: :worship: :worship: :worship: :worship: :worship:

[Sadasius]

riptide;3764148']Martins back. Yay! :worship: :worship: :worship: :worship: :worship: :worship:

HAHAHA, Martin I think someone missed you and your nice clean, informative posts! :up::rofl:

[Martinm210]

Thanks guys...:D

The testing is going well, I updated the OP with a new set of summary charts. I'll have to probably split these up as they get more and more full, but this will work for now. 38mm fans in generally doing better than I thought, but I'm still not happy with the noise numbers themselves. I'll plan on the videos after I finish up this numbers set.

[Martinm210]

Updated one more time after testing the Gentle Typhoon. It managed to produce the most CFM per noise level across it's range and one of the nicests smooth sound tones so far. It also happened to be king of CFM per Watt for and takes the lead as the most "Green Fan" so far.:up:

[eth0s]

Martin:

If you really want to accurately test sound, and/ or accurately record sound you will need to build a "quiet room". See this for an idea of what I mean: http://www.tweakheadz.com/home_studio_construction.htm [this guy's idea about building a quiet room in a closet is a bit kooky, but not half bad.]

Remember sounds in a room combine to make noise louder. See this n00bish guide to sound for a refresher on adding logs: http://www.epd.gov.hk/epd/noise_education/web/ENG_EPD_HTML/m1/intro_5.html

If you have never seen a real quiet room, it's hard to describe in words, but I'll try. First you can think about the inside of a professional recording studio, where the musicians sit. Such a room will usually have black foam rubber sound insulation that looks like 1/2 of an egg-carton covering the walls. This is good for noise reduction, but is not really quiet. To get really quiet you need to do what stereo speaker manufacturers build to test sound and noise, which is a room covered with foam insulation in the shape of 16 inch isosceles triangles, with the triangles varied in orientation. To do it right you also have to cover the floor and the ceiling as well, and you therefore have to create a suspended "floor" made of chicken wire that allows you stand above the foam insulation. I have been in one of these rooms and it's freakin' QUIET in there. You have never heard quiet, until you go into a room like that, it is actually unsettling, if you stay in there long enough without making any sound you can start to hear the air pressure on your ear drums.

This is not a very good description of what a quiet room looks like, but maybe somebody who works in one of these places can give you some pictures, or better yet, a tour.

Keep up the good work, your posts are truly legendary.

[Martinm210]

Martin:

If you really want to accurately test sound, and/ or accurately record sound you will need to build a "quiet room". See this for an idea of what I mean: http://www.tweakheadz.com/home_studio_construction.htm [this guy's idea about building a quiet room in a closet is a bit kooky, but not half bad.]

Remember sounds in a room combine to make noise louder. See this n00bish guide to sound for a refresher on adding logs: http://www.epd.gov.hk/epd/noise_education/web/ENG_EPD_HTML/m1/intro_5.html

If you have never seen a real quiet room, it's hard to describe in words, but I'll try. First you can think about the inside of a professional recording studio, where the musicians sit. Such a room will usually have black foam rubber sound insulation that looks like 1/2 of an egg-carton covering the walls. This is good for noise reduction, but is not really quiet. To get really quiet you need to do what stereo speaker manufacturers build to test sound and noise, which is a room covered with foam insulation in the shape of 16 inch isosceles triangles, with the triangles varied in orientation. To do it right you also have to cover the floor and the ceiling as well, and you therefore have to create a suspended "floor" made of chicken wire that allows you stand above the foam insulation. I have been in one of these rooms and it's freakin' QUIET in there. You have never heard quiet, until you go into a room like that, it is actually unsettling, if you stay in there long enough without making any sound you can start to hear the air pressure on your ear drums.

This is not a very good description of what a quiet room looks like, but maybe somebody who works in one of these places can give you some pictures, or better yet, a tour.

Keep up the good work, your posts are truly legendary.

That would be neat, but way outside the scope of effort I'm interested in. If my wife caught me building a quiet room, she'd lock me in there for sure and I'd have plenty of time to think about my priorities...lol! Definately something for those audio engineers and folks though.

With pure silence out of my grasp, I think I'm doing the next best thing in maintaining a relatively constant level of ambient noise by purposely running my PC in the background. In addition the measurement at point blank range seems to make all the difference regarding how susceptible the noise measurements are to ambient noises. So far this method seems to be producing good repeatable results, better than I expected, so I'm good with it.:up:

If I manage enough time, I should finish this round of testing this weekend and publish an update.:up:

[Sadasius]

That would be neat, but way outside the scope of effort I'm interested in. If my wife caught me building a quiet room, she'd lock me in there for sure and I'd have plenty of time to think about my priorities...lol!

:rofl: Yup and my ol lady would do the same to me. It's bad enough I try to sneak orders here and there from time to time.

[Freaky Freezer]

Great tests Martin. Very useful info for everyone, you have my appreciation. If I can bother everyone in this thread with a few questions though:

How is the longevity of the San Ace's? Is Petra's the only place they can be found? And Martin (or anyone else who has experience with both), how does the noise from the San Ace compare to the noise from an S-Flex-E/F/G?

[Martinm210]

Great tests Martin. Very useful info for everyone, you have my appreciation. If I can bother everyone in this thread with a few questions though:

How is the longevity of the San Ace's? Is Petra's the only place they can be found? And Martin (or anyone else who has experience with both), how does the noise from the San Ace compare to the noise from an S-Flex-E/F/G?

I haven't quite put my finger on why, but I personally like the smoother noise from 25mm fans like the S-flex.

The S-flex's aren't really becoming top dB performers though. My G model for some reason is actually fairly poor. E and F models are only falling in the middle of the pack. And to my surprise, the "Kama" flex models are doing slightly better than the "G" series.

It's getting terribly crowded already and I'm not even done...yet, but getting close. I'll have to figure out a way to split some of these out into multiple charts so you can actually read them.

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/4138/airvsnoise1.png

My personal favorite is the Gentle Typhoon, it really has amazing cfm/dB ratios across the voltage range. At least for this first test, I'll do some checking to make sure I can repeat the results as well.

[silverphoenix]

If they could only make a higher speed gentle typhoon lol, I love it's CFM/dba but it just doesn't go high enough for me.

[Hondacity]

good stuff martin, i love the GTs too :D ...i wish it were quieter..lol


If they could only make a higher speed gentle typhoon lol, I love it's CFM/dba but it just doesn't go high enough for me.

thats why we have lots of rads :D double your rads if possible :)

[silverphoenix]

good stuff martin, i love the GTs too :D ...i wish it were quieter..lol



thats why we have lots of rads :D double your rads if possible :)

hehe If my machine was constantly stationary I would, but I don't mind the noise and I'm constantly lugging my tower around which is why my nxt project involves an A05 and 2 internal 360's ;)

[century child]

If they could only make a higher speed gentle typhoon lol, I love it's CFM/dba but it just doesn't go high enough for me.

According to this, they make up to 1,850RPM which is rated for 98m³/H at 28dBA: http://www.scythe-eu.com/en/products/fans/gentle-typhoon-120-mm.html

[Waterlogged]

According to this, they make up to 1,850RPM which is rated for 98m³/H at 28dBA: http://www.scythe-eu.com/en/products/fans/gentle-typhoon-120-mm.html

...and that translates to a whopping 57.7 CFM. :rofl:

[Hondacity]

According to this, they make up to 1,850RPM which is rated for 98m³/H at 28dBA: http://www.scythe-eu.com/en/products/fans/gentle-typhoon-120-mm.html

thats the fan martin is testing

there is a higher cfm gt at nidec's website..i forgot the output

[Brodholm]

I want a really silent fan, I have been thinking about the S-flex E (1200rpm) I have had one and i know it is very silent. But then i saw this test with the Gentle Typhoon showing very good results. Would you recommend it over the s-flex?

And I know that fans sound more the older they get. Have you been using new fans or used fans?

http://www.scythe-eu.com/en/products/fans/gentle-typhoon-120-mm.html
http://www.scythe-eu.com/en/products/fans/scythe-s-flex-12cm-case-fan.html

There is also a difference in sounds. Not just db. Some noise is worse than others. I know vapor said that the sflex sounds nice. Probably because of the
S-FDB (Fluid Dynamic Bearing by SONY Corporation) i think. I'm buying 10 s-flex E next week but now you got me unsure, DOHH! Maybe I should go with the GT...

Info from scythes site:

Gentle Typhoon 120 mm Fan
(500 rpm - 800 rpm - 1,150 rpm - 1,450 rpm - 1,850 rpm)

Technical Data:
500 rpm: 0.015 A - 5 dBA - 31 m³/h
800 rpm: 0.023 A - 9 dBA - 48 m³/h
1,150 rpm: 0.034 A - 16 dBA - 63 m³/h
1,450 rpm: 0.049 A - 21 dBA - 85 m³/h
1,850 rpm: 0.083 A - 28 dBA - 98 m³/h

Bearing Type: Double Ball Bearing

Accessory: 4-pin Molex Adapter, 4x Screws

MTBF:
100,000 h / 35°C or 60,000 h / 60°C
*1,850 rpm Model 55,000 h / 60°C


Model Number:
S-FLEX SFF21D (800 rpm)
S-FLEX SFF21E (1,200 rpm)
S-FLEX SFF21F (1,600 rpm)

Specifications:

800 rpm Version: 33.5 CFM = 58 m³/h | 8.7 dBA | DC 12 V | 0.10 A
1,200 rpm Version: 49.0 CFM = 83 m³/h | 20.1 dBA | DC 12 V | 0.15 A
1,600 rpm Version: 63.7 CFM = 109 m³/h | 28.0 dBA | DC 12 V | 0.20 A
1,900 rpm Version: 75.0 CFM = 127 m³/h | 35.0 dBA | DC 12 V | 0.24 A

Connector: 3-pin (4-pin adaptor included)

Cable Length: 30 cm / 11.81 in

Bearing Type: S-FDB (Fluid Dynamic Bearing by SONY Corporation)

MTBF: 150 000 hours


You tested the 1850rpm variant right? Do you have a graph on specific rpm at volt? And have you tried push/pull in noise difference?

I wounder what happens if you make a blade swap with s-flex and GT :D

Edit: I also found this the other day

http://www.techpowerup.com/92728/Scythe_Expands_S-FLEX_Series_Fans.html

To bad they didn't release a 140mm model

[Martinm210]

I want a really silent fan, I have been thinking about the S-flex E (1200rpm) I have had one and i know it is very silent. But then i saw this test with the Gentle Typhoon showing very good results. Would you recommend it over the s-flex?

And I know that fans sound more the older they get. Have you been using new fans or used fans?

http://www.scythe-eu.com/en/products/fans/gentle-typhoon-120-mm.html
http://www.scythe-eu.com/en/products/fans/scythe-s-flex-12cm-case-fan.html

There is also a difference in sounds. Not just db. Some noise is worse than others. I know vapor said that the sflex sounds nice. Probably because of the
S-FDB (Fluid Dynamic Bearing by SONY Corporation) i think. I'm buying 10 s-flex E next week but now you got me unsure, DOHH! Maybe I should go with the GT...

Info from scythes site:

Gentle Typhoon 120 mm Fan
(500 rpm - 800 rpm - 1,150 rpm - 1,450 rpm - 1,850 rpm)

Technical Data:
500 rpm: 0.015 A - 5 dBA - 31 m³/h
800 rpm: 0.023 A - 9 dBA - 48 m³/h
1,150 rpm: 0.034 A - 16 dBA - 63 m³/h
1,450 rpm: 0.049 A - 21 dBA - 85 m³/h
1,850 rpm: 0.083 A - 28 dBA - 98 m³/h

Bearing Type: Double Ball Bearing

Accessory: 4-pin Molex Adapter, 4x Screws

MTBF:
100,000 h / 35°C or 60,000 h / 60°C
*1,850 rpm Model 55,000 h / 60°C


Model Number:
S-FLEX SFF21D (800 rpm)
S-FLEX SFF21E (1,200 rpm)
S-FLEX SFF21F (1,600 rpm)

Specifications:

800 rpm Version: 33.5 CFM = 58 m³/h | 8.7 dBA | DC 12 V | 0.10 A
1,200 rpm Version: 49.0 CFM = 83 m³/h | 20.1 dBA | DC 12 V | 0.15 A
1,600 rpm Version: 63.7 CFM = 109 m³/h | 28.0 dBA | DC 12 V | 0.20 A
1,900 rpm Version: 75.0 CFM = 127 m³/h | 35.0 dBA | DC 12 V | 0.24 A

Connector: 3-pin (4-pin adaptor included)

Cable Length: 30 cm / 11.81 in

Bearing Type: S-FDB (Fluid Dynamic Bearing by SONY Corporation)

MTBF: 150 000 hours


You tested the 1850rpm variant right? Do you have a graph on specific rpm at volt? And have you tried push/pull in noise difference?

I wounder what happens if you make a blade swap with s-flex and GT :D

Edit: I also found this the other day

http://www.techpowerup.com/92728/Scythe_Expands_S-FLEX_Series_Fans.html

To bad they didn't release a 140mm model

Most of the fans are new with the exception of the UK3, Yate Loon LED, and Yate loon SL-C. The UK3 I've used for radiator testing only, the yates, I've had in use off and on. All the others have had less than a couple of hours on them.

I agree on the noise. dB is a measurment of sound "Quantity" and that does not necessarily relate to "Quality", that's only something you can really judge by ear, and different for every one person.

I've updated the charts in the OP to include the RPM data. The GT I tested was the "AP-15" version which is the 1850RPM spec version, although mine only tested out up to 1740RPM on the radiator. RPM specs are only approximate numbers is what I'm finding, some are WAY off too.

Not sure you could swap blades or not, I believe the GT has a unique motor to handle the extra blades, so that may not work out in the end anyhow.

Anyhow, I've update the OP with some better charts.:up:

[Brodholm]

Most of the fans are new with the exception of the UK3, Yate Loon LED, and Yate loon SL-C. The UK3 I've used for radiator testing only, the yates, I've had in use off and on. All the others have had less than a couple of hours on them.

ok, then it shouldn't matter much. But fans that have been used for 6 months or so often sound much more.

I agree on the noise. dB is a measurment of sound "Quantity" and that does not necessarily relate to "Quality", that's only something you can really judge by ear, and different for every one person.

How did you think that the GT sounded compared to the S-flex E. Because if it sounds better I will be better of with the GT instead. And I have heard that people says it have a special sound.

I've updated the charts in the OP to include the RPM data. The GT I tested was the "AP-15" version which is the 1850RPM spec version, although mine only tested out up to 1740RPM on the radiator. RPM specs are only approximate numbers is what I'm finding, some are WAY off too.

This was very useful. I can see that the sflex E can drop down to 350rpm at 5 volts but the GT only goes down to 700rpm. but I can always get the 1150rpm variant of the GT. But at 350 rpm i doubt that the E moves much air through a radiator.

Not sure you could swap blades or not, I believe the GT has a unique motor to handle the extra blades, so that may not work out in the end anyhow.

It probably have a high number of poles. If you spin the blades by hand you should be able to feel the magnetic steps. They probably have very small magnetic steps compared to others.

Anyhow, I've update the OP with some better charts.:up:

Here is a "test" that a member (zgundam) from silentpcreview did:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=431970&sid=ab6f9f99e44d26ae6bb930a287030365


Update: Done some quick tests of the fans. I don't have any expensive airflow or sound-measuring equipment, so my opinions will be somewhat subjective.

Both 1450rpm and 1850rpm fans were tested at 12v and 7v (using this kind of fan adapter), with a Corsair HX620 supplying power only to one fan at a time and nothing else. Room was completely quiet (no car noise, etc). Tests were performed in open air with no obstructions within 30cm behind or in front of the fans, in vertical position. Two distances used to measure fan - about 10cm and approx 50cm from my ear to fan hub. I did a quick comparison between these fans and a 1200rpm SlipStream and a EbmPapst 4412 FGMLL.

