Fan replacement

[Panja0]

I’ve a Noctua dan replacement installed but just saw this fan mod: https://boutique-dragoncity.myshopify.c ... -dreamcast

Any one have some more info about it?
About the Noctua mod there is loads of info floating around. But how does this other fan mod compare to the Noctua one?
How is the air flow and noise?

Looking for silence and of course less heat!

[OatBob]

I use all three (four if you count VA0 metal fan as being different, five counting the Treamcast power plug, lol). Unfortunately, I feel there is a tradeoff between noise and airflow. To achieve both silent and cool operation, additional heat mitigation is required.

The dragoncity fan is much quieter than the OEM, but is still slightly audible if you are close to the unit. Noctua fan is silent, but doesn't feel like it pushes half as much air as the original. By feel-of-hand these two substitutes are comparable. I regret to say I lack equipment to back my claim with data.

OatBob's ranking:

Noise: OEM >> Dragoncity > Noctua
Airflow: OEM >> Dragoncity > Noctua

[Panja0]

Thanks! This is useful info. Cheers

[OatBob]

I should add... one advantage of the dragoncity fan is the possibility of adding into a VA0 setup. You will have to cut a a portion of the heatsink. As always, that information is in the tutorial.

[djhazardous]

I recently did the Noctua fan mod myself and love it, It doesn't even sound like it's turned on anymore when you have a GDEMU installed as well.

I'd agree airflow is probably a bit worse, I wonder why considering it is bigger?

[tmarvin]

I have two Dreamcasts and replaced one of them with the Noctua fan. The quiet is nice and I have not noticed much of a difference in temperature regulation between the two consoles. The original fan does fell as if it is pushing air out faster, but I don't have the setup to measure the actual rate and volume of the air being moved. Fans in equipment are not quit as easy to rate as simply speed of airflow, anyway. Too fast can be a problem since the air inside needs enough time for the transfer of heat before being expelled. I kept a watch on my modified console for a while and the replaced fan is doing enough to keep it in range of the original. Well worth it for the noise difference to me.