How do i quieten my new case fan?

[lolnubs]

A long tale short, my last 120mm case fan started to squeak, a really annoying high pitched squeak (and yes, i tried oiling it).

So i trotted down to my local electronics store and bought a new one, [quote]
Sirocco Rotary Fan
12V / 380ma Ball Bearing
MODEL: YX2518
(has only 2 wires, +/- 12 volts, plugged into PSU_FAN on mobo, but can molex it.)
[/quote]
And i installed it, and booted my puter.
I was greeted by my usual beeps, but that fan reached speed and the noise was horrific!

I've tried resistors, they only stop the fan totally (even a low value resistor...)

I remember seeing an adaptor thing for a Zalman fan once, which had a *transistor* and a trimpot on it, this allowed for the fan to be controlled across many speeds.
So if i could get a schematic, i could probably remake it...

I COULD go and waste money on an expensive adaptor, but i would prefer to use my own components.

So, does anyone know how i can quieten this 42dBA fan? Any tips or tricks are welcome.

[butre]

well you can return that one and buy a quieter one online

[BenJ]

I don't think you need a transistor to adjust fan speed. If the resistors stop your fan from moving, it's too high, go lower.

[QuAtT]

buy a fan control panel, some are really cheap, and some are really expensive

[4rawrs2]

In-line variable resistor? Or get your money back and get some good fans for a change?

[liquid_phase]

Just buy yourself a decent fan like a noctua. Ball bearing fans are terrible.

[Mokkan13]

I may be wrong, but doesn't SpeedFan have a section where you can adjust fan RPM's?
I don't have SpeedFan installed or I'd check myself..

[Gotnoodles]

Attach your fan to a 3 Pin slot on your mobo, Install Speedfan and Profit

[[EG] Pepper]

Or oil it

personally I would go out and get a noctula fan.

[Ollih]

Trying to make 42dBA fan silent is like polishing a turd

[liquid_phase]

[QUOTE=Ollih;23385143]Trying to make 42dBA fan silent is like polishing a turd[/QUOTE]

Haha, this.

You can decrease the rpm with resistors, but by the time you get it down quiet enough you're going to have such poor cfm figures that the whole exercise will be pointless.

[Mattk50]

[QUOTE=Ollih;23385143]Trying to make 42dBA fan silent is like polishing a turd[/QUOTE]

[img]http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:PjfufIHb__6vbM:http://static1.videosift.com/thumbs/m/yt/Mythbusters_Turd_Polishing_Full_Clip.jpg[/img]

[Missing User]

[QUOTE=Mattk50;23410852][IMG]http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:PjfufIHb__6vbM:http://static1.videosift.com/thumbs/m/yt/Mythbusters_Turd_Polishing_Full_Clip.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiJ9fy1qSFI[/media]

[Porcupine162]

Just break the fins off the fan. It should be much quieter.

[4RT1LL3RY]

You bought the fan knowing it would be 42 db. You can't make it quieter most likely. You could get a fan thats from Scythe or Yate Loons, both are very quiet and have good airflow; also good build quality. I personally like Scythe. If you don't care about loudness the Ultra Kaze are great, but I use 3 S-Flex 1600 RPM on my cases top grills and they are barely audible alone; but with some filters on you don't even hear them.

You could try that, get some of the foam they use on fan filters and mount it between the fan and the outside of your case. Make sure you have it mounted in a way where it won't get sucked into the fan and get shredded.