The 1450rpm was surprisingly quiet (but not silent) at 12v. While at 7v it wasn't completely silent, giving a very low continuous hum, noise character it's probably comparable to the 1200rpm SlipStream at 7v. Airflow could probably be compared against a EbmPapst 4412 FGMLL @ 7v.

The 1850rpm Gentle Typhoon was noticeably louder than the 1450rpm version at both 12v and 7v, but not annoying. Airflow felt comparable to a 1200rpm SlipStream.

Both fans have very unique noise signatures (really don't know how to describe, sorry) which I haven't heard from other fans so far, but it's definitely very easy on the ears.

To summarise, the Scythe Gentle Typhoon seems to be a serious competitor for (at least) the 1200rpm Slip Stream. It's got a high MTBF, costs the same as a Slip Stream (at least in Japan anyways) and, from initial impressions, very quiet with good noise character. I just wish Scythe would start distributing these worldwide asap so I can get them cheaper!

Will see if I can get some audio samples done (assuming my mobiles' crappy mic is up to it), but I'd be happy to submit both samples to SPCR for proper testing (as long as I get them back in one piece. and working of course. Razz) if they're interested?

And also, Do you know if it is possible to remove the blades from the motor? Or if it is something special. Because that gray color is ugly as imo and i would want to repaint them.

[Brodholm]

The GT really wipes the floor in your test. It is good across a big range also 700rpm - 1800rpm. I wounder why no one had noticed this before? I'm sure i have seen a picture with someone using them on 2 rads stacked between each other.

Anyway, I did some more searching and found this (http://translate.google.se/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=sv&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.rexware.fr%2Findex.php%3Foption %3Dcom_content%26task%3Dview%26id%3D1013%26Itemid% 3D2&sl=fr&tl=en&history_state0=fr|en|). Its in French but google translate makes a pretty good job translating it.

http://www.rexware.fr/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1013&Itemid=2 (in case my link from google.se don't work)

He only got the 1150 model down to 878rpm at 5 volts. And you got your 1850 down to 700rpm at 5 volts (behind a rad though). That would mean that there is no reason to get a lower rpm variant if they don't sound less at the same speed.
http://bankti.free.fr/gty3.gif

[G-UNIT91]

Welcome back Martin!:welcome:

[Martinm210]

Yeah, it's still a tough call even having both sitting here in my hands. The sound quality of the SFlex-E is very good and it gets way down in the RPM range if your after total silence.

Great links, at least I'm finding some consistency even though I measured on the fan edge mounted to a radiator and they measured open air inline with the motor axis.

I'd like to try some of the other RPM ranges just out of curiousity. I find it interesting how the different RPM ranges of the same fan lines produces very different results. My Sflex-E and Sflex-F preformed relatively the same regarding cfm/dB ratios, but the Sflex-G was different. I guess I always assumed it was the same fan with some very simple modifications, but after reading some of the fan development notes, it appears they design the motor specifically for different RPM ranges, etc...so they really are different fans despite looking the same.

Anyhow, I'm still trying to look through all this data myself and make sense of it, feel free to draw your own conclusions or if something seems out of place, I can always make another run to check.
Thanks!
Martin

[Brodholm]

Yeah, it's still a tough call even having both sitting here in my hands. The sound quality of the SFlex-E is very good and it gets way down in the RPM range if your after total silence.

Great links, at least I'm finding some consistency even though I measured on the fan edge mounted to a radiator and they measured open air inline with the motor axis.

I'd like to try some of the other RPM ranges just out of curiousity. I find it interesting how the different RPM ranges of the same fan lines produces very different results. My Sflex-E and Sflex-F preformed relatively the same regarding cfm/dB ratios, but the Sflex-G was different. I guess I always assumed it was the same fan with some very simple modifications, but after reading some of the fan development notes, it appears they design the motor specifically for different RPM ranges, etc...so they really are different fans despite looking the same.

Anyhow, I'm still trying to look through all this data myself and make sense of it, feel free to draw your own conclusions or if something seems out of place, I can always make another run to check.
Thanks!
Martin

I really appreciate the tests you are doing here. Up until now I could have sworn that the S-flex was the best fan, no doubt. But now your test beg to differ.

The thing I'm looking for is silence and good performance. I rather sacrifice performance for noise than vice versa. But looking at your graps it seams that the GT beats the S-flex series. It have a wider rpm range and have better noise/airflow ratio.

The s-flex E moves the same amount of air at 9V as the GT does at 6V. At 9V the E does 920rpm (56db) while the GT does 880rpm at 6V (53db). Looking at these numbers again I notice that there only is small numbers separating them both. And with the S-flex you get 50 000 hours more lifetime. It really is a tough choice. And the S-FDB (Fluid Dynamic Bearing by SONY Corporation) is really nice that the S-flex have.

How much difference does 3db actually make? And do you have any idea when you will be able to get your hands on some GT in the lower range?

"The sound quality of the SFlex-E is very good and it gets way down in the RPM range if your after total silence." But at 350rpm with a radiator there must be no air coming through at all?

[Hondacity]

I wounder why no one had noticed this before? I'm sure i have seen a picture with someone using them on 2 rads stacked between each other.



:D

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c5/hondacity25/x-7.jpg

[Brodholm]

:D

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c5/hondacity25/x-7.jpg

Haha! There they are :D

Satisfied with you GT's?

Basically, what I'm trying to decide is S-flex < GT or vice versa.

So I'm asking you, Is the Gentle Typhoon the answer to life the universe and everything? Or is it still 42 (http://www.google.se/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Asv-SE%3Aofficial&channel=s&hl=sv&q=what+is+the+answer+to+life%2C+the+universe+and+e verything&meta=&btnG=Google-s%C3%B6kning)?

One more thing, have you tried to remove the blades from one of your GT's? Is it possible? A thousand questions as usual... Typical of me :P

[Hondacity]

i have the scythe flex G, and the gt 1850s, the scythe flex g is has a higher pitched noise at 12v, the gt @ 12v is just right, but if you want quiet, the sflex f or e, or the gt 1600s might be better. but the less rpm the less noise.

the gt i would pressume have better motors :D

****only way to satisfy your curiousity is buy samples, thats what i did :D

[ILikeCosmosS]

i have been looking at two fans s-flex g and the GT's i want to paint them red and white proppellers

but the s-flex f is much lower cfm then the G and the gt's have double ball bearing compared to the bearing of the s-flex g

What is the advantage and disadvantage to both of these fans?

[Brodholm]

i have the scythe flex G, and the gt 1850s, the scythe flex g is has a higher pitched noise at 12v, the gt @ 12v is just right, but if you want quiet, the sflex f or e, or the gt 1600s might be better. but the less rpm the less noise.

the gt i would pressume have better motors :D

****only way to satisfy your curiousity is buy samples, thats what i did :D

Yeah, I'm doing that. But I'm only able to get the 1150rpm variant here in Sweden :\

And I'm having thoughts about the 1600rpm version of scythe's. Since they go like 580rpm and follows the E in noise/cfm.

[Martinm210]

Does this sort of video recording work alright?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFpSYLO7Cns

[Hondacity]

the air is hitting the mic, there are many ways of measuring the sound, since mine is facing me, the fans don't make that noise on the intake...

my two cents.

[ILikeCosmosS]

thats loud i wonder how close your putting the mic(not really though, more like breeze)

[Martinm210]

the air is hitting the mic, there are many ways of measuring the sound, since mine is facing me, the fans don't make that noise on the intake...

my two cents.

Dang, that's what I was thinking too. The wife left the house and my daughter took and extra long nap, so I had about two hours this afternoon to record in pure silence (Something that almost never happens). I got about 20 of the fans recorded like this, but all of them have that wind buffeting noise problem. My POS video camera doesn't name files in any logical order, so I was hoping I could work up some sort of setup where you could see the model number. Oh well, I tried.

Here is the same failed setup for the S Flex-F
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O63YQiBCoAw

And the Yate Loon D12SL12-LED-S
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip2AvaPu2AA

Who wants to do some good video recordings?

I've got a box full of fans, I'm ready to ship..:D

[Brodholm]

I think that you should try putting the camera so it doesn't blow air directly on the microphone. It would be better if you put some protection on the mic or so. You don't really need to hear that sound. Great quality though! :up:

[ILikeCosmosS]

i rather tired due to my exams so ill pass

hey martin have you ever considered testing the enermax magma's and clusters?

does the s-flex g have high pitched sound?

off topic but how much cfm should be passed through a rad ? (in pushpull?)

[Hondacity]

Dang, that's what I was thinking too. The wife left the house and my daughter took and extra long nap, so I had about two hours this afternoon to record in pure silence (Something that almost never happens). I got about 20 of the fans recorded like this, but all of them have that wind buffeting noise problem. My POS video camera doesn't name files in any logical order, so I was hoping I could work up some sort of setup where you could see the model number. Oh well, I tried.

Here is the same failed setup for the S Flex-F
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O63YQiBCoAw

And the Yate Loon D12SL12-LED-S
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip2AvaPu2AA

Who wants to do some good video recordings?

I've got a box full of fans, I'm ready to ship..:D



will someone take the burden off of martin :D

**when i watched that sflex vid, i thought it was a horror video..hahahah

[The-Fox]

Martin,
Can you please check for static pressure of the GT Vs. Kaze Master Vs. S-flex Vs. YL-D12S @ the same RPM ?
I currently have 4 YL-D12SL On my Feser 480 and I am trying to conclude, what fan would be better, GT or Kaze Master (or stay with the YL).
The Kaze Master is 38 mm, so I really doubt the GT will be better.

Anyway, those are the main competitors IMO, so I think it would be wiser to focus on them an not on 30 other fans that obviously are not in the same league.

BTW.
It's great to have you back here !

[Waterlogged]

Martin, I know exactly what your going through trying to record the fan noise. I had the same problem when I did my Kaze master conversion video. The recording level of the mic on my camera simply didn't go low enough to capture the S-Flex F I used when it was running ~630 RPM. I've decided that in the future, if I have a need for recording fans, I'm going to have a hyper sensitive mic attached to one of my minidisc recorders and sync the audio with the video in Windows movie maker.

[Brodholm]

At 5 volt the GT is nearly silent and the s-flex is also almost silent. At 7-8 volts they start to sound a bit more. The GT has a more whiny noise and the Sflex a more comfy noise imo.

If you where able to record so we could see rpm and/or airflow that would be awesome! Because then you could set the video up parallel with another and then just go play pause play pause etc. And I would also like to be able to compare the fans to others at certan rpm/volts. But then you would need to stay at one setting for a number for some seconds.

So if you could stop at different volts and let it be there for like 5-10 seconds so you can compare the fan with other fans at different volts and cfm (if you can include that). Like 3v, 4v, 6v, 8v, 10v, 12v. Maybe even more (I would like to have 5-10 seconds at each volt if you had the time and felt like it). It really don't matter if the video is 1 min or 5mins.

And at some volts you get some background noise that can be misleading at that moment. Do I make any sense?

So, stay at specific volts for some time and try implementing as much data as possible (cfm,rpm,db)

[Martinm210]

will someone take the burden off of martin :D

**when i watched that sflex vid, i thought it was a horror video..hahahah

LOL! Would you like some music? Oh wait that may get in the way...:D

I'll get er done, I've got some ideas on getting the video done without being in the noise stream. Either I'll setup the camera under the fan with the mic on it's edge, or I can record with the fans in push on the radiator instead of pull.:up:

[Martinm210]

Martin,
Can you please check for static pressure of the GT Vs. Kaze Master Vs. S-flex Vs. YL-D12S @ the same RPM ?
I currently have 4 YL-D12SL On my Feser 480 and I am trying to conclude, what fan would be better, GT or Kaze Master (or stay with the YL).
The Kaze Master is 38 mm, so I really doubt the GT will be better.

Anyway, those are the main competitors IMO, so I think it would be wiser to focus on them an not on 30 other fans that obviously are not in the same league.

BTW.
It's great to have you back here !

I wouldn't trust static pressure on it's own. The curves are fairly linear, but not enough to really know by static pressure alone which would produce more flow. I have the full PQ curve already run on the GT and S-Flexs in my round 1 thread, but it's my own setup, so you can really compare the numbers to anything else.

I'd stick with the Kaze Master unless you're just looking for a change.:up:

[Brodholm]

You should make a RPM vs. Noise graph to. If that isn't to much trouble :D

[Martinm210]

At 5 volt the GT is nearly silent and the s-flex is also almost silent. At 7-8 volts they start to sound a bit more. The GT has a more whiny noise and the Sflex a more comfy noise imo.

If you where able to record so we could see rpm and/or airflow that would be awesome! Because then you could set the video up parallel with another and then just go play pause play pause etc. And I would also like to be able to compare the fans to others at certan rpm/volts. But then you would need to stay at one setting for a number for some seconds.

So if you could stop at different volts and let it be there for like 5-10 seconds so you can compare the fan with other fans at different volts and cfm (if you can include that). Like 3v, 4v, 6v, 8v, 10v, 12v. Maybe even more (I would like to have 5-10 seconds at each volt if you had the time and felt like it). It really don't matter if the video is 1 min or 5mins.

And at some volts you get some background noise that can be misleading at that moment. Do I make any sense? And rpm would be really nice to implement in the picture. And if possible also cfm.

Yeah, that was my first thought on the video, but after trying that I had to place the camera so far back to capture the guages, that the microphone lost all of it's sensitivity to capture audio from these low noise levels.

It's alot tricker than I thought, you almost need a camera that can use and external microphone and use a nice quality sensitive microphone to do it right.

I seem to have misplaced my wifes Canon S2IS, I think it actually has better audio than this JVC GZ-MC500U. It's a pretty cool little compact digital, but it doesn't have a microphone port.

[Martinm210]

Martin, I know exactly what your going through trying to record the fan noise. I had the same problem when I did my Kaze master conversion video. The recording level of the mic on my camera simply didn't go low enough to capture the S-Flex F I used when it was running ~630 RPM. I've decided that in the future, if I have a need for recording fans, I'm going to have a hyper sensitive mic attached to one of my minidisc recorders and sync the audio with the video in Windows movie maker.

I think that's exactly what needs to be done to do it right..:up:

[Brodholm]

What about placing some foam in front of the mic? so it wont get direct airflow? I think that the audio still will be almost as loud as before but without the "blowing" noise.

And if you could stop at specific volts for awhile that would be awesome!

Is it possible to implement cfm,db and rpm in the picture? The most important ones are volt and cfm so you can compare them with other fans via video.

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

I used GT's in a recent air cooling build and I was more than impressed with them, they are seriously better than any YL I have ever used. I had 800rpm ones and 1850rpm ones and I had to look at the sticker to know which one was which sound wise....

[Sadasius]

You know what? I liked the videos. It was nice and simple and it gave you the wind noise too of the air moving which in some fans sound different. I think you did a real good job as we can see the volts and the actual fan and nobody can say anything otherwise about the fan noise of a specific fan. It's right there in your face all through the voltage spectrum of our PSU's.

[SpuTnicK]

Martin, can you do a video about san ace? Very intperested.

[bobo5195]

Very useful and good work indeed

Any chance of trying a PAPST simply cos i trust their fan curves so could compare data.

[Martinm210]

What about placing some foam in front of the mic? so it wont get direct airflow? I think that the audio still will be almost as loud as before but without the "blowing" noise.

And if you could stop at specific volts for awhile that would be awesome!

Is it possible to implement cfm,db and rpm in the picture? The most important ones are volt and cfm so you can compare them with other fans via video.

