Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

MacAttack · Jul 7, 2002, 04:48 PM

I'm looking to add a fan to my Cube, and my biggest consideration is noise, as my Cube currently is completely silent. I found the Papst 8412NGL, rated at a mere 12dB, the quietest fan I've found by far.

However it seems this fan is 80x80x25, and most Cube owners who have added fans (see the forums at Cubeowner.com and Cube-zone.com) seem to be going for an 80x80x15 fan. Will the 25mm fan fit in the Cube, or will I have to go for the 15mm fan? The quietest 15mm fan I've found is the Panasonic FBA08T12L, which is rated at 23dB.

According to the following website:

<a href="http://www.vhdesigns.com/fan_project.htm" target="_blank">http://www.vhdesigns.com/fan_project.htm</a>

it seems there are problems with thicker fans. Hopefully the Papst fan mentioned above will fit, because 12dB is SIGNIFICANTLY quieter than the 23dB+ fans that everyone else seems to be using.

Please advise!

On a related note, I did find a fan which, while not the quietest or cheapest fan, does fit the Cube's style very well...check it out:

<a href="http://www.coolerxtreme.com/clear80fanwi.html" target="_blank">Clear Fan with Blue LED's!</a>

[ 07-07-2002, 05:08 PM: Message edited by: MacAttack ]

aladdinsane · Jul 7, 2002, 11:25 PM

I am also adding a fan to my cube. I am going with the Panasonic FBA08T12L you mentioned to be on the safe side. People using this fan have been claiming they can't hear it over the hard disk.

Well I have my doubts about that <img border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" title="" src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" />

I ordered my fan kit from DigiKey on Friday and when it will arrive I will do my own testing. The Cube being quiet is one of its greatest benefits.

Anyhow, does anyone know what is the noise level of a Cube without a fan, while HD is spinning? It is clearly not 100% quiet.

MacAttack · Jul 8, 2002, 12:20 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by aladdinsane:
I am also adding a fan to my cube. I am going with the Panasonic FBA08T12L you mentioned to be on the safe side. People using this fan have been claiming they can't hear it over the hard disk.

Well I have my doubts about that <img border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" title="" src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" />

I ordered my fan kit from DigiKey on Friday and when it will arrive I will do my own testing. The Cube being quiet is one of its greatest benefits.

Anyhow, does anyone know what is the noise level of a Cube without a fan, while HD is spinning? It is clearly not 100% quiet.<hr /></blockquote>Well, it's not 100% quiet, but it's pretty darned close.

The only noise I can hear while sitting at my desk, about 2 feet directly in front of the Cube, is a VERY slight gentle hum, half of which seems to be just the case vibrations from the hard drive spinning (not the actual hard drive itself; that you can't hear unless you literally put your ear up to the grate on the top of the Cube - it's a Seagate Barracuda), and the other half actually is the audio "buzz" coming out of my Cube speakers. When I hit the mute key on my Pro Keyboard, I can hear the speakers turn off.

Really, it's that quiet.

With that in mind, the Panasonic fan doesn't sound all too bad, but I'm also concerned about the ease of hooking the power up to it. I'd like a fan that already has a power connector on it, as opposed to one with just bare wires.

So I guess my main requirements are:
1- A fan that will fit the Cube's enclosure.
2- A fan that has a power connector that can easily be connected to the power adapter on the optical drive (I'm not even gonna bother trying to connect it to the dedicated outlet on the DC board; the optical drive power connector seems to be the easier route).
3- A fan that's as quiet as possible that fits the above two requirements.

Ricci Adams · Jul 8, 2002, 01:41 AM

Any fan that is 80mm x 80mm x 15mm will fit perfectly in the cube enclosure.

A 80mm x 80mm x 25mm fan will fit as long as you file down the bottom tabs (so the bottom of the fan sits directly on the metal vents, as opposed to the lifted up tabs (this probably makes no sense, but you will understand when you disassemble your cube)). 96mm x 96mm x 25mm fans will also fit if you want to make a few modifications (remove the metal fan holder from the cube, and remove the power portion of the adapter that is attached to the CD drive and solder the cables directly). 120mm x 120mm x 25mm fans will not work even with the CD drive completely removed (other things get in the way). This is unfortuate, as I found a nice 120mm fan that produced 75CFM at only 34dB (which I was going to adjust so that it would only make about 25dB of sound and still have great airflow).

Personally, I would recommend an adjustable fan. I removed my cube's modem board and placed the adjustable fan knob in the hole, so I can tweak the fan speed while my cube is on.

Do not get the pink Enermax adjustable fan though! They are terrible (this is the one that I use to have). The piece that adjusts the fan's speed is very flimsy, and mine broke about 3 days after I installed the fan.

