Anartik.com’s Blog

There are a whole bunch of gimmicks and claims these days regarding computer fans. Most of it is marketing BS plain and simple. The biggest claim these days is “silent” and while there are all sorts of gimmicks, especially in the bearing department, there is not a huge differentiation between fans other than maybe colors, speeds and overall quality. Not surprising the more marketing claims the higher the price. In all reality many manufacturers merely reduced the speed of fans, in many case to useless CFM levels, and called the fan “quiet”, “silent” or even “green” hoping Joe public would bite. In just the past few months numerous new players have jumped on the market with all kinds of claims and fans moving into ridiculous price ranges.

I have been thinking about doing this comparison for a while and finally knocked it out. The first installment is for the most commonly used case fan size which is now 120mm. This comparison is not about appearances, prices etc. but about a simple method of comparing fan performance using a simple ratio of CFM / dBA (noise). The graph is straight forward and shows you how 120mm fans rank by how many CFM you get per dBA of noise. I included pretty much all the 120mm models I sell and added some other “premium” price fans I don’t sell. Simply put the higher the number the better and if you want a quiet fan at the expense of airflow the Scythe S-Flex D ($12.99) and Scythe Slipstream ($8.99) low speed are hands down the winners providing the most airflow per decibel of noise. One interesting trend you will notice, even with Scythe, is the higher the CFM goes the lower the ratio drops.

On the high flow side the Scythe Slipstream H, YS Tech, Ultra Kaze H and Delta AFB take the honors as the most noise efficient fans. They may range from tolerably loud to very loud but they offer the most flow per dBA.

The only caveat to the whole comparison is it was done using published manufacturer specs. In a nutshell there is a standard method of dBA measurement but many don’t use it, do it incorrectly, or just plain fudge the numbers. You may also ask why I did not include Silenx fans… According to what I have read across the net in real user reviews their unbelievably low noise claims are false and the fans are grossly louder than claimed and I have seen at least one major reseller is trying to dump them. Personally I would not buy them and consequently I would not sell them because I try not to sell anything I would not use myself.

Update: A new graph has been posted with more models. The Noctua NF-12-800 is now #1 although at a price of $19-25 for a 34.7CFM fan. I really don’t care for the marketing of these fans (and others) where the flow is only provided as cubic milliliters per hour (m3/h) which can only lead to confusion of the user. You can convert from m3/h to CFM by multiplying m3/h x .589. m3/h can be obtained from CFM by multiplying CFM x 1.699. Here is a good website for doing flow conversions Engineeringtoolbox.com.

A second graph has been posted that will allow you to see the bigger picture of not just ratio but CFM and dBA.

Jim Phillips
anartik.com

120mm Fan CFM/dBA Ratios

120mm Fan CFM/dBA/Ratio

An Arctic Silver shipment is due in Friday January 30th to replentish soldout ArctiClean 1&2, 60ml sets.

I have been waiting sometime for a die shrunk, dual core 280 and I have to say I am a little disappointed in Nvidia. On the surface it looks like Nvidia’s single minded objective was to win back the single fastest video card title from ATI and the hell with the consumer. From the various test results I have read the 295 is indeed now the fastest single card beating the 4870 X2 pretty much across the board. What peeves me is they did not make a true dual core 280 or 285. In a nutshell they put downclocked 285 series processors on what amounts to a GTX260 architecture with 2 x 448 bit memory buses for a total of 1792MB memory (instead of 2 x 512 and 2048mb). In other words they did just what they had to do to beat ATI. Granted you can overclock (or buy overclocked) but the memory limitations remain and I would have to suspect the GTX285 parts are binned and better quality than the GTX295 parts. There has been a lot of mention that they reduced power consumption which comes from the die shrink but a lot comes from the clock reductions. It’s also a shame Nvidia is sticking with DDR3 vs. DDR5.

You can buy the GTX295 for around $500 which will give you the fastest single card but GTX280 or GTX285 in SLI will provide better performance at a premium. If you are limited by lack of support for SLI (X38/X48 etc) the GTX 295 is a pretty good option. For my part I will probably go with a single GTX 285 and maybe get a second when I ever get around to moving to I7 and X58. If you are looking for real price/performance look for deals on the GTX280. Retailers will no doubt scramble to dump old stock. Deals on the 4870 X2 are also worth looking in to as prices decline.

At some point you finally have to make the jump and upgrade and can’t always just wait for what’s next. I have already seen references to waiting on what’s next from Nvidia. If you have older hardware now’s a pretty good time to upgrade. I certainly would not lay out any cash if I already had a GTX280, GTX260’s or a 4870X2. I also would not expect Nvidia to be in any hurry to offer anything better until ATI makes the next move.