I did something similar that seems to be working. I'm also including the anemometer in the background, so you'll see both CFM and Volts when recording.
Here is a retake on the Gentle Typhoon in the new format.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLgJomTh74w


You know what? I liked the videos. It was nice and simple and it gave you the wind noise too of the air moving which in some fans sound different. I think you did a real good job as we can see the volts and the actual fan and nobody can say anything otherwise about the fan noise of a specific fan. It's right there in your face all through the voltage spectrum of our PSU's.

I'm keeping the same concept, just added a little wind deflector over the microphone to prevent that pronounced wind buffeting.


Martin, can you do a video about san ace? Very intperested.

Sure, here you go..:up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dCBSux7cvc

[Martinm210]

Very useful and good work indeed

Any chance of trying a PAPST simply cos i trust their fan curves so could compare data.

Thanks,
Where do you guys even buy the PAPST fans at?

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

DD used to cary them....

[ecat]

Martin, those videos are simply awesome. Excellent layout, stunning work. If possible could you post a pic of the clunky switch / controller you are using just to finish the perspective ?

Thanks again for all your time.

(Is it normal to get excited watching fan videos ? )

[ILikeCosmosS]

the san ace is bit load at full blast

this may be a stupid question but how much cfm does a rad need?

[Martinm210]

DD used to cary them....

Thanks!


Martin, those videos are simply awesome. Excellent layout, stunning work. If possible could you post a pic of the clunky switch / controller you are using just to finish the perspective ?

Thanks again for all your time.

(Is it normal to get excited watching fan videos ? )

LOL! I thought I was the only one easily amused.:)

Thanks!

I've got four of the new format videos done. This time I'm uploading straight from my camera to keep the quality as high as possible. You can click the "HQ" button in youtube to get the higher quality version if you want.

Gtyphoon AP15 = Servo Nidec Gentle Typhoon DC1225C12B5AP-15
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLgJomTh74w

San Ace H1011 = Sanyo Denki San Ace 109R1212H1011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dCBSux7cvc

Sflex-F = Scythe S-Flex SFF21F
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ygYCWhwP7c

Zalman ZM-3 = Zalman ZF1225ASH
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7Yy3U2QYdo


Let me know which others you want done first. The only time I can record is in the evening, so I'll shoot to do a couple of them here and there as time permits.

The voltage controller is just Mastech variable PSU. It makes some pretty loud clicking noises when running through the volts, but it's a nice unit with coarse and fine adjustments 0-30V up to 5 amps.

Here is my uber high tech video studio in action, my bedroom walk-in closet is my sound room..lol!

http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/2544/fanvideorecording.jpg

[Martinm210]

the san ace is bit load at full blast

this may be a stupid question but how much cfm does a rad need?

Yes it is for my taste at 12V, but I know some guys that run 100+ CFM fans all the time, all personal preference. But... you should compare fans when they produce the same CFM, not the voltage...or the max voltage if you plan to use a fan controller.

Try this:
Play the San Ace video until you're at 5V which is producing around 21cfm, now pause it. Start another window and play the SFlex-F until 11 Volts which is also producing around 21CFM. Now go back and forth between both videos and play that same CFM level and make a comparison that way.

It works really well and brings the difference while undervolting into perspective pretty well. What appears to be an obnoxiously loud San Ace at 12V doesn't seem so bad when you start comparing apples to apples which is CFM. What you get though is two different sound tones and characters. Per dB numbers the San Ace is actually producing less noise level per CFM, but to me it's more of a difference in tone. The San Ace is making a lower tone like sound with a bit more of a motor grit, while the Sflex F is producing a higher pitched sound with less motor grit. Which is better? That's probably going to depend on your own personal preferences.

There is no correct amount, the more air through the rad, the more performance the rad gives you or the closer your water will be to ambient temperature. You can never go below the temperature of the air entering the radiator though, so there are diminishing returns as you approach that magical radiator air in temperature.

You can use one of my rad calcs on skinnees site if you want numbers, but the important thing to know is that radiator performance is HIGHLY dependant on the fan used.

Someone using a very strong fan could very easily get better temps with a single 120 sized radiator than someone with a quad sized radiator that insists on using 800 RPM fans. I've measured some radiators having over 5X the performance difference depending on the fans.

Unfortunately I think everyone wants very low speed silence AND performance. In that case you simply need to increase the number of radiators to compensate for the poor fan performance. And there is no doubt, fan performance pretty well sucks when you get down and below 1000RPM level. In the end it's all a matter of compromise between performance and silence, but you can do alot to have both by increasing the number and size of the radiators.

[ILikeCosmosS]

i going to do push pull martin
the push will activated when the gpu's/cpu will reach a certain temperature
i going to have paint my fans so this is where i run into the issue, i want to know the performance of the enermax magma and cluster fans as well but something tells me that red and white fans even if they are painted are not going to look good
but if i were to get the GT then i would have to get them painted

i have such a small choice to choose from yate loon medium , scythe s-flex f or g, GT-1850 rpm

[Freaky Freezer]

I'm sorry I need clarification on something, I thought I remember Vapor or someone else's tests showing that GT's are horrible on radiators? Or was that the Slipstreams?

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

I'm sorry I need clarification on something, I thought I remember Vapor or someone else's tests showing that GT's are horrible on radiators? Or was that the Slipstreams?

Martin is the first to formally test the GT's AFAIK. :up:

[Martinm210]

i going to do push pull martin
the push will activated when the gpu's/cpu will reach a certain temperature
i going to have paint my fans so this is where i run into the issue, i want to know the performance of the enermax magma and cluster fans as well but something tells me that red and white fans even if they are painted are not going to look good
but if i were to get the GT then i would have to get them painted

i have such a small choice to choose from yate loon medium , scythe s-flex f or g, GT-1850 rpm

I don't have the yate videos done yet, but I would suggest listening to the videos to make your decision. The GT has very low dB numbers, but it's a different sound some people may not like. The yates and the S-flexs have a similar design and sound. S-flexs are a little higher quality construction as are the GTs.


I'm sorry I need clarification on something, I thought I remember Vapor or someone else's tests showing that GT's are horrible on radiators? Or was that the Slipstreams?

He measured high dB on the slipstream, which I got a similar result. I got the slipstream video done last night also, I just need to upload it...then you can check it out for yourself.:up:

[Freaky Freezer]

I don't have the yate videos done yet, but I would suggest listening to the videos to make your decision. The GT has very low dB numbers, but it's a different sound some people may not like. The yates and the S-flexs have a similar design and sound. S-flexs are a little higher quality construction as are the GTs.



He measured high dB on the slipstream, which I got a similar result. I got the slipstream video done last night also, I just need to upload it...then you can check it out for yourself.:up:

Thanks Martin

[ILikeCosmosS]

know i have question how good are the s-flex g and the gt -15(1850rpm) at undervolting?

whats the wierd noise your talking about with the gt?

[SpuTnicK]

Thanx a lot, Martin, great video of san ace.
If it isn't so hard for you, can you send that video to my mail, please?

[Martinm210]

know i have question how good are the s-flex g and the gt -15(1850rpm) at undervolting?

whats the wierd noise your talking about with the gt?

I think they are both very good at undervolting, but the S-flex has more range low to high.

I wouldn't call it wierd, the GT just has a different sound. Maybe it's just less fan blade noise which makes the motor noise more pronounced..not sure. It just sounds a little different than most fans. I think the video sound represents the actual sound pretty well, so take a look at that. I don't have the Sflex G recorded yet, but the F model is up.

[Martinm210]

Thanx a lot, Martin, great video of san ace.
If it isn't so hard for you, can you send that video to my mail, please?

These videos come out of my JVC camera at about 220mb a piece! Even with 10MB cable, it take a LONG time to upload to youtube.

I don't think you want that 200+MB file sitting in your inbox..lol!:ROTF:

[Martinm210]

Alright, I've got all 5 videos I created last night uploaded.

Taking requests on the next priority videos...thanks!
Martin

VIDEO LINKS

Gtyphoon AP15 = Servo Nidec Gentle Typhoon DC1225C12B5AP-15
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLgJomTh74w

San Ace H1011 = Sanyo Denki San Ace 109R1212H1011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dCBSux7cvc

Sflex-F = Scythe S-Flex SFF21F
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ygYCWhwP7c

SlipStream SH = Scythe Slip Stream SY1225LS 12SH
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO4Tk2FzZBs

Zalman ZM-3 = Zalman ZF1225ASH
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7Yy3U2QYdo

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

So I've just used your comparison method martin (useing 2 videos @ = CFM)

the Gentle Typhoon @ 9v/20CFM is SO much quieter than anyof the other fans..... amazing.
\

@ 30 cfm the sanace beats the GT though IMO

[Martinm210]

So I've just used your comparison method martin (useing 2 videos @ = CFM)

the Gentle Typhoon @ 9v/20CFM is SO much quieter than anyof the other fans..... amazing.
\

@ 30 cfm the sanace beats the GT though IMO

Yeah, 9V seems to be a nice tone, 10V is a little annoying, then it seems to smooth back out at 11-12V.

It seems to be a good method of comparison.:up:

The videos are working really well for this, something I couldn't do when testing, but now you can match up the CFM and make a good comparison..I like it!

This also takes the burden off of me trying to make judgment. As long as I keep my video recording setup exactly the same, it should be a good way to let the users decide for themselves.

[ILikeCosmosS]

thx martin when i heard the GT it was like motor spinning
i found the scythe sflex f louder for some odd reason

i like the noise from the GT it sounds cool :D and the fact its sounds a bit quieter

[shazza]

Very nice ... good way to show the noise levels.

It's very interesting ... even though the noise may be lower, I found the GT a bit annoying above 9V ... Next time I listen to these, I'm going to do it "Blind" so I don't know which fan I'm listening to - just to remove any unintentional bias (e.g. - I own the S-Flex, and don't want to switch :p: )

[alacheesu]

Nice. Never thought I'd get a good impression of sound level from a youtube video, but the S-Flex video was very close to what I hear from mine. Not sure why I find that surprising, but I do.

Anyway, thanks for doing this. I love graphs and numbers, but this was an awesome idea, IMO.

[Brodholm]

This is really good martin!

I'm glad you went with the 10 seconds at each volt from 4v to 12v. And also that you included CFM. It was a pita to check the graphs every time :D

I agree that the GT is VERY good up to 9v but then it almost gets beten by some other fans. The SA have a rattling noise to it. Don't like it at all...
Maybe the 1450rpm version is just right (9v gives 1350rpm on the 1850rpm version)

now you just need to get your hands on some lower GT's like the 1450 version and 1150. I just orderd a S-flex F (1600rpm) and a GT (1150rpm) so ill probably have them in 2 days. And I'm going to check it out for myself. They don't have the 1850rpm version of the GT in sweden so i hade to go with the 1150.

Does anyone know were I can get the full range of GT's? I know ppcs have them, but ill think ill stay away from them. I know RRR had some real issues with them :\

[Boogerlad]

which fan do you think sounds best martin?

[shazza]

This is really good martin!

...

Does anyone know were I can get the full range of GT's? I know ppcs have them, but ill think ill stay away from them. I know RRR had some real issues with them :\

While some people report having problems, there are plenty of people who haven't had an issue. I've had excellent service from them during the past 3 years.

[Freaky Freezer]

Does anyone know were I can get the full range of GT's? I know ppcs have them, but ill think ill stay away from them. I know RRR had some real issues with them :\

His issue was that ppc's is not Mountainmods.

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

Does anyone know were I can get the full range of GT's? I know ppcs have them, but ill think ill stay away from them. I know RRR had some real issues with them :\

FYI you should never listen to what RRR says or pay attention to him - he has no business running a liquid cooling website as he is less experienced than 75% of the active members in this section. I dont even think he ever finished his first build..... LOL. that and he is an egotistical ass with a MAJOR e-peen enhancement problem/obsession.


He is an odd kind of guy who puts up ad banners of his favorite stores without permission or an advertising agreement from that store.


and to answer your question - newegg sells the full range of GT's

[Freaky Freezer]

FYI you should never listen to what RRR says or pay attention to him - he has no business running a liquid cooling website as he is less experienced than 75% of the active members in this section. I dont even think he ever finished his first build..... LOL. that and he is an egotistical ass with a MAJOR e-peen enhancement problem/obsession.


He is an odd kind of guy who puts up ad banners of his favorite stores without permission or an advertising agreement from that store.


and to answer your question - newegg sells the full range of GT's

:up:

But I must disagree on him not having permission or an agreement. No one is that big of a fanboy without somekind of incentive. At least that's what I would think.

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

:up:

But I must disagree on him not having permission or an agreement. No one is that big of a fanboy without somekind of incentive. At least that's what I would think.

I can tell you for sure that he has no sort of agreement or sponsorship from sidewinder computers.... there was some recent "drama" over this and I asked gary for clarification about it and he said that RRtech is in no way shape or form sponsored by his shop.

[Freaky Freezer]

I can tell you for sure that he has no sort of agreement or sponsorship from sidewinder computers.... there was some recent "drama" over this and I asked gary for clarification about it and he said that RRtech is in no way shape or form sponsored by his shop.

Oh I'm sorry. I didn't know about Sidewinders. I thought you were talking about Mountainmods.

[Vapor]

C'mon guys, there's no need to talk about a banned member here....let's keep Martin's great thread clean :)

[Martinm210]

which fan do you think sounds best martin?

Still trying to figure that out myself, but anything below 1000 RPM is pretty good..:D

If only they performed that slow.

It's a hard thing to judge with the higher performing fans, because you generally relate to their noise level by how much noise you get at 12V. Trying to put that apples to oranges misconception aside and compare per CFM produced takes a different way of thinking.

The GT obviously has my attention, but I also want to spend some time with the recordings after they are done and compare the bottom end of some of the stronger fans. The dB numbers seem to indicate some advantages to 38mm fans that I want to look at more closely.

Unfortunately it's going to take a little while to get the video recordings done since I can only get them done late in the evening when the stomping feet and noise makers are in bed. It's amazing just how hard it is to find quiet when you need that for something.

Anyhow...I'm not completely sure myself yet. I just figured I'd keep collecting the information and with the videos...hopefully that's enough that you guys can make some judgements as well.:up:

[ILikeCosmosS]

hey martin didnt you find the GT queiter at 12v then the s-flex?
i personally like the cool sound from the GT

[Boogerlad]

wow! GTs are expensive here in canada. 16 bucks a pop. I'll stick with my 7 dollar slip streams.

[silverphoenix]

wow so according to the chart for cfm/dba the cheaper UK3 seems to do much better than my San Ace across the board. Just too bad they are sleeve bearing for the application I was going to use them for. I wonder what kind of temperature difference I would see at different CFM's to determine if I should be switching to the GT's, I can sleep 4' away from my 3 San Ace going full blast no problem, but still.

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

wow so according to the chart for cfm/dba the cheaper UK3 seems to do much better than my San Ace across the board. Just too bad they are sleeve bearing for the application I was going to use them for. I wonder what kind of temperature difference I would see at different CFM's to determine if I should be switching to the GT's, I can sleep 4' away from my 3 San Ace going full blast no problem, but still.

yeah, I can sleep 2 feet from 3 sanace @ 70% and 3 YL-H @ 70% no problem.

issue is, when my girlfriend comes over and says "its to friggin loud! shut it off!"

[Martinm210]

hey martin didnt you find the GT queiter at 12v then the s-flex?
i personally like the cool sound from the GT

Yeah it's quieter, but it's also a different tone. I get more of a combination of wind with motor sound from the Sflex's, where the GT is almost absent of the wind/blade noise, so all you hear is the motor. I like it, but some people may not.:shrug:


wow so according to the chart for cfm/dba the cheaper UK3 seems to do much better than my San Ace across the board. Just too bad they are sleeve bearing for the application I was going to use them for. I wonder what kind of temperature difference I would see at different CFM's to determine if I should be switching to the GT's, I can sleep 4' away from my 3 San Ace going full blast no problem, but still.

