Difference between different fan bearings ?

[jboydgolfer]

These have never failed me (yet)

Scythe , Kaze or Grand Flex are good, FDB. They used to be really expensive sometimes more than Noctua, but a few weeks back I saw them for $15 or less/each. I still have the Stocks fans that came in an Antec Lanboy , im not super picky

 

[HTC]

I didn't see anything on them.

Here's an example of a bearing's markings:



From the pic you posted, i can't judge the size so it may be smaller than those we make. The markings may also be on the outer ring (instead of the inner ring, like in the pic) or even on the outside of the outer ring.

Currently, i'm making the inner and outer rings (IR.6004-2Z-8101 and AU.6004-2Z-8101) for 6004 NGC bearings.

Sorry for the off topic.

 

[erocker]

I got it apart: double ball bearing.

Best part is, they can be replaced with something just as good, if not better. Old fans are the best fans.

 

[Athlonite]

out of all the fans I've had over the years the Riffle bearing was the absolute worst so here's the list from top performer to worst
1: Magnetic levitation
2: Hydro-Dynamic / Fluid
3: Double Ball bearing
4: Single Ball bearing
5: Riffle / Sleeve bearing (these are the bottom of the barrel)


Then all that remains in choosing your fan is Size, RPM, CFM for plain case fans and or Pressure (mm/H20) for radiator fans then Warranty and Cost I tend to stay well away from cheap n cheerful and LED at all costs if I can

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Here's an example of a bearing's markings:

View attachment 101080

From the pic you posted, i can't judge the size so it may be smaller than those we make. The markings may also be on the outer ring (instead of the inner ring, like in the pic) or even on the outside of the outer ring.

Currently, i'm making the inner and outer rings (IR.6004-2Z-8101 and AU.6004-2Z-8101) for 6004 NGC bearings.

Sorry for the off topic.

They're about 1cm across.

 

[HTC]

They're about 1cm across.

We used to make 624 and 625 bearings but both of those are bigger then those you describe so i'm guessing it's not one of ours.

For comparison, i currently make rings for 6004, which is quite allot bigger.

Biggest bearing i ever made rings for was S6310, which is the stainless steel version of 6310 (notice the weight of it): it took over 4 minutes to grind 1 outer ring and it had to go to super-finish afterwards, which took much much longer (but made 3 for each machine cicle: still took longer, though).

Enough OT: sorry, all.

 

[biffzinker]

Once the lubricant dries up, it's done for.

The stock scythe kotetsu fan says no way, still going strong (sleeve bearing.)

 

[R-T-B]

Havent heard Matsushita in a Long Time

They branded their dvd-roms with that name in firmware way longer than they probably should have.

 

[Krit]

So basically Noctua has the best fans in market ? What about Thermalright looks very similar to Noctua.

 

[eidairaman1]

So basically Noctua has the best fans in market ? What about Thermalright looks very similar to Noctua.

Thermalright are still a contender. Pretty good. However its what bearings fans use, if they are sleeve, they are the bottom barrel fans, rifles are a step above etc etc.

I see noctua fans as obnoxious because of how freaking ugly they are.

 

[Krit]

However its what bearings fans use, if they are sleeve, they are the bottom barrel fans, rifles are a step above etc etc.

Noctua uses SSO2 Bearings, Thermalright uses Enhanced Hyper-Flow Bearings.

 

[eidairaman1]

Noctua uses SSO2 Bearings, Thermalright uses Enhanced Hyper-Flow Bearings.

Can't go wrong with either. I use Glidestream 140s on my CPU and Spectre Pro LED 140 and 230s in my case.

 

[biffzinker]

The Cougar Vortex Fans I'm using have Hydro-Dynamic Bearing. There coming up on 5 years without any issues.


I see on the newer CFD series they've switched the name to Hydraulic-Bearing.

 

[eidairaman1]

The Cougar Vortex Fans I'm using have Hydro-Dynamic Bearing. There coming up on 5 years without any issues.
View attachment 101217

I see on the newer CFD series they've switched the name to Hydraulic-Bearing.
View attachment 101218

Shorter name

 

[John Naylor]

It's much less about what it's called than how well it's made. I have purchased over 100 Phanteks PH-140SP's since 2013..... no failures to date, ... one of them was noisy on a radiator ... sent in in for RAM replacement, note said ship back old one in same box. w/ provided mailing label ... when opened box, there were 2 fans inside , not said "for ya trouble" and no label ... calle up and they said dont bother to shup back,,, so I installed it vertically, no noise stopped and still running.

$10 each and when ya take the fans off a Noctua Cooler and put these on ... at same rpm temps drop 6C
http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/phenteks_f140/3.htm

 

[Hood]

So basically Noctua has the best fans in market ? What about Thermalright looks very similar to Noctua.

