Noise

At low to medium speed the fan is very quiet, enough that you don't hear it more than a few feet away. If you turn it all the way up it does reach the level of some of the loudest fans. There is a lot of air that this 80mm fan is pushing, it's near what a 120mm fan does. The over clockers probably won't mind and will appreciate the fact that it's almost like putting a 120mm fan on a CPU heat sink. The HTPC users may not want to turn it up as high as it can go, but it still works well at low speeds.

The fan is very well balanced and with dual ball bearings it's silent except for the noise of the air moving through it. The better the vent design on a case or CPU, the quieter the fan will be until you raise it about medium speed.

RPM Reporting

As with all quality fans, there is a lead that you can connect to the motherboard to view the RPM speed of the fan. The FM84XW does take its power from a 12v Molex connector though.