Quote from: marklyon on September 19, 2014, 02:45:22 PM

Anyone have experience with fan replacement on their S3? I have "free" power in my apartment, making the location attractive to use, but my wife is not happy with the amount of noise generated by my pair of S3's.

I'm having trouble locating actual specs on the stock fans in order to find an equivalent (but quieter) replacement.

I agree with you that the standard fans are noisy, but others disagree, as this is a very subjective issue and not everyone is sensitive to sound at particular frequencies. You will know what your own ears tell you!

To replace them, you will need to buy PWM 4 pin fans. I would suggest a high static pressure fan on the inlet and a high airflow flan on the outlet. I have tried various makes of replacement fan, most of them quieter than the standard ones, but my best results were with a Corsair SP120 High Performance 120mm fan on the inlet, which is designed to push air through heat sinks, and Thermalright TY143 140mm PWM on the outlet, which is a 140mm fan with a 120mm mounting. I have also experimented with 140mm fans on 120-140 adaptors, but I haven't found one that gave me cooler temps than the 120mm Corsair.

With the Corsair and Thermalright combination, the S3s are much quieter to my ears, but they do run a degree or two hotter - not enough to be an issue for me, but if it worries you, stick with the standard fans, which are very good at what they do!

I would be wary of any Heath-Robinson type solution, with fans blowing onto the naked blades, as you won't get any airflow between them that way, so might get hotspots, etc.