Stock 120mm fan in Antec Sonata III failed

[dosmond]

A few days ago, My system froze, then a day later it blue screened in vista....
I figured it was about time to take a look inside the case, first off the cpu cooler fan was running well, but the top heatsink fins were blocked with dust.... I did a cleanup with compressed air, made a heck of a mess but that sorted out that issue....

But...

I noticed the rear 120mm Antec tri-speed fan was dead, would not spin at all, so I removed the sticker, removed the plastic ring retainer, took fan out if its sleeve cleaned out all the dust and cleaned the shaft the fan spins on... reassembled the fan, and it now spins freely.... and at a high speed if set to max, the big issue is it now makes an irritating sound, that comes and goes but never goes away... So I figure its time to toss the fan.... I replaced it with an old 80mm delta fan, that sucker is very high output, and is as loud as it is fast....VERY VERY VERY LOUD, I will keep it in my case untill I can line up a (cheap but good) replacement, if I can get one. I thought the antec fans were supposed to be good, now I'm not sure, the fans had it in less then 2 years service. Do you guys know of some good cheap LED 120mm fan replacements that have good air flow, and are less prone to seizing up? (I'm not sure if there is such a thing as a non-seizing case fan but if there is I want one...

[Soultribunal]

One of the biggest causes of component failure is dust...A lot of people I've run into have never opened their cases from the first days they purchased their computers. If you let dust build up in any component it will eventually fail before its time.
Your best bet, would be to make it a bi-monthly ritual and clean out your computer with air.
That way you ensure the longevity of all the components you use.
I have learned that the hard way through other peoples hardware failure.

That being said,
Coolermaster has some quiet 120mm LED Fans, but their CFM Rating is on the low side.
If you go to NCIX, You could probably pick up a Yate Loon LED for fairly cheap as well. They are a higher quality fan for sure.

My thoughts at least,

ST