# Is there a silent LED fan?



## Scorpion49

Basically I'm looking for the quietest 120x25 fan I can find with red LED lighting. Right now I'm using Cooler Master Sickleflows at 1100RPM, and I can barely hear them. Unfortunately what I do hear is the motor ticking, they're quite pronounced and sound like a miniature diesel motor is in my PC.

I wouldn't rate my setup to be totally silent, but with the D5 on flow setting 1 I can't hear the system over the background noise around my apartment with the exception of the fan ticking. I would really like to keep the lighted fans.

Is there anything that can match the Sickleflows for performance when they crank up AND keep the red LED? I'm controlling them with speedfan so when the system get stressed they turn up to 2000RPM which is roughly 70CFM with 2.94 mmH20 (they move a LOT of air). If there is nothing I guess I will keep these, it seems like the vast majority of LED fans are cheap-o designed for looks more than performance.


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## Furball Zen

I dont get this fascination with 'silence'. "Lets make our cars as quiet as possible so you cant hear sirens with the windows up", "i have a fan in my PC and it keeps the neighbors up 3 doors down and i only have it on 500rpm!"...

How many of these things do you have? I have right now, 2 Yate Loons running full tilt on my 240 rad and i can hear them, but i dont notice them. Right now they are a bit loud cause i need to clean the filters, but after that, i can barely hear them, and i have excellent hearing.

But seriously, why does it need to be so quiet? Ive used R4's, Gelids and Yates and i like them all. Turned all the way up. Gelids are the quietest though, i can hear my Zalman 92mm CPU cooler over a 120 and 92mm in my server.


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## Scorpion49

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Furball Zen;15581850*
> I dont get this fascination with 'silence'. "Lets make our cars as quiet as possible so you cant hear sirens with the windows up", "i have a fan in my PC and it keeps the neighbors up 3 doors down and i only have it on 500rpm!"...
> 
> How many of these things do you have? I have right now, 2 Yate Loons running full tilt on my 240 rad and i can hear them, but i dont notice them. Right now they are a bit loud cause i need to clean the filters, but after that, i can barely hear them, and i have excellent hearing.
> 
> But seriously, why does it need to be so quiet? Ive used R4's, Gelids and Yates and i like them all. Turned all the way up. Gelids are the quietest though, i can hear my Zalman 92mm CPU cooler over a 120 and 92mm in my server.


Every day I go to work and listen to the sweet sound of T56-A-427's/ GE T700-401C's/F-414's blast my eardrums with up to 183dB of hot air. Ever had your ears peak out into just white-noise ringing?

Every day I drive my 695 RWHP whipple 3.4 2003 Cobra with long tubes and full 3" exhaust that is so loud I can barely hear my radio and enjoy every second of it.

Every year when my hearing is tested, I'm reminded that continuing the way I am right now I might need a hearing aid by the time I'm 30 because of all the time I've spent with the constant noise on the flight decks of some of the finest warships the US Navy has to offer.

So yes, I like silence in my house so I can listen to the mariachi music being blasted by all of my neighbors as loud as their dumpster-dived boomboxes will go. Got a problem with that?


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## Sp33d Junki3

I use the Enermax TB Silence series. They are quiet at low speed. You do hear them at full speed. Its not the fan that is making the sound. Its the grills, fins that you hear when the air flow past them. More restriction, the louder the noise will be.

http://www.enermax.com/home.php?fn=eng/product_a1_1_1&lv0=4&lv1=32&no=147

Yes I prefer silence in my system, fan controller works for that purpose.
I have 3 of those in my system. 1 exhaust and 2 on my Hyper 212.


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## sloppyjoe123

I understand this obsession with silence, hence my R3 + Noctua cooler+fans build. When ignorant people think about a powerful PC, they think about insane gaming performance, fast boot-ups and tons of noise. Some of us just wanna show them that not every PC have to run like a vacuum cleaner in a box, instead they can be as quiet as a meditating monk. Or maybe some of us just wanna hear our music and our videos, not our fans.

Yate Loons have some Red LED fans and they move a decent amount of air, so they are worth checking out.


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## pez

It's been a while since I was in the market for fans, but from what I remember, Yate Loons had a fairly quiet model with LED's. Also, CoolerMaster has another fan that people always swore by. I believe the R4's?


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## sloppyjoe123

http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=273&area=en

My friend uses these and are quite good actually.


