SilenX fans

The ratings are bullshit. The fan is worth about nothing, since it doesn't do anywhere NEAR 12dba. The fans tick, scratch, whine, tap, and are generally crap. They're also just rebadged ADDA fans, like the kind that comes with Lian Li cases.

Don't buy them. Try some Yate Loon D12SL12's from www.jab-tech.com. $3.75 each, and very nice fans. No ticking scratching whining scraping, none of that. The orange ones also work better than black for some reason.
 
Just curious, but have you tried those fans or are you speaking from what you've read?
Those fans you linked to have almost 30CFM less than them, and have higher db than the fans I have in my case right now (21dba). I'm also looking for LED fans, not the conventional ones. But if those ratings are bs, then by all means I'd go for the cheaper fans.
 
I have an Antec 120 mm blue LED in my Lian-Li 6070. I put it on the side in the window to cool my video cards.
I was very surprised as to how quiet it was and it moves a good bit of air. Not expensive either.
Another fan I really like is the Silverstone FN-92. Its a 92mm fan that fits in the screw holes of 80 mm fans. Quiet and moves a ton of air. Pretty cheap as well.
Got 'em all at Performance-pcs.
 
Don't bother with the SilentX fans. They are just selling then on the name and not their quality. Go with a Nexus or Yate Loon or as an alternative look at the Aerocool Turbine 1000/2000 or the GlobalWin NCB.
 
well, i know what everyone has read but i got 2 off ebay for like $20. they were the 14dba 45cfm 120x25mm fans and i used them for a while on my radiator and i can tell you they are much more quite than my sythe 29dba 60cfm fans and when you spin them with your finger they rotate very smooth. I might agree that their ratings arent right, but they are not bad fans..


i have been tempted by te 120x38mm pro fan that does like 90cfms and like 20 something DBA. honestly. My Slienx fans i could not here over my panaflo 80mm 21dba fan or my sythe 120 60cfm 29dba fan or my WD raptor 36gb hdd, or my laing DCC with the alphacool top...

honestly, i have used them and they are good, i dont have a tool to measure DBAs so i cannot speak of their ratings but they are not noisy that is for sure.. and they did great on a PWM controller... not that they needed it...
 
I have 4 SilenX fans in my case. Everyone debunks SinlenX, it seems the popular thing to do, but from experience these fans are seriously quiet. Mine have not ticked, whirred, stuck or quit on me at all. They are extremely silent and push enough air to signifigantly cool my watercooling loop and case. I have my system on my desk and I can't hear it.

I am very sensitive to noise and I have been very pleased with these fans.
 
Dark Prodigy said:
I have 4 SilenX fans in my case. Everyone debunks SinlenX, it seems the popular thing to do, but from experience these fans are seriously quiet. Mine have not ticked, whirred, stuck or quit on me at all. They are extremely silent and push enough air to signifigantly cool my watercooling loop and case. I have my system on my desk and I can't hear it.

I am very sensitive to noise and I have been very pleased with these fans.
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There is no question that they are not silent. The issue is that they underinflate their dBa rating the same way that Thermaltake does. Basically when you are thinking that you are getting a 20dBa fan, in reality you may be getting a 30dBa or so. While for a lot of people it may not seem like a big difference, once you become silent concious those things start to bug you. In my experience only the Nexus Real Silent fan and the Aerocool Turbine 1000 actually perform at their rated noise level. Others have been reasonable in their ratings but there are variances. However with TT & SilentX that is not the case (its usually hidden somewhere in the fine print or on their website that they measure the noise from inside the case or some other non-standard excuse for measuring noise).
 
I have used the the 120x38 SilenX and they push alot of air and are extremely quiet compared to any of the "quiet" 80mm Vantec Stealth fans I have ever used.
 
s_s256 said:
I have used the the 120x38 SilenX and they push alot of air and are extremely quiet compared to any of the "quiet" 80mm Vantec Stealth fans I have ever used.
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Yeah, Ventec Stealth fans are not that quiet as well. They should probably also go onto my list of underinflated numbers though I don't remember of the top of my head what they are rated at.
 
