Stick to sleeve bearing..

[tp4tissue]

All my ball-bearing fans begin rattling after a few years...

These cost like $5 more as well ~$15 each at the time.

All my cheapo sleave bearing ones run quiet and just as long..


Fancy bearing = ripoff....

[SeriouSSpotS]

Bearing wear out, just replace the fans. 

[tp4tissue]

Bearing wear out, just replace the fans. 

Just saying... I have $2 ebay sleeve fans that work like new.. vs $15 ball bearing fans that rattle..

Damn you marketing department.... grrrrrrrrr

[tgujay]

Bearing wear out, just replace the fans. 

Just saying... I have $2 sleeve fans that work like new.. vs $15 ball bearing fans that rattle..

Damn you marketing department.... grrrrrrrrr

Sleeve bearing will get loud if horizontal, ball bearings won't.  If you only plan on having vertical mounted fans then sure go with sleeve, otherwise ball bearings have their place.

[tp4tissue]

Bearing wear out, just replace the fans. 

Just saying... I have $2 sleeve fans that work like new.. vs $15 ball bearing fans that rattle..

Damn you marketing department.... grrrrrrrrr

Sleeve bearing will get loud if horizontal, ball bearings won't.  If you only plan on having vertical mounted fans then sure go with sleeve, otherwise ball bearings have their place.

I'm not talking about the base operational noise...

It's the rattle that comes from the ball bearing wearing out...

Whereas the sleeve bearing is much more durable..


As far as base operational noise, the bearing doesn't make either that much louder.

[tgujay]

Bearing wear out, just replace the fans. 

Just saying... I have $2 sleeve fans that work like new.. vs $15 ball bearing fans that rattle..

Damn you marketing department.... grrrrrrrrr

Sleeve bearing will get loud if horizontal, ball bearings won't.  If you only plan on having vertical mounted fans then sure go with sleeve, otherwise ball bearings have their place.

I'm not talking about the base operational noise...

It's the rattle that comes from the ball bearing wearing out...

Whereas the sleeve bearing is much more durable..


As far as base operational noise, the bearing doesn't make either that much louder.

Sleeve fans wear out much faster, therefore getting to a louder more annoying noise much faster.

[asura]

There are steel balls, and then there are steel balls...  )

Seriously though, roller bearings.

[IvanIvanovich]

Maglevs are where it is at. They are also more powerful while being at least as quiet. Even the teeny tiny ones in my 1U rack are not annoying and push a good amount of air for a little thing. They also don't cost much more than other options, but it seems to be very very very hard to find any with PWM.

[rowdy]

Maglevs are where it is at. They are also more powerful while being at least as quiet. Even the teeny tiny ones in my 1U rack are not annoying and push a good amount of air for a little thing. They also don't cost much more than other options, but it seems to be very very very hard to find any with PWM.

Sounds like what I need for my Raq collection.

[Techno Trousers]

Looks like the Sunon MAGLev fans only go up to 60mm size,  so that's a no-go for our home rigs, unfortunately.

[rowdy]

But do they go down to, er, about 30mm?

[nubbinator]

Sleeve bearings require maintenance to keep them running smoothly.  If you haven't been topping off the oil reserve and they're still running fine, you got lucky.  Sleeve bearings also are picky about their orientation.

On the other hand, my Thermalright TY-140s and TY-141s I've owned (2BB fans) have all been fantastic.  I'd grab 2 ball bearing or HDB fans over sleeve any day.  I've been lusting after some BeQuiet Silent Wings 2, but they're so expensive.

[IvanIvanovich]

No, maglev 120x25 which I have some of (MEC0251V3-000U-A99) and 120x38 (MEC0381V3-000U-A99) at least. I am not sure if they do 140x or larger but the do have 40, 60, 80, 92 and 120 for certain. They can be kind of hard to find though. Usually have to hunt around odd electronics suppliers they never seem to carry them in PC type places for some reason. Also they are most often found untailed but it's not really a huge bother.

[tp4tissue]

No, maglev 120x25 which I have some of (MEC0251V3-000U-A99) and 120x38 (MEC0381V3-000U-A99) at least. I am not sure if they do 140x or larger but the do have 40, 60, 80, 92 and 120 for certain. They can be kind of hard to find though. Usually have to hunt around odd electronics suppliers they never seem to carry them in PC type places for some reason. Also they are most often found untailed but it's not really a huge bother.

Hmm......

bought one on ebay.. we shall see...

[IPT]

i've been using my AP15 GT's for 5 years now.
still no issues.

