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Next Generation Fans

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the line-is-drawn-hee-ahh dept.

Tweaker writes "We just posted the first installment of an ongoing article dedicated to the latest designs and innovations for cooling your PC. The Next Generation Fans roundup starts off with five different models from four different manufacturers." I would have liked to have seen the dB rating for each fan- I've had some fans that really were great, provided I was wearing noise cancelling headphones while sharing a room with them. I have the Antec Tricolor fans they review in my case- they are gorgeous, but audible.

4 of 128 comments (clear)

  1. Fan speed control by larien · · Score: 4, Informative
    I wish more systems had something to control the speed of the fans. As an example, some newer Sun kit (e.g. Sunblade 1000/2000) have a process which monitors internal temperature and adjusts the fan speed accordingly (NB: if the process dies for any reason, the fans start going at full speed). Ultra 30s/60s have an add-on kit to reduce fan speed at low temperature.

    Having just fitted the noise reduction kit to my Ultra 30, I can confirm it makes a hell of a difference to noise levels. The total of the kit is:

    1. A temperature sensor
    2. A voltage regulator (based on the temp sensor, I assume)
    3. two fan outputs
    4. a temperature sensor
    5. a "through" cable for the power
    It didn't cost that much ($35), and I'm pretty sure it could be made cheaper if integrated into a motherboard. Normal users wouldn't even need to know it was there, as all the above parts would be built into the mainboard and the fan outputs would adjust voltage levels as required.
  2. Re:What about the "no motor" fans? by Captain+Chaos · · Score: 4, Informative

    Sounds like you are looking for the Tip-Magnetic Driving fans from Y.S. Tech. You can find a review here and here or hit google for more. I don't have any myself yet so I can't tell you of my experiences. I've read warnings though which say that you need to keep the metal housing insulated from contact with any metal and it's best to use a 3 to 4 pin power adapter. For more information on some of the problems people have had check here.

  3. Next Generation? by mindriot · · Score: 5, Informative

    Wtf, putting blinking LEDs in fans makes them "next-generation"?

    The CPU fan I'm using right now is what I'd call next-generation. Why? Because it's actually quite silent. Go ahead and check out Verax (German only unfortunately). There's information on their fan design, including more detailed pics of different models. Verax uses a special fan shape to reduce noise, and, most importantly, ties the fan to the heatsink with a rubber connection, reducing vibration.

    Replacing my old fan with one of those babies has greatly reduced the noise level of my box.

  4. Fans by atrus · · Score: 4, Informative
    I got fed up with most of my stock case fans which had all sorts of problems with noise and their bearings. The heatsink fan was the worst, basicly wobbling around setting off an audible vibration in the case (ThermalTake 6CU fan, replaced with 60mm fan on second link). I replaced every 80mm fan in my case with these:

    http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi ?category=220&item=CF-109&type=store

    Panaflo fans are great quality and super quiet (at the expense of some airflow, but most likely you won't need it). I can't tell you about the bearing life of this fan, but I trust the Japanese built "Hydro-wave" bearing fan much more than a cheap chinese "ball bearing" fan.

    http://www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi ?category=220&item=CF-106&type=store is a similarily nice 60mm fan.