It would be hard to say with those being so close. I'll try to get a video of the UK3 going soon so you can have that as well. I think the UK3 has a more pronounced motor tick than the San Aces, but it's hard to tell when the tests are far apart. Hopefully the recording will make it an easier comparison.


yeah, I can sleep 2 feet from 3 sanace @ 70% and 3 YL-H @ 70% no problem.

issue is, when my girlfriend comes over and says "its to friggin loud! shut it off!"

There's something to be said for a nice constant hum for sleeping purposes. We put a box fan in our window most of the summer.:up:

[Freaky Freezer]

yeah, I can sleep 2 feet from 3 sanace @ 70% and 3 YL-H @ 70% no problem.

issue is, when my girlfriend comes over and says "its to friggin loud! shut it off!"

Exactly. We all get used to the sound of most fans, which seem quiet to use but they are only quiet in comparison to other louder fans we have all experienced. But no matter how quiet we think some fans are; if someone who has never heard them hears them they are like, "WHY DO YOU HAVE A HELICOPTER IN YOUR ROOM??"

[osiris999]

what do you guys think of the the D12SH yate loon high speed fans. they are only 5$ a peice and i have 6 of the silent ones now but i need more fans anyways and i would like the extra cooling alot. i k now noise will be an issue now. im looking for 6 fans for under 50$ that will give best performance. they will be going on a black ice pro 3X120mm rad.

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

read the data martin posted mate, its all there.

the yate SH is named "Yate SH-C" in the graphs on the first page.

[The-Fox]

Alright, I've got all 5 videos I created last night uploaded.

Taking requests on the next priority videos...thanks!
Martin

VIDEO LINKS

Gtyphoon AP15 = Servo Nidec Gentle Typhoon DC1225C12B5AP-15
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLgJomTh74w

San Ace H1011 = Sanyo Denki San Ace 109R1212H1011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dCBSux7cvc

Sflex-F = Scythe S-Flex SFF21F
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ygYCWhwP7c

SlipStream SH = Scythe Slip Stream SY1225LS 12SH
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO4Tk2FzZBs

Zalman ZM-3 = Zalman ZF1225ASH
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7Yy3U2QYdo


Yo are the man :worship::worship:

Those videos really help to put things into perspective.
Now, if you can please just add the UltraKaze and you are set :up:

BTW, I liked the sound of the GT, it is easy on the ears and I think it is a nice fan for low CFM.

[Sadasius]

San Ace H1011 = Sanyo Denki San Ace 109R1212H1011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dCBSux7cvc


Mikem likes em

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m114/meera1983/jackson-gollum.jpg

[Martinm210]

Thanks!:D

Got the rest of the S-Flex's added, UK3 uploading now. I got about 10 more recorded last night I need to upload.:up:

VIDEO LINKS

Gtyphoon AP15 = Servo Nidec Gentle Typhoon DC1225C12B5AP-15
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLgJomTh74w

San Ace H1011 = Sanyo Denki San Ace 109R1212H1011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dCBSux7cvc

Sflex-E = Scythe S-Flex SFF21E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcJ4Yr2krTk

Sflex-F = Scythe S-Flex SFF21F
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ygYCWhwP7c

Sflex-G = Scythe S-Flex SFF21G
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrtRQD2q1vM

SlipStream SH = Scythe Slip Stream SY1225LS 12SH
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO4Tk2FzZBs

Zalman ZM-3 = Zalman ZF1225ASH
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7Yy3U2QYdo

[Sadasius]

Those videos should be stickied when they are all done. :up:

[Brodholm]

Those videos should be stickied when they are all done. :up:

+1

the whole thread should be sticked :up::up::up:

After hearing all the clips so far i have no doubt that the GT is better than the s-flex in sound/noise. But I think that over 9v the GT is to loud. Actually I don't want a fan to sound more than a GT at 9v. Thats why I think the 1450rpm variant is really good! But there is no point in getting it if it doesn't have a lower sound at the same cfm.

Have you been able to get your hands on some others GT's martin?

[Freaky Freezer]

Those videos should be stickied when they are all done. :up:

100% :up:

[Martinm210]

Thanks guys,

Ultra Kaze 1000 and 3000 vids added to the OP..:)

[3Z3VH]

I am still waiting for one of these benchmarks to include Noctua fans.

[mhw100]

Is it just me or does the Zalman seem a bit quieter than the Sflex G at 7v and 12v? The db doesn't seem to mirror observation this but there appears to be less motor noise if I'm not mistaken.

[Martinm210]

I am still waiting for one of these benchmarks to include Noctua fans.

If you've got some you'd like to donate for the cause, I'd be happy to run them. At $20 a fan, I just can't afford to buy these on my own. I only paid for a few of the fans I have tested. Most of these were generously given to me by Hondacity here in the forums, and I also received several from feser-one, petra's, and ncix.:up:


Is it just me or does the Zalman seem a bit quieter than the Sflex G at 7v and 12v? The db doesn't seem to mirror observation this but there appears to be less motor noise if I'm not mistaken.

Just make sure you're matching up the CFM levels and not the voltage, I thought the Zalman and the S-flex F was pretty close, slightly different tone though. The zalman seems to make a deeper sound, but they were pretty close. It doesn't matter what I think though, that's the real benefit behind the videos I think, everyone will have a slightly different preference and they can make up their own mind using the videos..:up:

FYI,
Uploaded the "KING OF POWER" Delta fan, as well as the Koolance 38 HBK, links in the OP. A couple of high power 38mm fans for you to listen to.

As much as I couldn't stand the sound of the Delta 24/7, it sure does have a neat V8 sound at lower volts... It would definately fit the "Tim the toolman" cravings...lol!

VIDEO LINKS

Delta AFBSHE = Delta AFB1212SHE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgHKP_mBZJg

Gtyphoon AP15 = Servo Nidec Gentle Typhoon DC1225C12B5AP-15
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLgJomTh74w

Kool38HBK = Koolance Fan-12038HBK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiNcYXlVTKk

San Ace H1011 = Sanyo Denki San Ace 109R1212H1011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dCBSux7cvc

Sflex-E = Scythe S-Flex SFF21E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcJ4Yr2krTk

Sflex-F = Scythe S-Flex SFF21F
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ygYCWhwP7c

Sflex-G = Scythe S-Flex SFF21G
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrtRQD2q1vM

SlipStream SH = Scythe Slip Stream SY1225LS 12SH
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO4Tk2FzZBs

ScyUK3 = Scythe Ultra Kaze 1000 DFS123812H-1000
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMNxyDxmgAE

ScyUK3 = Scythe Ultra Kaze 3000 DFS123812H-3000
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gb-0usGR-Ok

Zalman ZM-3 = Zalman ZF1225ASH
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7Yy3U2QYdo

[Martinm210]

And another video, the Noise Blocker XL-2. I think I actually like the NB better than the S-flex F at around 9 volts, but they are really close up higher.

NB XL-1 = Noise Blocker XL-1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvX_z9OzI0M


The NB does get my vote for looks, I like the dark blue blades...:D

[Martinm210]

And one more, the Panaflo M. Similar to the other 38mm, it tends to have a lower tone overall, but a more pronounced grit motor like noise as well when undervolting.

This gritting motor noise is why I generally like the 25mm fans a little better, but it is a trade off for a higher pitched noise.

Panaflo M = Panaflo FBA12G12M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqMWeTYLrD4

[Martinm210]

And my most used fan, the Yate Loon D12SL12 with Curved blades.

I think I'm generaly most interested in a noise level no greater than this on my dual quad rad setup.

So, taking a close CFM to CFM comparison to the S-Flex E, they are really pretty close. I think with the S-flex at 12V and the yate at 10V, they both produce around 16CFM. I think in this, the smaller motor of the yate produces a slightly smoother sound.

Then I compare that with the GT at 9V, and I can't help but like the GT sound best, and it's producing several CFM more at 9V too.

Anyhow, here is the video:

Yate SL-C = Yate Loon D12SL12 Curved Blade
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=909stCuDbtM

[ILikeCosmosS]

i am stuck i dont know what to get GT or s-flex g

edit: is the san ace 38mm or 25mm?

[BDW88]

Martin thanks for the all effort you put into testing your a valuable asset to our community.:up:

[Martinm210]

i am stuck i dont know what to get GT or s-flex g

edit: is the san ace 38mm or 25mm?

I like the sound quality of GT better myself, but the S-Flex F does offer a little more power at the very top.

The San Ace is the 38mm thickness


Martin thanks for the all effort you put into testing your a valuable asset to our community.:up:

Thanks!

FYI, I added the last one I recorded yesterday, the Yate Loon D12SL12 LED variety. That puts 15 videos total up, and I'll try to get a few more each evening until I'm done.:up:

VIDEO LINKS

Delta AFBSHE = Delta AFB1212SHE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgHKP_mBZJg

Gtyphoon AP15 = Servo Nidec Gentle Typhoon DC1225C12B5AP-15
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLgJomTh74w

Kool38HBK = Koolance Fan-12038HBK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiNcYXlVTKk

Panaflo M = Panaflo FBA12G12M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqMWeTYLrD4

San Ace H1011 = Sanyo Denki San Ace 109R1212H1011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dCBSux7cvc

Sflex-E = Scythe S-Flex SFF21E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcJ4Yr2krTk

Sflex-F = Scythe S-Flex SFF21F
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ygYCWhwP7c

Sflex-G = Scythe S-Flex SFF21G
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrtRQD2q1vM

SlipStream SH = Scythe Slip Stream SY1225LS 12SH
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO4Tk2FzZBs

ScyUK3 = Scythe Ultra Kaze 1000 DFS123812H-1000
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMNxyDxmgAE

ScyUK3 = Scythe Ultra Kaze 3000 DFS123812H-3000
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gb-0usGR-Ok

NB XL-2 = Noise Blocker XL-2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvX_z9OzI0M

Yate SL-C = Yate Loon D12SL12 Curved Blade
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=909stCuDbtM

Yate SL-LED-S = Yate Loon D12SL12 LED version with Straight Blades
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAqIY_S4aT8

Zalman ZM-3 = Zalman ZF1225ASH
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7Yy3U2QYdo

[Brodholm]

I'm getting a GT 1150rpm today and also a Sflex F. And I also have some Yate SL from petras. I'm going to test them out today. But listening to the videos the GT is still king. And it has an easy sound on the ears.

It seems that fans have some volts they don't like. They can even go down in noise if you give them higher volts.

Do you have some lower speed GT's you going to run later? I'm really interested in them!

[Sadasius]

I actually like the sound of the Ultra Kaze at full speed. It's not a high pitch and it's not a whine or a jet engine either. It's deeper and sounds good. Guess another fan gets on my good list for rads.

[Martinm210]

I'm getting a GT 1150rpm today and also a Sflex F. And I also have some Yate SL from petras. I'm going to test them out today. But listening to the videos the GT is still king. And it has an easy sound on the ears.

It seems that fans have some volts they don't like. They can even go down in noise if you give them higher volts.

Do you have some lower speed GT's you going to run later? I'm really interested in them!

Nice! Post your thoughts on the in person test. I think the videos help alot, but there's no replacement for actually trying out a fan for yourself..:up:

The lower speed GT's are on the top of my list to try, but I probably won't be doing that anytime soon. My plan is to finish up this round of fans this week, and then test a couple more donations that come in here a couple weeks from now. Any spare $$ I've got right now is going towards some rebuilds of my wife's banshee and my dirtbike. So the bikes will be getting priority for a little while, but I'll keep this test setup the way it is for some future tinkering.:up:

FYI, added the koolance fans, they are very good as well. Check out he sound on the bottom end and let me know what you think.

Kool25MBK = Koolance Fan-12025MBK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEM1IhBQ2xU

Kool25HBK = Koolance Fan-12025HBK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ji-f9ywCcqM

[Sadasius]

Funny enough the Koolance one's sound like the Delta at lower speeds.

[Hondacity]

The 12025mbk and 12025hbk are noisy in my opinion :| they're in my loud category, the 12038hbk sounds better than the two of them 25ers.

I have 4 categories

1.Deafening loud(panaflow UH, uk3)
2.Loud(koolance fans)
3.Quiet(Gentle typhoons)
4.No-sound no cfm (never tried those 1600s)

[Russ_64]

Well based on what has been said I decided to get 2 Scythe S-Flex SFF21F 1600rpm fans for my 120.2 rad - I just hope that at this price (£12 ea.) they are worth 3 times the cost of Yate Loons .........

[pademon]

what about 140mm fans? 140x51mm sanace?

[Eddie3dfx]

Martin, you are spoiling us once again. Thank you for taking the time out to do this.

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

Just interested, maybe it has been said before, but when the GT-15 is running @ 9v 20cfm in the video, what is the rpm of the fan?

[Brodholm]

Just interested, maybe it has been said before, but when the GT-15 is running @ 9v 20cfm in the video, what is the rpm of the fan?

If you check the graph you can see its running about 1350rpm at 9v :up:
http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/2815/1drpmvsvolts.png

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

damn that was hard to spot, good stuff though, thanks :D

[Brodholm]

damn that was hard to spot, good stuff though, thanks :D

Yeah :D Some are kinda hard to spot.

And I think that it is very nice to 9v (1350rpm). And martins fan only went to 1750 (1850 version) so i think that at 9v it is like the GT 1450 version. Well I hope that the GT 1450 is even quieter at the same rpm. So I'm hoping that the 1450 will be the ultimate choice if you want silence and good performance.

I have the 1150 coming in later this day. (they don't have the 1450 and 1850 in Sweden :mad:) Maybe ill do some filming myself. That is if I find my camera :p:


Nice! Post your thoughts on the in person test. I think the videos help alot, but there's no replacement for actually trying out a fan for yourself..:up:

The lower speed GT's are on the top of my list to try, but I probably won't be doing that anytime soon. My plan is to finish up this round of fans this week, and then test a couple more donations that come in here a couple weeks from now. Any spare $$ I've got right now is going towards some rebuilds of my wife's banshee and my dirtbike. So the bikes will be getting priority for a little while, but I'll keep this test setup the way it is for some future tinkering.:up:

FYI, added the koolance fans, they are very good as well. Check out he sound on the bottom end and let me know what you think.

Kool25MBK = Koolance Fan-12025MBK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEM1IhBQ2xU

Kool25HBK = Koolance Fan-12025HBK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ji-f9ywCcqM

"Post your thoughts on the in person test" Is this some thread or what :confused:

Too bad on the lower end GT's :( Because I cant get my hands on them here in sweden. And Ill have to order soon. But I guess that they only get more silent the lower they go in rpm or stays the same. I think I will have to take chance and order some 1450 :up:

And I listened to the Koolance fans and they don't even come close to the GT. It is totally killing all the competition from the clips i have compared. And it really have a nice sound to it. Especially at the low rpm's (<1350).

[Freaky Freezer]

Just listened to the Delta. You cannot tell me that vertical takeoff would not be possible with enough of these. Insane. I commend the people who listen to that while working on their computer

[Brodholm]

Just got the fans!

Tried them right away. What i found was that the GT 1150 was very silent even at 12v (no rad) and the S-flex F rather noisy. And I also tried a Yate SL from petras. At 12v the SL is much more noisier compared to the GT 1150. But the GT have that high pitch hum to it. Not as much on 1150 rpm but with the 1850 martin recorded. But what i found out that was that if I took the fan from the table and held it in my hand it disappeared! And also if I put some rubber or anything that could act as a antivib material it was gone. So I think that the sound comes from mounting without antivib.

Martin did you use some kind of material to act as a anti vibb when you mount the fans? If you aren't using that the fans will get even quieter. Try holding the GT 1850 in your hand and try!

So far i have only gotten good impressions from the GT!

[Sparda]

I want to try some too but cant find any high speed GT within european continent..lol.

[Brodholm]

I want to try some too but cant find any high speed GT within european continent..lol.

