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On January 19 2012 14:15 jacosajh wrote:
Well, I need:
Exhaust Fan (3-pin)
Front Intake Fan (3-pin)
Heatsink Fan (4-pin)
Side Intake Fan (3-pin)
I guess I can't do anything about the Heatsink fan? It's a Hyper 212. Or can I still get the same level of performance but quieter?
Also, I guess I don't really care about the others. Just something with good performance/silence balance. Preferably more emphasis on silence.
I'm guessing that a lot of audible noise is due to the fact that my Storm Scout has side cover slits and that is unavoidable. I suppose I should just get a new case entirely like the Fractal. Hrmmm.
I've been doing some research on fans for a while and here's what I would recommend:
For case fans: I'd recommend the Bitfenix Spectre or Spectre Pro - the original Spectres are slightly quieter and come in more colors/LED's but move less air (though a decent amount for case fans); the Pro is nicer. The Pro is actually good as a heatsink fan as well, has good static pressure and low noise, better than the Silverstone Air Penetrator and fairly even with the highly-coveted Scythe Gentle Typhoon (these are VERY popular as heatsink/radiator fans, but usually cost ~$20). Here's a review: http://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/cases_cooling/bitfenix_spectre_pro_range_review/6
I'd also suggest looking them up on Youtube. Some hardware reviewer did some video tests with a fan controller in a (somewhat) quiet room (seems like a typical apartment) and I'm highly impressed with the Spectre Pro's - VERY quiet even at full speed. As a side note, listening to the Noctua NF-P12 and P14 fans - I was less than impressed with the tone and quality of the sound they produced. I wouldn't get them personally.
Other good options are Noiseblocker Multiframe fans, Scythe Kama Flow, and quite a few others I'm sure. For example, the Gelid Wing fans should also be good and quiet.
For price/performance/quality(bearing+low noise) case fans, it's hard to beat the original Spectre though - at least in my opinion, and similarly the Pro for medium-performance heatsink fans. There's no doubt a Scythe Gentle Typhoon 1850RPM or even the 1450RPM will provide a few degrees lower temps at similar noise/performance levels, but do you need that performance and do you want to pay $20+?
On January 19 2012 16:57 skyR wrote:
Newegg has good packaging. UPS does suck though.
UPS....
I HATE UPS
That had to come out....
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5930 Posts
Its a bloody 120mm fan. Any of them will work fine, even the low end Coolermaster rubbish, so long its not damaged. If you don't want fans to be position dependent, don't get fans with sleeve bearings. That's about all you need to know.
If we're talking about the king of quiet computing, you don't need to look further than the Nexus Real Silents (aka authentic Yate Loons). They sound smooth, look decent, push a decent amount of air, and downvolt extremely well. There are probably better options but they work and you don't need to do all of that borderline autistic enthusest comparison rubbish people like to do with high end components. They're the Aperion Audio of the case fan world.
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On January 20 2012 01:51 Womwomwom wrote:
Its a bloody 120mm fan. Any of them will work fine, even the low end Coolermaster rubbish, so long its not damaged. If you don't want fans to be position dependent, don't get fans with sleeve bearings. That's about all you need to know.
If we're talking about the king of quiet computing, you don't need to look further than the Nexus Real Silents (aka authentic Yate Loons). They sound smooth, they push a decent amount of air, and downvolt extremely well. There are probably better options but they work and you don't need to do all of that autistic enthusest rubbish people like to do with high end components.
Why are you being so dismissive? It's not just "a bloody 120mm fan". Some fans make different bearing noise, some have different tone/pitch even though they're even on noise level, etc. But you know all this. Edit: Also, the Nexus Real Silent 120mm apparently doesn't undervolt well at all, in fact it's terrible at it, at least in XBit's review: http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/120mm-fan-roundup-1_20.html#sect0, but compared to the crappy stock 120mm CM sleeve bearing case fans, it's hardly necessary. corrected by Wom.
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5930 Posts
I do know all of this. I'm dismissive because:
1) Most fans will sound decent enough (note: not quiet) running at 1000RPMs. Coolermaster R4s are pretty inoffensive and they're dirt cheap. Sleeve bearing fans have to be mounted in the right orientation, as I previously mentioned.
2) If you want to undervolt fans, Nexus Real Silents are cheap and do everything pretty much right.
3) The airflow difference is so pathetically small that it won't make a real difference. A few degrees doesn't do anything let's be honest.
4) All other "silent" fans, which are generally very expensive, are p.much obsolete because of the above two reasons. All fans sound fine running above 700RPM so their quality lies in their ability to undervolt well (or not). This is exactly where the Noctua's fall over because they undervolt pathetically.
Edit:
Also the startup voltage has NOTHING to do with how well a fan undervolts. FIrstly we're talking about sonic peformance. Secondly, I actually own the 1000RPM Nexus Real Silents (amongst a lot of other fans since I'm a silent PC sperge) and can confirm that they start up at 7V. Which coincidentally is the point where they become p.much inaudiable.
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You have good points, but as a perfectionist I have to point out that I (and maybe it's only me) do care about getting the absolute best for a particular budget. If anything, at least the Spectres have some color/LED selection and are cheaper, and should undervolt to 7v with no problems.
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What is your budget?
400-500 (+/- about $50~)
What is your resolution?
1600x1200 Still using my old crt, that looks bitchin.
What are you using it for?
Gaming. My single core amd computer has finally died after 7 years of valiant service. I would like to keep everything in my monitor's native resolution. Having used a old computer for this long, I am not looking to jack everything up to extreme. Low/mid settings are fine. Mostly Sc2/bw, wow and a multitude of games that required a duel core that I could never play (ME2, CiV5,witcher 2 et all.)