Sleeve bearings has it pros and cons.

The good thing about sleeve bearing fans is that they are basically guaranteed to be quieter than a ball bearing fan at comparable cfms. Ball bearing fans, whine, tick, and generally don't spin as smooth.

The con with sleeve bearing fans are that they don't last as long. However this may not even be important because all the sleeve bearing CASE fans I have used have lasted over 2 years running at 24/7. The premium sleeve bearing fans (i.e. papst) have lasted over 4 years which is basically a computer lifetime. Now, for the cheap power supplies, some of them use sleeve bearing fans that seize up after a year. This happens because of the heat those fans are subjected to. A case fan should never get that hot compared to inside of a cramped power supply confine. I'd also caution from using sleeve bearing fans on cpu heatsinks, but if your a computer enthusiast, I'm sure you would catch any fans that don't spin up propery before any real damage occurres anyway.
 
Rix2357 said:
Sleeve bearings has it pros and cons.

The good thing about sleeve bearing fans is that they are basically guaranteed to be quieter than a ball bearing fan at comparable cfms. Ball bearing fans, whine, tick, and generally don't spin as smooth.

The con with sleeve bearing fans are that they don't last as long. However this may not even be important because all the sleeve bearing CASE fans I have used have lasted over 2 years running at 24/7. The premium sleeve bearing fans (i.e. papst) have lasted over 4 years which is basically a computer lifetime. Now, for the cheap power supplies, some of them use sleeve bearing fans that seize up after a year. This happens because of the heat those fans are subjected to. A case fan should never get that hot compared to inside of a cramped power supply confine. I'd also caution from using sleeve bearing fans on cpu heatsinks, but if your a computer enthusiast, I'm sure you would catch any fans that don't spin up propery before any real damage occurres anyway.
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The nice thing about the Globalwin NCB fans that I mentioned is that they use ceramic bearings - its more like a sleeve bearing when it comes to how smooth it sounds but lasts longer than a ballbearing. There is also the Hydrowave bearing which in reallity is basically a sleeve bearing soaking in some lubricant. Lasts longer than a normal sleave bearing but still has its limitations.
 
pawstar said:
The nice thing about the Globalwin NCB fans that I mentioned is that they use ceramic bearings - its more like a sleeve bearing when it comes to how smooth it sounds but lasts longer than a ballbearing. There is also the Hydrowave bearing which in reallity is basically a sleeve bearing soaking in some lubricant. Lasts longer than a normal sleave bearing but still has its limitations.
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I actually like the Global Win's alot. They are quieter than my Yate Loons and push a (slightly) noticable higher volume of air.

There are 2 gripes I have with them tho... Finding a place that supplies them is quite a bit harder than finding other fans. Also I ordered 3 of these a while back and one of them had serious bearing rub. So maybe quality control with their ceramic bearings?? If you can get a hold of those Global Wins and they have no bearing rub then I say those are a great choice.

Oh and I have also heard those Silenx fans are BS but have not tried them myself... maybe I would if they weren't so damn expe$ive :mad:
 
Those are nice but I'm looking for LED fans. The only quiet ones I've found are the CM ones and the silenx. I've heard that the cm doesn't push much air though.
 