I was looking for this to happen since LGA1366 debuted and it finally did… Intel finally cut prices on LGA775 processors. Most notable (at least to me) is the cut in the price of the Yorkfield Q9650 3ghz Quad which has dropped from $550 to $339.99 with free shipping at the current cheapest online retailer. This Quad has great OC potential with a multiplier of 9 which should yield a stable minimum of 9*450FSB = 4.05ghz and 4.14ghz is also well within reason with proper cooling. Although an I7 would bring you a Quad with 8 threads the Q9650 sports good price performance and most of all provides a viable upgrade path for current LGA775 systems. Like I have noted before desktop applications and games are still few and far between to take full advantage of 4 threads let alone 8. By the time that functionality is fully realized pretty much all current hardware will be obsolete anyway. It really does not pay to buy hardware based on promises of future tech. The I7 is however better suited for servers and high end workstations where many applications are run at once or have specialty software designed for true parallelism i.e. rendering or video encoding.

Note: I believe the reason for the price cuts is not just about the I7 or posturing against the Phenom II. Intel is releasing the S series of Quads which feature reduced power at a significant premium. I don’t see any mention of a Q9650S but the Q9550, Q9400 and Q8200 drop from 95-65 watts. I don’t believe there will be any value for enthusiasts in the S series though.

I took a look today to see what the price would be for an I7 upgrade to my system. Today’s price is running about $1039 + shipping for an Asus P6T, 6gb Corsair DDR3 1600, and a I7 2.93ghz. Of course you could easily spend more with my current board of choice the Asus P6T6 Revolution at around $360. Upgrade paths are always on my mind but I think I will finally upgrade my 8800GTX first with a GTX285.

This will be the first politically orientated editorial sponsored by Anartik.com for an issue dear to me. First and foremost I am a staunch constitutionalist and don’t believe the constitution is a living document subject to liberal judges/politicians manipulation based on the current political whim. What concerns me is the future of the second amendment under the current administration and congress. Fortunately the Supreme Court finally ruled that it is the people’s right to bear arms and the court is likely to maintain that balance for some time to come. However the Supreme Court left a gaping hole for liberals to eat into when they said gun ownership was subject to reasonable regulation. Now is a time to stand vigilant against assaults on our constitutional rights. While I am starting to have a little faith in Obama as being a reasonable man (although he has been noted as the most anti-gun president in the history of the US), with more pressing priorities, I certainly don’t trust the current congress or his vice president Joe Biden (despite his rants about nobody will get his shotguns) who was the author of the original assault weapons ban and an outspoken guns rights opponent. The liberals do have the passage of the much stricter and permanent assault weapons ban on the agenda and if they get it passed I am sure Obama will sign it. If you want to do what you can do to protect our constitutionally guaranteed rights visit NRA.org and join today. The NRA stands to support our rights and will keep you informed on present and future assaults by politicians and organizations.

My family starting coming to America in the 1600’s, before it was a country, and has done their part in defending this country and its constitution in every war and conflict since. I fired my first gun at the age of five and I have responsibly owned and used guns (including high capacity and assault) all my life. I am a gun owner, NRA member, IDPA member, concealed permit holder, sportsman, hunter, competitive shooter, outspoken gun rights advocate, supporter of stiff penalties for gun crimes and an Army veteran with 4 years as a Paratrooper in the Infantry. I will continue to do my part and I urge you to do what you can to protect our rights. It’s not just about gun ownership rights and the right to hunt or compete it’s about the right to defend yourself and your family.

Jim Phillips
anartik.com

The economy is in the toilet and the price of fuel has plummeted so what does the Postal service do? They raise rates again by about 3% on priority mail. Expect to see new rates appearing over the next few days. The lowest rate moves from $4.8 to $4.95 and climbs based on weight and zone. Flat rate boxes have jumped to $10.35 and $13.95 and they have added a new small flat rate at $4.95. Ever since Fedex took over handling of priority mail some years back from the previous contractor (Emory I believe) service has done nothing but decline while prices have continually climbed. $4.95 (1 pound any zone or 2 pounds same zone) is still pretty good for 2-3 day but rates can climb rapidly by weight and zone. If your not in a hurry and your package is more than a couple pounds UPS ground becomes the best deal. At checkout time you can compare all the rates and select what works for you. Fedex was also behind the zoning and higher rates for express mail which became to complicated, restrictive and forced me to remove it as an option some time back. The post office is well known for bungling just about any endeavor and they really did it when they allowed a direct competitor to handle priority/express mail DC to DC logistics (obvious conflict of interest).

As always we will continue to do what we can to save you on shipping. If you paid more for Priority than the cost of a flat rate box (and the order will fit) we will use flat rate and refund you the difference.

PWM

PWM is a process for controlling analog circuits via digital processor outputs. PWM is widely used in robotics, embedded systems, communications etc. and has made its way into mainstream computing via Intel. The focus of this tech note is PWM applications in computing.

PWM provides the most effective means of managing your system fans which can result in noise reduction, extended fan life and energy savings. PWM sends a digital signal to a IC in your PWM fan or device without the need for digital to analog conversion which can result in signal noise.

1) PWM is backwards compatible with any standard 3 pin Molex header. Of course if you use a 3 pin header you lose PWM control but keep power and RPM sensing. A properly wired fan will use a standard PWM connector that has a polarization rib to keep the fan from being plugged in incorrectly. Please note that if you are using wiring extensions or Y’s that a 4 pin PWM plug will not fit into a 3 pin hooded adapter. They will however work with adapters that use a open 3 pin male header connection w/o a hood. Many 3 pin fan controllers use hooded connections so beware.

