Quiet but efficient 120mm fan?

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koolpc

Weaksauce
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May 24, 2006
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I am after a couple of 120mm fans. Must be pwm fans.

Thing is, i want the most efficient but also the most quiet! Can you let me know what you recommend and how good they are? Thanks
 
Noctua NF-F12 PWM or NF-P12 PWN very high quality, good ratio of how much sound to amount of air they push. Come with sound dampening rubber on the corners and low noise adapters
ugly though

If you find them too ugly you can go with the cheaper
NF-S12B redux-1200 PWM
they are the older version of the fan in Grey and without the cables and grommets but slightly cheaper.
 
Agreed with the Noctuas NF-F12 or NF-P12 as general recommendations.. you may also consider the Cooler master Jetflo (im a big fan of this one)..

oh and zaniix NF-S12B are one of the latest Noctua Fans with SSO-Bearing. they are relatively new in the market. all "redux" series of Noctua Fans are new models..
 
I have a few deepcool UF120s and 140s. Quiet, good airflow and make good case fans.

Cost me ~$10 each.
 
I'm a fan of Noctuas Industrial iPPC 2000 pwm fans.

They are a little on the pricy side, and while nowhere near quiet at full speed their minimum rotational speed is actually speced at 450rpm, where they are completely inaudible (at least to me). I can't hear them at all.

If the PWM goes down to 0 they will actually stop spinning all together, which is pretty awesome. When you don't need fans, why have them spinning? :p

They have good airflow and static pressure, but at max fan speed (2000) they are not anywhere near what I would call quiet, but they fit the bill perfectly for me, as I want my computer to be silent most of the time, but still allow it to cool powerfully when under full load.

I have the 140mm versions of these fans, but the 120mm versions are very similar, and I highly recommend them.

Only downside is price, at anywhere from $22 to $29 per fan, depending on when/where you buy them. It's a lot of money for "just a fan", but they are GREAT fans.

If you need more powerful fans, they have 3000 rpm versions as well, but those don't spin down as low, and they are probably pretty damned loud at full tilt.
 
koolpc said:
Noctua are quite expensive
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A alternative to Noctua are the Cougar CF-V14HP or EK-Vardar F2-140 but they are still going to be like $19 each
I just realized I do not know of any cheaper fans I like.


Maybe the Phanteks PH-F140HP, but they are like $17 each
 
koolpc said:
What about Scythe?
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I'm actually confused about them.

I remember reading a story a few years ago that they were leaving the U.S. or filing bankruptcy or something over financial difficulties.

Yet, they still seem to be here...
 
Zarathustra[H];1041982171 said:
I'm actually confused about them.

I remember reading a story a few years ago that they were leaving the U.S. or filing bankruptcy or something over financial difficulties.

Yet, they still seem to be here...
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Probably referring to the Scythe Gentle Typhoon fans.. that were discontinued, those are the best fans ever made in nose/performance. actually AP-15s, AP-45s etc are highly valuated relics.. :) always I saw those I buy.. probably have stored 10 new GT-AP15 and about 8-10 AP-45s..
 
Not Noctua, they're great products but too expensive sometimes. Get Phanteks fans, they are affordable, high quality, very quiet, and move a ton of air. Their customer service is top notch too. If you want absolute silence you simply cannot beat BeQuiet! Silent Wings 2 or their new 3 model if you can find it. They won't move as much air but they are oddly silent.
 
Yes, Gentle Typhoon is again available. Gentle Typhoon fans (model AP-xx) are Nidec fanx that Scythe was buying in quantity and selling. For whatever reasons Nidec and Scythe quit working together. Because Nidec requires a large minimum order (like maybe. 10,000 fans). there was a delay before other retailers got it all together with Nidec to buy and sell the GTs. Now several models of the Gentle Typhoons series are being bought and sold by Coolerguys and Dazmode
 
I bought an antec today and after turning the speed down it performs quiet well!
 
Are these for case fans or HS/rad? What kind of budget? You said the Noctua are expensive (they are), so I am assuming you are looking for sub $20 a fan.

Noctua are great fans, but are not value fans by any means, but are at the top end for performance. However the arctic cooling F12 line is PWM and probably the best value out there, they are great as case fans and in reviews that have them and the GT line, the F12's perform within 1-2C of the GTs when put on a HS/Rad. Back when they first came out and where not known, I got them on sale for under 5 bucks a pop, I got a few at $1.99, now they are $6-8, but still one of the best values I have ever seen. I also have some running in my server (2 years), and some in my desktop (4 years), all still running strong with no added noises over time.
 
BlueFireIce said:
Are these for case fans or HS/rad? What kind of budget? You said the Noctua are expensive (they are), so I am assuming you are looking for sub $20 a fan.

