Yet another fan story...

Update. you need to leave the plastic risers in place to allow enough airflow under the fan. that makes a 2 minute job a 15 minute one - as you need to use a 7mm spanner and turn one flat at a time.

Still makes a world of difference. G66 have confirmed the Noiseblocker has been OKd by Fractal, and are only trying others due to the thickness of the Noiseblocks - thus the time intensive fitting. There looking at thinner fans.
 
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Just a "heads up"...
Today, I discovered I have a major audio noise on top of almost all presets. I changed to the Noiseblocker at the same time as going to fw5.
I'm now pretty sure it's not fw5 itself but the fan! I guess the longer cable has fallen close to an important part on the motherboard and interferes. Is that a possibility?
I'll try and record / change position of cable tomorrow... *sigh*
 
I dont hear anything - but I actually tied the longer cable up in the end to prevent any drooping onto the board. I guess its possible the power supplying the fan is the cause but isnt the supply DC? Cant see ehow that would word. I didnt look though and it could be AC - which may cause the issue.
 
Just received my new fan from the cool people at G66. Looks like they've worked out an alternative to the Noiseblocker - this one is a 'Revoltec Air Guard 60mm'

Will let you know how it goes!
 
I just put the inferior NB BlackSilent in today. ;) It's very quiet, but being the type to overthink and engineer solutions for problems that don't really exist I kind of decoupled it from the case so it was a bit more time intensive.

paulmap8036645340850487503425 (really?) is absolutely right about leaving space behind the fan for airflow. I posted a picture of it on here earlier somewhere....it involves hot glue so you know it's good. :mrgreen

Oh, but it's a lot quieter than the stock. I compared the airflow between the two and it's a bit less, but it's not weak by any stretch of the imagination. Plus we're talking about direct airflow above the heatsinks inside a sealed case. As long as it doesn't fall apart it's a good solution in my opinion. I bought mine on e-Bay and got it in 2 days.
 
So are these fans actually approved by FAS and not warranty-voiding?

Dojo: Where di you buy yours?
 
Patzag said:
So are these fans actually approved by FAS and not warranty-voiding?
Click to expand...
Unless something has changed, or I missed something:
There are no fan replacements that have been OFFICIALLY approved by Fractal (except for replacing with the same model as stock).
Fractal is supposed to be approving one soon, I believe based upon what G66 will be able to also provide.
 
Well, the specs on the two fans are:

Noiseblocker NB-BlackSilentFan XR2:

Speed: 2200 RPM
Volume: 15 db/A
Airflow: 24m3/hr
Life: 30,000 hours

Revoltec Fan Airguard:

Speed: 2500 RPM
Volume: 20db/A (well 19.99)
Airflow: 20.92 M3/hr
Life: 50,000 hours

So - The Noiseblocker seems quieter (though neither are loud) and moves more air. The Revoltec is easier to fit (as its the same size as the stock fan) and has a longer lifetime (though the 30,000 hrs of the Noiseblocker isnt exactly short).

Seems to me the Noiseblocker is the better replacement if you can be bothered with the time consuming fitting - but the Revoltec is a quick 2 minute job to fit - and seems more than up to the task. Obviously time will tell - if the noiseblocker gets louder over a fairly short timeframe (but without actually failing) as one report I saw suggested (though there are always substandard uniits) then the Revoltec may be better long term.


On a side note - I never understood why cooling is such an issue. Obviously the fan is necessary for the CPU BUT if heat was such a critical issue (where the fans airflow MUST be as high or higher than the stock fan) then surly the AFX2 case would have vents in it? The fact its a sealed case suggests to me that while direct cooling is necessary the actual specs of the fans arnt critical.
 
paulmapp8306 said:
The fact its a sealed case suggests to me that while direct cooling is necessary the actual specs of the fans arent critical.
Click to expand...
"In most cases" :D, probably not *that* much. But let's not forget we don't get desert heat here too much and Cliff just *has* to count that in for still quite a lot of regions (and wants to be one up on global warming? :p)
 
i changed my fan to the new one i got from g66. first thing: it is quiter and the changes in speed are gone also. the new fan seems to produce less highs (so its not so annoying to me)
 
Put the g66 replacement one in and am a happy bunny. It now sounds the same as my ultra with the G66 fan used to sound, which is plenty quiet enough for me.

Leaving it running overnight to test it out, but all looking (sounding) good so far.

:)
 
vAmp said:
"In most cases" :D, probably not *that* much. But let's not forget we don't get desert heat here too much and Cliff just *has* to count that in for still quite a lot of regions (and wants to be one up on global warming? :p)
Click to expand...
You also have to remember where Cliff cut his teeth in the industry....designing military equipment. I might be a bit presumptuous here, but I think that he still uses the same approach to his designs with the Fractal stuff. Basically 'good enough' isn't and the goal is supreme reliability under all conditions because equipment failure will result in mission failure.

I'm not saying that it's over-engineered or anything, but I don't think that he'd let anything leave with his name on it while thinking "that's probably going to be all right like that."
 
paulmapp8306 said:
Well, the specs on the two fans are:

Noiseblocker NB-BlackSilentFan XR2:

Speed: 2200 RPM
Volume: 15 db/A
Airflow: 24m3/hr
Life: 30,000 hours

Revoltec Fan Airguard:

Speed: 2500 RPM
Volume: 20db/A (well 19.99)
Airflow: 20.92 M3/hr
Life: 50,000 hours

So - The Noiseblocker seems quieter (though neither are loud) and moves more air. The Revoltec is easier to fit (as its the same size as the stock fan) and has a longer lifetime (though the 30,000 hrs of the Noiseblocker isnt exactly short).

Seems to me the Noiseblocker is the better replacement if you can be bothered with the time consuming fitting - but the Revoltec is a quick 2 minute job to fit - and seems more than up to the task. Obviously time will tell - if the noiseblocker gets louder over a fairly short timeframe (but without actually failing) as one report I saw suggested (though there are always substandard uniits) then the Revoltec may be better long term.


On a side note - I never understood why cooling is such an issue. Obviously the fan is necessary for the CPU BUT if heat was such a critical issue (where the fans airflow MUST be as high or higher than the stock fan) then surly the AFX2 case would have vents in it? The fact its a sealed case suggests to me that while direct cooling is necessary the actual specs of the fans arnt critical.
Click to expand...


The most important part of these specs (IMO) is the CFM. THe revoltec is 12.31 cfm - well below the recommended minimum REQUIRED airflow of 14cfm.
THe XR2 is 14.1
I am currently waiting for a replacement stock fan as mine went out. I tried the XR2 and Revoltec but I am not comfortable with the cooling especially in this south Texas heat. Right now I have the stock fan from my old Ultra runnning. Its a little quieter but pushing the air like the stock II fan.
 
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