120mm fan suggestions?

O

obobski

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I'm thinking about buying some new 120mm fans (I made a sudden "jump" from cases that used exclusively 80mm fans, to cases that use exclusively 120mm fans, so now I've got a bin of about a dozen 80mm fans, and can't use a one of them)

currently I've got a few Antec Trispeeds, which seem to work ok, but are a bit noisy when turned up, and a few Cooler Master 120mm's which are fairly weak (but quiet)

ideally I'd find a fan thats somewhere inbetween, pushes a lot of air (40-60 CFM/each), but makes hardly any noise, I was looking at these (in no particular order):
Enermax Magma
Scythe Gentle Typhoon
Noctua NF-P12
TT Silent Cat
TT 130mm

any thoughts?
 
For case fans in normal vertical positions, the best noise/airflow fans are Scythe Slipstreams. You'd probably want the medium-speed version for good airflow and low noise levels. For horizontally-placed fans (top exhausts, etc.), you'd be better off with Gentle Typhoon fans since they're ball-bearing and not sleeve-bearing like the Slipstreams.
 
if youre really looking for only 40+ CFM and quiet, then id suggest these yate loons. at 28dB theyre basically silent, and since i imagine youre getting a few, theyll feel great on your wallet. you can even get them at lower prices for 3-9, or for 10+. scroll down to see their quantity discount prices.

the fans Zero suggested are great, he knows his stuff. if youre looking to save some money then the yates might be a good buy.
 
I have the Nexus 1000rpm and Scythe Slipstream 800rpm. Both of them are very quiet. I guess the 800rpm is quieter. I compare them against the Noctua P12. At 1300rpm the P12 is not that quiet. But at 900-1100rpm they are similar. The bad thing is that my P12 will not auto start at 7v with its own U.L.N.A cable! I have to rotate it first. This is very bad. So I have to use the L.N.A cable and it runs at 1100rpm.

So I guess all quality fans are similar. At 800rpm they're all very silent but at 1200rpm they start to be noisy. Scythe Slipstream is the cheapest but I heard some people have quality issues with them. Nexus 1000rpm is the reference fan of silentpcreview.com and it delivers. Scythe Gentle Typhoon is a double ball bearing fan so that it is the best choice for video cards and maybe PSUs. Scythe S-Flex features the Sony F.D.B motor and is said to be durable. They're all good choices. Noctua P12 is too expensive and I will not recommend it unless in certain conditions.
 
Zero82z said:
For case fans in normal vertical positions, the best noise/airflow fans are Scythe Slipstreams. You'd probably want the medium-speed version for good airflow and low noise levels. For horizontally-placed fans (top exhausts, etc.), you'd be better off with Gentle Typhoon fans since they're ball-bearing and not sleeve-bearing like the Slipstreams.
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+1

If you are looking for the least amount of money to spend the YL are the ones to get, but (at least for me) are really hit or miss for sound quality, the ones as of late all seem to have clicking when undervolted, and if you really are looking for quiet, you will want to undervolt them.

If you are looking for best CFM to noise, the Slipstreams have it, and for over all fan without limits on placement/positions the GT take it for me, it use to be the S-Flex, but not anymore.
 
I love my Scythe Gentle Typhoon.

typhoon.jpg


typhoon3.jpg
 
I use the Gentle Typhoon 800rpm in my rig. Works pretty well.
 
ekuest said:
if youre really looking for only 40+ CFM and quiet, then id suggest these yate loons. at 28dB theyre basically silent, and since i imagine youre getting a few, theyll feel great on your wallet. you can even get them at lower prices for 3-9, or for 10+. scroll down to see their quantity discount prices.

the fans Zero suggested are great, he knows his stuff. if youre looking to save some money then the yates might be a good buy.
Click to expand...

28dB is not silent, not by SPCR standards anyway.:D

My fan sandwich build was built before the gentle typhoon were available but every user report so far from SPCR looks positive. It also came top in a round up in Taiwan for pressure performance.
 
Mini P-180 ftw!

I've got 4 Yate Loon mediums running in my full siz p180 and they're great. My Xigmatek fan is louder than they are.
 
Hypernova said:
28dB is not silent, not by SPCR standards anyway.:D
Click to expand...

it is by my standards! what do the guys at SPCR know anyway? not as much as i do, thats for damn sure. then again, i always have music on and live in a big city with lots of background noise. i also have to put my computer to sleep at night so i can get to sleep. :D
 
Look, everything is relative, even silence.:D

I have no fewer than 10 medium speen Yates in/on/outside my current computer and the noise is far less than the computer right next to it that is cooled by 6 80mm CoolerMaster fans.

In my big rig, the GTX 285 fans at 75% make more noise than all the cooling fans put together.

Yates are good quality and very cheap.
 
ekuest said:
it is by my standards! what do the guys at SPCR know anyway? not as much as i do, thats for damn sure. then again, i always have music on and live in a big city with lots of background noise. i also have to put my computer to sleep at night so i can get to sleep. :D
Click to expand...

SPCR redefines "completely anal"
 
Scythe S-Flex or Gentle Typhoons are usually considered tops for best performance / noise ratio. However, Yate Loons can come quite close and can usually be had for less than half the price. As others have said, the quality of Yate Loons can vary a bit. In my experience, the best bet for YLs is to order from Petra's TechShop (as opposed to Jab-Tech or others.) I believe on XS it was mentioned a while back that Petra gets his Yates directly from the factory, while others use a middle man of sorts. Don't know the details, but I do know that my YLs from Petras (D12SLs and D12SMs) are a bit quieter than my D12SMs from Jab-Tech. Still, they're great performing fans all around, and you can't beat the price.

I have 6 YL Mediums (D12SMs) driving my radiator, and a D12SL as a bottom intake fan sitting below my pump-res.
 
Noiseblockers?

Was looking at a couple Multiframe M12-S3HS for placing on a IFX-14 or DH-14.
 
If you're going for s-flex, there's also the kama-flex/flow from scythe. Uses the same S-FDB as the s-flex, and according to SPCR, sounds almost exactly the same as the s-flex. But the kama-flex can be had for quite a bit less.
 
Has anyone had troubles with the Scyhe slipstreams? I've had two die (1900 rpm and 1600 rpm). Both were undervolted to about 1400 rpm and fail within a year.

I've had a 1200 rpm version used as an exhaust at full speed the whole time, and it's been fine.
 
If I remember correctly I've had a slipstream die on me. It was one of the early production ones though and I think they had a problem with some of them leaking their oil or something like that. I still have one running on my cpu's heatsink and it's still moving fine.
 
I personally have the P12 (just added a total of 6 of them to my case) and love them. They are inaudible to me as I have them connected to a fan controller in a case with lots of noise dampening material.

I can say they dropped my temps to an insane level and even if I have my case side off you can still barely hear them at 1000 rpm. Once they get above that there is a little sound but its not annoying, more of a gentle whoosh to let you know they are working lol
 
Magma's aren't the quietest but removable blades = win. Plus they are sexy with their cool "bat wing" blades.
 
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