Best CPU Fan

[Email Invalid]

I am thinking of getting a Thermalright SP-94 heatsink. It does not
come with a CPU fan so I will need to get one. I have seen that many
people use Vantec Tornado Fan with this HS for maximum cooling but
56dBA of noise is too much for me!

I did some research and came up with the following choices:

Thermaltake Smart Case Fan 2 (80mm & 92mm)
Enermax UC-9FAB (92mm)
Panaflo FBA09A12H (92mm)

The Smart Case Fan 2 seems intriguing because it has variable RPM
adjustment and also a temperature control mode that switches to 4800
RPM when temperature measures above 55C so I am leaning towards this
fan. However, upon closer look, this mode may or may not be too useful
because in temperature mode, it switches between 1300 RPM and 4800 RPM
(I would rather it switch between, say, 3000 RPM and 4800 RPM, maybe
the variable RPM and temperature mode can be combined???)

Anyone with anyone experience with these or any other fans? Also what
is better 80mm or 92mm? On this point, there seems to be disagreement
as some say 80mm is better and other say 92mm is better and still
others say it is fan dependent.

I am looking for the most noise efficient cooling possible but with
enough cooling for moderate overclocking of P4 3.2C. On this score,
Panaflo seems intruiging because it has spec of 57CFM/35dBA, which
seems very efficient and sufficient.

Thanks for any feedback!
(Reply here please)

 

[Lou]

I am thinking of getting a Thermalright SP-94 heatsink. It does not
come with a CPU fan so I will need to get one. I have seen that many
people use Vantec Tornado Fan with this HS for maximum cooling but
56dBA of noise is too much for me!

I did some research and came up with the following choices:

Thermaltake Smart Case Fan 2 (80mm & 92mm)
Enermax UC-9FAB (92mm)
Panaflo FBA09A12H (92mm)

The Smart Case Fan 2 seems intriguing because it has variable RPM
adjustment and also a temperature control mode that switches to 4800
RPM when temperature measures above 55C so I am leaning towards this
fan. However, upon closer look, this mode may or may not be too useful
because in temperature mode, it switches between 1300 RPM and 4800 RPM
(I would rather it switch between, say, 3000 RPM and 4800 RPM, maybe
the variable RPM and temperature mode can be combined???)

Anyone with anyone experience with these or any other fans? Also what
is better 80mm or 92mm? On this point, there seems to be disagreement
as some say 80mm is better and other say 92mm is better and still
others say it is fan dependent.

I am looking for the most noise efficient cooling possible but with
enough cooling for moderate overclocking of P4 3.2C. On this score,
Panaflo seems intruiging because it has spec of 57CFM/35dBA, which
seems very efficient and sufficient.

Thanks for any feedback!
(Reply here please)

I would say a 92mm fan would be better because usually a larger fan can move
the same amount of air at a lower speed and that makes it quieter. I have
not tried the thermaltake HS so I'm not sure if bigger is actually better
because it might not flow air to the center as much as a smaller fan.

Its hard to say what fan is "best" because its a compromise between high air
flow and quiet and everybody has a different idea of what is quiet enough
for the amount of air flow.
There are a lot of fans that claim to be quiet, but really are not,or at
least what I would call quiet so don't trust the dba specs they advertise.
Even different model fans from the same manufacture can be noisy or quiet.
I have not tried the fans you list but a good place for quiet PC and fan
info is http://www.silentpcreview.com/ although they list items on the
extreme quiet side rather than performance.

Most automatic or thermistor controlled fans seem to not change speed in
useful ranges as you noted with the Smart Case Fans. I would get a low cost
variable fan speed (voltage) controller to adjust the fan to the speed you
want
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=35-118-205&depa=0
or for more cost there are many front panel fan controllers available.


I have the Zalman 7000A-Cu on an Athlon 64 and its very quiet in low speed
mode, and high speed it cools very good but too noisy for me on high and I
don't overclock so I run it very slow.
See reviews from Thermaltake buyers here
http://secure.newegg.com/app/CustratingReview.asp?DEPA=0&item=35-109-012

Lou

 

[NSA]

IMHO i think you should buy the fan with rpm controled buy temperature. If
it runs at 1800 rpm good for you it makes less noise.

