Vantec Stealth or Silenx Case fans!?

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godzillasdm

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Feb 23, 2004
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Hello All,

Lately, i'm into "quieting" my pc. I have a few questions.

1. Does lowering CPU/HDD temperature increase performance or just LIFE EXPECTANCY. For example, Will a 40C cpu run slightly faster than a 50C cpu??

2. My PC is pretty quiet right now, but i think i can make it quieter. I have a Spire WhisperRock IV heatsink. pretty quiet.
I think my case fan is the loudest. I was thinking about either getting the Vantec Stealth fan rated 20dBA or so, or one I saw online called Silenx rated at 14.4dBA. http://www.silenx.com/productcart/pc/configurePrdz.asp?idcategory=3&idproduct=9

Has anyone had experience with Silenx? Does it do what it says?

How are the Stealth? Is 20dBA still pretty loud? (compared to 26dBA ? )

Thanks in advance. Looking forward to the reply's =)
GODzillaSDM
 
I am also looking at these two fans to replace my case fans with. The silenx one gets really good reviews, but is a lot more expensive than the Stealth. The difference b/w 14 and 20 dB wont be that noticible.
 
well i currently have a silent system

Vantec Tornado at 10000000 dB.... its silent.. really

going tform 26-20 doesnt seem much to me... but its up to you

im just tryi to my my system standable
 
The stealths are pretty quiet, I've got a 92mm one running on my heatsink and a 120mm one in the front of my case. I really cannot hear them, the only sounds I hear from my computer are my hard drives running, that's it.
 
Cooling your HDs won't give you more performance.
Better cooling on your CPU won't give more performance if you're running stock (ie: not overclocking)

The vantec stealth are pretty quiet. If you're not satisfied run them on a rheobus or 7volt them :)
 
I have 3 Silenx 80mm 11-14dba temp monitor case fans.. I've got a Zalman 7000A AlCu on the cpu. System is quiet only the whisper of air moving and the raptors spinning/reading/writing.

Temps are idle/load:
CPU: 38C/46C
Case: 27C/30C

I noticed a big drop in noise going from 3 Antec 80mm Smart Fans to the Silenx fans as well as no differences in temp
 
actually the difference between 20 and 26 dba is about 3 times louder acording to bels law.
 
3 db = doubling in sound intensity
10 db = doubling in perceived volume
I = P/A (intensity = power [watts] / area [m²])
db = 10log(I/1*10^-12)
 
thank you all for your reply.

I too read somewhere that every 3db is doubling of "PERCEIVED" volume.

i disconnected my case fan, so only the cpu fan, and psu is running. The psu is an antec dual fan. Think that is the next loudest.

without the case fan, cpu idles from 42 to around 50 over a few hours. and load around 53C.

thats pretty high huh?

i guess i will spend more money and get 2 silenx. Should I buy it from their site, or does ne1 kno a cheap online store.

thanks
GODzillaSDM
 
Originally posted by godzillasdm
thank you all for your reply.

I too read somewhere that every 3db is doubling of "PERCEIVED" volume.

i disconnected my case fan, so only the cpu fan, and psu is running. The psu is an antec dual fan. Think that is the next loudest.

without the case fan, cpu idles from 42 to around 50 over a few hours. and load around 53C.

thats pretty high huh?

i guess i will spend more money and get 2 silenx. Should I buy it from their site, or does ne1 kno a cheap online store.

thanks
GODzillaSDM
Click to expand...

Not high at all, that's about where you should be with an AMD
 
Temps are fine. You're off to a good start, now you just need to get a nice little Fortron power supply. :D One of the ones with one big, slow 120MM fan in them. You can hardley hear them when they run.

And if you REALLY want to get picky about it, get a Seagate hard drive, maybe even use some type of foam to quiet it down.

My main intel rig I designed to be dead quiet, and it pretty much is. It's amazing how loud one case fan running at full speed sounds to me now :p
 
Just keep your CPU under 60C, and It'll last as long as you want it to, before you upgrade.

Later,
Eli
 
Ok, i went ahead and bought 2 Silenx Case fans, with thermistor.

It indeed is very quiet. It did decrease the cpu temp by 3*C on idle to 47*C max. (from 50*C idle), but on LOAD, it continue to rise to 53*C.

I conclude that...it works well when its not too hot, but when its load, it won't move air fast enough to keep the heat down.

although, once i stop 3d gaming, the sys heat and cpu heat does cool down faster than when i didn't have a case fan running at all.

at $31 shipped for 2 fans tho...its kinda pricey. but their website is secure when u enter your credit card and ships pretty fast.

GODzillaSDM
 
so would you say its worth it?
I'm thinking of heading down to bigfootcomputers to buy myself a silenx to replace my panaflo... its too loud...
 
http://www.silentpcreview.com

these are the most obsessive compulsive noise fighters around. youll see phrases like "the sound of the airflow" and "can still hear it one foot away". i mean, they buy already silent fans and undervolt them to 'quiet them down'.

be careful with some of the guides tho.. they might have you running your CPU fan at 7 CFM and your processor at 233MHz.
 