Eagle156 said:
Those are nice but I'm looking for LED fans. The only quiet ones I've found are the CM ones and the silenx. I've heard that the cm doesn't push much air though.
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Led ones eh? The Aerocool Turbine 1000 or 2000 series have four leds in em!
 
for LED fans, you got the Aerocool turbines and Antec Tricools. all the CM ones i seen are at max, only 43 CFM or around there. i personally like the LED Tricools as they are quiet. i believe top speed is 79 CFM at 30Dba.

if you are willing to go with non leds, there are scythe s-flex series, adda, panflo, and papst. these tend to around the same price as a tricool double ball bearing fan. a lot of ppl might favor the yate loons but i personally found them a bit loud. however, if you are strapped for cash and want a high quality fan, then yate loons are probably your best bet. at 28Dba and 4 bucks you move 47 CFM.
 
pawstar said:
Led ones eh? The Aerocool Turbine 1000 or 2000 series have four leds in em!
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How do they compare to the silenx? Honestly I don't care much about how silent it is, I actually find the sound of fans pushing air to be soothing;as long as it's not an annoying high pitched motor whine like the one I have in my case right now. Running it at full rpm gives me a headache after 15mins and they're useless when throttled down.
 
xgambetx said:
so does anyone know what is the best fan? silent and reallyfast?
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Those two don't really mix. Airflow == noise. There is just the issue of how loud the motor is and how well the bearing performs. I am partial towards the Globalwin NCB due to their smoothness and long life. There is always the AcoustiFan AFDP-12025 which is also shown to have a good performance/noise ratio.
 
Eagle156 said:
How do they compare to the silenx? Honestly I don't care much about how silent it is, I actually find the sound of fans pushing air to be soothing;as long as it's not an annoying high pitched motor whine like the one I have in my case right now. Running it at full rpm gives me a headache after 15mins and they're useless when throttled down.
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I've got the Aerocool 1000 and it is very smooth. Just a faint hint of white noise. Yeah, I know what you mean about the fan whine. Having a migrane and fan + hdd whine just don't mix.
 
Eagle156 said:
Those are nice but I'm looking for LED fans.
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There. Heres a pic:
aerocool-fan-1000-dark-web.jpg

or two:
aerocool-fan-1000-dark-2-web.jpg
 
Looking good. :) Any chance you could post a pic with the fan on inside the case to see how much it lights it up?
 
Eagle156 said:
Looking good. :) Any chance you could post a pic with the fan on inside the case to see how much it lights it up?
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Is this what you mean?
aerocool-fan-1000-behind-grill-1-web.jpg


aerocool-fan-1000-behind-grill-2-web.jpg
 
Not exactly; I mean a pic with the side off to see the mobo, vid card, etc to see if it gives them good lighting. As a side note, I've found a table with some fans being tested: http://www.killsound.com/forum/flow2noise.gif
The silenX is way too loud, so I think I'll go for the aerocool turbine. How much is 31.5 CFM in the real world though? Will I be able to feel the air moving at all if I put my hand infront of it?
 
The SilenX fans are very quiet, though far from their stated specs if compared to a Nexus.
SilenX do state on their website how they measure dB levels (which is more than a lot of others do), but it needs to be taken with a grain of salt as it's not the same as any other brand.

I did a direct comparison between a SilenX Ixtrema Pro 120mmx25mm 11dBA and a Nexus D12SL-12. The Nexus was a somewhat quieter fan, but had slightly less airflow (using highly technical digital methods - having it blowing on my hand).

The SilenX Ixtrema Pro LED fans are not bright at all however! They use four centre mounted SMT leds which means that they don't have the wires going back across in front of the blades to traditional LEDs. Less restriction across the blades is good, however the SMT LEDs are nowhere near as bright as normal LEDs.

To those of you who say that the SilenX fans are rebadged ADDAs, I suggest you take another look. The Ixtrema Pro series is a completely different blade design, different material (colourwise at least), and have 'SilenX' molded into the frame. They are still made in China though ;). People really need to find out a few facts before they start regurgitating what was said on SPCR over 3 years ago. What was said at the time was correct, however a lot has changed - SilenX have released a new series of fan for a start. Their figures are still inflated, as are their prices, but they do still have a good product.
 
