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Fan efficiency

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Efficiency as in some connection between air flow, pressure and speed at different PWM. fan-performance-database

Using the database Lian li 140 is off the charts. Lol

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That's the fan for me :)
 
Really the p12 max gets platinum rating at its extremely low price... wow. Obviously its noise isn't great, but considering the max rpm that makes sense. Btw what is meant by efficiency exactly? Like airflow vs electricity drawn?
 
my beautiful fan

gere.JPG



I can set RPM from 300 to 3000, so good fan, the best. And cheap
 
Noctua is cheap? Had I used Noctua instead of Antec it would have cost more than 3 times as much, which adds up for the 6 fans I got.


For me noise is a big issue, but I also want good air flow, so I went with multiple fans.

Really the p12 max gets platinum rating at its extremely low price... wow. Obviously its noise isn't great, but considering the max rpm that makes sense. Btw what is meant by efficiency exactly? Like airflow vs electricity drawn?

I believe it is how much electrical energy ends up in the air, so in principle fans could achieve the same objective with much less power.
 
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Noctua is cheap?


For me noise is a big issue, but I also want good air flow, so I went with multiple fans.



I believe it is how much electrical energy ends up in the air, so in principle my fans could achieve the same objective with much less power.
Oh so a small number is good in this case? Like only 10% is lost or something?
 
my beautiful fan

View attachment 389630


I can set RPM from 300 to 3000, so good fan, the best. And cheap

Got two of these on my PC, but they definitely aren't for everyone. At $30 a pop, these industrial grade fans are extremely expensive even for Noctua standards. They're also very noisy. Noctua manufactures an iPPC-2000 model with IP67 ingress protection rating, I have one of those too. It's quieter than the iPPC-3000, but not by much. To fully populate a large case that takes ~12 fans + replacing your heatsink's fans with these, you're looking at around $400 on them alone.
 
Could it be the CFM at a given RPM.
for example Lian Li Uni 140 vs Arctic P14
at 70% PWM 1300 RPM
pressure 0,7
airflow 38 vs 23 CFM
current 0.1 vs 0.07A
 
Oh so a small number is good in this case? Like only 10% is lost or something?

90% of the energy is lost and that is in a best-case scenario, in many cases the loss is much higher.
 
my beautiful fan

View attachment 389630


I can set RPM from 300 to 3000, so good fan, the best. And cheap
I chose three of the 140mm 2000 version for my GD09 case build just because of the high static pressure ratings; it's never at max, but I like having the potential available. I have deflection - kinda' pseudo-ducting with tight turns - built into my design and wanted the pressure potential to overcome resistance when needed. I might have over-thought things, but it's been working for me.
 
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Btw what is meant by efficiency exactly?
Yeah! That efficiency reading is nonsense, in part, because it is not defined.

I believe it is how much electrical energy ends up in the air, so in principle fans could achieve the same objective with much less power.
Electrical energy ending up in the air? Sorry Shrek but that (and the review for that spec) makes no sense. What even is electrical energy in the air? To me, it is static electricity - as in lightning or ESD.

Efficiency is a ratio of output vs input. What's the input here? The amount of air being drawn in? If so, no way is 90% being blocked. The output side of the fan would have to almost be a closed door.

So is the input the amount of electrical power being consumed (as in watts)? The review does not say but even so, what is the conversion factor of watts to CFM? I am not aware of any.

IMO, the concept of static pressure for PC case cooling is nearly as nonsensical. Why? Because case cooling is all about creating a "flow" of air "through" the case. And that typically is achieved by having both intake fans pushing air in AND exhaust fans drawing air out at near equilibrium. Even if no exhaust fans, there are vents allowing the air to vent out.

"IF" there is too much pressure inside the case then THE USER HAS FAILED to properly configure case cooling - not the fan. It is the user's responsibility to set up case cooling, ideally with a SLIGHT over (positive) pressure to ensure all air coming in, only comes in through the designated (hopefully filtered) intake vents. It is also the user's responsibility to maintain good "cable management" and drive placement to minimize impacting that desired "flow" of air "through" the case.

WAY WAY too much emphasis is put on static pressure when it comes to computer case cooling. In other applications, static pressure matters. But not in PC case cooling. Downward firing CPU and GPU coolers, as examples, require fans with good static pressure ratings. Case fans do not.

Too much pressure inside a case is counterproductive. It restricts the desired "flow" and that creates pockets of stagnant (and heated) air. NOT GOOD! So again, just "slight" pressure so dirty air is not sucked in through ports and every other crack and crevice, yet a nice flow is created to effectively move heated air out.

Who cares how fast a case fan spins? A faster spinning fan is NOT a factor in quality and not necessarily a factor in cooling. It is all about how much air the fan is moving, as in CFM. And that depends on blade design, blade width and blade length - and finally RPM.

When selecting a case fan, obviously, if the space is designed to support a 120mm fan, you don't buy a 140mm for that spot. Most case fans are 25mm thick. If your case will fit a thicker fan without interfering with other parts of the case or nearby components, you might consider getting one. Then I look at CFM and noise levels. I HATE FAN NOISE so noise matters to me.

