26 120mm Fans Tested and Compared

[Ar3s]

it's hard data and findings that are lacking.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...&postcount=241

he hasn't done the full test yet but those results are disturbing enough.

[CyberDruid]

You're the 2nd to ask for that (well, the Enlobal)....looks like I'll be getting one then

No, I really didn't....just checked out FrozenCPU and didn't see any RPM specs. That's hilarious though......90CFM at 1400RPM? They're around 1000RPM short of doing that...

Where their fatal mistake may be is in blade material....like the UV blue Yates. I still want to test them though But no one has said which two they want to see tested.....based on the RPM values, I'm thinking the two fastest ones (one 25mm thick and one 38mm thick).

I will gladly supply you these fans at no charge.

I have the Non Led "72" cfm the LED "72" cfm the non LED "90" cfm and the old style ABS bodied "64" cfm model--I would be glad to send you all 4--please PM me.

I would love to see the actual numbers on these fans to put to rest the SilenX debate we have going at OverClock.net.

Acording to Bios some of the fans spin faster or slower than spec. One particular Blue LED runs at 1500 rpm in BIOS another one runs at 1290RPM the 90 CFM fans I have tested on m rigs all seem to run at or very close to 1400 rpm in BIOS.

[CyberDruid]

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...&postcount=241

he hasn't done the full test yet but those results are disturbing enough.

Thanks for the link I have been scouring and rescouring the thread and only found the quote I just posted. I see Vapor has some of these fans. I would still send more to see if they vary from batch to batch. I am extremely curious about how the 72 stacks up against the 90 and what kind of pressures they produce and how they work cooling a rad.

[Spanki]

Hey Vapor, I remember you said that you got at least one of the Enlobal Bearing fans for testing (Marathon?), but I don't recall if you got one of the GlobalWin NCB fans... ?

Also, any luck on getting the higher-speed Enlobal fan?

[CyberDruid]

Over at OverClock.Net we are following your progress like a bunch of Soccer nuts at World Cup...everone is rooting for their favorite players

[Vapor]

Hey Vapor, I remember you said that you got at least one of the Enlobal Bearing fans for testing (Marathon?), but I don't recall if you got one of the GlobalWin NCB fans... ?

Also, any luck on getting the higher-speed Enlobal fan?

Yeah, I got the Marathon while looking for a Warp. I'll look into that one.

CyberDruid....well, you and I have been talking so you know how the SilenXs perform. I'm out of town right now, so I can't do more testing, but I want to get a full batch of comparable fans (I have almost all open air CFM, but not even close to all restriction CFM). Early impressions are: empirically, they aren't doing well. But the noise they make isn't too obtrusive and they're pretty nice looking fans (though very light and 'cheap' feeling).

[Ar3s]

The 14SM-12 claims 62CFM when I can only get ~43CFM out of it. It is exceedingly quiet....much quieter than the claimed 29dB (getting around 26.5 in the screwy ambient....). I'm wondering if I have a mislabeled and rare 14SL-12

http://www.coolerguys.com/840556069409.html
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...ducts_id=20771

looks like everyone is mislabeling them on sites. the D14SL is 46.9CFM 25dB

[Vapor]

The actual fan says D14SM-12 though...

[Nullvoid]

SPCR did include a Silenx in their last 120mm fan roundup. I'm not sure if that gives you the kind of info you're looking for.

[IanY]

Vapor,

Sorry if this has been asked before.. I just haven't found it. What is your fan controller of choice? Can each channel of the fan controller handle.. say... three high spinning 38mm fans.. aka 110 cfm @ 12V or something ridiculous like that ?

[Vapor]

Sorry for the slow response Ian....was gonna reply before work but remembered my car needed gas so had to leave a few min earlier to fill her up.

Anyway, without sounding crass, I don't like anything out there.

I tolerate the Sunbeam and respect the BigNG, but am starting to lean away from even those.