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## Sean Webster

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *pez;15582279*
> It's been a while since I was in the market for fans, but from what I remember, Yate Loons had a fairly quiet model with LED's. Also, CoolerMaster has another fan that people always swore by. I believe the R4's?


The R4's are loud as hell!


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## Dorkseid

These are very quiet. And have red LEDs. And are Prolimatech. I believe that's a holy trinity.









http://www.frozencpu.com/products/14148/fan-761/Prolimatech_Red_LED_Vortex_14_140mm_x_25mm_CPU_Fan_87_CFM_181_dBA.html

EDIT: Oops...they are 140mm. Don't know if that's a problem...


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## Scorpion49

Thanks guys, I was browsing through all the offerings I could find on sites like Newegg and Amazon, nothing turned upt hat really seemed to beat what I have already. I'll check into those Yate-Loons. Forgot to mention they have to be 120mm X 25mm. I knew I was forgetting something. They go in here:










Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sp33d Junki3;15582210*
> I use the Enermax TB Silence series. They are quiet at low speed. You do hear them at full speed. Its not the fan that is making the sound. Its the grills, fins that you hear when the air flow past them. More restriction, the louder the noise will be.
> 
> http://www.enermax.com/home.php?fn=eng/product_a1_1_1&lv0=4&lv1=32&no=147
> 
> Yes I prefer silence in my system, fan controller works for that purpose.
> I have 3 of those in my system. 1 exhaust and 2 on my Hyper 212.


The TB silence is sort of like the Magma isn't it? I have a few of those and they were good fans, just no LED. I like my LED's









EDIT: they seem exactly like magmas but at a lower RPM. I'll plug one in and undervolt it to 1200 and see how it is. This may be a winner.


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## Furball Zen

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion49;15582173*
> Got a problem with that?


Yes, i do


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## Scorpion49

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Furball Zen;15582375*
> Yes, i do


Cool. Make a thread about it somewhere else if you don't have a fan to recommend then.


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## staryoshi

Bitfenix Spectre LED fans quiet and move a respectable amount of air. They are noticeably quieter than the Xigmatek Crystal series fans they have replaced.
https://store.bitfenix.com/bitfenix%20accessories/bitfenix%20spectre%20led%20fans


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## pez

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sean Webster;15582305*
> The R4's are loud as hell!


I always saw their ratings and figured they were. I guess the Cooler Master fanboys were trollin' that day.


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## Scorpion49

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *staryoshi;15582560*
> Bitfenix Spectre LED fans quiet and move a respectable amount of air. They are noticeably quieter than the Xigmatek Crystal series fans they have replaced.
> https://store.bitfenix.com/bitfenix%20accessories/bitfenix%20spectre%20led%20fans


I looked at those but saw that a lot of people gave them negative reviews, I was almost going to buy those before I went with the Sickleflows. I may just have to order up a pile of fans and test them all for myself.


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## Sp33d Junki3

The Bitfenix fans are ok, but nowhere as good for the price. Some of the complaints about them are mostly clicking noise that they produce.

Just look for the Enermax TB Silence. You have the Magma and already like them.

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/12712/fan-828/Enermax_TB_Silence_120mm_x_25mm_Twister_Bearing_LED_Fan_-_Red_LEDs_UCTB12N-R_.html?tl=g36c331s518
[ame="[URL=http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325&tag=overclockdotnet-20&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FEnermax-T-B-Silence-UCTB12N-R-LED-Cooling%2Fdp%2FB0051SN6P2]http://www.amazon.com/Enermax-T-B-Silence-UCTB12N-R-LED-Cooling/dp/B0051SN6P2"]http://www.amazon.com/Enermax-T-B-Silence-UCTB12N-R-LED-Cooling/dp/B0051SN6P2[/ame[/URL]]


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## Furball Zen

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion49;15582517*
> Cool. Make a thread about it somewhere else if you don't have a fan to recommend then.


LOL its sarcasm. I mentioned the Gelid's...they arent red but still...


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## Scorpion49

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Sp33d Junki3;15582642*
> The Bitfenix fans are ok, but nowhere as good for the price. Some of the complaints about them are mostly clicking noise that they produce.
> 
> Just look for the Enermax TB Silence. You have the Magma and already like them.
> 
> http://www.frozencpu.com/products/12712/fan-828/Enermax_TB_Silence_120mm_x_25mm_Twister_Bearing_LED_Fan_-_Red_LEDs_UCTB12N-R_.html?tl=g36c331s518
> http://www.amazon.com/Enermax-T-B-Silence-UCTB12N-R-LED-Cooling/dp/B0051SN6P2


I think Fry's has some of them in stock. I might go pick one up just to try it since I could return it if I don't like it.
Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Furball Zen;15582650*
> LOL its sarcasm. I mentioned the Gelid's...they arent red but still...


