How Much Noise Is Noisy?

[trevb0t]

Hey all,

 

I basically want case fans that move lots of air, have a long life, and are pretty dang quiet.

Noctua is one obvious answer, though they have a fairly wide product range. Be Quiet! also comes to mind.

I would PREFER for the fans to be solid black in this case.

 

Anyway, my question is: What decibel level is QUIET (I don't need silent, just quiet.)

[Mira Yurizaki]

It's subjective. If you're fine with the sound of traffic, then you're fine.

 

There is however, an upper limit you shouldn't cross to avoid permanent hearing damage.

[TVwazhere]

Just now, trevb0t said:

Anyway, my question is: What decibel level is QUIET (I don't need silent, just quiet.)

Most people consider anything 34dBA and under to be "silent" when it comes to normal computers. as a base point, most rooms in a house with no electronics or appliances on are usually in the 26dBa range. 

[trevb0t]

23 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

Most people consider anything 34dBA and under to be "silent" when it comes to normal computers. as a base point, most rooms in a house with no electronics or appliances on are usually in the 26dBa range. 

How does proximity to the machine play into it? If it's fairly close to me at say 26dBA, will it become more noticeable than if it's 4 feet away?

 

(It's an obvious question.. Sound dies out over distance obviously. I just am curious at low decibels like that how big a factor the proximity becomes.)

[TVwazhere]

1 minute ago, trevb0t said:

How does proximity to the machine play into it? If it's fairly close to me at say 26dBA, will it become more noticeable than if it's 4 feet away?

Usually the noted measurements are from a set distance away. Common distances I often see for dBA measurements range from a few inches to 18" away. At four feet away, I'd be hard pressed to say anyone would notice any difference if a PC is only emitting 30 or less dBA unless they're in a sound studio. 

[trevb0t]

9 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

Usually the noted measurements are from a set distance away. Common distances I often see for dBA measurements range from a few inches to 18" away. At four feet away, I'd be hard pressed to say anyone would notice any difference if a PC is only emitting 30 or less dBA unless they're in a sound studio. 

Great! Thank you as always for your wisdom

[LogicalDrm]

As said, its subjective. General room background noise is something like 18-20db. But if you get fans that are rated as such (like with CFM, decibel ratings for fans aren't reliable), there still can be annoying pitch or whining coming from fans.

 

Also note that any fans given noise rating is when fan is running at 100% speed. So its quite easy to lower fan noise by just controlling it. Plus having it in soundproof case (older FD Define cases for example) which is located somewhere else than right next to you on table.

[Midnitewolf]

I think 40 db is what most consider quite though not silent.  For myself I am the odd man out.  I want my fans to be loud, in fact with my current PC, I have to turn on a fan or else I go bonkers because there isn't enough white noise and its too quite.

[LogicalDrm]

14 hours ago, Midnitewolf said:

I think 40 db is what most consider quite though not silent.  For myself I am the odd man out.  I want my fans to be loud, in fact with my current PC, I have to turn on a fan or else I go bonkers because there isn't enough white noise and its too quite.

You mean 40 db is what you think is quiet? As for most people I think 25db is what is the rated definition (meaning that fans are rated to). Anyway, @WoodenMarker posted link to some nice video which you could use as baseline to compare fan noises. Didn't find that, but this is pretty good:

For example Noctua iPPC at 1500rpm in that video is about how my fans sound when they are ramping up. And same fan at 2000rpm is too loud. I've actually adjusted fan speeds for my fans to be 1500-2000rpm equivalent for that video's iPPC noise.

[WoodenMarker]

3 hours ago, LogicalDrm said:

You mean 40 db is what you think is quiet? As for most people I think 25db is what is the rated definition (meaning that fans are rated to). Anyway, @WoodenMarker posted link to some nice video which you could use as baseline to compare fan noises.

The type of noise will also make a big difference to how annoying a sound is. Background noise is also one of those things that you might not notice is there until it's gone. 

 

I think you're referring to CoolingTechnique's calibration and fan videos: 

It's mainly for comparing their fan recording videos at the same volume as opposed to simulating real world results though. 

[trevb0t]

4 hours ago, LogicalDrm said:

You mean 40 db is what you think is quiet? As for most people I think 25db is what is the rated definition (meaning that fans are rated to). Anyway, @WoodenMarker posted link to some nice video which you could use as baseline to compare fan noises. Didn't find that, but this is pretty good:

For example Noctua iPPC at 1500rpm in that video is about how my fans sound when they are ramping up. And same fan at 2000rpm is too loud. I've actually adjusted fan speeds for my fans to be 1500-2000rpm equivalent for that video's iPPC noise.

Great reference! Thank you! 

Interesting how the 1500-2000 RPM range varies so much. Some are pretty loud even in the mid range of their RPMs.

I think my pc sits just a touch closer than the camera distance. I think by the "Scythe Gentle Typhoon" a 30db it sounds pretty good to me, even at max RPM. (The whir is almost pleasant even..)

