Comparison of some quiet 80mm fans

Comparison of manufacturer's specifications of some relatively quiet 80 mm fans. They are collected here mainly for convenience. Please see the important note below. Probably the only reliable specifications are dimensions and RPM.

PLEASE NOTE THAT MANUFACTURERS' QUOTED NOISE MEASUREMENTS ARE NEARLY MEANINGLESS SINCE THE MEASUREMENT CONDITIONS ARE TYPICALLY UNKNOWN OR UNSPECIFIED, AND ARE CERTAINLY USELESS BETWEEN DIFFERENT MANUFACTURERS. THEY MAY HAVE SOME VALIDITY WITHIN THE SAME MANUFACTURER, BUT EVEN THAT IS UNCERTAIN.

Model Size Speed min flow max flow min sound max sound
Arctic Fan TC-1
(no longer available)		 80 x 25 mm 1400 - 3000 rpm 15 cfm / 25.1 m3/h 32 cfm / 53.1 m3/h 13 dBA 26 dBA
Arctic Fan Pro TC 80 x 25 mm 1000 - 2500 rpm 12 cfm / 22 m3/h 32 cfm / 56 m3/h 0.4 Sone 1.7 Sone
Arctic Fan Pro 2L 80 x 34.5 mm 1500 / 2000 / 2500 rpm 19 cfm / 32 m3/h 32 cfm / 54 m3/h 14 dBA / 0.5 Sone 22 dBA / 1.8 Sone
Arctic Fan Pro 2L TC 80 x 34.5 mm 1000 - 2500 rpm 19 cfm / 32 m3/h 32 cfm / 54 m3/h 0.5 Sone 1.8 Sone
Arctic Fan 3
(discontinued)		 80 x 45 mm 1900 rpm (fixed speed) 28 cfm / 48 m3/h (fixed speed) 0.8 Sone
Arctic Fan 3 TC 80 x 45 mm 1000 - 1900 rpm ?? cfm / ?? m3/h 28 cfm / 48 m3/h ?? Sone 0.8 Sone
Arctic Fan AF8025 80 x 25 mm 2000 rpm (fixed speed) 26.8 cfm / 45.5 m3/h (fixed speed) 21.0 dBA / 0.4 Sone
Arctic Fan AF8025L 80 x 25 mm 1500 rpm (fixed speed) 18.0 cfm / 30.5 m3/h (fixed speed) 18.0 dBA / 0.25 Sone
Arctic Fan AF8025 PWM 80 x 25 mm 600 - 2000 rpm ???? cfm / ???? m3/h 26.8 cfm / 45.5 m3/h 9.5 dBA / 0.08 Sone 21.0 dBA / 0.4 Sone
Arctic Fan 8 80 x 38.5 mm 2000 rpm (fixed speed) 28.0 cfm / 47.6 m3/h (fixed speed) 20.0 dBA / 0.3 Sone
Arctic Fan 8L 80 x 38.5 mm 1500 rpm (fixed speed) 18.0 cfm / 30.5 m3/h (fixed speed) 16.0 dBA / 0.15 Sone
Arctic Fan 8 PWM 80 x 38.5 mm 600 - 2000 rpm ???? cfm / ???? m3/h 28.0 cfm / 47.6 m3/h 9.0 dBA / 0.07 Sone 20.0 dBA / 0.3 Sone
Papst 8412 NGL 80 x 25 mm ???? rpm (fixed speed) ???? cfm / ???? m3/h (fixed speed) ???? dBA
Papst 8412 NGLE 80 x 25 mm ???? rpm (fixed speed) ???? cfm / ???? m3/h (fixed speed) 12 dBA
Cooler Master SAF-S84-E1 80 x 25 mm 1400 rpm (fixed speed) 15.7 cfm (fixed speed) 13 dBA
Cooler Master SAF-S83 80 x 25 mm 2500 rpm (fixed speed) 32.1 cfm (fixed speed) 26.0 dBA
Panaflo FBA08A12L1A 80 x 25 mm 1900 rpm (fixed speed) 24 cfm (fixed speed) 21 dBA
Panaflo FBA08A12H1A 80 x 25 mm ???? rpm (fixed speed) 39.6 cfm (fixed speed) 32 dBA
Vantec Stealth SF8025L 80 x 25 mm 2050 rpm (fixed speed) 27 cfm (fixed speed) 21 dBA
Vantec ThermoFlow TF8025 80 x 25 mm 1950 - 3400 rpm 23.8 cfm 41.6 cfm 25.5 dBA 37.5 dBA
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 80 x 25 mm 1600 rpm (fixed speed) 27 cfm (fixed speed) 20 dBA
Directron Silencer 80 x 25 mm 1600 rpm (fixed speed) 27 cfm (fixed speed) 20 dBA
Ever Cool FAN-AL8025B 80 x 25 mm 2500 rpm (fixed speed) 32.4 cfm (fixed speed) 25 dBA
Thermaltake A1357 80 x 25 mm 1300 - 4800 rpm 20.5 cfm 75.7 cfm 17 dBA 48 dBA
Enermax UC-8FAB 80 x 25 mm 1000 - 3000 rpm 25 cfm 40 cfm 21 dBA 33 dBA
Enermax UC-8FEB 80 x 25 mm 1500 rpm (fixed speed) 24 cfm (fixed speed) 14 dBA
Nexus SP802512L-03 80 x 25 mm 1500 rpm (fixed speed) 20.2 cfm (fixed speed) 17.6 dBA
Antec SmartCool
(thermally controlled)		 80 x 25 mm 1650 - 2850 rpm 24 cfm 41 cfm 24 dBA 34 dBA
Antec TriCool 80 x 25 mm 1500 / 2000 / 2600 rpm 20 cfm 34 cfm 18 dBA 30 dBA
Zalman ZM-F1 NP 80 x 25 mm 1700 - 3000 rpm 20.6 cfm 39.0 cfm 20.0 dBA 34.4 dBA

Notes:

  1. Arctic TC fans are tempertature controlled with an external thermistor.
  2. Arctic PWM fans are speed controlled by piggybacking CPU fan, i.e., using motherboard PWM of CPU fan speed through a pass-through connector to control multiple fans. Also includes separate fan speed (tachnometer) cable for each new fan. Probably safe, but requires motherboard control of CPU fan speed.
  3. Arctic 3, 8, 9, 12, etc., fan models cannot be mounted in every way that a regular box fan can. They can be mounted through a single face with tapping screws or short clips. Typically this means they can only be used for case exhaust. They may also work as chip/cpu coolers if there is access to the heatsink side of the fan mounting plate. See manufacturer images for clarification. Mounting issues aside, the open frame Arctic fans are quiet and produce large airflow especially when used as an exhaust fan. They have a low impedance to the sides which enables them to use the pressurized air ad the back of cases more efficiently than regular box frame fans. (Box frame fans used for exhaust should probably be mounted outside the case, pulling air out, for this reason.)
  4. Manufacturers' specifications are probabaly not comparable across different manufacturers since it's unknown exactly how they measure them.