The general rule here is a larger fan can move more air at the same or even lower RPM than a smaller fan. Another general rule is slower spinning fans make less noise than faster spinning fans. And yet another general rule is two fans spinning at slower speeds can move more air while producing less noise than one fan spinning at full speed. Because I HATE FAN NOISE, I will not hesitate to spend extra on two fans, instead of one faster spinning fan.

Are there exceptions, of course. But exceptions don't make the rule.

Another rule is this - cost does not determine the best fan.

Oh, and a quality case goes far to suppress fan noise too.
 
Fan Efficiency = Volume Flow (m³/s) x Fan Total Pressure (N/m²) / Fan Absorbed Power (W).

The input is electrical, the output is not.

10% Efficiency and does not mean 90% blockage.
 
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I was surprised to find my fan efficiency was 10% or less

Antec Storm T3 120mm Fan Review - Page 4 of 10 - Hardware Busters

was wondering if there were fans significantly more efficient.
Noctua redux fans are not that expensive probably similar to your antec. I use Noctua & be quiet fans in my PC's mostly to keep noise down. You won't see any significant difference in temps changing case fans of equal RPM. So what are you trying to solve by changing fans? If you are doing it to "improve" efficiency when everything is fine, that does not make financial efficiency.
 
Fan Efficiency = Volume Flow (m³/s) x Fan Total Pressure (N/m²) / Fan Absorbed Power (W).
:( I only mentioned the word "case" 17 times, and the word "flow" 4 times in my last reply. Sorry you still did not pick up on, or understand that.

Again - who cares about pressure when, for case fans it is about creating flow, not pressure?

If you are expelling the contents of your lungs to blow up a balloon, static pressure matters.

If you are simply exhaling the contents of your lungs into your living room, static pressure does not matter. See the difference?

So I ask again, when it comes to case fans - fans that are used to create flow, NOT pressure - what does efficiency mean? For flow, it is all about CFM and that is about input to output. If only 10%, then 90% must be being blocked somewhere and that does not make any sense whatsoever when it comes to "case" air "flow".

And let's get real here, okay? According to that review, your Antec fan drew a maximum of 2.58W! I say again, 2.58 watts! And that's at maximum RPM. The clock on your microwave oven, lit up 24/7, is probably costing you more to operate. :kookoo:
 
how much electrical energy ends up in the air
What?

Like seriously, what did I just read?

I feel like that's enough internet for me today.

Fan Efficiency = Volume Flow (m³/s) x Fan Total Pressure (N/m²) / Fan Absorbed Power (W).
Okay cool, but what use exactly is this arbitrary metric that literally nobody except aris uses?
 
Haha iPPC.. those fans can move some air for sure, but the sound is monstrous if you have more than one lol. I have 3 or 4 of those iPPC 3K and they are too intense for me :)
 
Okay cool, but what use exactly is this arbitrary metric that literally nobody except aris uses?

Fair question, for me it was useful to know that fans can be signficantly improved. I suspect that part of the losses are heat in the motor coils.
 
As I noted, your fan, Shrek, consumes a mere 2.58W at maximum. Even power hungry fans typically only consume 6 watts, maybe 8 for a really hungry fan running full speed. How many users typically run their case fans at full speed? Sure, some energy will be lost in the form of heat, but most will be consumed making the motor spin.

Compared to CPUs, GPUs, RAM, motherboards, even drives, we're talking drops in the ocean.
 
I look forward to the days of reversible computing when we may not even need fans.


Artic fans also claim
  • EXTENDED LIFE SPAN: A 10 °C lower motor temperature roughly doubles the life span of a fan, the new ARCTIC motor has a four times longer service life through its low coil temperature
so a byproduct of greater effeiciency may be longer life.
 
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I look forward to the days of reversible computing when we may not even need fans.
…you can have this now in a way, passively cooled PCs do exist. Of course, this is under the provision that you are willing to compromise some things. Otherwise, physics are physics and power-hungry components, which high performance semiconductors tend to be, produce a lot of heat and need to be cooled. Fans moving air, whether just for flow or through a heatsink, just happen to be a really effective way of doing so.
I have no idea what reversible computing has to with anything at hand though.
 
passively cooled PCs do exist.
And have for many years, often in home theater setups where any fan noise is unacceptable.
 
I have no idea what reversible computing has to with anything at hand though.
Theoretically would remove the need for active cooling.
 
…you can have this now in a way, passively cooled PCs do exist. Of course, this is under the provision that you are willing to compromise some things. Otherwise, physics are physics and power-hungry components, which high performance semiconductors tend to be, produce a lot of heat and need to be cooled. Fans moving air, whether just for flow or through a heatsink, just happen to be a really effective way of doing so.
I have no idea what reversible computing has to with anything at hand though.

Reversible computing should allow high computational power without the heat.

Read someplace that computers consume more energy than all the planes, so I see it as a big deal, other than not needing fans.
 
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