Fan Upgrade Advice

hopgop1

Posts: 167   +33
I am fed up with my case fans being too loud despite using my NZXT Sentry 2 fan controller so I am asking for some advice from you guys as to what to upgrade them to. I have a maximum budget of £50 and plan on buying from amazon.co.uk, I want to buy 4 120mm case fans but I really like the red LED look of my case and want to reduce the noise of my case fans, but keep the red LED effect, I was looking at Corsiar AF120 red LED series fans but the amazon reviews say they are noisy so I looked at the non-LED AF series fans and from what I can tell they are quieter but I won't keep the LED look, so maybe the answer is LED strips around the fans (how would that look? would it be visible from outside the case through the grill?) but I often do overnight downloads as my internet is painfully slow, and because my PC is near my bed in my room I don't want the LEDs on otherwise I will never sleep, so with the remaining fan control switch could I buy a 3 way Y molex connector to connect the 3 light strips (I need 3 as I will have 3 groups of fans and only one free fan control space) or will I have to fill up my last remaining 5.25" bay on my case =[ on a generic knob fan controller for the LEDs. From my research noctua fans + light strips are too expensive, so does anyone have any advice on case fans that won't be heard over my stock CPU cooler and as as cheap as possible so that I can buy LED light strips too (assuming I would be able to see them on the outside of the case). Sorry for the rambling and the wall of text but I feel it was necessary to tell you what I am thinking. Thanks again -hopgop1
 
I actually own a sickle flow fan and it is the nosiest one in my rig, not sure if its the fan controller causing it so let my try plugging it into the mobo to see if it makes a difference but I don't really like them judging by my previous experience. Will update once tried.
 
So it turns out the cable doesn't reach the nearest fan header on my mobo so I cannot test it, have any other suggestions?
 
So it turns out the cable doesn't reach the nearest fan header on my mobo so I cannot test it, have any other suggestions?
For fans I Have used the Aerocool Sharks (In my personal rig) and they are pretty good but I have only used the 140mm models and not the 120mm. For a quiet setup, I have a friend who purchased the blue version (I think they were blue, but that does not matter lol) of these and he is very particular about silent running machines. He has them on a radiator with a NZXT sentry fan controller and they stay pretty quiet while offering some good airflow.

Corsair Air Quiet Edition
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181044

Aerocool Shark
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835129059

The sharks are cool and pretty bright while the corsair is more of a just lit up fan look (I really don't know a good way to describe this) meaning you do not get much external light.
 
I actually have a shark one in my rig at the moment and when its on you can't actually hear it over my hard drive so I think I will keep the 2 stock fans from my case (which are actually quite quiet) as intakes, fo the red LED look, I will get rid of the noisy one, I will get a single noctua fan as exhaust because if I keep the quiet fans I will keep under budget and I will buy another shark fan to complete my side panel. But because I quite like the look of the exhaust fan LEDs that you can see through the top of the case grill I will buy two 30cm light strips. To control the light strips as I will be taking up my last fan control spot with a new shark fan is there anything I can do to have control of the brightness of the LEDs?
 
I plan on buying magnetic dust filters with any spare money, and how to I attach the LED strips to the rheostat? I will have used all 5 fan slots so where can I plug them in?
 
Also if I bought a 3 pin fan splitter and connected 2 fans to it would I be able to control both at the same time, then using the last slot attach a single 60cm LED strip to it and control it?
 
Yes assuming it can power multiple fans, which it probably can.
You connect positive to positive and negative to negative on the LED strip.
Just make sure it'll operate in the proper voltage range.
 
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