I did a lot of research and found the two best noise:airflow ratio fans available, and came up with these two:
AeroCool Streamliner
Silenx iXtrema Pro
I was originally going to just purchase the Streamliner after having heard a lot of negative reviews at Silent PC Review, but a fellow OCN member convinced me to give Silenx a shot, so I obliged. Pictures of them in their original packaging can be seen in the next post.
In order to determine which fan I would use, I decided to compare those two fans, in addition to the default Thermaltake iCage fan that was to be replaced. Since my default PSU, the PC P&C 1kW leaf blower, would be too loud, I switched to my Antec 350W PSU (which is/was for sale
here!) which is so whisper quiet that it's ridiculous. I had to hook it up to the motherboard to make it power on, so a giant mess of cables surfaced:
From there, I hooked up all three fans at once to determine which was the loudest:
I used the flash so I could get a better picture of the fins in action. I love the look of that Streamliner - it is definitely the best looking of the bunch! From left to right: AeroCool Streamliner, Silenx iXtrema Pro, Thermaltake iCage fan.
It was determined that the Silenx fan was actually the loudest out of those three, even though it was rated at the quietest. I will delve into my theory as to why later. This left the other two fans to duke it out:
Notice how the Streamliner's fins are still visible, even though no flash was used (so the exposure was longer, meaning the fins should be blurred). This is because it has such a low RPM compared to the others, so the fins are easier to capture "unblurred" while in motion.
Between those two fans, the Streamliner was actually quieter, despite being rated as louder than the iCage fan. Thus, the final results for noise (loudest listed first):
Silenx > iCage fan > Streamliner
This is the exact opposite of their noise ratings (14 dBA, 17 dBA, and 19.6 dBA, respectively). However, in terms of airflow, the Silenx fan won hands down, followed by the Streamliner, with the iCage fan in a distant 3rd, as would be expected given their airflow ratings. For the record, I did add the 120mm converter to the Streamliner (which is 140mm) to see if it added to the noise, but no discernible changes in the noise level occurred.
Given the results, one would think that I would choose to replace all my fans with the Streamliner, but I actually chose the Silenx fan as my favorite. Why? Well, the Silenx fan is so well designed, that you really cannot hear the air being moved by the fins - you hear the motor only. This give the impression that this fan is the loudest, but in all honesty even at maximum RPM, you cannot hear it from 1m away, so why not pick the fan that blew the most air? For the record, the AeroCool Streamliner sounded like air coming out of a vent when the air-conditioner is running in your house, so it had a low, smooth tone to it with little to no noise from the motor, making it sound quieter (the air noise drowned out the motor noise?). The iCage was somewhere in-between.
I have subsequently ordered 2 more 120mm blue LED 72 cfm Silenx fans from CyberDruid to replace my other two 120mm fans, and I will be using a circular file to increase the 90mm fan mount to 92mm to fit the 92mm Silenx fan.
I think a lot of the negative reviews on the Silenx fan come from the fact that people compare them with their ears right up next to the fans, and since the Silenx fan is so aerodynamically designed, you hear more motor than air so it sounds louder, as I explained above. Is the 14 dBA rating correct? I don't think it is, no, but it isn't far off. Perhaps upwards of 20 dBA would be more accurate, but sitting 1m away you can't tell the difference between that and the Streamliner. In other words, if everything is quiet and/or barely audible, then the best option is to pick the one with the most airflow, and that happens to be the Silenx fan (72 cfm), with the AeroCool Streamliner coming in second at 54.6 cfm.