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Recently we have changed our method of measuring noise levels. We have built a system inside a Lian Li chassis with no case fans and have used a fanless cooler on our CPU. We are using a heatpipe based passive power supply and an Intel SSD to keep noise levels to a minimum. The motherboard is passively cooled and we use a Sapphire HD5670 Ultimate Edition graphics card which is also passively cooled. Ambient noise in the room is kept as low as possible. We measure from a distance of around 1 meter from the chassis and 4 foot from the ground to mirror a real world situation.
Why do this? Well this means we can eliminate secondary noise pollution in the test room and concentrate on only the components we are testing. It also brings us slightly closer to industry standards, such as DIN 45635.
In this instance we have no need for a system so we are using a silent power supply hooked into the Penetrator AP181 fan. The room rates as 21dBa – the air conditioning unit in the far corner of the room causes this.
KitGuru noise guide
10dBA – Normal Breathing/Rustling Leaves
20-25dBA – Whisper
30dBA – High Quality Computer fan
40dBA – A Bubbling Brook, or a Refridgerator
50dBA – Normal Conversation
60dBA – Laughter
70dBA – Vacuum Cleaner or Hairdryer
80dBA – City Traffic or a Garbage Disposal
90dBA – Motorcycle or Lawnmower
100dBA – MP3 player at maximum output
110dBA – Orchestra
120dBA – Front row rock concert/Jet Engine
130dBA – Threshold of Pain
140dBA – Military Jet takeoff/Gunshot (close range)
160dBA – Instant Perforation of eardrum
On low settings the fan is basically silent and only shows up on our recording equipment, slightly above ambient room noise. When switched to high speeds however the fan becomes clearly audible, even to the naked ear. We would opt for the low setting all the time, unless we were trying to break overclocking records with a system build.
great to see a company creating something different!
I found the technical elements of that review very interesting indeed, didnt know half of the airflow systems with ordinary fans
They are really only charging 3-4 more than a traditional fan of the same size, thats pretty good marketing from Silverstone.
How can you not like Silverstone as a company. the Raven 02 design and now these fans. So much high quality products reviewed on this site, its as if you filter though all the crap no one wants to see, thanks!
Impressive design and I also found the overview of the technology very interesting to read. A lot of great work has gone into this product.
very solid design, was interested to see how ordinary fans work, and the smoke video on the last page was a good representation of how the flow is generated upwards. very smart. Cant wait to see the review of the Raven03 here.
Its always good to see a company such as silverstone trying to do something new with technology rather than akasa, who churn out £3 products for decades.
Just ordered three of these for my Raven 02. Cheap upgrade I reckon and I dont have much cash lately, so its something to play with 🙂
£15 isn’t too bad, bit more than a normal fan, but I bet the R&D for this cost a lot.
£15 isn’t too bad, bit more than a normal fan, but I bet the R&D for this cost a lot.
I started reading this and saw 6 pages and almost shit myself. How could they write 6 pages about a fan??!
Well clearly you could as I read the whole lot and thought it was one of the best fan articles ive read in recent years. I think Silverstone are onto a winner, bit concerned with the high speed noise though, I think their last fan design was around 28dBa under high speed settings, so clearly this new design can be slightly louder.
Very nice looking new design, I may have to order 3 for the Raven 02
Great Review, I will be grabbing 3 of these to replace the 180’s in my FT-02
will also be grabbing 3 for my Raven 02 !!