Also I think some of the whirs sound better to the ear than others. (The 37.7db Corsair unit sounds better to the ear than the 36db Reeven unit, despite being "louder." so volume vs. noise I guess.)

[LogicalDrm]

40 minutes ago, trevb0t said:

Great reference! Thank you! 

Interesting how the 1500-2000 RPM range varies so much. Some are pretty loud even in the mid range of their RPMs.

I think my pc sits just a touch closer than the camera distance. I think by the "Scythe Gentle Typhoon" a 30db it sounds pretty good to me, even at max RPM. (The whir is almost pleasant even..)

Also I think some of the whirs sound better to the ear than others. (The 37.7db Corsair unit sounds better to the ear than the 36db Reeven unit, despite being "louder." so volume vs. noise I guess.)

Amount of blades, curving of blades etc. all matters. Gentle Typhoons were the baseline for silent fans for long time.

[trevb0t]

2 hours ago, LogicalDrm said:

Gentle Typhoons were the baseline for silent fans for long time.

Looks like Scythe lost their deal with the manufacturer Nidec at some point. Still available but super pricey...

 

I'm looking currently at the BeQuiet! Pure Wings 2... They look too good to be true  (I know BeQuiet is killin' it on the air cooling game, though.)

They claim at 1500 max RPM to provide up to 87 CFM at 20.2dB... For $15.

 

[Tristerin]

49 minutes ago, trevb0t said:

Looks like Scythe lost their deal with the manufacturer Nidec at some point. Still available but super pricey...

 

I'm looking currently at the BeQuiet! Pure Wings 2... They look too good to be true  (I know BeQuiet is killin' it on the air cooling game, though.)

They claim at 1500 max RPM to provide up to 87 CFM at 20.2dB... For $15.

 

Affordability wise I am very happy with the Arctic P12 fans.  Value packs shipped around (5 x120mm fans) around $27 bucks.  I have 10 in my PC running at max RPM, and 4 in the wifes (towers sit next to each other about 3 feet from me now) - sone is the term for how a dBA sounds as I understand it, and their sone level is pleasant and still quiet at max RPM.  

[trevb0t]

2 hours ago, Tristerin said:

Affordability wise I am very happy with the Arctic P12 fans.  Value packs shipped around (5 x120mm fans) around $27 bucks.  I have 10 in my PC running at max RPM, and 4 in the wifes (towers sit next to each other about 3 feet from me now) - sone is the term for how a dBA sounds as I understand it, and their sone level is pleasant and still quiet at max RPM.  

Awesome! 

Is your R9 card crazy loud?

[Tristerin]

2 minutes ago, trevb0t said:

Awesome! 

Is your R9 card crazy loud?

In RR2 no, 200mm side intake blowing directly on it (triple fan design as well) it rarely hits 55c.  In RR1 I need to repaste that Fury for sure, its got a 140mm side intake on it but gets to the 60s-70s and I have to keep the fans on 80% right now to tame it, its the loudest thing in the room for sure.  Compared to the Arctics, which are barely audible, the GPUs are louder for sure however (even in RR2)

[trevb0t]

1 minute ago, Tristerin said:

In RR2 no, 200mm side intake blowing directly on it (triple fan design as well) it rarely hits 55c.  In RR1 I need to repaste that Fury for sure, its got a 140mm side intake on it but gets to the 60s-70s and I have to keep the fans on 80% right now to tame it, its the loudest thing in the room for sure.  Compared to the Arctics, which are barely audible, the GPUs are louder for sure however (even in RR2)

If I'm being honest, I think the kit I got when I built:

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/RTvZxr/cooler-master-masterfan-pro-120-air-pressure-rgb-3-in-1-wrgb-led-controller-350-cfm-120mm-fans-mfy-p2dc-153pc-r1

does just fine. I feel at times like one or two of them seem to wobble a bit (the noise sounds almost uneven...) but really noise-wise they are quiet enough.

My AMD stock cooler and my GPU are the problem.

 

I eventually want to slap my stuff in a Node 202 case, and I want to put my wife's build into my big case with those fans.

I want the tight quarters Node 202 to run super quiet (and cool of course!), since it's going to be used to watch/game in my room at night.

So really just researching a single solid fan for the exhaust sector on that case. I think I've locked in on the NH-L9i for the CPU.

[ravenshrike]

On 12/12/2019 at 1:04 PM, trevb0t said:

Hey all,

 

I basically want case fans that move lots of air, have a long life, and are pretty dang quiet.

Noctua is one obvious answer, though they have a fairly wide product range. Be Quiet! also comes to mind.

I would PREFER for the fans to be solid black in this case.

 

Anyway, my question is: What decibel level is QUIET (I don't need silent, just quiet.)

It depends on your case. However the Noctua 2000 rpm Industrials, EK Vardars, and BQ Silent Wings 3s would all be superior choices for black fans in terms of the air they push at 40 dB in a non-soundproofed case.