Ehh, I shouldn't have gone off on you like that anyways, just having a really irritating morning. Sorry about that.


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## Furball Zen

I didnt think your were 'going off' really, but s'ok









But i still dont get the whole "ZOMG!!11!!!! i can hear a fan rotating at 1rpm, its TOOOOO LAOUD!111!!!!1!!" thing.


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## Scorpion49

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Furball Zen;15582787*
> I didnt think your were 'going off' really, but s'ok
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> But i still dont get the whole "ZOMG!!11!!!! i can hear a fan rotating at 1rpm, its TOOOOO LAOUD!111!!!!1!!" thing.


Its not so much that, I really don't mind the air noise as its constant and I can tune it out. The clicking/ticking is annoying because it comes and goes. My fans at 1100rpm would probably bug some people that REALLY like silent but my hearing isn't that great so I can't tell they're running until I put my face next to it.

This is a new attempt for me, I've always gone for performance over silence for fans and cooling. My HAF X was the previous quietest system I had just by the nature of the big fans and I decided I liked it.


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## Furball Zen

What controller are you using? I noticed with the Sunbeam Rheobus that they would click, but i have one powered off USB for a little cooling at work, and it doesnt click. So try under-volting them straight off the header or molex without a controller.

It would be easy to do something like this or, just simply run them off the 5V circuit instead of the 12V by flipping the wires to test. You could set up a switch to flip between 12v and 5v too if you want. Real easy using a micro switch from Radio Shack.


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## Scorpion49

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Furball Zen;15582936*
> What controller are you using? I noticed with the Sunbeam Rheobus that they would click, but i have one powered off USB for a little cooling at work, and it doesnt click. So try under-volting them straight off the header or molex without a controller.
> 
> It would be easy to do something like this or, just simply run them off the 5V circuit instead of the 12V by flipping the wires to test. You could set up a switch to flip between 12v and 5v too if you want. Real easy using a micro switch from Radio Shack.


They are running off of the motherboard headers, using speedfan to control them. I bought a Lian Li controller that 1) I have no space for and 2) Doesn't work anyways (I tried it). I don't want to run a switch or resistor because I simply don't have room for it.


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## Furball Zen

You dont have room for this?

I have these two Gelid controllers, send me $10 and its all yours, they run $3.99 at Directron. The other adapters are what i was talking about, you can move the yellow to the red position and run it at 5V. The second style only has the 2 pins, but can be moved as easily.


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## Scorpion49

The toggle I could do, but I don't really see a need when the motherboard can do it just fine. Those other things, definitely not.

Anyhow, I'm going to mosey on over to Fry's and see if I can't get one of those Enermax ones and test it out. Swapping fans is going to be an in-depth ordeal, I may even have to break my loop to do it if I decide to.


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## Furball Zen

Well the toggle i would use to switch from 5v to 12v. Yea the mobo is handling it good, but its still PWM which seems to be making the noise. If you end up selling the R4's i may buy them from you for my wifes build.


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## JGore

looking through the specs, all I was also able to find was the Gelid Wing 12's aswell...


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## Scorpion49

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I decided to grab one of a few of the better recommended ones and try them all out. If they don't make the cut they can join the other 60 or so fans in my closet


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## iCrap

My gelid wings are REALLY quiet. even at full i can hardly hear them. Also rosewill makes some which i use which are fairly quiet. I cant remember the model number though.


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## JGore

have you look through martin's site?


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## u3b3rg33k

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Scorpion49*
> 
> Is there anything that can match the Sickleflows for performance when they crank up AND keep the red LED? I'm controlling them with speedfan so when the system get stressed they turn up to 2000RPM which is roughly *70CFM with 2.94 mmH20* (they move a LOT of air). If there is nothing I guess I will keep these, it seems like the vast majority of LED fans are cheap-o designed for looks more than performance.


Pretty sure that's 70cfm OR 2.94mmH2O, not AND. IIRC, an H50 with an AP15 on it has an actual flow of 34cfm, down from 57cfm in free air.


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