Yeah, The highest I could find was 1150. I asked tom at chilled to get some. He replied the following: "I'll see what I can do... I doubt we'd take the whole range, maybe the 800, 1150 and 1850"

I told him that id rather see 1150, 1450 and 1850. At least I'm most interested in the 1450 version. And I see no need to go below 1150 since everyone uses fan controller these days. And that the 1150 is almost silent at 12v.

[ILikeCosmosS]

ppcs can ship worldwide although i dont reccomend it because they will screw up the order

i wonder what the koolance fan 25mm (high) cfm to rpm is compared to the GT ap15 cfm to rpm

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

ppcs can ship worldwide although i dont reccomend it because they will screw up the order


Where the hell did you get that ridiculous idea? oh right, from the real banned raider himself. Leave his BS on his forum thats why he has it.


lemme tell you this - I have spent over 12,000 USD with performance PCS over the past 3 years and not ONCE was an order "messed up" or even damaged. Hank is an exemplary retailer.

[Sadasius]

Damn beat me to it. Ppc's has always been pretty good to me as well. Have made many orders with them and they have made only one mistake out of all of them which was minor. They sent me a blue LED fan when it was supposed to be red. Next shipment it was there and I still have the blue one too.

[zlojack]

Where the hell did you get that ridiculous idea? oh right, from the real banned raider himself. Leave his BS on his forum thats why he has it.


lemme tell you this - I have spent over 12,000 USD with performance PCS over the past 3 years and not ONCE was an order "messed up" or even damaged. Hank is an exemplary retailer.

I've also had good experiences with him, but his score on ResellerRatings.com over the past six months is quite a bit lower than most of the other popular custom PC parts retailers. (Though to be fair, his lifetime score is right up there with the other shops)

Six Month Ratings:
PPCs - 7.83/10
FrozenCPU - 9.53/10
Sidewinder - 9.83/10
Jab-Tech - 10/10
Petra's - 10/10

Lifetime Ratings:
PPCs - 9.46/10
FrozenCPU - 9.42/10
Sidewinder - 9.79/10
Jab-Tech - 9.63/10
Petra's - 9.97/10

[Brodholm]

yep, after reading a bit about ppcs I'm not that worried about ordering from them. RRR seems to have a real issue with them though. He is totally berserk about it. But lets leave that alone in this thread as admin said earlier in a post.

The issue is that shipping is a :banana::banana::banana::banana::banana: from the us if you live in Europe. They will add taxes and stuff. Thats why it whould be so great if tom @ chilled could get some! You guys should mail him to!

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

For EU guys, contact specialtech.co.uk I hear that they will order pretty much anything you ask them to and start stocking it. If a few of you asked you would be guaranteed :up:

[Hidetaka]

what about 140mm fans? 140x51mm sanace?

Links or didn't happen ;)


@ Martinm210
What anemometer are you using?

[Martinm210]

Just got the fans!

Tried them right away. What i found was that the GT 1150 was very silent even at 12v (no rad) and the S-flex F rather noisy. And I also tried a Yate SL from petras. At 12v the SL is much more noisier compared to the GT 1150. But the GT have that high pitch hum to it. Not as much on 1150 rpm but with the 1850 martin recorded. But what i found out that was that if I took the fan from the table and held it in my hand it disappeared! And also if I put some rubber or anything that could act as a antivib material it was gone. So I think that the sound comes from mounting without antivib.

Martin did you use some kind of material to act as a anti vibb when you mount the fans? If you aren't using that the fans will get even quieter. Try holding the GT 1850 in your hand and try!

So far i have only gotten good impressions from the GT!

No, mine was a direct mount. I felt this was the only fair way to reward the fan makers that included some sort of antivibe frame. There's definately some substantial gains to be had with a good foam gasket, I prefer the custom made type from 1/8" sticky foam myself. And before anyone asks...No I'm not going to retest them all with a gasket, my wife has already been nudging me with impatience to get these test done. It just so happens that she likes to wash close in the evening when I need to run tests and the two conflict. I've been having to shut down the washer/dryer to do that, and she's quickly running out of patience with me..:eek:


Links or didn't happen ;)


@ Martinm210
What anemometer are you using?

It doesn't have a brand name, it's one of the cheap Ebay anemometers and cost under $100. I wouldn't trust the numbers from an absolute perspective, but since they were all tested with the anemometer in a fixed location and they were all using the same duct calibration area, they should be pretty good for relative comparisons within a couple of CFM is my guess. Also only good for 10CFM+, anything below that is not trustworthy.


what about 140mm fans? 140x51mm sanace?

My test rig is only setup for 120mm fans, and I'm not testing anymore than I currently have for now. I have a couple more donated fans coming and I "May" buy some for curiosity sake, but I'm not taking request for which fans to buy. If you really want me to test a particular model, I'll consider that if you pay and send me a sample. I'll donate my time that I have, but I'm not donating my family's budget for others curiosity. Sorry.


Leave his BS on his forum thats why he has it.

Agreed, please leave discussion of banned members for PMs or emails, I appreciate it.:up:

Here are two more fans uploaded, I got about 10 more recordings made last night.

Noise Blocker M12P
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqE5VuwUS7c

Nanoxia FX12 2000
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NWkB0U6UOU

more to come...:up:

[Brodholm]

No, mine was a direct mount. I felt this was the only fair way to reward the fan makers that included some sort of antivibe frame. There's definately some substantial gains to be had with a good foam gasket, I prefer the custom made type from 1/8" sticky foam myself. And before anyone asks...No I'm not going to retest them all with a gasket, my wife has already been nudging me with impatience to get these test done. It just so happens that she likes to wash close in the evening when I need to run tests and the two conflict. I've been having to shut down the washer/dryer to do that, and she's quickly running out of patience with me..:eek:

"martin its me or the fans" :D just kidding of course. Its REALLY appreciated the things you do for this forum! As said before, you are spoiling us :)

I think ill be using some rubber mounts like these:
http://ep.yimg.com/ip/I/yhst-65556269779593_2048_36715072

And I hope that the high pitch will be reduced.

And this link is badNanoxia FX12 2000http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NWkB0U6UOUh

I think you added a "h" to the end. Here is the correct one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NWkB0U6UOU

[Freaky Freezer]

ppcs can ship worldwide although i dont reccomend it because they will screw up the order

When you make a comment like you did above, you should base it on your own personal experience, not someone else's, especially someone with the character of the unmentioned. If PPC's ever screws you, tell us, we would like to know and we would all find the information useful. But no one cares about what so and so said happened to him, once again, especially when most of us know what kind of person so and so is.

For the record, I've ordered the majority of my watercooling products from PPC's and I never had any more problems with them than I did with the other major watercooling stores.

[Martinm210]

Fixed the link thanks!

And a few more for your viewing/reviewing pleasure...:D

NB S2 = Noise Blocker M12 S2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GNDu5Fn5bg

NB S3 = Noise Blocker M12 S3 HS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrYiC9Xq8uw

NB XLP = Noise Blocker XLP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWU1ptI8J7E

Kflex H = Scythe Kama-Flex S1225FDB12H
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MP1pVShKyRk

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

these videos are sooo distracting me from studying for my finals.... and pissing off my girlfriend at the same time :rofl:

I love it! great work martin :up:, and I am sorry I had to take the thread off topic again :(

[Martinm210]

these videos are sooo distracting me from studying for my finals.... and pissing off my girlfriend at the same time :rofl:

I love it! great work martin :up:, and I am sorry I had to take the thread off topic again :(

Haha, I can see it now...probably the same look my wife gave me when I turned off the dryer last night so I could record some fan noise..lol!

No problem...it's all good, and carry on with the noise....:up:

[SpuTnicK]

Great work, Martin
I've watched almost all the 38 fan videos. According to your anemometr fans take places from quit to loud:
1 koolance 12038hbk -the most quite
2 ultra kaze 3000
3 san ace h1011
4 delta - the most loud one
Couldn't listen to panaflo m, some server error... :(
Can you please redo san ace test. It looks like the distance from your anemometr to the fan differs from the other ones in videos. I thought SA H1011 are number one by noise among 38 fans, aren' t they?
P.S. sorry for my english

[Martinm210]

Great work, Martin
I've watched almost all the 38 fan videos. According to your anemometr fans take places from quit to loud:
1 koolance 12038hbk -the most quite
2 ultra kaze 3000
3 san ace h1011
4 delta - the most loud one
Couldn't listen to panaflo m, some server error... :(
Can you please redo san ace test. It looks like the distance from your anemometr to the fan differs from the other ones in videos. I thought SA H1011 are number one by noise among 38 fans, aren' t they?
P.S. sorry for my english

The anemometer is just the digital indicator, the actual vane probe is fixed in the box inlet, so the numbers are accurately relative. The volt meter and anemometer box are just sitting freely, but they are wired to the correct/fixed locations..:up:

My bike parts are likely coming in tomorrow, so these recordings will have to do for a while. I've got an itch to go fast, and these fans just don't cut it!...:ROTF:

I'm supposed to get a couple more fan samples in a few weeks here, hopefully by then I'll have the bike rebuild all done and I'll get a chance to play around with the fans again for a while. So, I will be saving my fan test box the way it is for later..:D

[sgayol]

Is there a vid of the panaflo U coming? I'm really curious to hear the difference in sound between it and the UK3! On paper there is a lot of similarities...

Also, I have a bunch of UK2 fans collecting dust. PM me if you're interested in having 1 for testing...

[Martinm210]

Is there a vid of the panaflo U coming? I'm really curious to hear the difference in sound between it and the UK3! On paper there is a lot of similarities...

Also, I have a bunch of UK2 fans collecting dust. PM me if you're interested in having 1 for testing...

Yes, I just finished recording that one a few minutes ago, it was my last one. I'll have it downloaded into my PC and uploaded by tomorrow night..:up:

These video files are around 220MB a piece so it's a slow upload to youtube, but I think it's paying off on the higher quality.

Thanks for the offer on the UK2, but I think I'd like to take a little break from this for a bit. I'll see how things are going in a few weeks here, then I might order a few and see what folks have available for additions...:)

[Martinm210]

FYI, I got the last of the records from last night all uploaded including the Kama Flex M, the Yate loon high speed and the Yate slow speed straight blade

Kflex M = Scythe Kama-Flex S1225FDB12M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLVYsJ8SStQ

Yate SL-C = Yate Loon D12SL12 Curved Blade
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=909stCuDbtM

Yate SL-S = Yate Loon D12SL12 Straight Blade
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA0bGsC1VLw

They are also all linked with the others in the OP.

[Sadasius]

Martin your the man! nuff said! You have to love what you are doing and if I had to do that I would have pitched the fans in the air and tried to shoot them while posting on the forum that 'yup....They work!' :rofl:

[Martinm210]

Lol!

Got the last ones recorded and upload.

The noise blocker XL-1 (Very nice quiet fan at 12V)

The Thermaltake Thunderblade TT01225, I used to think these fans were great and had a whole case of them from egg. No wonder I have hearing problems today, these fans are poor in comparison to the others...live and learn.

The Silverstone BU - another one of those past experimental fans I bought for my HSF. It's the only one with a huge jump in RPM between voltages...still not sure why, but it's a very noisy fan anyhow, but it's up for comparison.

And last, but not least. If you're not looking for high performance and you wanted the quietest fan in the bunch running at 12V, that would be to no big suprise, the fan with the least RPM. It also has the coolest frame design of all the fans, the Noise Blocker S1.

So here is the mess of videos...have at it!

VIDEO LINKS

ADDA HB = ADDA AD1212HB-A71GL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FlZvjwMySc

Delta AFBSHE = Delta AFB1212SHE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgHKP_mBZJg

Gtyphoon AP15 = Servo Nidec Gentle Typhoon DC1225C12B5AP-15
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLgJomTh74w

Kool25MBK = Koolance Fan-12025MBK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEM1IhBQ2xU

Kool25HBK = Koolance Fan-12025HBK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ji-f9ywCcqM

Kool38HBK = Koolance Fan-12038HBK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiNcYXlVTKk

Panaflo M = Panaflo FBA12G12M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqMWeTYLrD4

Panaflo U = Panaflo (NMB MAT)FBA12G12U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmfJpveSOjk

San Ace H1011 = Sanyo Denki San Ace 109R1212H1011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dCBSux7cvc

Kflex M = Scythe Kama-Flex S1225FDB12M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLVYsJ8SStQ

Kflex H = Scythe Kama-Flex S1225FDB12H
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MP1pVShKyRk

Sflex-E = Scythe S-Flex SFF21E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcJ4Yr2krTk

Sflex-F = Scythe S-Flex SFF21F
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ygYCWhwP7c

Sflex-G = Scythe S-Flex SFF21G
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrtRQD2q1vM

SlipStream SH = Scythe Slip Stream SY1225LS 12SH
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO4Tk2FzZBs

ScyUK3 = Scythe Ultra Kaze 1000 DFS123812H-1000
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMNxyDxmgAE

ScyUK3 = Scythe Ultra Kaze 3000 DFS123812H-3000
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gb-0usGR-Ok

Nanoxia FX2000 = Nanoxia FX12 2000
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NWkB0U6UOU

NB XL-1 = Noise Blocker XL-1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3stzdNw0K0s

NB XL-2 = Noise Blocker XL-2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvX_z9OzI0M

NB XLP = Noise Blocker XLP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWU1ptI8J7E

NB S1 = Noise Blocker M12 S1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXCjqxmS3mM

NB S2 = Noise Blocker M12 S2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GNDu5Fn5bg

NB S3 = Noise Blocker M12 S3 HS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrYiC9Xq8uw

SilverStone 25BU = Silver Stone (Everflow) R121225BU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=257bRrU--Z0

Thermaltake TT-25 = Thermaltake TT-1225 (Thunderblade)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TEWJ5Ibz34

Yate SL-C = Yate Loon D12SL12 Curved Blade
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=909stCuDbtM

Yate SL-S = Yate Loon D12SL12 Straight Blade
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA0bGsC1VLw

Yate SL-LED-S = Yate Loon D12SL12 LED version with Straight Blades
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAqIY_S4aT8

Yate SH-C = Yate Loon D12SH12 Curved Blade
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCLssN0yQ8U

Zalman ZM-3 = Zalman ZF1225ASH
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7Yy3U2QYdo

And if I had to pick just one fan for my needs. I want something very quiet, but something that also has a decent amount of performance. While being a bit on the ugly side, the Gentle Typhoon AP-15 gets my top pick for producing the most CFM per noise level and quality of the fans tested. 9 volts in particular is my favorite spot which is still producing a good 22+ cfm on the radiator.

For the high speed stuff, I'll give my kudos out to the San Ace. I still think it has that common 38mm fan motor noise when undervolted, but it's the smoothest of the bunch from what I can tell.

As far as the <1000 RPM range, I think all of the fans (except the high speed 38mm fans) are good and really hard to separate. I couldn't really measure CFM below 10CFM, so I really couldn't tell you much with my test setup other than CFM is pretty crappy down there and you better plan on many times more radiator than someone with strong fans.

Finally...

I wanted to give a HUGE thanks to Hondacity, Alex from Petra's, Linus from NCIX, and Martin from feser-one for donating these fans to test. Also KaptCruch for helping me out with the sound meter. This test would not have happened without their generosity..:clap::clap::up:

THIS TEST IS DONE!!:D

[Hondacity]

i should have gotten the gt1600, that would have blown the nb s1 :D


thanks for the 2000hrs of testing Martin
:YIPPIE:

[Vapor]

:slobber::slobber:

[SpuTnicK]

Martin, and what about feser fans -tiembwerk-or what it is called?
Just curiuos. :)

[Sadasius]

Martin, and what about feser fans -tiembwerk-or what it is called?
Just curiuos. :)

What's the point? Nobody can afford them! :rofl:

[JOCKTHEGLIDE]

What's the point? Nobody can afford them! :rofl:

I know im not suppose to laugh at all the jokes about that fan till testing comes in, but man at 35 bucks a pop I dont see anyone buying so im laughing away...

