What fan should I replace the Corsair H55 stock fan?

I finally set up my mini-ITX server last night but had trouble sleeping as the stock Corsair fan that comes with the H55 is way too loud at 12V.

Unfortunately this fan is a 3 pin so couldn't turn it down in the BIOS and it will be a while before I can get some voltage dividers to spin it slower.

I ended up putting the stock Cooler Master fan that came with the Elite 110 case back in as it is much quieter at 12V and does a good enough job of cooling.

However even this fan makes enough noise to be audible over the H55 pump and the two WD Red drives spinning. The Corsair PSU fan pretty much stays off all the time and still makes much less noise when it turns on.

So I am looking for a replacement fan that is as quiet as the pump and disc drives. Also having a 4 pin PWM would be great too. It only needs to be fast enough to cool a 35W Core i3 via the H55 radiator.

The two I have found available locally are the 'official' replacement fan from Corsiar - the SP120 quiet, high pressure model. However Silent PC Review said this fan made a horrible sound.

The other fan recommended for radiators is the Noiseblocker eLoop series. Silent PC Review gave the 800 RPM variant a good review, but said the PWM version made a more annoying sound.

Anyone here have experience with the Noiseblocker or Corsair fan? (particularly when installed on a radiator)

BlueFireIce said:

GT AP-13

Click to expand...

I had a look at that fan as it seems to be recommended all over the place but it is very hard to find a place that still sells them locally.

It seems Scythe have stopped production of the fan because it says it has been discontinued on their website.

Why does it need to be local? If it is local only, we need a list of stores or fans you can buy local.

And it is recommend all over because it is one of the best fans for a Rad setup you can buy.

BlueFireIce said:

Why does it need to be local? If it is local only, we need a list of stores or fans you can buy local.

And it is recommend all over because it is one of the best fans for a Rad setup you can buy.

Click to expand...

Mainly because of the high shipping cost. Frozen CPU are quoting $40 for snail mail and $90 for courier delivery. For that I could pick up 2 - 5 fans locally.

I am in Australia. The best store I have seen for fans so far is http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=9_510

They have both the Noiseblocker and the Corsair fans, and I can't see any other high static pressure fans on their except perhaps the Noctua but they all seem to get bad reviews.

If you can afford it, get the Noctua NF-F12. They may be pricy but they are worth it. As for bad reviews, the only bad reviews I have ever seen for them is because of the price.

kzaske said:

If you can afford it, get the Noctua NF-F12. They may be pricy but they are worth it. As for bad reviews, the only bad reviews I have ever seen for them is because of the price.

Click to expand...

Hmm I found a side by side audio per airflow level test of these at OCN

The guy their said that he was disappointed with the Noctua as it sounds a lot more drony than the Gentle Typhoon and Noiseblocker. I think I may have to play the videos through my loudspeakers to figure out which one has a tone that I can sleep to.

Talking about the Gentle Typhoon, I discovered that Nidec (the actual manufacturer) are now advertising them on their website (full range).

I will have to see if there is a local Nidec distributor.

kzaske said:

If you can afford it, get the Noctua NF-F12. They may be pricy but they are worth it. As for bad reviews, the only bad reviews I have ever seen for them is because of the price.

Click to expand...

This, they do cost allot, but they are indeed really REALLY good fans, there are others that give better value, but not many that are "better".

ljbade said:

Hmm I found a side by side audio per airflow level test of these at OCN

The guy their said that he was disappointed with the Noctua as it sounds a lot more drony than the Gentle Typhoon and Noiseblocker. I think I may have to play the videos through my loudspeakers to figure out which one has a tone that I can sleep to.

Talking about the Gentle Typhoon, I discovered that Nidec (the actual manufacturer) are now advertising them on their website (full range).

I will have to see if there is a local Nidec distributor.

Click to expand...

NB makes some very good fans, up there with Noctua, but are also just as pricey. Nidec is indeed the OEM for the fans, many people and forums set up group buys for them since they are no longer sold by a retail company. As case fans the GT are not so great, but put them on a HS or Rad, and they are magic. For a best value fan, the AC F12's are very good and cheap, they are also PWM, not the best, but for the price they do extremely well.

BlueFireIce said:

This, they do cost allot, but they are indeed really REALLY good fans, there are others that give better value, but not many that are "better".

Click to expand...

After finding more videos of the Noctua PWMs I can say I have changed my mind and that they do have the best acoustics.

It seems a lot of fans sound good, until you run them in PWM. A lot of them start making a horrible buzzy hum. I have heard the Corsairs making that hum in a video, and the SCPR review of the PWM Noiseblocker said the same thing.

However it seems the Noctuas are immune from this flaw.

So the question then is, Noctua F12 or P12? How do the two compare sound wise?

The F12 is sold as their highest static pressure fan and meant for rads/HS setup, it also comes in PWM, which the P12 does not.

What they have to say about it.

BlueFireIce said:

P12 does not

Click to expand...

They have PWM versions of all their fans now.

I have carefully studied many review of the two and it seems you get slighty better cooling with the F12 vs P12 but with slightly more noise. I think the F12 would be great for a gaming PC.

Since I am more concerned about noise, and only need to cool a 35W CPU via the H55 I believe the P12 will be the better choice.

Also the focused airflow of the F12 would be wasted in my PC as the H55 is not very thick and there is only 2-3cms from it to the PSU back.

Besides a more messy airflow would do a better job of cooling the motherboard and PSU.

I ordered the Noctua P12 fan, as well as two Noctua R8's to experiment with in the side fan mount points (not that I need them).

I did some more tests and figured that the next loudest thing in my case will be the N55's pump. I can just hear the slight buzzing sound it makes from my bed.

Is it possible to undervolt the pump? I may experiment with using the Noctua's voltage reducing cables on the pump when they arrive.

The two hard drives I can't hear at all expect for the slight click they make when reading but that seems to be a tone that is more pleasing to listen to than not.

Received and installed the Noctua fans.

They are perfect. So quiet I can't hear them at all with PWM enabled, and even if I set them to 100% they are still a lot quieter then the Cooler Master fan, and MUCH quieter than the Corsair fan.

I highly recommend spending the money on these fans, particulary if you only have the stock Corsair 'jet engine' fan.

I can now hear the Corsair pump easily so I think I will try down-volting it to see if it makes less noise.

I may even try a F12 since the P12 was so quiet and the F12 isn't listed as being too much more noisy.