Antec Case Fans

[Bob43]

I have an Antec KS-282 Mid Tower Case that has a cage for installing a fan inside of it - Do I need to buy a special Antec-brand fan for this cage, or will other fans fit?

[BipolarBill]

Any 80mm fan will fit. I like Coolermaster, Top Motor, Sunon and Vantec Stealth fans. Try to keep the RPMs below 2400 and sound levels below 25dB.

[Bob43]

How do these 80mm attach to the case? Do they come with screws included? I also have another space for a fan on the back end of the case, but it doesn't have a "cage" for holding it.

thanks

[bushmaster]

On those Antec cases the rear fan attaches with four small coarse threaded screws that the case usually comes with or are included with the higher end fans.

[Giblet Plus!]

Originally posted by BipolarBill
Any 80mm fan will fit. I like Coolermaster, Top Motor, Sunon and Vantec Stealth fans.

Don't forget Panaflow. :p

[BipolarBill]

Actually, I don't care for Panaflo or Pabst fans because you don't know what you're going to get until you open the package (connector-wise) and because they cost too much.

[Rocketmech]

I seem to get good results from all the Antec fans I put in mine, 5 of them. Whether its Antec or some other , the fans just pop in , no screws needed. They all come with an 3 pin to 4 pin adapter.
I do like Sunon , but hard find locally .

[Bob43]

Hey Rocketmech - I see how the fan at the front of the case would pop into the cage, but what about at the rear where there are just four holes on the metal chassis? Do the fans come with screws for this area, because I didn't get any with my case.

thanks.

[BipolarBill]

You can find 80mm fans with screws at BestBuy and CompUSA. The Vantec Stealth always comes with them, as do the Coolermaster units. When you buy "OEM" 80mm fans, they usually send screws - check the fne print.

[bushmaster]

the fans just pop in , no screws needed.
Allthough it's a nice feature not all Antec cases come with those lavender colored snap in brackets.
Unfortunately the case in question is one of them.

[Rocketmech]

Yea some cases dont have the fan brackets, I thought you had them both in front and back like do. The screws come with the an Antec fan, or for any packaged fan I've purchased. I think you have to use a flat washer with the screw if not using a bracket, since the mounting hole is square and slightly enlarged for the bracket.

[Bovon]

Anybody know anything about Mechatronics fans?

I need a good 80 mm fan for a Swiftech HSF, and the ones I have are too slow...case cooling types.

Here are the specs, which look promising:

Mechatronics 80x80x25mm Fan (Ultra High Speed)
4200 rpm +/- 10%
80x80x25mm
53 CFM of Air
5.76 Watts / 12Volt
39 dba
Price: $7.95

VS:

Sunon 80x80x25mm Sunon Ultra High Speed Fan (BX)
Part Number: KD1206PTB-X
3500 rpm +/- 10%
50.6 CFM of Air
4.3 Watts
40.6 dba
Model# KD1208BX-6A
4 Pin pass-thru connector only due to it's power
Price: $5.95

The Mechatronics fan is higher speed/CFM and less DBA than the Sunon, but the Sunon @ 50.6 CFM @ 3500 rpm may last longer and is lower power consumption, with only 1.6 DBA louder than the Mechatronics.

So, for the sake of knowing...does anybody know anything about the Mechatronics fans?...good/bad or otherwise.

http://www.coolerguys.com/ (then the 80 mm fan link on the left.)

[BipolarBill]

Not I, but I can point something out here thanks to your comparison. Notice that there's a direct relationship between CFM and dBA? At any rate, it's more direct than RPM/CFM. That's due to fan blade pitch and swept area. Never judge a fam by RPM alone!

Here's a screamer:

http://www.bestbyte.net/Product.cfm?ProductID=857&CategoryID=8&Keyword=

[Giblet Plus!]

One of those vantec tornados on a rheostat would be sweet. :D

Oh, BTW, the Vantec Tornado is really made by Sunon. :r

[DeathMagi]

sorry bout kinda goin off topic here, but what does Dba mean?

