Ball or Sleeve bearing fan?

saltydog806saltydog806 Bowie MD
edited November 2007 in Hardware
I read that Sleeve Bearing Case Fans are quieter than ball bearing fans however they have a shorter life span. Does anyone have any feedback on this?

Comments

  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited November 2007
    That's generally correct. Sleeve bearings don't have quite the same whirr that a ball bearing fan has, but the sleeve bearing wears out faster than a ball bearing system. The sleeve bearing fans are usually less expensive as well. I usually use sleeve bearing fans as case fans and ball bearing as CPU fans if I have a choice.
  • saltydog806saltydog806 Bowie MD
    edited November 2007
    Thanks Ghoosdum. Why ball bearing for the CPU?
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited November 2007
    Mainly because of the longer life. I'm sure a sleeve bearing fan would be just fine, especially these days with automatic downclocking/shutdown when the CPU overheats. In the old days, temperature sensing wasn't as reliable and the CPU could sometimes get damaged due to overheating if the fan failed.

    Luckily this is not so much of a problem now, so you would be fine choosing either type of fan.
  • saltydog806saltydog806 Bowie MD
    edited November 2007
    Great info. Trying to build a rig and doing my due diligence.Thanks again.
  • mas0nmas0n howdy Icrontian
    edited November 2007
    S-FDB is quiet, has long life, and can move a decent amount of air. Best fan type IMO, only con is the price.
  • lemonlimelemonlime Canada Member
    edited November 2007
    mas0n wrote:
    S-FDB is quiet, has long life, and can move a decent amount of air. Best fan type IMO, only con is the price.

    Totally agree! The Scythe S-Flex fans are great S-FDB choices..
  • RichDRichD Essex, UK
    edited November 2007
    This thread has really surprised me. I would have thought ball bearings would have been much quieter. To be honest I didn't realise you could get both. Back in my skater days I remember the cheap boards used to have sleeve bearings and they were noisy as hell! The ball bearings were miles quieter. May be im just getting old!
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited November 2007
    I think the fact that there's weight on the bearings of the skateboard is making the difference there.
  • muddocktormuddocktor
    edited November 2007
    For the cheaper fans, a ball bearing fan will usually (but not always) last longer than a cheap sleeve design. But the Yate Loon series of fans are cheap sleeve bearing fans that run quiet and move a decent amount of air, yet last pretty long too. And when you get to fans such as the Scythe S-Flex or Panaflo fans that use a Hydrowave sleeve bearing, you get longevity as good as any ball bearing fan and quieter operation. I have Panaflo M1A fans that have run for several years and are still quiet and reliable.
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