Does anyone know what makes up the cost of fans? I see Yate Loons for $9 a piece yet I see other fans that don't appear to be much different for $25. What makes up the extra cost? Why wouldn't anyone buy high speed YLs and spend the extra on a fan controller to keep the noise down. Are the ones that claim to be low noise really worth the 200+% cost?
![[H]ard|Forum](/styles/hardforum/xenforo/logo_dark.png){kind=logo}
Cost of fans???
- Thread starter Wolf-R1
- Start date
86 5.0L
Supreme [H]ardness
- Joined
- Nov 13, 2006
- Messages
- 7,085
no Gentle typhoons are awesome fans. and worth the price premium, now their worthiness is up to each individual, Econ 101 and diminishing returns 
BTW Yate Loons are $5 a piece, hell I got 8 brand new for $25 in a recent sale
BTW Yate Loons are $5 a piece, hell I got 8 brand new for $25 in a recent sale
http://martinsliquidlab.org/2010/11/04/120mm-fan-testing-on-an-mcr120-radiator-round-6-summary/ - look at the chart reflecting the noise of each fan at 20 CFM through a radiator.
The Scythe GTs top the charts, and they have a nice ball-bearing which will remain durable in any orientation.
The Yate Loon, Arctic Cooling F12, and probably a few other untested fans perform well at a lower cost. More than half of these fans use a sleeve-bearing, which will actually last a long while, but may fail sooner when blowing vertically (motor hub facing down or up). I think many have said that their Yate Loons have been fine as long as they re-lubed them every few months. Yate Loon fans supplied by Petras Tech Shop (PTS) or Sidewinder seem to be "genuine," whereas some of the less expensive versions (Jab-tech) still perform well most of the time, but appear physically different and cheaper...
Also note that we reach diminishing returns below 1000 RPM. At that point, the expensive fans don't seem to be worthwhile. The Scythe GT AP13, at 1150 RPM, seems to be the lowest RPM Scythe GT I'd want, but it may be the best fan in its class.
The Scythe GTs top the charts, and they have a nice ball-bearing which will remain durable in any orientation.
The Yate Loon, Arctic Cooling F12, and probably a few other untested fans perform well at a lower cost. More than half of these fans use a sleeve-bearing, which will actually last a long while, but may fail sooner when blowing vertically (motor hub facing down or up). I think many have said that their Yate Loons have been fine as long as they re-lubed them every few months. Yate Loon fans supplied by Petras Tech Shop (PTS) or Sidewinder seem to be "genuine," whereas some of the less expensive versions (Jab-tech) still perform well most of the time, but appear physically different and cheaper...
Also note that we reach diminishing returns below 1000 RPM. At that point, the expensive fans don't seem to be worthwhile. The Scythe GT AP13, at 1150 RPM, seems to be the lowest RPM Scythe GT I'd want, but it may be the best fan in its class.
Sorry, I didn't mean that all products are the same and therefore the pricing difference is unwarranted. I meant the reason for the pricing difference among fans is the same reason for pricing difference among any other given product. More expensive fans may have higher quality bearings, housing, motors, etc. The manufacturer might pay/treat its employees better, do more marketing, maintain greener operations, have better customer support, have better packaging, etc. In that case, you get what you pay for. On the flip side, some companies might charge more for superfluous things and gimmicks or because the item simply looks cool or is in high demand.
Last edited:
This is definitely true... although a minority of these overtly flamboyant products are perhaps failed attempts to innovate with regard to performance. Thus they had to dress it up...heh
(they realized that their new design didn't perform as well as they had hoped)
nimbyfaygo
Limp Gawd
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2006
- Messages
- 488
That is a really good article.
Well Noctua fans have a different type of bearing which may or may not be better or may or may not require higher machining tolerances. Scythe GT fans also have ball bearings which I'm sure are more expensive and complicated than sleeve bearings. Those are the only expensive fans I've bought, I have a few other fans that cost much the same as YL fans.
I also think there might be worse tolerancing and quality control on YL fans as I own several and they all have slightly different starting voltages, they have slightly different acoustic signatures, 2 of them are noiser than the others and one of them is much noisier than the others and wont start unless the voltage is much higher, despite the fact I bought them all in one pack.
EDIT: Evenly visibly when the YL fans are going I can see them wobbling on the shaft, but the Noctua fans are, to the eye, dead perfect rotation without wobble. So they must have better manufacturing tolerances if nothing else.
I also think there might be worse tolerancing and quality control on YL fans as I own several and they all have slightly different starting voltages, they have slightly different acoustic signatures, 2 of them are noiser than the others and one of them is much noisier than the others and wont start unless the voltage is much higher, despite the fact I bought them all in one pack.
EDIT: Evenly visibly when the YL fans are going I can see them wobbling on the shaft, but the Noctua fans are, to the eye, dead perfect rotation without wobble. So they must have better manufacturing tolerances if nothing else.
Last edited: