Most of us using desktop computers, and plenty of us on laptops, have some sort of fan or pump installed in our computer to remove heat and keep our machines running at the most optimum temperature. That’s generally a good thing for performance, but comes with a noise pollution cost. It’s possible to build fanless computers, though, which are passively cooled by using larger heat sinks with greater thermal mass, or by building more efficient computers, or both. But sometimes even fanless designs can benefit from some forced air, so [Sasa] built this system for cooling fanless systems with fans.
The main advantage of a system like this is that the fans on an otherwise fanless system remain off when not absolutely necessary, keeping ambient noise levels to a minimum. [Sasa] does have a few computers with fans, and this system helps there as well. Each fan module is WiFi-enabled, allowing for control of each fan on the system to be set up and controlled from a web page. It also can control 5V and 12V fans automatically with no user input, and can run from any USB power source, so it’s not necessary to find a USB-PD-compatible source just to run a small fan.
Like his previous project, this version is built to easily integrate with scripting and other third-party software, making it fairly straightforward to configure in a home automation setup or with any other system that is monitoring a temperature. It doesn’t have to be limited to a computer, either; [Sasa] runs one inside a server cabinet that monitors the ambient temperature in the cabinet, but it could be put to use anywhere else a fan is needed. Perhaps even a hydroponic setup.
I have a 200mm 5v noctua fan that simply amazes me how much airflow it has while running on just usb power.
Noctua really is the GOAT of fans. Use several on my computers and they are incredibly quiet while also very effective. All while being reasonably priced. (Not a fan of their trademark colors though, no pun intended. :D )
They’ve even crossed-over into the Amateur radio world. People replace noisy fans on their radios (looking at you ICOM…) and get better cooling as a bonus.
I’ve been using the Gelid Solutions Silent fans series forever now, since before I ever heard of Noctua. Maybe Noctua didn’t exist yet? I don’t know.
When I heard of Noctua’s I didn’t try one because of the color scheme actually. Well, not that I particularly dislike the Noctua colors but I had Gelids installed in devices where I had painted things Black and White and they really would have stuck out as wrong. Had I started out after ‘everyone’ was talking about how great Noctua was I’d have probably picked a color scheme to match or compliment them and gone with that.
So anyway… anyone used both? Am I missing out on something great or does Noctua just market theirs a whole lot better?
Had not heard of (or more like didn’t pay attention to) Gelid. At least one “gaming” model outperformed a similar Noctua in every metric except it was a bit louder (tests on LTT forums). Interesting, thanks.
Noctua does offer black fans now.
Anyone remembers french comic strip “Fanfan la Tulipe”? Was about french help for the good guys (the union?) in the american independence war.
Alas, no special mention about device for moving air of any kind.
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