PS3 Fat Model PS3 Fan Comparison

Hunter926

Hunter926

Member
Hi all, I recently got curious as to what the best fan might be to put into my console. I saw that a lot of people say the 19 blade fan is the best, while others say the 1.75A Nidec is the best. All while neither side providing any data to back up their claims, so I decided to test every known fan that I could get.

The fan I'm sticking with is the D14F since i'm running stock OFW firmware and it keeps the ps3 the coolest at any given percentage(though it is louder).
However, if your running a CFW and setting a custom temperature limit or fan percentage, you may want to choose the G14T12BS2AF as I believe it was the quietest, but you'll have to look through the data and choose the fan that's right for how you intend to use it.

I hope everyone learns something, or this at least helps someone, because I spent way too much time and money into this haha..

Feel free to ask any question you may have.
PS.
If anyone has an SFF30A fan they would be willing to sell me I can complete this comparison, until then I'm missing one fan to my knowledge.

For testing I purchased brand new OEM bearings from my local distributors and swapped the same bearings between the fans.
Note that some fans required different size bearings, and as such I had to use different bearings, though still brand new and OEM.

Notes:
  • All tests were done while idling on the Webman setup page with the XMB in the background.
  • Fan Speed was set using Webman for 20%-90%, and Fan Control Utility for 100%
  • RPM was read by adhering a piece of reflective tape to 1 fan blade per each fan, then pointing a tachometer through the fully assembled case. 1 minute was given after each percentage change for the fan to level out it's speed before readings occured.
  • Amperage was read by cutting the positive lead of the fan, and connecting a Klein Tools mm400 Multimeter in series with the circuit. Again, 1 minute was given after each percentage change before measurements were taken. (NOTE: Due to the slight voltage drop introduced when adding a meter in series, the amperage listed is not 100% accurate. However, each fan was tested using the same methods, so for a comparison it does not affect the results relative to each other fan.)
  • For the decibel reading the PS3 was set in the same location for each test, and an iPhone X was used to measure at exactly 1 Foot away in the same location for each test. The app used is Niosh SLM using the "A" frequency weighting over a period of 1 minute. The results given is the average level for that 1 minute.
  • Cell/RSX temps were measured using Webman 30 minutes after each percentage change. A steady ambient temperature of 71-72F was maintained for each and every test.(A lot of time went into this step)
  • The fans were changed without disassembling the metal housing or removing the heatsink.
  • This was tested on a CECHE01
  • Some Fans cables had to be lengthened.
  • Each fan was cleaned prior to testing.
  • Fan cable lengths are from the outside edge of the metal, to the tip of the connector.
0f1d41cbfdc637ba4515ca9dac7ad1a9.png
df32092fda7563cd2e470cbb3d5d5f6a.png

Edit: Updated with more graphs
 
Last edited:
Nice experiment, i think you could add a photo of each fan and the manufacturer names to identify them better
Not sure if the D14F is the winner, but i like the curves and numbers of the G14...2AF, is like low power and low rpm but the overal preformance is not far away from the other "big guys"
 
Added more graphs to help visualize the differences between the fans, since everyone's use case will be slightly different.
sandungas said:
Nice experiment, i think you could add a photo of each fan and the manufacturer names to identify them better
Not sure if the D14F is the winner, but i like the curves and numbers of the G14...2AF, is like low power and low rpm but the overal preformance is not far away from the other "big guys"
Click to expand...
I might try to add photos this weekend. However, since I've cut my leads to shorten/lengthen them, it won't be a very good representation of a stock fan.
 
sandungas said:
Not sure if the D14F is the winner, but i like the curves and numbers of the G14...2AF, is like low power and low rpm but the overal preformance is not far away from the other "big guys"
Click to expand...

After including the other graphs, then comparing amperage and decibels to temperature.

The D14 is the most quiet at almost every temperature. So if you set your console to a set temperature with webman, the D14F will be the quietest fan.

Looking at power consumption vs temperature, the D14F also has an almost identical low power draw as the S2AF.

The only thing it's worse at would be power and noise in Syscon mode, since the Syscon has set percentages. and IF they both run at the same percentage the D14 loses out.

THAT SAID... Since it does cool better at ANY percentage (except 25%), chances are that if you compared them side by side, the D14F would stay at 25%-28% while the S2AF would run at 28%-30%, meaning that the S2AF would actually use about the same power and would definitely run louder, since it would be at a higher speed.

Do also keep in mind that because of the way decibels are measured, a small increase in the number can actually be a large difference to your ears.

Honestly, I thought the S2AF would be better for some uses, but now I've come to the conclusion that the D14F is indeed the clear winner.
With it's better cooling performance, lower noise, and roughly equal power draw, it should run better in syscon mode and definitely better when using webman. That is of course when comparing those items to the temperature.

Thoughts?
 
Hunter926 said:
After including the other graphs, then comparing amperage and decibels to temperature.

The D14 is the most quiet at almost every temperature. So if you set your console to a set temperature with webman, the D14F will be the quietest fan.

Looking at power consumption vs temperature, the D14F also has an almost identical low power draw as the S2AF.

The only thing it's worse at would be power and noise in Syscon mode, since the Syscon has set percentages. and IF they both run at the same percentage the D14 loses out.

THAT SAID... Since it does cool better at ANY percentage (except 25%), chances are that if you compared them side by side, the D14F would stay at 25%-28% while the S2AF would run at 28%-30%, meaning that the S2AF would actually use about the same power and would definitely run louder, since it would be at a higher speed.

Do also keep in mind that because of the way decibels are measured, a small increase in the number can actually be a large difference to your ears.

