A good cheap alternative to the highly expensive noctuas

[Ryle]

Has anyone had experience with the Mechatronics 120mm fans? rated at 55cfm/25dba. Im looking to get some quiet fans, near silent, and saw these at a great price. im just wondering if there is a real difference between 46cfm/17dba noctua and this. i have a raptor hdd and i would like that to be the loudest thing in my comp.. i have passive cooled gpu/cpu atm, just looking for silent high cfm fans but dont wanna pay the price of noctuas.

 

[NKDietrich]

Never heard of Mechatronics. But you can expect them to be noisy (ball bearing) and probably unreliable since they are a no-name brand. These off-brand fans usually under-rate their decibel level and are much louder than they claim.

 

[Raxxath]

CFM and noise ratings of fans generally mean nothing. Pay attention to RPM ratings. If you're looking for Noctua quiet, then you probably want something around 1000 RPM or less.

Undervolted Yate Loons are a great choice if money is an important factor.

 

[Cardio]

Personally, I find the much cheaper Enermax Enlobal magnetic bearing fans better than the Noctua. They are quieter and move more air and cost less. What more could you want. Never seen them review for some reason!

 

[HomelessDepot]

Here's an oft-suggested roundup:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=170224

The Yate Loon's from Petra's are highly regarded, and you can get aroud four for the price of one noctua.

-HD

 

[Ryle]

Personally, I find the much cheaper Enermax Enlobal magnetic bearing fans better than the Noctua. They are quieter and move more air and cost less. What more could you want. Never seen them review for some reason!

dam i think i have found my fan and it looks good to boot! clear fins are kickass, thanks man. they are under 8$ a fan at directron.

Here is a review of it