I never had a Thermalright or a Phanteks. I tend to stick with Noctua, because you know what you're getting. If the brown/tan colors put you off, get the redux (gray/dark gray) or the industrial series (black).

 

[Octopuss]

Am I the last and only weirdo on the planet who doesn't give a sh.. about Noctua colours? I mean the damn fans are inside a case that's under the table.

 

[Vario]

I never had a Thermalright or a Phanteks. I tend to stick with Noctua, because you know what you're getting. If the brown/tan colors put you off, get the redux (gray/dark gray) or the industrial series (black).

Thermalright and Phanteks are both good, though some of the Phanteks are better than others. Be Quiet is also a good brand.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

So basically Noctua has the best fans in market ? What about Thermalright looks very similar to Noctua.

No, they're basically sleeve bearing with added magnets to stabilize it:

Let me break it down real simple:
a) quiet and five year life span: sleeve
b) loud and ten year life span: double ball
c) between a and b: pretty much everything else

OEMs like to put cheap sleeve fans on cases because if they fail, meh. They're also relatively quiet so they won't contribute much sound to the room the system is in; conversely, OEMs like cheap heatsinks which means if the fan dies sitting on top of the heatsink, performance dives, so they use ball bearings. Reference GPU HSFs with blower type fans use ball bearings just like the cheap heatsinks AMD and Intel put in CPU boxes have ball bearings. These fans are intended to remove 65+ watts of heat for the lifetime of the product (10+ years). Additionally, these fans are buried in the system where you won't hear it.

Now look at OEM server systems: they have ball bearing fans *everywhere*. They're loud, they last 10+ years, and they keep everything cool.

OEMs tend to not bother with any other bearing types because there's too much legalese involved which contributes to higher shipping costs than going with sleeve or ball. It's not really worth it.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Am I the last and only weirdo on the planet who doesn't give a sh.. about Noctua colours? I mean the damn fans are inside a case that's under the table.

You are definitely not the last. I am a firm believer cases should sit quietly and discreetly off to the side and NOT draw attention to themselves. So I don't go for fancy facades and flashy lights. I do like side panel windows but only because they are great for visual inspections to look for dust build-up and to make sure all fans are spinning. Other than that, I tend to pay attention to what's on my monitors.

Now look at OEM server systems: they have ball bearing fans *everywhere*. They're loud, they last 10+ years, and they keep everything cool.

As noted way above in post #4,

There are cheap crap fans, and quality fans. I'll take a professionally designed, top quality sleeve bearing fan over a cheap crap, poorly designed, poorly produced fluid or hydrodynamic fan any day.

Same applies to ball bearing fans. "Precision" ball bearing fans (and the channels they run in) can be very quiet.

But just as important, if not more so than the bearing design when it comes to CFM and fan noise is the design/shape of the fan blades. Remember, these are tiny propellers subject to the properties of aero (or fluid) dynamics or propeller dynamics.

A poorly designed fan blade can make a lot of noise "chopping" through the air drowning out any bearing noise, while moving only a small amount of air. A superior designed fan blade can "slice" through the air, scope up and push massive amounts of air, in near silence, like a nuclear submarine slipping silently through the water at 30+ knots 600 feet below the surface.

Everyone can argue all day long about which "type" bearing is the best. But the point is moot unless the quality of manufacturing and assembly of those bearings AND the quality of design and the characteristics of the fan blades are factored in too. A silent fan motor coupled with bad design fan blade may still be noisy, and may move little air.

Of course fan rotation speed must be factored in too. If you have to run your case fans at full speed to get enough air moving through the case, you need better and/or larger fans, and/or more fans, or a better case.

 

[EsaT]

So basically Noctua has the best fans in market ? What about Thermalright looks very similar to Noctua.

NF-P12 and NF-F12 fans I've had come with (expensive) Noctua heatsinks have been rather lousy for the premium.
While maybe fooling dB-meter P12's acoustic signature has quirks.
And in case of F12 is never any calm/smooth...
Likely because of those truts nearly parallel to trailing edge of fan blades causing bigger "bumps" to airflow separating from blade.
I mean just blow air from your mouth and then move finger or pen sideways back and forth through that airflow...
You'll get lot more noise.

Even worser is vibration.
They were like some darn vibrating rollers when held in hand and when on table it would amplify noise.
Should be easy to deduct what such vibration does, when you attach fan to case!


At the same time original sleeve bearing Scythe Slipstreams costing third of those hype Noctuas are free of vibration and have very smooth sound profile, with noise coming only from airflow.
(and they move more air per RPM than most fans in low/ish impedance use because of blades covering bigger percentage of fan diameter)

Also ball bearing Scythe Gentle Typhoons have very smooth rotation and no real bearing sounds.
Really shame paths of Scythe and Nidec-Servo separated.