The Sunbeam and Lian Li variants have been what I use in my builds because they can handle a one amp load without drooping too much (well...lowest resistance setting is below 11V at 1A actually, still stronger than the rest) and because they do have an accurate 7V light change. I generally hate rheobuses because you never know what voltage you're at...the Sunbeam's light is too bright, but that's easy to fix. The Sunbeams do have a longevity problem when being stressed, in my experience, and also do suffer from noticeable droop.

Gaudy/blingy/flashy lights annoy me too....the world's best fan controller could be blingy and I wouldn't consider it. As such, I don't know much about the blingy controllers, but I can't imagine they're anywhere near strong enough to handle ~2A at 12V with no droop (what 3x110CFM fans would draw probably).

The BigNG is interesting....certainly the king of software-based controllers, but I really don't like the look (an anodized black box that can be hidden in a case more suits me), and the price is unattractive, as is the load handling for the price (20W analog :-/). Good thing about software-based controllers is you KNOW what voltage setting you're at and can even have it auto-adjust for you.

But honestly, I'm really starting to like switch-based controllers....or at least the idea of them. You can hardwire a 12V setting to handle ~250W (depends on the switch, wires, and soldering job...and eventually PSU), as well as a hardwired 7V and/or 5V setting...as well as an open-circuit setting. Problem is, none actually do this

That's why I plan on building my own sometime this summer....it'll have a 12V, 7V and off settings hardwired and be able to handle any load I throw at it....and it won't be blingy (nor will it be ghetto in the least).

Basically, I know nothing out there that meets your needs, but I wish I did

[Vapor]

Sorry for the slow response Ian....was gonna reply before work but remembered my car needed gas so had to leave a few min earlier to fill her up.

Anyway, without sounding crass, I don't like anything out there.

I tolerate the Sunbeam and respect the BigNG, but am starting to lean away from even those.

The Sunbeam and Lian Li variants have been what I use in my builds because they can handle a one amp load without drooping too much (well...lowest resistance setting is below 11V at 1A actually, still stronger than the rest) and because they do have an accurate 7V light change. I generally hate rheobuses because you never know what voltage you're at...the Sunbeam's light is too bright, but that's easy to fix. The Sunbeams do have a longevity problem when being stressed, in my experience, and also do suffer from noticeable droop.

Gaudy/blingy/flashy lights annoy me too....the world's best fan controller could be blingy and I wouldn't consider it. As such, I don't know much about the blingy controllers, but I can't imagine they're anywhere near strong enough to handle ~2A at 12V with no droop (what 3x110CFM fans would draw probably).

The BigNG is interesting....certainly the king of software-based controllers, but I really don't like the look (an anodized black box that can be hidden in a case more suits me), and the price is unattractive, as is the load handling for the price (20W analog :-/). Good thing about software-based controllers is you KNOW what voltage setting you're at and can even have it auto-adjust for you.

But honestly, I'm really starting to like switch-based controllers....or at least the idea of them. You can hardwire a 12V setting to handle ~250W (depends on the switch, wires, and soldering job...and eventually PSU), as well as a hardwired 7V and/or 5V setting...as well as an open-circuit setting. Problem is, none actually do this

That's why I plan on building my own sometime this summer....it'll have a 12V, 7V and off settings hardwired and be able to handle any load I throw at it....and it won't be blingy (nor will it be ghetto in the least).

Basically, I know nothing out there that meets your needs, but I wish I did

[_G_]

How about one of those big Ohmite rheostat?
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/sirh25wa.html
http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/si50warh.html

[IanY]

Gaudy/blingy/flashy lights annoy me too....the world's best fan controller could be blingy and I wouldn't consider it. As such, I don't know much about the blingy controllers, but I can't imagine they're anywhere near strong enough to handle ~2A at 12V with no droop (what 3x110CFM fans would draw probably).

Vapor,

Thank you very much for your response. Anything led annoys me too, let alone ccfl lol That's the very reason why I don't have any fan controllers. I was hoping that I can use the custom Sunbeam mounted on Lian Li bay cover job by Performance PCs, but somehow go back there and cut out all the wires to the LED I guess its not viable

[Vapor]

IanY, you're in luck....the LEDs on the Sunbeam are socketed LEDs and you can just pull the three pins out with your fingers or pliers.