[Techno Trousers]

No, maglev 120x25 which I have some of (MEC0251V3-000U-A99) and 120x38 (MEC0381V3-000U-A99) at least. I am not sure if they do 140x or larger but the do have 40, 60, 80, 92 and 120 for certain.

Oh, that's weird.  I was basing my statement on the product list at sunonusa.com. But I did find a lot listed at digikey.com. Based on specs,  I'd say that the MEC0251V3-000U-A99 would be best in most 120mm PC applications. I think the others in that size would be too noisy for me. I'll have to see if I can find a source for a couple,  thanks!

[tp4tissue]

No, maglev 120x25 which I have some of (MEC0251V3-000U-A99) and 120x38 (MEC0381V3-000U-A99) at least. I am not sure if they do 140x or larger but the do have 40, 60, 80, 92 and 120 for certain.

Oh, that's weird.  I was basing my statement on the product list at sunonusa.com. But I did find a lot listed at digikey.com. Based on specs,  I'd say that the MEC0251V3-000U-A99 would be best in most 120mm PC applications. I think the others in that size would be too noisy for me. I'll have to see if I can find a source for a couple,  thanks!

No such thing as BEST,

I bought one today on a whim to see what's up with the bearing..

But....  If you look at the impeller design.. it's definately not at all special. The impeller makes for the bulk of differences in performance and audibility..  So....  yea... I highly DOUBT that these fans will perform better or at all more quietly.

That said, I am intrigued to see this "frictionless bearing"

[rknize]

It's about loading and temps, mostly.  High RPM fans put a lot of side-load on ball bearings, especially when they are blasting up against a heat sink.  I've got Sunnon dual BB fans in my server that have been running 24x7 for over a decade.  They are still very quiet.  I've had high-RPM versions of the exact same fans fail after a few years.  I've also got Panaflo fans of various types and speeds running 24x7.  No failures of those yet.

I've had many other fans fail within months (sleeve and BB)...mostly high RPM CPU (high temps and thrust) fans or ultra-cheap PSU fans or oddball fans.

[tp4tissue]

It's about loading and temps, mostly.  High RPM fans put a lot of side-load on ball bearings, especially when they are blasting up against a heat sink.  I've got Sunnon dual BB fans in my server that have been running 24x7 for over a decade.  They are still very quiet.  I've had high-RPM versions of the exact same fans fail after a few years.  I've also got Panaflo fans of various types and speeds running 24x7.  No failures of those yet.

I've had many other fans fail within months (sleeve and BB)...mostly high RPM CPU (high temps and thrust) fans or ultra-cheap PSU fans or oddball fans.

I still think the Ultra cheap is the way to go for home setups...  $2 each vs $15 for most other fancy ones. "Pretty unlikely that 6 cheap fans will ALL DIE before the $15 fan..."


The only time an expensive fan would be worth it, is if you have a room full of servers, where you wouldn't have the time to change them out.

[IvanIvanovich]

I like them for rad fans. They really don't seem anywhere as loud as similar CFM rated panaflos.

[rknize]

I went through a phase about 10 years ago where I was replacing fans left and right after having a PSU catch fire due to a locked-up sleeve fan.  I tried a lot of different types, trying to find that sweet spot of noise versus airflow.  We lived in a small apartment, so noise was a big factor.  Fast forward 10-12 years...the servers are in the basement and motherboards actually control fan speeds on their own.  I don't care too much about fans anymore and just put the most gigantic heat sink on my CPUs that I can fit.

However, my obsession did leave a few useful data points in its wake.  The old low-mid RPM Sunon's and all my Panaflos are still going strong.  The Vantec Stealths, the Thermaltakes, the delta black labels, the YS Tech TMDs, and others I can't remember have all died.

[IvanIvanovich]

I really hate super loud fans, my pcs are only like at arms length so I can't have them screaming away without loosing my mind. But at the same time they also have to do their job, and I find many of the 'specialty' quiet fans are about as effective as me blowing on the pc myself.

[tp4tissue]

I really hate super loud fans, my pcs are only like at arms length so I can't have them screaming away without loosing my mind. But at the same time they also have to do their job, and I find many of the 'specialty' quiet fans are about as effective as me blowing on the pc myself.

Sounds like you need 2 computers then.. one for browsing and one for High performance.

Fanless i5 2500k 3570k 4670k  are great choices, because you can easily adjust them and undervolt for fanless operation.

[IvanIvanovich]

I already have 3! My main computer, I still have i5 750. I was planning on upgrade this year, but really it's still doing it's job for me just fine for now. Maybe if games really become more demanding after this new console generation, but I have my doubts... That one is watercooled, and the loudest thing there is the MCP350 pump with its water moving noise.