[BipolarBill]

decibels adjusted

http://www.its.bldrdoc.gov/fs-1037/dir-010/_1471.htm

This is rocket science, apparently! :p

[DeathMagi]

lol i dont understand one thing that that just said :p about how high of dba before u can actually hear it?

thanks.

[BipolarBill]

It depends if you're deaf or not, I suppose. I think that 3dBa is the minimum audible.

[Someone Stupid]

Depends how close, and really how well you hear. Generally for a "quiet" computer you want 25 db and below. 30db is still highly tolerable. Anything over 35db and that starts to bother most people. 40+db will annoy anybody unless they are used to having a table fan or something running.

IIRC a whisper is 20 db if you can hardly hear it, like you hear someone whispering, a quiet whisper into your ear is around 30db. 40 db is around the volume of a 12 to 15 inch oscilating fan on medium of high, it highly noticable. Anything above that and the scale starts getting more confusing than it is.

The formula basically states that for every one decibal increase, you increase the overall volume by 1/3rd. So at 30 db a 3db increase of 33db is half as much of an increase as a 3 db increase from 33db to 36db. So for every 3 db increase, you double your output. If that doesn't work for you, think of every 3db as a two and ignore the third number when multiplying. 9db is four times louder than 3db. 3db baseline times two (+3db) equals 6db, 6db times two (+3db) equals 9db. Multiply your two's by each other and that is your increase. Plus 3db more would be (3db x 3 from before) 9db times two (+3db) equals 12 db which would be eight times louder than three decibals. 2 x 2 x 2 = 12.

The larger the fan, the more RPM's you'll be able to take evn though you can hear it. Larger fans don't make nearly as much of a whining sound, the 92's and 120's I've used that were high output were of a much lower pitch than a 60mm high output. The higher the pitch of the sound will annoy you before the sound itself does. I had a couple 190 CFM 120mm delta's that hit nearly 50 db's and were high pitched - though not nearly like a 60mm HO fan, it was higher than the 130 CFM fans I have, though only a bit louder they were far more annoying - the 130's CFM's I could eaily tolerate, the 190 drove me ****ing nuts.

Sunon also makes the very same "tornado" fan for themselves, just it's not labeled anything special BTW.

I only use (if possible) Delta, Sunon, Vantec, Antec, and Papst fans. Only thing with Delta and Papst fans is they generally don't come with any connectors or you'll see a 120 with a 3 pin that goes into your motherboard (that'll fry it quick).

[DeathMagi]

cool thanks a lot Someone Stupid, and Bipolarbill! :r

[Jawa]

I have the same Antec case.

The rear fan needs those 4 fan screws.. usually black.

The front you can just grab both sides of the cage (some force needed), and pull it out. Then, just push the fan in the cage till it all four of those little pegs lock into place. Then, just stick the cage back onto the front.

You can use any 80x80x25mm fan for the front. For the back, it can be any 80mm fan that is 80x80mm (Delta fans are 80x80x38 I think?).

Jawa :r

[Giblet Plus!]

Originally posted by Someone Stupid

Sunon also makes the very same "tornado" fan for themselves, just it's not labeled anything special BTW.


Did not know that until now. Thanks

I found one here:
http://www.bestbyte.net/Product.cfm?ProductID=923&CategoryID=8&Keyword=%234
:)

[Eric Legge]

Remember that adding a fan can make your system unstable if it is already using a PSU that has its +12V rail working at near full capacity.

Read this article on the subject -

Choosing the Right Power Supply -

http://firingsquad.gamers.com/guides/power/default.asp

Eric,

http://www.legge40.freeserve.co.uk/BuyerBeware.htm

[Someone Stupid]

Glad to give you the heads up Giblet, as it's probably a bit cheaper in cost as Tornado's can be expensive. They just aren't a company that caters to the OC community, thus they don't get much press. Sorta like Delta, they have an 80 which performs just as well, I think they have one that does better IIRC. It's just that Vantec has made a name for itself in the aftermarket cooling area, especially with OCers.

[Giblet Plus!]

I've bought Sunons before, I just didn't know that they sold the tornado themselves. :D