The background noise level of the room averaged 19.3dBA during the test period, although it dropped below this level several times. The sound pressure level of each fan was recorded between 80Hz and 20KHz over a 10-second period. The fans were powered by a passively cooled PSU, so as not to increase the sound level in the room, and held in place by two metal clamps with a reflecting surface behind. This is incredibly important, as the further away the sound level meter is from the sound source then the lower the reading will be. We chose a distance of 50cm, as this is the typical distance that most people will sit from their PCs at home.Īlso, if we took the measurement from any closer than 50cm, the results would be distorted. The measurements were taken on a calibrated Brüel & Kjær 2260 sound level meter positioned 50cm away from the intake side of the fan being tested. Testing was carried out in Intertek’s home-cinema listening room, which is designed to meet the IEC 286-13 standard. For this reason, we sent all the fans to the experts at Intertek, a company that specialises in comparative testing of consumer electronic devices. Obviously, the only way we can really compare the sound level of each fan is by testing them in exactly the same way. How We Measured Noise Levels (or, More Accurately, Sound Pressure)As few fan manufacturers state specifically how they measure sound level, it would be extremely foolish to compare the claimed figures of each manufacturer. The lowest-performance fan that completely filled the sack was the Revoltec RL037, which has a calculated airflow of 7cfm therefore, any fan that couldn’t fill the bag provided a level of airflow that was less than this. Also, even though we used a black sack made from lightweight plastic, it was still too heavy to fill completely for the fans that have a particularly low airflow or low static air pressure, so we were unable to measure their airflow accurately. Obviously, the ‘black sack’ method introduces a degree of human error, which is why we tested each fan three times, and used the average time (to the nearest second) to calculate the airflow. Using this method also allowed us to compare the airflow of fans with different diameters, simply by adjusting the size of the hole through which the fan blows air into the bag. This tells us how many cfm (cubic feet per minute) of air the fan is moving. Either way, read on to see which fan is best. Equally if your card is a little better behaved with its waste heat, you should have the side panel fan blowing inwards as it'll cool you graphics card, and your motherboard and CPU cooler. This arrangement might not suit your desk - if your case is next to your arms, you don't want it venting hot air onto you 24/7 (or maybe you do - it's your choice). This is even more true if your graphics card has vents in the side of the cooler that pushes hot air toward the side of your case - you don't want to push that hot air back into your card's cooler, after all. In general, it's better to suck the hot air from a case as quickly as possible, so fitting the side panel fan as an exhaust would make sense.
LARGE PC FAN SIZES HOW TO
Once you've found the fan for you, the next question is how to mount it. Thank heavens that bit-tech is here to let know know which of these supersize fans are worth hanging on to, or what to change them for if they're not. We've seen large fans with practically no blade-pitch - and therefore no airflow - in order to keep the case slim (and, dare we say, keep the costs down) while others have been noisy, or only just better than the practically flat fans. However, even if your case does have a massive side panel fan, it might not be much good. However, while most cases use the ubiquitous 120mm size, quite a few are now coming with supersized fans on side panels (and some other cases should come with these fans, but don't). IntroductionWhile other cooling products get all the limelight - we're primarily thinking of you, CPU coolers - the humble fan is just as important when it comes to cooling hardware.