What is your upgrade cycle?
Probably until it dies, not any time soon,
When do you plan on building it?
Asap!
Do you plan on overclocking?
Nope.
Do you need an Operating System?
Yes. and I still have an .edu email address. Where do these cheap os purchases happen?
Do you plan to add a second GPU for SLI or Crossfire?
Nope
Where are you buying your parts from?
Newegg!
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On January 20 2012 01:51 Womwomwom wrote:
Its a bloody 120mm fan. Any of them will work fine, even the low end Coolermaster rubbish, so long its not damaged. If you don't want fans to be position dependent, don't get fans with sleeve bearings. That's about all you need to know.
If we're talking about the king of quiet computing, you don't need to look further than the Nexus Real Silents (aka authentic Yate Loons). They sound smooth, look decent, push a decent amount of air, and downvolt extremely well. There are probably better options but they work and you don't need to do all of that borderline autistic enthusest comparison rubbish people like to do with high end components. They're the Aperion Audio of the case fan world.
That's exactly what I have. I bought a couple of Coolermasters with Sleeve Bearings. So, as long as I make them spin at 1000 RPM, it'll be quiet?
Actually, yeah, I have the CM R4s lol. They were on sale for like $3/each a year ago.
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Regarding undervolting fans at 7 V, do you need to hook something else up to the +5V line to prevent the current flowing back into the PSU, does it not matter, or is there enough stuff pulling current from the +5V so that the back current doesn't matter?
I'm running a 80mm fan at 5V, but if 7 is perfectly safe, I'll switch it over
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quick question, best ssd under 100€ crucial m4 64gb amirite? about to order it pretty much now (need to order win7 before weekend and plan to also get a "goodie")
would cost me 95€ and heared good things about it. only other option as i see it would be a kingston ssdnow v200 for 10-15€ less. or did i miss something or any new stuff?
also if i cant manage to install the drive properly in my case (since its a aaages old big tower) can i just put it at the bottom at the case till i buy a full new rig in 2-3 months? or any big downsides to that?
oh and btw, when are the 78xx series expected to be released? would be nice if it was intime for my new build. plan to spend ~250€ on the gfx card and some competition for the 560ti 448 would be nice ~~
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Crucial M4 should be faster than the kingston. I dunno what else is available under $100, but the m4 should be a good choice.
As for placement, yeah. Sit it on the bottom of the case, tape it to something, rig up a harness and hang it from something, whatever. It doesn't vibrate (has no moving parts) and shouldn't get very hot, so no worries.
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On January 20 2012 07:28 Molybdenum wrote:
Regarding undervolting fans at 7 V, do you need to hook something else up to the +5V line to prevent the current flowing back into the PSU, does it not matter, or is there enough stuff pulling current from the +5V so that the back current doesn't matter?
I'm running a 80mm fan at 5V, but if 7 is perfectly safe, I'll switch it over
Should be okay unless there's a huge number of fans. Most systems use like 3-5A from +5V, maybe more if you've got plenty of hard drives.
Some current to +5V devices would go from the +12V output through the fan to the +5V wire to things that require +5V and then back to ground. Other current to +5V devices would come from the +5V output to those devices and then back to ground.
Because the +5V output is still sourcing current, it should regulate just fine as normal, even though you're putting fans between it and the +12V output. I think.
I don't really know the theory behind it, but plenty of people do run fans from +12V to +5V. If there were severe issues, they would have already had those issues, and we would probably know about it.
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5930 Posts
On January 20 2012 06:44 jacosajh wrote:Show nested quote +On January 20 2012 01:51 Womwomwom wrote:
Its a bloody 120mm fan. Any of them will work fine, even the low end Coolermaster rubbish, so long its not damaged. If you don't want fans to be position dependent, don't get fans with sleeve bearings. That's about all you need to know.
If we're talking about the king of quiet computing, you don't need to look further than the Nexus Real Silents (aka authentic Yate Loons). They sound smooth, look decent, push a decent amount of air, and downvolt extremely well. There are probably better options but they work and you don't need to do all of that borderline autistic enthusest comparison rubbish people like to do with high end components. They're the Aperion Audio of the case fan world. That's exactly what I have. I bought a couple of Coolermasters with Sleeve Bearings. So, as long as I make them spin at 1000 RPM, it'll be quiet? Actually, yeah, I have the CM R4s lol. They were on sale for like $3/each a year ago.
1000RPM should still be fairly loud in my opinion. The easiest way to lower noise is just to hook all of your fans onto a fan controller and see what is acceptably quiet.
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What is your budget?
to be honest, not quite sure. probably 600-700, but for the sake of this post, lets say 500-600$ 
What is your resolution?
1440x900
What are you using it for?
Streaming starcraft 2, gaming
What is your upgrade cycle?
Whenever something dies, i replace it. Overall, probably 3 years
When do you plan on building it?
Within the next 3 weeks.
Do you plan on overclocking?
No
Do you need an Operating System?
Yes
Do you plan to add a second GPU for SLI or Crossfire?
No
Where are you buying your parts from?
Anywhere, I guess newegg.
EDIT: Post 1000!~~!~ and 1!!
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Looking for reccomendation on whatever the best gpu you guys can recommend for under $200(or a bit over if there's a significant difference) as well as a good monitor around 1920 x 1080.
I will be using it as my main monitor along with my 1600x900 and my tv for streaming gaming etc.
specs are:
2500k at 4.4ghz
p67ac43
8gb ddr3 1600
rf 500w psu
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EPT
