Choice of fans for cooling

[Kaine]

After browsing various cooling sites (eg 3dcool, 3dfxcool,...) it gets very confusing as to what types of fans are good for keeping the system cool(I know size matters but not in all cases). Could anyone tell me the difference between the following types of case fans in terms of effectiveness and durability:

1. Ball bearing fan
2. Brushless fan
3. Sleeve bearing fan

Thanks for the help.

[OuTpaTienT]

1. Ball bearing fan
This is what you want. Much more dependable than your brushless fans. Far longer lifetime than brushless. Often capable of higher RPM's. Usually (but necessarily always) quieter than other types.

2. Brushless fan
Cheapest & most common fan. Usually found in a stock setup. Won't last nearly at long as a ball bearing fan...not as dependable. One problem I've found with these is that they can become clogged with dust and slow down quite a bit, but still operate. This is NOT A GOOD THING, because it may look like it's functioning (spinning) but you may not notice that it's spinning much slower than needed.

3. Sleeve bearing fan
Don't know of this one.

[Kaine]

Thank you for the clarification: Ball bearing is the best type. I just found out from Antec Inc. that a sleeve bearing fan is the same as a brushless fan. (though I wonder why Brushless?)

[Jeff7]

So then what is a brushless ball-bearing fan? I've never seen a computer fan that isn't brushless.
Also, I have 5 Panaflo fans here (got all 5 of 'em for $10 at a comp show). The website says they have hydro-wave bearings.