You might also want to look into Sunon blowers if you want to cool your video card. They have one blower at 18dBA that produces 1.8CFM of air. This is bad when compared to a fan, but it is great for a blower!

Ricci Adams · Jul 8, 2002, 01:44 AM

On another note, does anybody know how to remove the handle from the Cube?

I have always pulled the CPU/motherboard section out about 2 inches (at which point the handle prevents it from coming out further) and then installed the fan that way.

In the pictures on that site though, the guy managed to get the entire bottom section of the cube to come out.

Thanks!

MacAttack · Jul 8, 2002, 04:42 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Ricci Adams:
Any fan that is 80mm x 80mm x 15mm will fit perfectly in the cube enclosure.

A 80mm x 80mm x 25mm fan will fit as long as you file down the bottom tabs (so the bottom of the fan sits directly on the metal vents, as opposed to the lifted up tabs (this probably makes no sense, but you will understand when you disassemble your cube)). <hr /></blockquote>Will the 25mm fan be stable (ie can it still be screwed down?) or will it rely on the pressure from the heatsink to hold it in place? I'd hate to go for a quiet 25mm fan, but then have it rattle inside the Cube.

Thanks for the info!

badtz · Jul 9, 2002, 01:29 AM

I bought a papst fan [VERY expensive for a fan though. 27 bucks! ouch]........ with rubber grommets to dampen the case vibrations, i'll let ya'll know how it works ;-)

80x80x25..

Ricci Adams · Jul 9, 2002, 05:16 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by MacAttack:
 <blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Ricci Adams:
Any fan that is 80mm x 80mm x 15mm will fit perfectly in the cube enclosure.

A 80mm x 80mm x 25mm fan will fit as long as you file down the bottom tabs (so the bottom of the fan sits directly on the metal vents, as opposed to the lifted up tabs (this probably makes no sense, but you will understand when you disassemble your cube)). <hr /></blockquote>Will the 25mm fan be stable (ie can it still be screwed down?) or will it rely on the pressure from the heatsink to hold it in place? I'd hate to go for a quiet 25mm fan, but then have it rattle inside the Cube.

Thanks for the info!<hr /></blockquote>Mine doesn't rattle; however, you may want to go ahead and get some kind of material to dampen the vibrations just in case.

Ricci Adams · Jul 9, 2002, 05:18 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Badtz:
I bought a papst fan [VERY expensive for a fan though. 27 bucks! ouch]........ with rubber grommets to dampen the case vibrations, i'll let ya'll know how it works ;-)

80x80x25..<hr /></blockquote>What is the model number of your fan? I might have to get yet another fan depending on the reply I get from powerlogix.com concerning the 1GHz upgrade.

badtz · Jul 9, 2002, 10:04 PM

It's the variofan, the model number is really long..... :-)

EXTREMELY hard to find.... the only place i know to get it is at directron.com

it's the model with these specs:

8cm [80mm] fan : variofan

it CAN be temperature sensitive [but they don't sell the sensors, and i can't find anyone that does, if you do, please let me know

]..... so it runs @ the highest by default, which spits out 27cfm @ 20db

price: 26.99

comes with a 4-pin molex adapter.

Cuboidal · Jul 13, 2002, 09:00 PM

Go to <a href="http://www.digikey.com," target="_blank">www.digikey.com,</a> search w/ the following part numbers:

CONN 2POS HOUSING 1.25MM
Part# WM1720-ND $0.34 ea

TERMINALS CRIMP 1.25MM 28-32AWG
Part# WM1775-ND $0.59 (10 connector strip)

FAN 12VDC 0.94W 80MM FBA HYDRO (PanaFlo 80mm x 15mm)
Part# P9732-ND $12.50 ea

Sure, Papst fans are quieter than Panaflo fans, but is it really worth 27 bucks?

The above Panaflo fan model is rated 23 dB. Unless you live in the woods, with no ambient noise, the 10 dB difference won't be too noticeable...

If 23 dB bothers ya, just put a resistor or a diode on the supply line and reduce fan speed, thus lowering the noise too...

Just put a resistor or a diode on the supply line and reduce fan speed, thus lowering the noise too...

[ 07-13-2002, 09:03 PM: Message edited by: Cuboidal ]

saru boy · Jul 16, 2002, 11:41 PM

Do any of you guys know what size the screws are that will fit into the tabs for the fan? I got a 80x80x15mm fan but the screws don't fit into the tabs in the Cube. (Right now I have duct tape fastening the fan to the tabs. No rattling and it seems pretty secure, but I'd feel better if I could actually screw it down.)

On a side note, while it's not for the faint of heart, the process of disassembling the Cube isn't all that difficult. Just have a neat workspace and keep track of which parts and screws go where. It took me about 1 hour to install the fan (it was the first time for me to take apart the Cube, aside from replacing the hd, graphics card and RAM.)