Tech Reaction

With the recent concerns about the FC3 limited edition having a “whine” when fans were set at low speeds, we dove back into testing this unit further to see if we could duplicate the issue.

The main question/concern about this unit was: “Does this unit ‘whine’ like the other FC3 units in the past. The actual unit made noise and so did the fans when low volts were applied.”

We set out to answer this the best we could. Let’s get started, shall we?

Our test set up:

*We had 3 120mm fans hooked up to the top of a radiator (real world application) and 1 120mm and the 92mm fans just laying around. We cranked everything up and listened. We also turned off all other electronics in the room: file server, TV, ceiling fan, ect. ect.

Our findings:
Well as far as a “whine” we did not hear anything coming from the FC3 unit itself. However, there was a slight buzzing sound coming from the 1 Yate Loon on the desk (D12SM-12). We could not hear anything from the 3 120mm fans on the radiator or the 92mm Sunon. To hear the buzzing, at low speeds, we actually had to put our ear about 3-4 inches from the fan. Another thing, we found that the low speeds had to be extremely low. We are talking just enough volts to get them started. We used 5v and flicked the fans to get them going. With our tests we could not duplicate this “whine” people mention. The buzzing we created with low volts could not be heard over about a foot away, with NO other fans on and room in complete silence. Throughout the day we ran several different scenarios. We did not hear any whining, screaming, crying, or anything other noises from the fans or the FC3 unit itself. Keep in mind that running at 5v is not in the manufacturers listed operating voltage.

Our Conclusion:
Once we got our fans up to the manufacturer specified operating voltage we heard nothing but the sweet sound of air being blown around. We have come to find 2 things are certain:
1) The Lamptron FC3 limited edition has NO sound coming from the unit.
2) Running the fans at the manufactures rated / operating voltages they specified created 0 extra curricular noises.

What does this tell us? When everything is run at the correct specifications, there is not a problem. Would you under volt your CPU, and then get mad at AMD/Intel when it will not boot? No! That’s crazy talk! Before you buy a fan, skim over the rated and operating volts for it and stay within that range. If you do this, you will not have any problem at all. If you want silent fans, then buy the silent fans. If you want high speed fans when benching and somewhat silent when not benching, then just make sure you are running within the operating volts and you can have the best of both worlds. Be smart with your purchases! Understand the decibel ranges you will be dealing with and you will not have any problems. The problems come in when you try and get a little something extra out of what you have. If the fans are not made to run at 5v but that’s all you will give the fan, then quit your complaining and go find a fan that fits your needs with the 5v operating range. Trust us there are fans out there for every single person and their exact needs. Do a little ‘googling’ and you can find what you want to match your needs in no time.