Silent 100% Fans?

[Guest]

So the fans I have in my system are loud for me during startup, I'm just looking for fans that are silent during all operations. I actually have a Noctua nh-u14s and the Noctua fan that comes with it is not in my taste. Are there fans out there that are silent even during 100% load and/or start up?

[airdeano]

that would be zero fans with those qualities. no noise is no flow.. compromises are needed to be made.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, airdeano said:

that would be zero fans with those qualities. no noise is no flow.. compromises are needed to be made.

Aren't there fans that could just spin at a maximum of a lower RPM or something? 

[paddy-stone]

Well, as mentioned above you won't get completely silent as you will have the noise from the air moving at the very least... In my experience Noctua have been the best for low noise fans, but bequiet also have some good ones.

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Noctua-NF-A15-PWM-computer-components/dp/B00AA8B1MS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1464321238&sr=8-1&keywords=NF-A15+140mm

 

The above are what I currently have on my Noctua CPU cooler NH-D15 and also on my air intake fans. And these aren't bad too  https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002QVLBM2/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I rarely have the fans running full pelt though as I have them in PWM with the CPU heat.

[Apathetik]

Simple answer first. During startup your fans are going to try to spin up all the way initially before any fan profiles or cooling curves you have set kick it. That's why they're loud for a second during a fresh start. Not much you can do about this aside from running everything through a dedicated controller. 

 

As for silent at 100% load. That's a tricky one to answer, as computer load doesn't necessarily give any idea of how high the fans will have to ramp up. What RPM the fan is spinning at is what's important. Generally, lower RPM; less noise. 

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Apathetik said:

Simple answer first. During startup your fans are going to try to spin up all the way initially before any fan profiles or cooling curves you have set kick it. That's why they're loud for a second during a fresh start. Not much you can do about this aside from running everything through a dedicated controller. 

 

As for silent at 100% load. That's a tricky one to answer, as computer load doesn't necessarily give any idea of how high the fans will have to ramp up. What RPM the fan is spinning at is what's important. Generally, lower RPM; less noise. 

So a dedicated fan controller would be a solution then right? That sounds right to me

 

My understanding is that even during startup, when they spin up to 100% the 100% can be controlled through a fan controller right? 

[Apathetik]

1 minute ago, IAmLamp said:

So a dedicated fan controller would be a solution then right? That sounds right to me

 

My understanding is that even during startup, when they spin up to 100% the 100% can be controlled through a fan controller right? 

I'm not 100% sure if it would work that way using a digital fan controller. However, using an analog fan controller, as long as the nobs aren't turned up high. They should never get enough power to ramp up to 100% speed. 

 

Keep in mind though. Running your case fans through a controller is fine. BUT, running your CPU cooler fans through a controller is a much riskier thing to do. Because the system will NOT have control to ramp up fan speed as your CPU heats up. You WILL have to manage that yourself. So keep that in mind before you attempt to do that.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Apathetik said:

-snip

Thank you!!!

[Apathetik]

1 minute ago, IAmLamp said:

Thank you!!!

np. Also, forgot to mention. But before you decide to grab a controller for your fans. I think most Noctua fans come with a Low Noise Adapter, and some with Ultra Low Noise Adapters. I'd check your packaging to see if you have any and try those out. They may drop the speeds enough to get you down to a tolerable noise level without any additional cost.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Apathetik said:

np. Also, forgot to mention. But before you decide to grab a controller for your fans. I think most Noctua fans come with a Low Noise Adapter, and some with Ultra Low Noise Adapters. I'd check your packaging to see if you have any and try those out. They may drop the speeds enough to get you down to a tolerable noise level without any additional cost.

oh wtf? these little things? 

http://www.amazon.com/Noctua-NA-SRC10-Accessory-Low-Noise-Adaptors/dp/B00KG3KELQ

 

Yeah, mine came with them but I never thought that they were used for noise stuff, i thought they were just cable extensions or whatever

 

I'm currently doing some max RPM fan tuning for the noctua fan, I love having this kind of control, it's just awesome, I can not wait to get a fan controller as well again, thank you so much for that recommendation

[Guest]

I have the Noctua fan tuned down to 900 RPM and maybe more soon. 

 

I must be one of the very few only people to say that a noctua fan is too loud hahahahaha

 

Here comes the hate train, @LinusTech SAVE ME! xDDDD

[Apathetik]

1 minute ago, IAmLamp said:

oh wtf? these little things? 

http://www.amazon.com/Noctua-NA-SRC10-Accessory-Low-Noise-Adaptors/dp/B00KG3KELQ

 

Yeah, mine came with them but I never thought that they were used for noise stuff, i thought they were just cable extensions or whatever

 

I'm currently doing some max RPM fan tuning for the noctua fan, I love having this kind of control, it's just awesome, I can not wait to get a fan controller as well again, thank you so much for that recommendation

Yup, those are Low Noise Adapters. Basically they just lower the voltage to the fans making them spin slower, thus reducing noise.