Noctua are great fans, but are not value fans by any means, but are at the top end for performance. However the arctic cooling F12 line is PWM and probably the best value out there, they are great as case fans and in reviews that have them and the GT line, the F12's perform within 1-2C of the GTs when put on a HS/Rad. Back when they first came out and where not known, I got them on sale for under 5 bucks a pop, I got a few at $1.99, now they are $6-8, but still one of the best values I have ever seen. I also have some running in my server (2 years), and some in my desktop (4 years), all still running strong with no added noises over time.
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Will check those out. Ta
 
at 5$ F12 aren't a bad fan, I love the F9 version.. but sincerely far of the best in quiet/performance ratio.. sincerely I don't why I forgot to mention the Cooler Master JetFlo 120 fans... only fans that made me replace my push/pull Noctua NF-F12 fans in my cooler. they are a bit costly than the average fan but also cheaper than noctua (And in my opinion and test, better)
 
I picked up a pair of these and I noticed my computer got a lot less noticeable. The only temp I monitor is my GPU, and it went from 40 at idle to 38 at idle, with a room temp of about 72-74 F.
 
Well, I just ordered some more Noctua 140mm iPPC-2000 pwm fans.

Not quite enough for one of those fancy [H] layouts, but looking forward to installing them.

22824755827_29538c3af7_c.jpg


CPU (H110i GTX push-pull)
GPU1 (HG10 bracket with H90 in push-pull)
GPU2 (HG10 bracket with H90 in push-pull)

Total of 8 of these bad boys.
 
Zarathustra[H];1041987574 said:
Well, I just ordered some more Noctua 140mm iPPC-2000 pwm fans.

Not quite enough for one of those fancy [H] layouts, but looking forward to installing them.

Total of 8 of these bad boys.
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I love noctua fans. I switched my entire case over to them and couldn't be happier. You will have to let me know how the new industrial line is, they weren't available back when I bought mine.
 
Furious_Styles said:
I love noctua fans. I switched my entire case over to them and couldn't be happier. You will have to let me know how the new industrial line is, they weren't available back when I bought mine.
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Ones i had were noisy. Even with a speed reducer on it was still audible!
 
Furious_Styles said:
I love noctua fans. I switched my entire case over to them and couldn't be happier. You will have to let me know how the new industrial line is, they weren't available back when I bought mine.
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I've been using two 140mm iPPC-2000 PWM fans to push through my H110GTX for a few months, and I've been loving them. Perfectly silent at low RPM.

I have 10 of the 140mm modls in my case right now.


4 of the 140mm's are in push pull on my H110i GTX, 2 in push-pull on each H90 attached to my GPU's with Corsairs HG10 bracket, and then one intake fan and one case fan blowing out.

I'm also waiting for two 120mm versions to use for intake.

Onddly enough though, while the two iPPC-2000's used to be PERFECTLY silent, now that I have added a few more, even though they are all at super low RPM's, I am getting a low hum.

It's very very low in volume, but it's bugging me.

Not sure if it's because I have eliminated everything else that made noise, so now I can hear what I didn't used to, if I got a bad one, or if I screwed up when installing them and over-tightened them. Going to go around a loosen some screws and see if that helps.
 
koolpc said:
Ones i had were noisy. Even with a speed reducer on it was still audible!
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That's because these things push a ton of air at full and even speed reducer speeds.

They are excellent if you get the PWM models and run them at lower speeds though.

That way you have the best of both worlds. Silence most of the time, and the ability to push real amounts of air when you need it. 108cfm and ~4.2 mmH20 at full blast.

I wouldn't get the non-PWM models, as you - even with a volt mod or speed reducer - aren't going to get them to run slow enough to be quiet. They need PWM control!

What is unusual about them is that they ahve a larger range of operation than most PWM fans.

At 0% PWM signal, they actually turn off.
Minimum speed is just north of 400rpm, at which speed they are inaudible. Then they go all the way up to 2000, where they push lots of air, but also are kind of loud, at about 31db
 
Zarathustra[H];1041998593 said:
That's because these things push a ton of air at full and even speed reducer speeds.

They are excellent if you get the PWM models and run them at lower speeds though.

That way you have the best of both worlds. Silence most of the time, and the ability to push real amounts of air when you need it. 108cfm and ~4.2 mmH20 at full blast.

I wouldn't get the non-PWM models, as you - even with a volt mod or speed reducer - aren't going to get them to run slow enough to be quiet. They need PWM control!

What is unusual about them is that they ahve a larger range of operation than most PWM fans.

At 0% PWM signal, they actually turn off.
Minimum speed is just north of 400rpm, at which speed they are inaudible. Then they go all the way up to 2000, where they push lots of air, but also are kind of loud, at about 31db
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Ok, thanks. Will think about that
 
I've been really happy with my NF P12s. Efficient, but very quiet, made my system silent while maintaining 90% of its cooling performance.
 
Zarathustra[H];1041998584 said:
Onddly enough though, while the two iPPC-2000's used to be PERFECTLY silent, now that I have added a few more, even though they are all at super low RPM's, I am getting a low hum.

It's very very low in volume, but it's bugging me.
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So, it turns out it is not one of the fans making this noise, but rather it is the pump in one of my H90's. I probably need to tighten it down better somehow to avoid vibration.

The fans work perfectly.
 
Zarathustra[H];1042003248 said:
So, it turns out it is not one of the fans making this noise, but rather it is the pump in one of my H90's. I probably need to tighten it down better somehow to avoid vibration.

The fans work perfectly.
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Bet you happy its not the fans!
 
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