Ball Bearing vs Hydro Wave Bearing

[Bink]

I'm sure many of you have heard of the Thermaltake Silent Boost CPU fan/heatsinks.




I'm moving away from the mind numbing GlobalWin Fop38 (47dBA) to something a little quieter. The Thermaltake Silent Boost CPU fan/heatsinks boast a 21dBA noise output so they seem like the ones to get.



They come in two varieties though, Ball Bearing or Hydro Wave Bearing. According to the specs, both put out the same amount of noise, but the ball bearing model has a higher life expectency.

My question is, do they really put out the same amount of noise? Is the Hydro Wave quieter and if not, what's its selling point?

[DanceMan]

There's nothing quieter than Panaflos, and I think they call their bearings HydroWave. I don't believe that there would not be a difference in noise between the two types, despite what they say.

[CenturionStrategy]

Yeah, I didn't find the Panaflo's much quieter either. I guess you should just go for the statistically longer lasting of the two - the tried & tested ball bearing fan.

[glussier]

I own the Hydro wave bearing version and someone at the office owns the ball bearing version. We tested them and we can't tell the difference. So, as CenturionStrategy said, go with the longer lasting ball bearing version.

[Bink]

Thanks guys, I'll go with the ball bearing

[DanceMan]

Originally posted by glussier
I own the Hydro wave bearing version and someone at the office owns the ball bearing version. We tested them and we can't tell the difference.

It's good to hear definitive test results, glussier. I would be curious to hear about either compared to a Panaflo. I have some 80mm Panaflo L's and 24V 92mm Panaflos (they run down to 5V) and they are silent.

[glussier]

The silent boost fan is rated for 21db, so it can also be called silent.

[davidstone28]

I've got one of those SilentBoost HSF (with the Hydrowave) and I can't agree that the noise output is 21db.

It probably 21db at 5v (silent) but not at 7v and definitely not at the stock 12v. It more like 26-31db at 12v which definitely not silent! Virtually ANY fan is quiet at 5v.

If you ask me, its all a marketing exercise to distinguish their products from other HSFs. The Silent Boost doesn't cool particularly well and neither is it particularly quiet at stock voltages.

You've been warned!

PS. If you're looking for the a high quality but quiet HSF, I'd recommend the Zalman7000. Its built for AMD and Intel now.