Hey, I'm a member over at SPCR. They're not going to go back a decade for the sake of silence. Close maybe. :p
 
man, i think i just saw a thread on there about how to silence a coffee pot.
 
i bought 2 for $31 after tax and shipping. I would not say they are worth that much. I would not buy it if I could redo it.

thats my opinion. My previous case fan was not that loud. I had 1 exhaust case fan. no Intake. and was around 25dBA.

Now i have 2 case fan. (1 intake and 1 exhaust) at 14dBA each. Kind of evens out in my opinion. Same temp too, compared to when i had 1 exhuast.

If you want a cheaper fan that is more readily available in stores, I guess Vantec Stealth would've been a better choice at 21dBA.

GODzillaSDM
 
Which is quieter, though, the 2 14dBa or the single 25 dBa?

You pay a premium for the quiet. Some would say its worth it, some would say its not. All depends on what you're looking for.
 
My case came w/ an antec 120mm fan on the back of the case, and I added a vantec stealth 120mm on the front - the loudest thing in my case is the 92mm fan on my zalman 7000cu. :eek:

The 120s are running off my enermax fan controller but I have rarely ever turned the rpm down from full. The Zalman [in it's defense] is connected directly to my mobo. [no rheostat]

I am really impressed with the antec fan, w/o measuring I would swear it is noticably quieter [they are both "quiet"] than the stealth.
 
if you want to control the zalman, try running speedfan. Its a neat little program that lets you control voltages to fans connected to mobo headers.
 
Originally posted by dotZIP
Which is quieter, though, the 2 14dBa or the single 25 dBa?
Click to expand...

two 14dB fans would be quieter, by far (even though 25 is still very quiet). having two sound sources at 14dB each would not double perceived volume at all. not even close. it would be something like a 10% increase in volume, hearing two instead of one. im not sure on the exact increase, but its something miniscule.
 
Originally posted by dobbz
two 14dB fans would be quieter, by far (even though 25 is still very quiet). having two sound sources at 14dB each would not double perceived volume at all. not even close. it would be something like a 10% increase in volume, hearing two instead of one. im not sure on the exact increase, but its something miniscule.
Click to expand...

i believe there is some sort of formula to get the exact number.. i've seen it discussed here a long time ago.. does anyone know what that is? because i'm interested in gettin 2 120mm silenx fans and 1 80mm.. but thats gonna cost quite a bit...
 
I know that in theory, the two 14 dBa would be quieter.

In practice, there's vibration generated by the fans, and also how the companies rate their sound. What I meant was in practice by subjective comparisons or by sound meter.
 
Originally posted by IYIENACE
My case came w/ an antec 120mm fan on the back of the case, and I added a vantec stealth 120mm on the front - the loudest thing in my case is the 92mm fan on my zalman 7000cu. :eek:

The 120s are running off my enermax fan controller but I have rarely ever turned the rpm down from full. The Zalman [in it's defense] is connected directly to my mobo. [no rheostat]

I am really impressed with the antec fan, w/o measuring I would swear it is noticably quieter [they are both "quiet"] than the stealth.
Click to expand...

damn...you musta got a nice Antec fan then. Mine is LOUD....actually louder than the TMD fan on the aeroflow (which I must admit is fairly quiet except for the excess vibration it generates). Don't like it. eventually I'll be replacing it with a stealth or something similar.
 
i am very upset now....

i spent $15 on a Spire WhisperRock IV for my CPU, $31 for 2 Silenx case fan, and last night, my CPU tem went up to 51 on IDLE! and 57 on load!!! I think cuz it was warm last night but what will happen when summer comes around???

any suggestions?? i'm bummed out with all this "quieting" solutions.

I might redo the thermal grease..but not much else i can do.

please help!
GODzillaSDM
 
in reply to DOT.

i would say the 2 14dBA slienx versus the 1 25dBA is about the same. Im not measuring with any devices tho.

I also bought vantec vibration dampers for case fan and power supply.... No help waste of money... =(

wished i hadn't been obsessed with sound. Would've saved some $$$.
 
line the inside of your case with sound dampening material like dynamat or "brown bread". I did that with my Antec 3700AMB and it made a HUGE difference in sound. Didn't cost me anything either since I robbed an old speakerbox of the dynamat.

for what you spend in a set of silent fans, silent hsf, and vibration dampening kits for the psu and drives, you could line your case with something like dynamat and provide the same or better results while still maintaining the current cooling capacity.
 
2 total 14db fans running at full tilt should only hit 17db's. That's a LOT quiter than 25db's...almost by three times. Also, there shouldn't be any more vibration caused by the 2 fans as opposed to one- good mounting practices apply either way.
 
Originally posted by nst6563
line the inside of your case with sound dampening material like dynamat or "brown bread". I did that with my Antec 3700AMB and it made a HUGE difference in sound. Didn't cost me anything either since I robbed an old speakerbox of the dynamat.

for what you spend in a set of silent fans, silent hsf, and vibration dampening kits for the psu and drives, you could line your case with something like dynamat and provide the same or better results while still maintaining the current cooling capacity.
Click to expand...

Or you could line your case with money... may not work well, but it'll look bling :p


I know the pursuit of silence... I'm in the middle of it, too. Panaflo is pissing me off right now, I should go get a SilenX fan... and a SilentX (Shuttle going to get sued for the name?) PSU
 
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