[Russ_64]

Martin - Thanks for a great job, you are the man! Timing was perfect for my rebuild of my 2 rigs - I chose 2 S-Flex F for my dual rad and will move 2 NB SX1's to push/pull on single rad. Notice you did not test any Akasa fans, but I only use them as case fans anyway .............

Oh and no mention of Papst fans these days? mine are due for retirement after 3 years of service ..........

[Martinm210]

Martin, and what about feser fans -tiembwerk-or what it is called?
Just curiuos. :)

I will test those later when I get them, but it'll probably be a couple of weeks yet before I even see them. Shipping international on big packages seems to take forever for me, I've seen up to 4 weeks for my own stuff going out.

Anyhow, I plan to do those, but it's going to be a while yet.:up:

[Freaky Freezer]

I've just go to say it one more time to show my appreciation. Martin, this thread brings a #$%ing tear to my eye. great job and thanks again.

:toast::up::toast::up:

[Brodholm]

Now this thread should be sticked!

STICKY STICKY STICKY

I just got one word. Awesome!
:YIPPIE:
:clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap::clap:
:bounces:

[Boogerlad]

when noise testing, was there a radiator? The cfm looked kinda low...

[Martinm210]

when noise testing, was there a radiator? The cfm looked kinda low...

Yes, all testing was done with the XSPC RS120 radiator both the charts and the video were done the same, so the numbers reflect CFM through the radiator. The fan spec CFM is open air CFM without any sort of restriction imposed. This number will be a fair amount higher than what you'll actually get on a radiator. The result through the radiator depends on both the fan's maximum CFM and it's pressure capabilities along the entire curve. So it's not something you'll find in specs unless they give you the full PQ curve and you know what the pressure drop curve for the radiator is.

Fans in general are extremely weak in overcoming resistance and producing pressure ESPECIALLY at low RPMs. Most produce less than .1" H2O, where your standard water cooling pumps produce over 200" H2O in pressure as a comparison.

In the end, It doesn't take very much restriction at all to significantly reduce flow rates.

Some examples:

Rad Actual CFM / Open Air Spec CFM

Delta AFBSHE
106/152 = 69%

Scythe UK3
67/133 = 50%

Scythe S-Flex G
36/75 = 48%

Gentle Typhoon Ap-15
34/58 = 58%

Scythe UK1
11/44 = 25%

So you can see as much as 70% of open air CFM with the really powerful fans, but as little as 25% with the ultra slow speed fans (and some unique fans like the GT that has a special impeller to maintain higher efficiency at lower RPMs).

This comes back to fans being many times more efficient at high speeds as they are at slow speed and why fans do so poorly at ultra slow speed ranges. It's not at all linear to the RPM, fan performance simply falls on it's face bad at ultra slow speeds.

The good news is most pumps have plenty of power so you can run multiple rads to make up for it..:up:

[babalouj]

I just received my 3 Gentle Typhoon 1850rpm and they are silent on my mcr320. They are much quieter than my Yate mediums and move alot more air.

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

I just received my 3 Gentle Typhoon 1850rpm and they are silent on my mcr320. They are much quieter than my Yate mediums and move alot more air.

That is my experience with the 1850rpm models as well, I have them in an air cooled computer.I was astounded to say the least, I thought they gave me the wrong fan in the 1850rpm box, I had to open up the case again to check.

[Brodholm]

Martin, Can you make a Rpm vs noise graph? I think that it would help you firgure out how the higher fans are at lower volts compared to there low rpm models. Lets say a Sflex F at 1000 rpm vs a S-flex E at 1000rpm. Who is best? Stuff like that would be easy to check with a RPM vs NOISE graph.

This Is the only thing I'm really missing in this review/test.

[woffen]

Martin, thank you very much for this testing. Thanks to this I have 6 Scythe GT 1850rpm inbound. Can't wait for them to arrive!!:up:

[SimpleTECH]

Martin, thanks for testing out the Koolance 38mm fan. I heard a few members comparing it to the San Ace. In the video, it sounded like a low hum which is perfectly fine for me.

Went and bought 3 of them. :)

[orangekiwii]

um since this is a fan thread i thought i'd ask the question


I wanna do a radiator sandwhich like so in the bottom of my tj07

brown = psu / back of case

airflow goes either direction whichever is better

red = fan

black = radiator (rx480 and rx240 respectively)

http://i451.photobucket.com/albums/qq236/Thogrom/Untitled.png


which setup is better



all Yate Loon 120 mm ds12l LED fans

or all gentle typhoons at 1450


I mean I know hte gentle typhoons are better...

but any idea on how much? or how much louder the yates would be...

i can't decide between bling and performance

[Hondacity]

um since this is a fan thread i thought i'd ask the question


I wanna do a radiator sandwhich like so in the bottom of my tj07

brown = psu / back of case

airflow goes either direction whichever is better

red = fan

black = radiator (rx480 and rx240 respectively)

http://i451.photobucket.com/albums/qq236/Thogrom/Untitled.png


which setup is better



all Yate Loon 120 mm ds12l LED fans

or all gentle typhoons at 1450


I mean I know hte gentle typhoons are better...

but any idea on how much? or how much louder the yates would be...

i can't decide between bling and performance

LED is not even bling lol, id get the GT performance(1850s) and silence :)

[ILikeCosmosS]

how would the sharkoon golf ball 2000 compare to the GT ap15?

[Martinm210]

um since this is a fan thread i thought i'd ask the question


I wanna do a radiator sandwhich like so in the bottom of my tj07

brown = psu / back of case

airflow goes either direction whichever is better

red = fan

black = radiator (rx480 and rx240 respectively)

http://i451.photobucket.com/albums/qq236/Thogrom/Untitled.png


which setup is better



all Yate Loon 120 mm ds12l LED fans

or all gentle typhoons at 1450


I mean I know hte gentle typhoons are better...

but any idea on how much? or how much louder the yates would be...

i can't decide between bling and performance

1450 is somewhere between 9 and 10V, or about 23CFM through the RS120
The Yate SL-LED at 12V produced about 17cfm

So the CFM difference is (23-17)/17 or 35%.

Knowing that radiator performances don't scale 1:1 with CFM, you need to reduce that gain by some factor. Being a sandwich setup, you probably get more thermal gain per CFM, I'd probably throw something like 85%RAD Perf./CFM gain at it.

So with that assumption, you'd probably see .85X35% = 30%.

You'd probably see about 30% more performance from the GT's at 9.5V would be my guess. If you had a 10C water/air delta, the difference would be 10-10/1.30 or 2.3 degrees, 5C water delta would be half that, it depends on your heat load.

Hope this helps:up:
Martin

[Mech0z]

If I made a PA120.3 with 3 gentle typhoon in push and then 3 low speed yate loons in pull would that be a bad idear? I guess the most powerful have to be the one pushing as the others just need to move air away from the fan?

Btw how much amp and watt do the GT 1850 draw?

[Martinm210]

There were a few additional chart relationships being requested, so I'm trying to add those here. I will also add them to the OP.

First is Air Flow Vs. RPM

http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/4186/1fcfmvsrpma.png

http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/8382/1gcfmvsrpmb.png

The San Ace with it's 38mm thickness and curved blades is producing the most per RPM, followed by the Gentle Typhoon.

[Brodholm]

There were a few additional chart relationships being requested, so I'm trying to add those here. I will also add them to the OP.

First is Air Flow Vs. RPM

The San Ace with it's 38mm thickness and curved blades is producing the most per RPM, followed by the Gentle Typhoon.

Thanks! I have nothing else to ask for :up:

And why isn't this sticky yet?

[Martinm210]

You bet!

And here is the:
Noise vs. RPM

http://img2.imageshack.us/img2/206/1hnoisevsrpmb.png

http://img2.imageshack.us/img2/20/1inoisevsrpmc.png

A bit messy even blown up, but many of the fans that happen to have a high CFM per RPM also have the downside of a higher noise per RPM with some exceptions. There is some give and take there though on some between more CFM vs Noise per RPM.

[orangekiwii]

Thanks martin, i guess its the typhoons for me

might try to put some lights down there to make it look a bit better but don't really know




the charts are awesome thanks for taking the time to make them

as for my setup i think i'll put some gentle typhoons on the inside of the radiators and the LED fans on the outside, that way i get the light and a mix between them

only issue is if LED fans are loud


EDIT: btw the sound on the videos, when the fans aren't moving is that just ambient air moving over it or something?

if you remove that noise in your mind thats a good noise right?


I don't know exactly how much work this would be as it would probably be different for each fan, but is it possible to get a graph that shows the relationship of the average distance of the sensor and the noise?

i'm just curious if some of those fans that sound medium - kinda loud... would actually sound silent at like 5 feet when in a metal case or something similar

:) thanks for your work... this should definitely be stickied as it really clears up a lot of the best fans

one thing that might be good to add to your OP is kind of a recommendation thing

like a different fan for each category

high power - UK3 or the Delta SHE

mid power - sflex

low power - gentle typhoon etc... might help those just looking for a good fan and not those actually looking at their individual situation

[Russ_64]

Is it just me (maybe) or do those last two sets of graphs look the wrong way around - my S-Flex F are supposed to be 64CFM at 28dB not 28CFM @ 64dB ???

[orangekiwii]

its radiator airflow which is significantly less versus noise intensity at .5 inches

its just a coincidence that it turned out to basically be reverse

[Mech0z]

Do the GT15 only draw like 1W @ 12V? Thats like very impressive.

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/5264/1epowerconsumptionsmall.png

[Martinm210]

Thanks martin, i guess its the typhoons for me

might try to put some lights down there to make it look a bit better but don't really know




the charts are awesome thanks for taking the time to make them

as for my setup i think i'll put some gentle typhoons on the inside of the radiators and the LED fans on the outside, that way i get the light and a mix between them

only issue is if LED fans are loud


EDIT: btw the sound on the videos, when the fans aren't moving is that just ambient air moving over it or something?

if you remove that noise in your mind thats a good noise right?


I don't know exactly how much work this would be as it would probably be different for each fan, but is it possible to get a graph that shows the relationship of the average distance of the sensor and the noise?

i'm just curious if some of those fans that sound medium - kinda loud... would actually sound silent at like 5 feet when in a metal case or something similar

:) thanks for your work... this should definitely be stickied as it really clears up a lot of the best fans

one thing that might be good to add to your OP is kind of a recommendation thing

like a different fan for each category

high power - UK3 or the Delta SHE

mid power - sflex

low power - gentle typhoon etc... might help those just looking for a good fan and not those actually looking at their individual situation

The sound on the videos when the fans are not moving is complete silence. It's the quietest place I have available which is my bedroom walk in closet which doesn't have any windows and tons of clothes that do a pretty good job at absorbing sound. I also tested at night after 8PM when the the most quiet time. So any noise you hear is just static from the microphone. I didn't do any edits to the videos, they were uploaded from the format that came right out of my camera to ensure consistency and provide the highest quality. You should ignore that white noise sound and consider silence.

All tests were done at 1/2" to be compatible with the sound meter I had. I found that you need to spend 300+ dollars on a sound level meter if you want something that can measure below 30db, and that's what you would need to measure at a distance. It would be nice, but I can't do that with the tools I have. Even with that you'd still need to pay attention to the video sounds because noise level doesn't pick up the character of the sound which I think is more important than the actual level.

[Martinm210]

Do the GT15 only draw like 1W @ 12V? Thats like very impressive.

Yes, ...they are very energy efficient as well a whole 1watt a piece is all you need even for the 1850RPM model at full 12V.

One thing that was confusing me about the GT was who made them. I've seen many sites listing them as Scythe and some as Servo Nidec.

I guess if you look at the packaging carefully, it notes the manufacturer is "Servo" which is a "Nidec" company. The box notes "Japan Servo Co., Ltd is the manufacturer, and Scythe just does the distribution. It also notes they are made in Indonesia. It seems most of the Scythe manufactured fans are made in China.

Anyhow, I think that explains why they are so different from normal Scythe fans, they are completely different manufacturers in different places. They only share the same distributor from what I can see.

Scythe is just the distributor, the manufacturer is Servo of the Nidec group company.

Anyhow, if anyone has a need for different formatting, you can get the original excel file here:

I'd attach it here, but the max attachment limit is a measly 200K, I was able to attach it at Overclock though.

http://www.overclock.net/attachments/water-cooling/108194d1241987789-fan-testing-part-2-radiator-tests-fannoise2.zip

Did I forget to mention, THIS TEST IS DONE!!, no more changes except for the last couple of fans headed my way, and that may take a different test method anyhow.

[Mech0z]

Done? :cord: You ofc have to put your data into AndreaBZs spreadsheet so we can calculate how big a difference picking the different fans has to do for the temp :D

Nah this is nice, I hope AndreaBZ puts it into the sheet, would be so wicked. But in the meantime I have to find out if Aquatuning can get GP15s because then I will get a RX480 with 4 of those (maybe 2 in pull, not space for 4) and then I will sell the Rheobus I just bought, havent even recieved it, but my Scythe Kaze is PLENTY with these fans :rofl:

[ben805]

all these graphs are making my head spin. LOL So, if I want the highest cfm fan with less than 30dB, which one do you guys recommend? :D

[Martinm210]

Done? :cord: You ofc have to put your data into AndreaBZs spreadsheet so we can calculate how big a difference picking the different fans has to do for the temp :D

Nah this is nice, I hope AndreaBZ puts it into the sheet, would be so wicked. But in the meantime I have to find out if Aquatuning can get GP15s because then I will get a RX480 with 4 of those (maybe 2 in pull, not space for 4) and then I will sell the Rheobus I just bought, havent even recieved it, but my Scythe Kaze is PLENTY with these fans :rofl:

LOL!

YES. Only planning to test the last few TFC fans headed my way and I'm done with fans. It got a little boring after about the 5th test, and I ran 30 or so fans through about 5 different tests between the PQ and this round. So that was about 150 fan tests, and I've had my filling..:)

AndreaBZs can take an use the data right from my spreadsheet or anyone for that matter, have at it..:up:

Is this better, I need to be VERY CLEAR?

THIS TEST IS DONE!

This means I am no longer entertaining requests, of any kind, for any reason, for anything.:D

[Martinm210]

all these graphs are making my head spin. LOL So, if I want the highest cfm fan with less than 30dB, which one do you guys recommend? :D

30db, I'm assuming you're referring to your usual fan specs.

The Scythe/Servo Nidec Gentle Typhoon D1225C12B5AP-15 is rated at 28dB and would be my favorite so far in the fan power range. It produced more CFM per noise level than all of the other 25mm fans and has a nice sound quality.

I'd still suggest listening to the videos as your basis of judgment. The charts are there for us bean counters, but the videos are only thing to show you what sound tone is like which is much more important than any noise numbers.:up:

I'd suggest listening to the GT as well as some others in that range and take a pick.

[ILikeCosmosS]

the gt has more of motor sound but other fans have the blade and motor sound

i find the gt motor sound makes less sound

[Mech0z]

all these graphs are making my head spin. LOL So, if I want the highest cfm fan with less than 30dB, which one do you guys recommend? :D

Year I have a hard time finding out how much better the AP15 is compared to the Zalman F3 which previusly have been rated a very good rad fan. (Its half hte price :o) but I might just get the AP15 due to the power usage, the F3 is not bad either there though with 2W @ 12V

[HESmelaugh]

Thanks for this brilliant comparison, Martin. I particularly appreciate the CFM vs. RPM charts. I find it very interesting to see how different fan blade designs (and, I guess, hub sizes) impact a fans performance.

Thanks for putting all the work into this. :up:

[Mech0z]

Martin now that you have that equipment, there is infact one very little test I would ask you do do :p: Could you take a nylon sock and try to put it infront of a fan and see if it affects CFM? I plan on using them for cheap efficient fan filters as I cant find any thin filters.