2) PWM is the present and the future of computing. LGA1366 motherboards generally include at least one PWM header for the CPU cooler and some will include 2 or more. Even if you don’t have a controlling device the purchase of PWM enabled fans helps protect your investment.

3) Depending on the fans used and the rating of the motherboard header up to 5 fans can be daisy chained using Y adapters. Once you start chaining you maintain PWM control but lose RPM reporting for all but the first fan. There are some wiring products on the market that are incorrectly constructed so beware. As with a 3 pin Y cable only one side of the Y should be reporting RPM. There are also some products that claim to be PWM splitters but half the Y is just a standard 3 pin connection.

4) There are a few controllers/hubs starting to appear on the market. These are for systems without any motherboard PWM control or to augment PWM ready systems. They tend to vary greatly in function and quality.

Anartik.com currently carries several PWM fans and will continue to expand this line. We also carry Molex PWM female connectors and will soon carry other electrical accessories like Y’s and extensions. While I expect to carry a selection of standard 3 and 4 pin fans for some time to come 4 pin PWM fans will eventually become the norm.

On the CPU cooler side the Scythe Mugen 2, Shuriken, Kama Angle, AC Freezer 7 Pro and the Reeven core contact cooler come standard with PWM fans. Expect to see more coolers follow this standard in the near future.

It is my opinion that PWM is here to stay and will rapidly become as standard as the 3 pin RPM connection. The fans for the most part are here although there is more to PWM than just slapping an IC into existing fan models. Fans really need to be designed for PWM to eliminate any fan noise that may be induced by PWM control. So not all PWM fans are created equal and will vary in quality of the PWM function. On the control side PWM has a ways to go. Motherboards need to start including more PWM connections with better controls in the BIOS and/or software. On the fan controller side more work is also needed. Some fan controllers may only include one PWM connection and product selection is still rather limited.

Jim Phillips
Anartik.com

Time has finally run out for Circuit City and I believe the liquidation sale starts this weekend. Not that I was ever a fan but less competition is always a bad thing and I feel for the 30k+ employees without a job (been there, done that). Bad management has certainly cost a lot of people in the past few years. A couple months ago my G5 mouse died and I was forced to use my crap G7 wireless. I wanted a G9 and Egg was $90 + shipping so I went out shopping in Orlando and Best buy at $99 had no stock anywhere. The new CompUSA (TigerDirect) also had no stock at around $90. Last stop was Circuit City and they had plenty of G9’s in stock at $110! No wonder they had plenty of stock. I said no way, went home and starting digging and voila Logitech G9 $69 with free shipping and no tax! Moral of the story is you make no effort to compete (especially in this economy) and your history.

BTW the site has since raised the G9 to 79.95 but shipping is still free.

We have a special on the website where you receive free Arctic Silver 5 with the purchase of select coolers which includes the Thermaltake Blue ORB, Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme, Scythe Orochi and Scythe Zipang. If you go to each of the items it specifically states in red “Limited offer: Free Arctic Silver 5 with purchase (select above)” and the default “thermal paste” option is “1005 Arctic Silver 5, 3.5g (+0)”. On all other coolers the option default is “none” or “1005 Arctic Silver 5, 3.5g (+4.99)”. Free Arctic silver is not included with the new Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme RT model. Sorry for any confusion but when you add an item to your cart it states exactly what you have ordered and all options you have selected.

Jim Phillips
anartik.com

Since I moved on from my Intel P3 years ago I jumped on the AMD band wagon. I went through multiple AMD processors up to my last system with an Athlon X2 4400 (socket 939). Since that time AMD ceased to be a viable alternative for anyone wanting a true performance system. Some AMD loyalists might argue that point but Intel’s devasting performance lead is undeniable. As much as I had come to dislike Intel there was a clear choice for a better chipset and CPU. As such for my last build I went with a E8500(would have bought E8600 but was not out yet) and a X48 motherboard. I have my likes and dislikes but AMD and Intel are not sports teams and I’m no ones “fanboy”. He who sells the best price/performance product gets the sale. For gaming where multi threading, beyond maybe two cores, has not taken hold yet a faster dual core is still the best option. Sure there are some extreme options but the prices are not worth it IMO. I’ve had my eye on the Q9650 3ghz for a while but the price has not moved much and as of today around $550(which I’m not paying). That processor should do 4ghz+ on my system. Anyway more on topic…

I’m very happy to see AMD has made the launch of the 45nm 2.8 ghz 920 and 3ghz 940 Phenom II. They are still clock for clock slower than Intel (3ghz 940 ~= 2.66ghz Q9400) but it is a step in the right direction and something of a return to competition. While there is nothing there to make me run out and buy one it provides a great upgrade option to current AM2+ users and is (finally) supposed to be a great overclocker. It also provides an economical and viable alternative to Intel for those wishing to build a quad core system(at least if Intel does not retaliate and drop prices).

I think most of all I thank AMD for finally doing something to put some competitive price pressure on Intel. I may yet buy that Q9650 and/or eventually jump to I7.

Jim Phillips
anartik.com