 

Once again though. Just really want to stress. If you do anything to lower the RPM of your CPU Cooler fans, always monitor your thermals to make sure you aren't going to throttle hardcore as a result, or potentially damage components.

[Apathetik]

2 minutes ago, IAmLamp said:

I have the Noctua fan tuned down to 900 RPM and maybe more soon. 

 

I must be one of the very few only people to say that a noctua fan is too loud hahahahaha

 

Here comes the hate train, @LinusTech SAVE ME! xDDDD

inb4 you're throwing your system into a rack mounted case and stuffing it in a closet like Linus did.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Apathetik said:

Yup, those are Low Noise Adapters. Basically they just lower the voltage to the fans making them spin slower, thus reducing noise.

 

Once again though. Just really want to stress. If you do anything to lower the RPM of your CPU Cooler fans, always monitor your thermals to make sure you aren't going to throttle hardcore as a result, or potentially damage components.

Of course, of course. Making such a major thermal change will need some heavy monitoring for testing. I wonder if there's a way to see which temperatures are okay and which aren't in BIOS, I think I've seen this before in the whole room liquid cooling project but idk if it will be there for my board 

[Apathetik]

1 minute ago, IAmLamp said:

Of course, of course. Making such a major thermal change will need some heavy monitoring for testing. I wonder if there's a way to see which temperatures are okay and which aren't in BIOS, I think I've seen this before in the whole room liquid cooling project but idk if it will be there for my board 

Most bios will have some form of monitoring on older bios it's usually under 'PC Health' or something similar. Even if it's very basic. But inside the bios, you're just getting very low baseline temps as nothing is really running very much. So it's not very useful for checking how the systems thermals are going to behave when actually in use.

[Guest]

Just tried those Noctua low noise fan adapters and they are HORRIBLE. They are loud and they mess with the fine tuning. I do NOT recommend using them unless you have to have something quick but even then that doesn't make sense because you want fine tuning for the best results

 

For fine tuners like myself out there, the low noise adapters will destroy the best performance, the wiggle room is fucking shit, it's either loud or off. 

 

Sorry for my rant (I think?), but it's sad to see such nice fans coming with such a shit piece - on that note, I am SO GLAD they are OPTIONAL

[WoodenMarker]

12 hours ago, IAmLamp said:

\I must be one of the very few only people to say that a noctua fan is too loud hahahahaha

It actually happens pretty often due to people not properly controlling their fan speeds. 

10 hours ago, IAmLamp said:

Just tried those Noctua low noise fan adapters and they are HORRIBLE. They are loud and they mess with the fine tuning. I do NOT recommend using them unless you have to have something quick but even then that doesn't make sense because you want fine tuning for the best results

For fine tuners like myself out there, the low noise adapters will destroy the best performance, the wiggle room is fucking shit, it's either loud or off. 

Sorry for my rant (I think?), but it's sad to see such nice fans coming with such a shit piece - on that note, I am SO GLAD they are OPTIONAL

What header are you powering the fan off of?

[Guest]

3 hours ago, WoodenMarker said:

It actually happens pretty often due to people not properly controlling their fan speeds. 

What header are you powering the fan off of?

cpu fan

[WoodenMarker]

Just now, IAmLamp said:

cpu fan

What motherboard do you have?

[Guest]

3 hours ago, WoodenMarker said:

What motherboard do you have?

asus p9d ws

[WoodenMarker]

5 minutes ago, IAmLamp said:

asus p9d ws

What's your current fan curve? 900rpm is pretty high. 

[Guest]

3 hours ago, WoodenMarker said:

What's your current fan curve? 900rpm is pretty high. 

took it down to like 800 just to be sure, 900 was just a solid no for me, 850 wasn't sure exactly so 800 i just went with, if there's anything worse i'll take it lower but it seems to be fine for now

[WoodenMarker]

1 minute ago, IAmLamp said:

took it down to like 800 just to be sure, 900 was just a solid no for me, 850 wasn't sure exactly so 800 i just went with, if there's anything worse i'll take it lower but it seems to be fine for now

What do you mean by 'wasn't sure exactly'? 

Also, how are the ULNA adapters loud? Are you using them with a fan splitter?

[Guest]

3 hours ago, WoodenMarker said:

What do you mean by 'wasn't sure exactly'? 

Also, how are the ULNA adapters loud? Are you using them with a fan splitter?

I had a hard time deciding on 850 so to be sure i just took it down to 800

ULNA? what are those? I don't have a fan splitter, the fan cable is going directly to the motherboard pin

[WoodenMarker]

1 minute ago, IAmLamp said:

I had a hard time deciding on 850 so to be sure i just took it down to 800

ULNA? what are those? I don't have a fan splitter, the fan cable is going directly to the motherboard pin

It's Noctua's Ultra Low Noise Adapter. It lowers the fan speed a bit more than the normal Low Noise Adapter.