[Martinm210]

Martin now that you have that equipment, there is infact one very little test I would ask you do do :p: Could you take a nylon sock and try to put it infront of a fan and see if it affects CFM? I plan on using them for cheap efficient fan filters as I cant find any thin filters.

I'll think about it:p:, but not for a couple of weeks. I figure it'll take a couple more weeks for those TFC fans to get here and hopefully by then I'll be done with this Banshee rebuild.

I just got crankcase seals in the mail, so I'll be up to my elbows in 2 stroke parts and greasy/oily goodness. Fans are taking a back seat until I have a running quad..:D

[Sadasius]

Martin now that you have that equipment, there is infact one very little test I would ask you do do :p: Could you take a nylon sock and try to put it infront of a fan and see if it affects CFM? I plan on using them for cheap efficient fan filters as I cant find any thin filters.

A filter test has been done already. Including panty hose!

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=209801

[skinnee]

:clap: :clap: :clap:

Stellar as always Martin!

I'm just trying to figure out how I can harvest all this for hosting. Maybe we should chat about that. :D

[Brodholm]

Now it have some glue on it :up: (thanks to vapor)


Fans:

* NEW! Fan Testing Part 2 (Retesting + Noise) by Martinm210
* Fan PQ Curve Testing - Part 1 by Martinm210
* Wire Mesh/Filter/Fan Grill Testing by ScottAllyn
* Fans Review (Round 2) by Vapor
* Fans Review (Round 3) by Vapor

[Mech0z]

A filter test has been done already. Including panty hose!

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=209801

Damm, didnt think it would stop flow that much, its like 20%

[Sadasius]

Damm, didnt think it would stop flow that much, its like 20%

Well it also depends on how much you stretch it out too. The more you stretch it out the bigger the holes and the more air is allowed in. So basically just stretch it to where you want it.

[jmke]

for those who want to data mine, Martin provide our site with the data which we hosted here (http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&number=1&artpage=4122&articID=936), it includes detailed results per fan with the youtube vids integrated

[Brodholm]

for those who want to data mine, Martin provide our site with the data which we hosted here (http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&number=1&artpage=4122&articID=936), it includes detailed results per fan with the youtube vids integrated

Holy :banana::banana::banana::banana:! This should be in the first post also!

But the site has a really bad layout IMHO. Not the test but the site :\

[Martinm210]

for those who want to data mine, Martin provide our site with the data which we hosted here (http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&number=1&artpage=4122&articID=936), it includes detailed results per fan with the youtube vids integrated

Thanks John,
That's a much easier format and gives you the individual charts as well.
I copied a link in the OP.:up:

[jmke]

thanks!
I'll see if I can come with a way to group the result charts to make them easier to read, with 30 different line/logo types, it easy to lose track:)

[Vinas]

If you're looking to buy the Scythe Gentle Typhoon the only place I could find if for sale is:
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=35020&vpn=D1225C12B5AP-15&manufacture=Scythe

A good alternative is the Scythe Slipstream especially if you undervolt.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185060

[ShoNuff]

Scythe GT's also found here (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185092).

edit: I almost forgot to say "Thank you Martin"...Glad you are back.

[Brodholm]

I forced Tom@chilled to stock the 1450rmp variant and the 1850rpm :)

http://www.chilledpc.co.uk/shop/product_info.php?products_id=1170
http://www.chilledpc.co.uk/shop/product_info.php?products_id=1169

[AndreaBZ]

Hello Martin !
Thanks for the spreadsheet of the fans!
...... first results :
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=3799073&postcount=77

Unfortunately they miss the data on "your" fan Yate Loon D12S M

I have another favor to ask you.
These are the data of your test on the WBs :

http://www.pctunerup.com/up/results/_200905/th_20090521151210_Immagine1.jpg (http://www.pctunerup.com/up/image.php?src=_200905/20090521151210_Immagine1.jpg)


http://www.pctunerup.com/up/results/_200905/th_20090521173245_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.jpg (http://www.pctunerup.com/up/image.php?src=_200905/20090521173245_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.jpg)


You could give me the values : "Water To Air Delta" marked with " ? "
Thanks :D

[AndreaBZ]

Why two Gentle Typhoon AP 15 ?
(1) and (2) ? :D

[Brodholm]

Why two Gentle Typhoon AP 15 ?
(1) and (2) ? :D

I think its first and second round or he tested 2 different fans. But I think he made 2 tests.

[Martinm210]

Why two Gentle Typhoon AP 15 ?
(1) and (2) ? :D

It was just a testing check on level of repeatability in testing. It was the same fan, but it give you a general idea what sort of testing error I had.:up:

You have PM, the file is too large to attach, but I can email you the data if you send me your addy.:up:

[AndreaBZ]

It was just a testing check on level of repeatability in testing. It was the same fan, but it give you a general idea what sort of testing error I had.:up:

You have PM, the file is too large to attach, but I can email you the data if you send me your addy.:up:

:D thanks! :D

************************************************** *************************
Which is the best equation RPM > CFM ?

The classical Y = a X^2 + bX what it intercepts the point of coordinates 0-0 :

http://www.pctunerup.com/up/results/_200905/th_20090524173446_xxxxxxxxxxx.jpg (http://www.pctunerup.com/up/image.php?src=_200905/20090524173446_xxxxxxxxxxx.jpg) http://www.pctunerup.com/up/results/_200905/th_20090524173537_xxxxxxxxxxxx.jpg (http://www.pctunerup.com/up/image.php?src=_200905/20090524173537_xxxxxxxxxxxx.jpg)

http://www.pctunerup.com/up/results/_200905/th_20090524173607_xxxxxxxxxxxxx.jpg (http://www.pctunerup.com/up/image.php?src=_200905/20090524173607_xxxxxxxxxxxxx.jpg)

Or the equation that is tangent to the X axis in the point of coordinates 0-0?

Y=aX^2

This asks for an artifice to be traced ....

http://www.pctunerup.com/up/results/_200905/th_20090524173656_xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.jpg (http://www.pctunerup.com/up/image.php?src=_200905/20090524173656_xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.jpg) http://www.pctunerup.com/up/results/_200905/th_20090524173729_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.jpg (http://www.pctunerup.com/up/image.php?src=_200905/20090524173729_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.jpg)

I prefer the second.
This seems to correct better possible errors.... the two curves are more neighbors

http://www.pctunerup.com/up/results/_200905/th_20090524173804_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.jpg (http://www.pctunerup.com/up/image.php?src=_200905/20090524173804_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.jpg) http://www.pctunerup.com/up/results/_200905/th_20090524173837_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.jpg (http://www.pctunerup.com/up/image.php?src=_200905/20090524173837_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.jpg)

[AndreaBZ]

************************************************** *************************
We finally see how much it engraves the error

http://www.pctunerup.com/up/results/_200905/th_20090524185321_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.jpg (http://www.pctunerup.com/up/image.php?src=_200905/20090524185321_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.jpg) http://www.pctunerup.com/up/results/_200905/th_20090524185357_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.jpg (http://www.pctunerup.com/up/image.php?src=_200905/20090524185357_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.jpg)

0,1 degrees to 1200 RPMs!
if we consider the average...
the error goes down to 0,05 degrees!! :up:

[Martinm210]

************************************************** *************************
We finally see how much it engraves the error

http://www.pctunerup.com/up/results/_200905/th_20090524185321_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.jpg (http://www.pctunerup.com/up/image.php?src=_200905/20090524185321_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.jpg) http://www.pctunerup.com/up/results/_200905/th_20090524185357_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.jpg (http://www.pctunerup.com/up/image.php?src=_200905/20090524185357_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.jpg)

0,1 degrees to 1200 RPMs!
if we consider the average...
the error goes down to 0,05 degrees!! :up:

Great work! Very nice!:up:

[Sherif846]

To Martin and the other folks,

Thanks Martin for the excellent work and efforts. I just could not find in the stickies or in this thread anything about the difference between using 120X25 and 120X 38 on radiators. As I am about to build my system, and thanks to your charts I narrowed down my choice, but I don't know which to use, 25mm or 38mm fans?and what effect would each have on the flow? I am probably going for a Feser monsta, to cool 2 blocks ( cpu+gpu) and another seperate loop for nb, sb and other chips.

[Martinm210]

To Martin and the other folks,

Thanks Martin for the excellent work and efforts. I just could not find in the stickies or in this thread anything about the difference between using 120X25 and 120X 38 on radiators. As I am about to build my system, and thanks to your charts I narrowed down my choice, but I don't know which to use, 25mm or 38mm fans?and what effect would each have on the flow? I am probably going for a Feser monsta, to cool 2 blocks ( cpu+gpu) and another seperate loop for nb, sb and other chips.

The only real difference is the sound tone which you can't measure with a noise meter, you have to listen to the videos to pick that up. Generally the 38mm fans have a lower pitch noise, but also the ones with the larger hub size tend to make more ticking type noises at lower RPM levels.

I would strongly suggest that you listen to the videos and compare like CFM levels. You can do this by starting two videos in two different browser windows and use the pause/play and slider youtube tools. Then just adjust the sliders and play areas where they have about the same CFM level and that will at least give you a good CFM vs Sound Quality comparison.

You also need to consider the active area of the fan for bottom line performance. That's how much area the fan moves air. Some of them with larger hub motors will have more dead spots on the radiator than others, so CFM isn't everything, but a place to start. I hope to do a little radiator heat load type testing on a few more fans soon, but I'm still waiting on a pump to do that testing at the moment.

Anyhow, play around with the videos, that's probably the most important tool to use here.:up:

[Alastor2262]

hi martin great testing as usual, thanks a lot
i was wondering if you ever test those more and more commun 140mm fan that attached like 120mm one and if it brings any benefits compare to classic 120mm, thank you
ie :
http://www.scythe-usa.com/product/acc/038/sy1425sl12_main.html

http://www.noctua.at/images/computex_09/noctua_nf_p14.jpg

[S_G]

Wow, great review! Very helpful dude.

Since you mentioned it several times in your post, I'm tempted to download all all your videos and use them to generate a noise frequency chart. Not sure if I have the time though, nor am I sure if it'll be truly helpful.

[Martinm210]

hi martin great testing as usual, thanks a lot
i was wondering if you ever test those more and more commun 140mm fan that attached like 120mm one and if it brings any benefits compare to classic 120mm, thank you
ie :
http://www.scythe-usa.com/product/acc/038/sy1425sl12_main.html

http://www.noctua.at/images/computex_09/noctua_nf_p14.jpg

Glad it helps. I'm not really interested in those types of fans due to their lack of seal for radiator applications. You'd have to build some sort of shroud I think. Anyhow, I bought a couple of other fans I have sitting here waiting, but I can't seem to muster any more energy to test them.

I think I had my filling of fans for a while. As with any testing it gets a bit drab and boring after about the first 5 tests or so.

Maybe later I'll play around again, but for now I'm up to my elbows in grease working on engine rebuilding again.. Horsepower & Speed are something I can never seem to grow tired of..:D


Wow, great review! Very helpful dude.

Since you mentioned it several times in your post, I'm tempted to download all all your videos and use them to generate a noise frequency chart. Not sure if I have the time though, nor am I sure if it'll be truly helpful.

That would be cool. Maybe just try it on a couple of fans to start out with. I'd be interested in the frequency response too.:up:

[ImportantAwareness89]

To Martin and the other folks,

Thanks Martin for the excellent work and efforts. I just could not find in the stickies or in this thread anything about the difference between using 120X25 and 120X 38 on radiators. As I am about to build my system, and thanks to your charts I narrowed down my choice, but I don't know which to use, 25mm or 38mm fans?and what effect would each have on the flow? I am probably going for a Feser monsta, to cool 2 blocks ( cpu+gpu) and another seperate loop for nb, sb and other chips.

If I'm not mistaken, you need a 38mm on a radiator. In general a 25 vs 38 should be about the same in terms of CFM vs dB in open air, but when you have obstructions like in a radiator, Martin showed that the 38mm fans really shine. Vapor did a test in open air and you can see that the 25mm fans do quite well there. Sure he didn't use as many 38mm fans so it's a little hard to tell, but looking at Martin's graph you can see that the 38mm fans stand out to the upper left in those CFM vs dB graphs.

[liguhy]

If I'm not mistaken, you need a 38mm on a radiator. ...but when you have obstructions like in a radiator, Martin showed that the 38mm fans really shine...38mm fans stand out to the upper left in those CFM vs dB graphs.

38mm fans's extra depth allow more fan blade design that increase static pressure. It's not like 25mm can't do it, but 38mm inherently have more capability to do so. When a fan is blowing through an obstruction, static pressure keeps the air going more. In terms of radiators, the higher fin density, the more critical a fan's static pressure is.

[Gardenofwar]

Hello I am fairly newb to this, but wow, nice work Martinm210, and hey I don't live too far from you; I live in Welches, OR; at the base of Mt. Hood. Anyhow, yikes, I just read this whole review and my head is spinning. :shocked: I am inclined to the GT, however I would like to know what you and others think of the AP-14 as it was not tested? I can only assume it would be that much quieter. Nice videos btw - those really helped. The GT had a more comfortable noise than the other fans I was interested in. I would guess the AP-14 is similar in sound but just a bit slower? However would it still perform decent enough for use in a rad set up? I plan on running two Feser X-Changer Triple 360 mm Extreme Performance Radiator - 15mm Spacing. Another concern of mine is that the GTs have a huge disc, and I worry about that creating a dead spot in the middle, as well as what it might do for static pressure. Sure the flow can be tested and graphed, but does air flow alone indicate actual performance for cooling a rad? I know you used a rad in your setup, I guess I am just concerned about it cooling equally without any dead spots. Any thoughts?

[millertime359]

The AP-14 is the same as the AP-15 only 1450 RPM vs 1850 RPM. it moves a little less air. You are looking at fan controllers anyways, so I would just get the 1850s. They are not that loud as is. Those sound files put the mic right next to the fan, so that is as loud as they will ever be.

[Hondacity]

The AP-14 is the same as the AP-15 only 1450 RPM vs 1850 RPM. it moves a little less air. You are looking at fan controllers anyways, so I would just get the 1850s. They are not that loud as is. Those sound files put the mic right next to the fan, so that is as loud as they will ever be.

if you look at the numbers..the ap14 eats less than half the current...i don't think it can maintain that airflow..against the ap15...include the pressure too.

[millertime359]

if you look at the numbers..the ap14 eats less than half the current...i don't think it can maintain that airflow..against the ap15...include the pressure too.

Yea, it doesn't move a lot of air. i got 2 of those 1450s in my other case. They still move some air, but you can tell the difference. That is why I would suggest the 1850s. If they are too loud, then get a fan controller. :up:

[mozis]

Check "Radiator Air Flow vs RPM" chart. At 1450 RPM the AP-15 moves about 25CFM through a RS120, according to it.

So 25CFM AP-14 vs 34CFM AP-15. That would mean AP-15 moves 36% more air in that test.

Correct me if im wrong (tired).

Oh and it appears there is a 2150RPM version:
http://catalog.nidec-servo.com/digital/english/general/pdf/D1225C.pdf

[Martinm210]

Hello I am fairly newb to this, but wow, nice work Martinm210, and hey I don't live too far from you; I live in Welches, OR; at the base of Mt. Hood. Anyhow, yikes, I just read this whole review and my head is spinning. :shocked: I am inclined to the GT, however I would like to know what you and others think of the AP-14 as it was not tested? I can only assume it would be that much quieter. Nice videos btw - those really helped. The GT had a more comfortable noise than the other fans I was interested in. I would guess the AP-14 is similar in sound but just a bit slower? However would it still perform decent enough for use in a rad set up? I plan on running two Feser X-Changer Triple 360 mm Extreme Performance Radiator - 15mm Spacing. Another concern of mine is that the GTs have a huge disc, and I worry about that creating a dead spot in the middle, as well as what it might do for static pressure. Sure the flow can be tested and graphed, but does air flow alone indicate actual performance for cooling a rad? I know you used a rad in your setup, I guess I am just concerned about it cooling equally without any dead spots. Any thoughts?