Well, Scythe Kaze Flex looks really good geometry wise with Slipstream like design and should have good life span, unlike Slipstream.

I do like side panel windows but only because they are great for visual inspections to look for dust build-up and to make sure all fans are spinning. Other than that, I tend to pay attention to what's on my monitors.


Everyone can argue all day long about which "type" bearing is the best. But the point is moot unless the quality of manufacturing and assembly of those bearings AND the quality of design and the characteristics of the fan blades are factored in too. A silent fan motor coupled with bad design fan blade may still be noisy, and may move little air.

That's indeed only really useful function for side window.
Though I guess some like staring more parts of their computer than actually using it.
Btw, once when assembling new PC with Seagate Barracuda ATA IV drive actually opened the case to check that I had truly connected it, because at the time pretty much all other drives made lots of noise.


Even good bearing and design isn't enough if materials are bad and easily resonating.

The fancy "metallic" plastic used for the frame may look flashy, but it's terrible for sound. Lightweight and brittle, the material picks up fan vibration easily and audibly, giving the fan a highly resonant character. At slower speeds, the resonance manifests itself as a deep buzz or growl, while at higher speeds it's more like a pure tone.
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article739-page3.html#silenx

The acoustic difference between the opaque Globe fan and the transparent AcoustiFan was quite remarkable. We've often said that transparent plastic is unsuitable for use in quiet computers, and listening to the two fans side-by-side demonstrated why. Both fans demonstrated the same underlying growl that increased in pitch and volume as the speed increased, but the transparent AcoustiFan also had a ringing overtone: The sound of the brittle transparent plastic resonating.
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article739-page5.html#acoustifan

Though I've met few translucent Nanoxias which seemed to avoid resonance problems.

 

[Bill_Bright]

So basically Noctua has the best fans in market ?

Forgot to comment on this. The answer is a resounding, "no". No one company makes the best across their entire line.

And of course, "best" means different things to different people. When talking 140mm fans for example, "best" may mean the most CFM to one person. "Best" may mean the quietest to some one else. And "best" may mean longest lasting to another, or most energy efficient yet another person. No fan, or fan maker, makes the "best" in all categories - especially across their entire line of offerings.

Frankly, I really like Fractal Design fans - including those included in their better cases. The only way I can they are spinning is to look, or put my ear to back of the case to "feel" the air blowing on my ear. They don't make noise and they don't vibrate.

 

[John Naylor]

Am I the last and only weirdo on the planet who doesn't give a sh.. about Noctua colours? I mean the damn fans are inside a case that's under the table.

Not for the folks that invest in windowed cases, custom water cooling, cable sleeving etc. ... and dare i say. the LED fad which seems to not to wanna go away.

Still, for me, an acknowledged hardware whore with no brand loyalties, it's all about the numbers ... and Noctua doesn't have them anymore so color doesn't matter anyway, tho I am hoping their new stiff bladed fan with reduced blade / frame gap brings them up on top again. Noc lost the title in 2013 - 2014 when ya could drop temps 6C at same rpm by by replacing the fans on Noctua's own coolers, get reduced sound and pay haf the price to boot. I still haven't seen a face off between the Phanteks and the Silent Wings 3 but, as I said before, base dupon the new Noc design w/ rigid blades allowing reduced clerance, performance should improve and noise should drop

http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/phenteks_f140/3.htm
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1345-page7.html

And want to reiterate ... if buying a fan based upon advertised specs is a fool's errand. They are not real. Cougar advertises this fan as 70 cfm and 0.084 " H2O. I can not meet that spec. In actuality, it winds up being 34 cfm (less than half advertised) @ 0.040 inches H2O (again less than half) ... and of ya picked it over the 58 cfm @ 0.080 inches H2O Typhoon, you made a mistake as installed the Typhoon deliver more air and more SP.

When reading box or advertised specs... remember when politicians and marketing professionals go to college they minor in "deceiving the public"

 

[Octopuss]

The problem is that there are SO friggin many fans out there it's impossible to find any up to date test that would cover even fraction of useful ones, so you have no easy way to choose anyway.
I just buy Noctua. It might not be the absolute best performance, but I know what I'm getting. And I don't want to experiment.

 

[Bill_Bright]

I am not brand loyal but I do pick brands I am familiar with. But that does not ensure quality. Antec, for example, makes some excellent fans. But they also make (or rebrand) some really cheap ones too.

The reality is, you don't have to spend a fortune. You should avoid the budget models, but no need to buy the most expensive either.