 

[S.Heenan]

I am thinking of getting a Thermalright SP-94 heatsink. It does not
come with a CPU fan so I will need to get one. I have seen that many
people use Vantec Tornado Fan with this HS for maximum cooling but
56dBA of noise is too much for me!

I did some research and came up with the following choices:

Thermaltake Smart Case Fan 2 (80mm & 92mm)
Enermax UC-9FAB (92mm)
Panaflo FBA09A12H (92mm)

The Sunon KD1209PTB2 is another quiet 92mm fan.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-999-002&depa=1

The Smart Case Fan 2 seems intriguing because it has variable RPM
adjustment and also a temperature control mode that switches to 4800
RPM when temperature measures above 55C so I am leaning towards this
fan. However, upon closer look, this mode may or may not be too useful
because in temperature mode, it switches between 1300 RPM and 4800 RPM
(I would rather it switch between, say, 3000 RPM and 4800 RPM, maybe
the variable RPM and temperature mode can be combined???)

Anyone with anyone experience with these or any other fans? Also what
is better 80mm or 92mm? On this point, there seems to be disagreement
as some say 80mm is better and other say 92mm is better and still
others say it is fan dependent.

I am looking for the most noise efficient cooling possible but with
enough cooling for moderate overclocking of P4 3.2C. On this score,
Panaflo seems intruiging because it has spec of 57CFM/35dBA, which
seems very efficient and sufficient.

For the same volume of air moved, a 92mm fan can do it at less rotational
speed, with less noise, at a lower pitch. Go with a 92mm fan rated at
2700-3100RPM, 40-60CFM, 31-36dbA, for the best balance between airflow and
noise.
The Panaflo FBA09A12H does look to be a very good choice.

 

[kony]

I am thinking of getting a Thermalright SP-94 heatsink. It does not
come with a CPU fan so I will need to get one. I have seen that many
people use Vantec Tornado Fan with this HS for maximum cooling but
56dBA of noise is too much for me!

I did some research and came up with the following choices:

Thermaltake Smart Case Fan 2 (80mm & 92mm)
Enermax UC-9FAB (92mm)
Panaflo FBA09A12H (92mm)

The Smart Case Fan 2 seems intriguing because it has variable RPM
adjustment and also a temperature control mode that switches to 4800
RPM when temperature measures above 55C so I am leaning towards this
fan. However, upon closer look, this mode may or may not be too useful
because in temperature mode, it switches between 1300 RPM and 4800 RPM
(I would rather it switch between, say, 3000 RPM and 4800 RPM, maybe
the variable RPM and temperature mode can be combined???)

Anyone with anyone experience with these or any other fans? Also what
is better 80mm or 92mm? On this point, there seems to be disagreement
as some say 80mm is better and other say 92mm is better and still
others say it is fan dependent.

I am looking for the most noise efficient cooling possible but with
enough cooling for moderate overclocking of P4 3.2C. On this score,
Panaflo seems intruiging because it has spec of 57CFM/35dBA, which
seems very efficient and sufficient.

Thanks for any feedback!
(Reply here please)

That heatsink will show little if any benefit from a 92mm fan, due to a
larger percentage of the fan hanging out beyond the edges of the
heatsink... even an 80mm fan will hang over a bit, but the greater the
percentage of the fan's total area that hangs over, the lower the
percentage of total airflow that goes though the 'sink. IMHO, only use a
92mm fan if you think the motherboard power regulation circuitry needs
extra cooling, which it might if you're going to be increasing CPU voltage
a lot, like more than 10%. Then again, given it's a P4 there should be a
3-stage power regulation so perhaps onboard heat isn't such an issue,
unless the chassis has poor airflow.

You shouldn't really need a high-speed fan with that heatsink. If the
rest of your system is relatively noisey the higher speed fan may not be
so noticable but with a quiet system, it might not be worthwhile to
significantly increase noise just to get another 30MHz squeezed out of the
chip, it'll just overclock slightly lower all things being equal.

Of the three fans you mentioned the Panaflo is the best construction and
airflow per db noise. Personally I'd choose slightly lower RPM though, as
noise gets significantly worse above 2800RPM, give or take, so I'd choose
a Panaflo FBA09A12M instead, or the 80mm version.

 

[wooducoodu]

a 92mm should be better it's just much harder to find a quiet 92mm than 80mm
because 80mm fans are so common and few quiet 92mm fans are made.

check out the nexus real silent case fan if you can find one.