I'll take a pic later and show you what I mean

BUT, it still won't handle more than one 110CFM fan per channel well (it will handle two, but at like 10.8V at most )

[Vapor]

Alright, I've got to vent here....

Two days ago I was doing some testing and discovered my dBA data was wayy off (every time I start a session, I retest a fan from the previous session to make sure I'm getting the exact same data). I had noticed some creep in dBA data earlier, but just went back retested the old batches along side and all was fixed. Well, this shift was large, very large.

I found out that my dB meter was sliding like a centimeter a month toward the fan and turning slightly....the suspension mounting wasn't working for long term essentially. So I redid the mounting much more securely but still isolated (from vibration, wind, and the like), and now my numbers are not comparable to anything again, so the old data is essentially useless. CFM and restriction testing is OKAY, but dBA results all have to be redone.

Next gripe: every ing time I go to do some testing, a surprise thunderstorm rolls in and the thunder s with my ambient in a massive way. God must work in the marketing or legal department for SilenX.

Next gripe: my work schedule has been just weird....the lady who does the scheduling doesn't have any courtesy for the summer part-timers (4 of us)....but this coming week's schedule (the weirdest yet actually), has blocks of time where I can get stuff done. I really want to knock out as many fans as I can this week.

Some good news though: the person I've been spending most of my time with is in Cape Cod for the week and some of next week too....so with her out of town, I'll have lots of solid time to spend with my fans

[ranker]

Next gripe: every ing time I go to do some testing, a surprise thunderstorm rolls in and the thunder s with my ambient in a massive way. God must work in the marketing or legal department for SilenX.

My Law professor didn't take it too kindly when I randomly started laughing in the middle of his ramblings. Thanks to you I now find myself the whipping boy for the rest of the week.

[IanY]

Vapor,

What are you impressions of the NMB Mat-manufactured Panaflo-branded medium and high speed 38mm fans ? I believe the model I saw put out about 102cfm at 41.5 dB. I wonder what would the resulting output (flow and noise) if I were to tune it down to 7 volts? Would it get down to about 36 dB, or is that a lost cause ?

[Vapor]

I have ~12 NMB-MAT fans here....mostly Panaflo and some Scythe. Only the 1100RPM Scythe ever gets 'quiet'....and none really undervolt well.

The H1BX/H1As at 7V push ~60CFM at 36dBA. So yes, it does get quiet enough, but no, it's nowhere near the better fans out there at the same amount of noise.

(your ebmpapsts do 74.3CFM at 35.3dBA, the Sharkoon 2000 does 74.2/34.8, the San Ace 1011 does 80/35.4 on the new testbed (louder adjusted CFM results than the first one), and the Scythe S-Flex F does 60.5CFM at 33.4 on the new testbed.....these are all 12V except the San Ace, which is at 8V)

[Machinus]

Do you plan to test Antec fans? Such as the tri cool?

[Ar3s]

my minebeas are here as well as 14cm yate loons.

[cantankerous]

How do the Scythe Minebea 1900rpm fans fare in real world testing?

[Ar3s]

the mesh of the tj09 is no match for the minebea. they are thick blades seems like better plastic then all my other fans. little hum of the silent ic is all you hear the rest is just air moving.

[cantankerous]

SWEET!

Man, you have no idea how long I have been looking for a fan to overcome the mesh of the TJ09. All my current 1600rpm offerings barely have any air feeling when I put my hand over top of the mesh. I really need something that will cut through this to help eliminate the heat in my case effectively with the two top blow holes. I also want a more powerful fan for the internal center part of the case as the stock fan is far too weak and my video card is heating up like a hooker in hell.

Now I need to find a place that sells these, especially to Canada where I never seem to have any luck finding decent fans.

[Ar3s]

yeah weird Ncix only has the slowest nmb minebea. i got mine from performance-pcs.com they are the cheapest i found. if they ship to singapore i don't see why they won't ship to Canada.