Honestly, I thought the S2AF would be better for some uses, but now I've come to the conclusion that the D14F is indeed the clear winner.
With it's better cooling performance, lower noise, and roughly equal power draw, it should run better in syscon mode and definitely better when using webman. That is of course when comparing those items to the temperature.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Not sure what to say, to be honest is hard to get an overall understanding of that avalanche of info, is the kind of thing that requires to dedicate it some time, im used to this tables with a lot of condensed infos and graphs, and i have 2 monitors, the other day i was checking it with different images opened in different monitors and there was many details that was escaping my understanding :D
So to be honest... im not sure, and right now i dont know any idea to suggest you to make it a bit more "noob-friendly", other than starting by adding an small photo of each and the name of the manufacturer

Btw1, if you click in the fan names in this table in wiki it wil open a page dedicated to each fan model, you can use that photos from wiki, there is no need to make new ones (unless you consider there is some photo missing in wiki, im not sure about it right now)
https://www.psdevwiki.com/ps3/Cooling

Btw2, right now we can configure the thermal config inside syscon to adjust the fan to the "sweet spot" of the curves in your graphs
You know... all this fans are designed to have the best performance at an intermediate point of the curve, where usually does a "belly"
The goal would be to try to keep the fan speed along the play session as much aligned to that belly as posible
As a general rule (that we are free to follow or not) we know sony considered the aceptable noise levels ends around 35% or 40% as much for all PS3 models, it can be seen in all retail thermal configs, the next fan speeds after that have a big boost (to 60% or more) so we can deduce are not intended to be used normally (are like an alarm, only used if the PS3 have some problem, and obviouslly are not located in the "sweet spot" of the curve in your graphs)
 
Last edited:
Demon_777- said:
I have CECHL04 with the 17 balde KFB1412H. Do you suggest to change it with the 15 blade D14F?
Click to expand...
Honestly, I'm unsure for your model.
The tests I performed was on a CECHE01 PS3.
It's clear from the test, that some of the fans/PS3's have different fan speed curves. As shown by 3 of the fans performing much worse than others. I'm assuming that your PS3 has a different curve than the E01 since it came with one of the fans that did not work well in my E01.

That said, your current fan performed better than the other 2 in my console. So it MAY be the best you can get (based on performance in my console).
But honestly, without testing it on a CECHL console, there's no way for me to know.
To be safe, I'd stick with your current fan.
 
Have You gotten an SFF30A fan to test yet? Ps3 I just got has one and I'm wondering how good it is compared to others.
 
Flaming62 said:
Have You gotten an SFF30A fan to test yet? Ps3 I just got has one and I'm wondering how good it is compared to others.
Click to expand...
I actually was able to purchase one, but unfortunately there's a few problems with adding it to the existing data.

My room has significantly changed in layout and I no longer have my iPhone X that I used for the measurements. So the acoustic results would not be comparable.

I could test it strictly on temperature, speed, and power, but i'm fairly certain it was used in later models of the PS3 fat and will show similar results as the ones that did not perform well at low percentages in my E01.
I'm assuming you have a model later than the E01 since yours came with one?
 
Hunter926 said:
I actually was able to purchase one, but unfortunately there's a few problems with adding it to the existing data.

My room has significantly changed in layout and I no longer have my iPhone X that I used for the measurements. So the acoustic results would not be comparable.

I could test it strictly on temperature, speed, and power, but i'm fairly certain it was used in later models of the PS3 fat and will show similar results as the ones that did not perform well at low percentages in my E01.
I'm assuming you have a model later than the E01 since yours came with one?
Click to expand...
I found the fan in a CECHK01. I just thought it was a little odd since I've had a K01 before and it didn't have an SFF30A fan.
 
I tested all fan models for PS3 Fat and the results are a bit different. Nidec D14 is not the best in terms of noise-temps.

The Noise-Performance (CELL & RSX temperature) ranking:
  1. NMB-MAT BG1402-B045-P00 (19 blade)
  2. Nidec_D14F12BS1-01H1 (15 blade)
  3. Nidec G14T12BS2AF-56J14 (white label)
  4. Nidec G14T12BS1AF-56J14 (black label)
  5. SFF30A (18 blade)
  6. Delta KFB1412H
  7. NMB-MAT BG1402-B045-P00 (15 blade)
19 blades NMB-MAT fan always gives 2-4C lower temps than Nidec D14 while having the same noise level.
Next goes Nidec G14 2AF which gives 1 degree higher temps than Nidec D14.
I tested it multiple times again and again and received the same result.
All other fans are outsiders and very noisy and low performance (temperatures are significantly higher).
The Delta & NMB-MAT 15 blades fans are the worst.

Testing conditions:
  • ambient temperature 24.8 - 24.9 C
  • set fix % fan speed in webman mod, run Heavy Rain and keep it in main menu for 1 hour, then measure temperature.
  • speed % of the fan is chosen for each fan individually for having the same noise level according to the "Fan % - Noise level" table" (see attachments)
  • CECHC04 RSX delided, CELL not delided, both repasted
  • the same phone used for measuring the noise level, the same app, the same distance, the same place, position, etc.
NMB-MAT BG1402-B045-P00 (15 blade) and Delta KFB1412H are excluded from the tables, because of the worst noise-performance level.

 

Attachments

  • ps3-fat-fan-comparision.png
    ps3-fat-fan-comparision.png
    51.9 KB · Views: 5
  • ps3-fat-fan-noise-table.png
    ps3-fat-fan-noise-table.png
    112 KB · Views: 5
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Back
Top