Yep, I live in po dunk southern Oregon. You're up there near Danger Den in Astoria, you should go give those good folks a visit some time.:up:

Good questions:

I never tried an AP-14, only the 15 so I couldn't tell you. I do know that with some of the fans that I have tested in the same family like the S-Flex, that there was enough difference between models that I wouldn't generalize too much. Each and every fan seems to have more of an individual character, so you almost need to try both side by side to ensure.

You are correct about the dead spot issue, it's another variable that influences what CFM level leads to bottom line radiator performance. The only way to eliminate that variable would be to test each and every fan on a radiator. The issue is time in testing, it's prohibitive to do the same on a radiator. The CFM flow bench style testing can be done very quickly. I could measure CFM levels almost instantly and because of that captured a data point from 4V to 12V at every volt. So that was 9 data points, and could be done in about 10 minutes.

30 fans translates to about 300minutes or around 5 solid hours of testing. Remounting and the rest accounted for more, so this testing of the data points really probably took me about 10 hours worth of testing.

Testing on a radiator is instead of taking 10 minutes, takes a good 60 minutes depending on the radiator delta and water volume. My radiator test rig has a large reservoir, so a single data point can take 90 minutes of testing time to ensure complete stabilization of the system and quality data.

So...Rad based testing would have taken 90minutes X 10 data points x 30 fans or 450 hours:eek: But wait, you'r still not done, because more than likely because of the fan power curves, those results may be slightly different over different types of radiators. In reality, you probably would need to run those same tests over each radiator brand....you could turn this into a lifetime effort that you'd never accomplish because there would continually be new fans.

Anyhow, that's why I used CFM based testing. It's no where near as complete in evaluating the bottom line performance as rad based testing of fans (which does also include dead spot effects), but it's a place to start and sort of a quick look effort which is more effort than I even wanted to do when I started in this mess. You're always more than welcome to tackle the effort yourself though..;)

I gave all of my fans to skinnee so I could rid myself of this nightmare...it felt quite good sending off that big box..lol!

I would always recommend that you go out and buy a couple of fans for yourself that you're trying to decide between and tinker with them. Use your own test to make your decision....that's the best thing to do..:up:

[Hondacity]

Check "Radiator Air Flow vs RPM" chart. At 1450 RPM the AP-15 moves about 25CFM through a RS120, according to it.

So 25CFM AP-14 vs 34CFM AP-15. That would mean AP-15 moves 36% more air in that test.

Correct me if im wrong (tired).

Oh and it appears there is a 2150RPM version:
http://catalog.nidec-servo.com/digital/english/general/pdf/D1225C.pdf

you almost got it...and thats what i was trying to point out... i've been waiting for the 2150 ...for quite sometime now..scythe never came back on me bout that...

[millertime359]

you almost got it...and thats what i was trying to point out... i've been waiting for the 2150 ...for quite sometime now..scythe never came back on me bout that...

I wonder why they never released it. That might do nice on the high FPI rads. :shrug:

[Martinm210]

I wonder why they never released it. That might do nice on the high FPI rads. :shrug:

I think the GT blade and fan was actually designed around the low RPM range at least from what I could read on the Servo Nidec site, I think they mentioned that somewhere. It's probably one of those things were one size does not fit all. The blade design is probably optimal for the lower speed range and it may struggle with the higher speed stuff.?

Who knows though. Take apart a couple of GTs and some higher speed motors and make your own fan..:up:

[millertime359]

Who knows though. Take apart a couple of GTs and some higher speed motors and make your own fan..:up:

Wish i could, but still working on my random computer stuff collection. :up:

[Gardenofwar]

Yep, I live in po dunk southern Oregon. You're up there near Danger Den in Astoria, you should go give those good folks a visit some time.:up:

Good questions:

I never tried an AP-14, only the 15 so I couldn't tell you. I do know that with some of the fans that I have tested in the same family like the S-Flex, that there was enough difference between models that I wouldn't generalize too much. Each and every fan seems to have more of an individual character, so you almost need to try both side by side to ensure.

You are correct about the dead spot issue, it's another variable that influences what CFM level leads to bottom line radiator performance. The only way to eliminate that variable would be to test each and every fan on a radiator. The issue is time in testing, it's prohibitive to do the same on a radiator. The CFM flow bench style testing can be done very quickly. I could measure CFM levels almost instantly and because of that captured a data point from 4V to 12V at every volt. So that was 9 data points, and could be done in about 10 minutes.

30 fans translates to about 300minutes or around 5 solid hours of testing. Remounting and the rest accounted for more, so this testing of the data points really probably took me about 10 hours worth of testing.

Testing on a radiator is instead of taking 10 minutes, takes a good 60 minutes depending on the radiator delta and water volume. My radiator test rig has a large reservoir, so a single data point can take 90 minutes of testing time to ensure complete stabilization of the system and quality data.

So...Rad based testing would have taken 90minutes X 10 data points x 30 fans or 450 hours:eek: But wait, you'r still not done, because more than likely because of the fan power curves, those results may be slightly different over different types of radiators. In reality, you probably would need to run those same tests over each radiator brand....you could turn this into a lifetime effort that you'd never accomplish because there would continually be new fans.

Anyhow, that's why I used CFM based testing. It's no where near as complete in evaluating the bottom line performance as rad based testing of fans (which does also include dead spot effects), but it's a place to start and sort of a quick look effort which is more effort than I even wanted to do when I started in this mess. You're always more than welcome to tackle the effort yourself though..;)

I gave all of my fans to skinnee so I could rid myself of this nightmare...it felt quite good sending off that big box..lol!

I would always recommend that you go out and buy a couple of fans for yourself that you're trying to decide between and tinker with them. Use your own test to make your decision....that's the best thing to do..:up:

Thank you and you know that is kind of what I expected. Don't get me wrong though I was not at all displeased with the awesomeness of your efforts and what you have put forth here. I would not have time for something even a quarter as good as what you have presented. It's obvious that your work is appreciated by many other too, thanks. I was just trying to get to the bottom of actual performance in cooling a rad, but it is starting to sound like a pipe dream, lol. I guess in this industry we hatch “tube” dreams instead of pipe dreams. Well I am going to go with the AP-15 and just hope for the best. Sounds like many of you here are very happy with it. I will just do as Millertime suggest and get a fan controller. Thanks guys.

[skinnee]

I gave all of my fans to skinnee so I could rid myself of this nightmare...it felt quite good sending off that big box..lol!

Box arrived safely. :up:

Now what the heck do I do with a all these single fans...


I would always recommend that you go out and buy a couple of fans for yourself that you're trying to decide between and tinker with them. Use your own test to make your decision....that's the best thing to do..:up:

Ah hah! Thats it, I sense fan upgrades coming for my rigs. :D

[millertime359]

I say that you should build a case that houses all the fans in that box. :up:

[Martinm210]

Box arrived safely. :up:

Now what the heck do I do with a all these single fans...

Ah hah! Thats it, I sense fan upgrades coming for my rigs. :D

That's exactly what I was thinking.
:rofl:

If nothing else, gut them and make some shrouds out of them, with your rad collection growing, you could shroud up both sides of every one of them..!!:D

[interDOS]

Martinm210, I read your tests on the XFC 480 and the Single rad push/pull with or without a shroud.

I recently saw a Koolance 480 shroud and wondered what difference if any, in the performance of a 480 rad with 4 individual shrouds when compared with an all-in-one 480 shroud?

I'm at the drawing stage of a scratch build and planning to use a FAN-SHROUD-RAD-SHROUD-FAN setup with each of the 4 x 480 rads or with 2 x 480 and 2 x 360 rads.

[Martinm210]

This was my one and only test and it was done on an RS120 with Yate Loon D12SL12 fans.
http://martin.skinneelabs.com/img/FanShroudTest3-38mm2000.png

The difference between push/pull and push/pull with shrouds on both sides was pretty small only .3C over 7.6C which is only 3%. Keep in mind this was testing with a particular set of fans on one particular radiator. It's probably going to behave differently for your setup. I would expect fans with larger hubs like 38mm fans would see more gain from a shroud, etc.

Fortunately, there's really no negative to using a shroud other than space. My recommendation is if you've got the space and the means, shrouds are always worthwhile. Nobody has really documented it, but there may be some sound quality benefits as well. Just don't expect miracles, .3C on a 1C resolution sensor is not even consider measurable for your average user. You have to appreciate the microscopic gain for what it is.

Hope that helps...

[interDOS]

This was my one and only test and it was done on an RS120 with Yate Loon D12SL12 fans.

The difference between push/pull and push/pull with shrouds on both sides was pretty small only .3C over 7.6C which is only 3%. Keep in mind this was testing with a particular set of fans on one particular radiator. It's probably going to behave differently for your setup. I would expect fans with larger hubs like 38mm fans would see more gain from a shroud, etc.

Fortunately, there's really no negative to using a shroud other than space. My recommendation is if you've got the space and the means, shrouds are always worthwhile. Nobody has really documented it, but there may be some sound quality benefits as well. Just don't expect miracles, .3C on a 1C resolution sensor is not even consider measurable for your average user. You have to appreciate the microscopic gain for what it is.

Hope that helps...


Thanks for that but I think I didn't explain my question very well.

Take two 480 rads, one of the 480 rads is fitted with FOUR 120 shrouds, the other is fitted with ONE SINGLE 480 shroud. Do you think there would be any difference in the air movement and cooling between the rad fitted with four 120 shrouds and the rad with a single 480 shroud?

[Martinm210]

Thanks for that but I think I didn't explain my question very well.

Take two 480 rads, one of the 480 rads is fitted with FOUR 120 shrouds, the other is fitted with ONE SINGLE 480 shroud. Do you think there would be any difference in the air movement and cooling between the rad fitted with four 120 shrouds and the rad with a single 480 shroud?

I never did any testing in that regard, but I would guess that a single shroud would do a small amount better than individual ones since it also helps remove dead spots behind the fan frames in addition to the hub of each fan.

[ascl]

Cathar's guide to fan shrouds:
http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showthread.php?t=49874
Mentions (post #21) that adding an internal baffle to separate the chambers between fans increases the airflow. This suggests that 4 separate 120mm shrouds might be better, as the fans are not fighting against each other.

This thread:
http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showthread.php?t=61410&highlight=shroud+baffle
Suggests a 20% increase by using a baffle (which seems high to me!).

EDIT: yeah this info is old school... but the general principles shouldn't change, and I haven't seen any more recent testing.

[interDOS]

Thanks for the info guys.

My planned scratch built system will have a Top section W: 700mm X D: 575mm X H: 490mm and a detachable bottom cooling section of W: 700mm X D: 575mm X H: 340mm. It's 700mm wide to accommodate 2 mainboards side-by-side in a divided chamber with the boards orientated in the horizontal position.

[demonkevy666]

Cathar's guide to fan shrouds:
http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showthread.php?t=49874
Mentions (post #21) that adding an internal baffle to separate the chambers between fans increases the airflow. This suggests that 4 separate 120mm shrouds might be better, as the fans are not fighting against each other.

This thread:
http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showthread.php?t=61410&highlight=shroud+baffle
Suggests a 20% increase by using a baffle (which seems high to me!).

EDIT: yeah this info is old school... but the general principles shouldn't change, and I haven't seen any more recent testing.

all that's doing is reducing air resistance before the fan. which usually increase the speed of the fan.
it's like putting to nexus beam air on one fan.
btw did anyone try those thin slip stream fans on anything? they look nice for tight spots.

[AndreaBZ]

.......!

To subtract the noise ambient from the total noise I have applied the following formula:

Noise Ambient + Noise Fan = A ; Noise Ambient = B ; Noise FAN = C
FORMULA:
C =10*LOG10((10^(A/10))-(10^(B/10)))

You gets the real noise of the fan
is it everything correct ??
all OK ??

http://www.pctunerup.com/up/results/_200909/20090922220320_xxxxxx.jpg

:rolleyes:

[kevindd992002]

Regarding overall performance, would the San Ace 9G1212H1011/H101 still beat the Gentle Typhoon AP-15?

And what's the real deal of the SFlex-G vs. the GT AP-15? I'm really confused of the mixed comments in the thread. I'm more concerned of undervolting and fan CFM/Noise performance :)

And if a fan is performing superb in a raidator setup, does that automatically mean that it will also perform good as a case or heatsink fan?

Thanks.

[strike]

could you guys tell me if this fan works to rad?

I think these fans have some specs like a joke

http://www.tacens.com/ventuspro.htm

[Captain H.N.]

Regarding overall performance, would the San Ace 9G1212H1011/H101 still beat the Gentle Typhoon AP-15?

Of course, though the GentleTyphoons might still have a better noise/performance ratio. Martin, are there any plans to test the newer 9G series San Ace H1011? You can easily get one from Chilled PC UK once they get them back in stock, and they'll even pin and/or sleeve it for you for a little extra. Would you feel that the improved static pressure and noise profile makes it worth adding to the charts?

[kevindd992002]

I got one from Chilled PC when they had them on stock. They will have them back around December 18. So with performance alone, the Gentle Typhoon doesn't have a chance against the 9G-H1011?

If you don't care about open or closed corners, then the 9G1212H101 is available at Newark :)

[Martinm210]

Hey guys,
Sorry no more tests from me.

Regarding the new San Ace, I'd suggest comparing curves from the old fans. If I recall, they provide curves for their products (as should all fan manufacturers IMHO).

Hey AndreaBZ,
Looks good from my limited knowledge of noise. I just chose to record actual recorded and keep ambient fixed. Pretty crude overall though, very low cost meter, close distance measurement, etc. I'm still not sure there is a way to really qantitatively evaluate noise of fans. I think it's really a bit of a lost cause, video or audio recordings of the same setup and relative qualitative evaluations by each user is probably the closest we can do.

Cheers!
Martin

[AndreaBZ]

Hey guys,
Sorry no more tests from me.


Hey AndreaBZ,
Looks good from my limited knowledge of noise. I just chose to record actual recorded and keep ambient fixed. Pretty crude overall though, very low cost meter, close distance measurement, etc. I'm still not sure there is a way to really qantitatively evaluate noise of fans. I think it's really a bit of a lost cause, video or audio recordings of the same setup and relative qualitative evaluations by each user is probably the closest we can do.

Cheers!
Martin
Hey Martin!

I have made a Spreadsheet of some fans that you have tested.
" MLL ...Fans Spreadsheet " :D

http://www.pctunerup.com/up/results/_200911/th_20091124124317_yyyyyy.jpg (http://www.pctunerup.com/up/image.php?src=_200911/20091124124317_yyyyyy.jpg)

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=3400300&postcount=1

Sinned that don't do other tests.:(
:up:

[Hakker]

Personally I was thinking of Enermax Magma or Enermax Everest fans I don't know if anyone uses them in rad setups though. Personally those Yate Loons are too much crap imo. They are like budget stuff Like those Addo fans. Had them and hated them Noisy as hell due to crap material use. Sure Noctuas are for silence but the price is a bit much to add a bucketload of them ;)

[Cyrus104]

Looking at doing a push/pull with a rad. Thinking of doing GT1850's or UK3 (undervolted), I would like the GT's because they are quiet and perform well. The UK 3000 would be nice to be able to run them around or a little lower than the GT's but still have the capability to crank them up if needed. Looks like it would be possible, any thoughts.

[zalbard]

Get GTs.
I have Deltas, they seem to have about the same performance / noise ratio as GTs, but even undervolted the motor noise is pretty bad and really annoying.
38mm fans aren't worth it for 24/7 unless you're ready to put up with the noise.