Acceptable dBA level for office computer?

[Judaeus Apella]

I need to replace some fans on an office computer, that needs to be quiet. Since my gaming rig has performance fans and a controller, fans with a maximum quiet dBA has never concerned me... never even crossed my mind.

So what dBA is actually quiet in the real world? Also, which fan companies (not dumbed down consumer brands like antec and coolermaster) are usually honest about the dBA they advertise?

[mam72]

Nidec Servo who make the gentle typhoon are good when it comes to telling the truth about the dBa of there fans.

failing that some cheap d12sl yate loons.

[dinos22]

get yate loons

[Judaeus Apella]

Can someone throw a dBA number at me? Looking for a dBA number that is noticeable if there's no other noise and you try to listen for it, but not something you'll hear with other noise in the room.

[InCredible]

anything under 40db would be acceptable. You'd slightly hear it when its completely silent and nothing at all when theres some background noise.

[The_Beast]

Offices are pretty noisy so I'd go with the below 40db estimate


But every office is different so.....

[Chickenfeed]

Depends on the noise floor. Is this a private home office environment or a large shared office? Is there room fans / AC in use? Are outdoor variables a factor?

Acceptable is 100% subjective at the end of the day. Assuming its a basic office computer in a basic or oem case it likely only has 1-2 fan mounts so honestly any low RPM fan would be inaudible in all likelyhood. I'll vouch for Gentle Typhoons, have six of them and am very impressed ( replaced my Noctua's for them )

[Dk_vr]

Well the noise at living room at home is about 30-40dBA. That's the normal noise that everybody is used to.


If your work office is same as mine, with ringing phones and lots of people then it should be about 50-60 dBA.

So you are looking for 120 or 140mm fans?
These are the models I can recommend you so you can keep your system working normal:
1. CoolerMaster Excalibur PWM regulated - the motherboard will keep it quiet with great airflow and when is needed the motherboard will increase the power. Then it will become a little bit noisy, but that shouldn't be a problem at crowded office.
2. Coolink 120P - same story as Excalibur
3. Scythe Gentle Typhoon 1850 - great airflow with lower noise levels then models above. With some fan controller you can do miracles
4. CoolerMaster Turbine Master Mach 1.8 - if its already released on the market, this fan can do great performance with very low noise level.

I hope this info was useful.
Keep in mind that this office pc may be your work life so take care for that machine

[Judaeus Apella]

Its a quiet office in a house. LOL I didn't mean an office at a place of work.

Edit:
Anyone know of any good internal fan controllers? PCI cards maybe? (that don't cost an arm and a leg with good software) Or a PCI controller with 3 knobs? (that can handle at least 5 watts per channel?) I need to control 4 fans, or 3 groups of fans.

I'm considering getting some Panaflo's but I don't know which ones make that annoying mechanical noise and which ones don't... anyone know which ones don't do this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmfJp...eature=related
Or maybe its just the older ones? I have a Top Motor fan that does this, its really annoying.

[neonatas]

With no background noise, any fan above 700rpm annoys the out of me. Noiseblockers are damn good, noise wise. Many others like noctua or scythe produce alot of moter noise.

[InCredible]

^ you havent used the ty140s have you? In my fractal design r3 at 1300rpm i cant hear them from 1ft away when everything in my room is turned off except the computer of course

[Judaeus Apella]

^ you havent used the ty140s have you? In my fractal design r3 at 1300rpm i cant hear them from 1ft away when everything in my room is turned off except the computer of course

I need two 120's, one 92, and one 80.

Anyone know where I can listen to some recordings of some of the more modern panaflo fans?

[ditchmagnet]

^ you havent used the ty140s have you? In my fractal design r3 at 1300rpm i cant hear them from 1ft away when everything in my room is turned off except the computer of course

Just got an Archon and it has a ty140 - now my computer is whisper quiet (and cool) @3.9ghz - its awesome.

Does Thermalright make a 120mm version of this fan for the OP?

EDIT:
Actually, the ty140 uses 120mm mounting holes, would that work for you?

[Judaeus Apella]

No, the case isn't wide enough. This isn't a big gamer case or anything remotely close to that. Its just a little Cooler Master Cenurion.

From this point on, please, nothing beyond 120mm in terms of the full size of the fan not just the screw holes.

[Cory]

I need two 120's, one 92, and one 80

You can get Scythe GentleTyphoons in 120mm and 92mm, Enermax Magmas in 120mm and 80mm, and Scythe S-Flex fans in 120mm, 92mm and 80mm.

Maybe this could work as a fan controller?
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...ducts_id=25981