Eagle156 said:
Not exactly; I mean a pic with the side off to see the mobo, vid card, etc to see if it gives them good lighting. As a side note, I've found a table with some fans being tested: http://www.killsound.com/forum/flow2noise.gif
The silenX is way too loud, so I think I'll go for the aerocool turbine. How much is 31.5 CFM in the real world though? Will I be able to feel the air moving at all if I put my hand infront of it?
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Sorry, can't help you there the moment. Those fans are for a new system that I am just starting to build so there is nothing yet inside to light up, and at the moment the case is in pieces.
 
Legion© said:
The SilenX fans are very quiet, though far from their stated specs if compared to a Nexus.
SilenX do state on their website how they measure dB levels (which is more than a lot of others do), but it needs to be taken with a grain of salt as it's not the same as any other brand.

I did a direct comparison between a SilenX Ixtrema Pro 120mmx25mm 11dBA and a Nexus D12SL-12. The Nexus was a somewhat quieter fan, but had slightly less airflow (using highly technical digital methods - having it blowing on my hand).

The SilenX Ixtrema Pro LED fans are not bright at all however! They use four centre mounted SMT leds which means that they don't have the wires going back across in front of the blades to traditional LEDs. Less restriction across the blades is good, however the SMT LEDs are nowhere near as bright as normal LEDs.

To those of you who say that the SilenX fans are rebadged ADDAs, I suggest you take another look. The Ixtrema Pro series is a completely different blade design, different material (colourwise at least), and have 'SilenX' molded into the frame. They are still made in China though ;). People really need to find out a few facts before they start regurgitating what was said on SPCR over 3 years ago. What was said at the time was correct, however a lot has changed - SilenX have released a new series of fan for a start. Their figures are still inflated, as are their prices, but they do still have a good product.
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Good info... I will definitely take this into consideration when looking for new case fans. I, for one, have not done much research on SilenX but will when looking into any new fans for my next case
 
The aerocool turbine 1000 shipped to me today. It's a very quiet fan! I can only hear it within 3" of it. It moves a little bit less air than the loud 1400 TT fan before it, but I think the silence is worth it.
 
Ok, now my front intake fan is pissing me off. :p It's making the same uber high pitched pain in the ass sound as the exhaust fan that I just replaced, but I need a non-LED fan that also pushes some air; somewhere around 1200-1400rpm. I'm thinking one of those yate loons will suffice; but I would rather order the fan from the egg.
 
Is this fan any good? The only thing that I'm worried about with it is that the fan controller might not fit in my case - it has a door. How far does the knob on the fan controller stick out? I would have just ordered another turbine, but I need some more cfm as the fan needs to get air from a fan grill, a filter, and push out through another grill to the hard drives.
 
Eagle156 said:
Ok, now my front intake fan is pissing me off. :p It's making the same uber high pitched pain in the ass sound as the exhaust fan that I just replaced, but I need a non-LED fan that also pushes some air; somewhere around 1200-1400rpm. I'm thinking one of those yate loons will suffice; but I would rather order the fan from the egg.
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Yate Loons would be fine. But since you are looking at newegg, the Scythe S-Flex fans aren't too bad.
 
the article may be a bit dated (not sure when they last updated), but look here for a complete rundown of quiet fans. I've found it to be very helpful on many occasions.

 
I have two silenx 120mm fans in my av cabinet side by side (to cool off my Xbox 360).

I think the CFM rating is BS, but they do push a fair amount of air and are DEAD silent. Mine do not have any scratching/grinding/wierd sounds and they are very silent.

I can barely even hear them when only they are running and I am about 3ft away from them.

The CFM is marketing BS, but they are quite and moving some air (I would say about the same as a normal 80mm fan).

They do not have much penetrating power though so they are more for venting applications and not pushing air through heatsinks or rads
 
pawstar said:
Yate Loons would be fine. But since you are looking at newegg, the Scythe S-Flex fans aren't too bad.
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How quiet is the 1600RPM S-Flex? Any motor whine with it? I want to get the Silverstone FM121-b due to its mini fan controller, but the black version is out of stock at newegg. :( The ETA was 11/14, but the day is almost over and they're still not there. The white version would look like shit in my black case.
 
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