Best 120mm case fan?

Lol...what a question. I'd recommending using a forum (or google) search for that one :).

I use Nexus quiet fans (which really are silent). As static pressure and very high cfm don't matter as much in case fans (when compared to choosing a cpu fan), I generally look to cost + noise.
 
Gentle Typhoon? Really, there are a lot of choices nowadays. Maybe check out Silent PC Review?
 
Forceman said:
Gentle Typhoon? Really, there are a lot of choices nowadays. Maybe check out Silent PC Review?
Click to expand...

That's just my point...gentle typhoons? Expensive, great static pressure and quiet, excellent choice for cpu fan. But do you really want to buy 5 of them to put in your case when a much cheaper fan can produce the same performance?
 
I was quite surprised and happy to see many manufacturers placing ratings for both volume and noise on their packages now. I found a Link Depot 120mm fan at Frys one day, 77cfm and 33db at 1800rpm. I backed it down to ~1300rpm and can -barely- hear it over my PSU. Not saying it's the best, but for $6 I decided that it was worth it. Scythe, Nexus and Yate Loon however are some of the best name brands on the market for high performance and low noise.
 
Cooler Master R4,1900rpm-19dBA and 63CFM.
Not the best but might deserve some attention.
 
For me is definately the Nexus D12SL-12. Even @1000RPM is inaudible. Great reliability too, have 2 for a couple of years and still no rattles or noises.

My second choise are the Scythe S-Flex 1200RPM.
 
I'm a fan of Scythe Slipstreams. Move a plenty of air for little noise. I have 1600RPM fans, but all are hooked up to a fan controller and are running around 1100-1200RPM they work great to keep everything cool. But I've also heard only good things about the S-Flex, but I haven't tried them myself.
 
I needed to replace the three Antec Tri-cool fans in my Antec P180B case, and after far too much research, I decided on the Nexus Basic D12SL-12 for $9.99 + $2.99 shipping as the best mix of low cost and quietness.
 
Just buy a fan controller which is usually cheaper than buying an entire fleet of premium fans and will usually accomplish your goal. You don't need fancy fans when you can manually control your airflow and noise ratio. Remember, you can rarely have excellent airflow with very little noise as you typically have to trade one for another...TINSTAAFL.
 
vdragonlance said:
Instead of making another best case fan thread, I will hijack this one. :D
Any recommendations on 140mm case fans? I need 3 to replace the stock ones that come with the Lian Li PC-k58W. It seems like there isn't many reviews on 140mm fans.

I'm looking at these:
http://www.svc.com/fan-nt-140mm.html
http://www.svc.com/blue-vortex-14.html
http://www.svc.com/tr-x-silent-140.html

I'm not too sure about the first 2, the Thermalright seems to be the best out of the bunch.
Click to expand...


That's a tough call. I avoid anything from NZXT thanks to prior experience using their stuff. That one is too loud anyway

I like the second fan you linked, but the thought of using a sleeve bearing is "meh..."

Last fan is "okay" but still louder than what I want.

If I had to choose from the 3 listed, I'd go with #2
 
Nexus, Noise Blocker, Gentle Typhoons, Euro Arctic Cooling are all smooth.

Fluid dynamic bearings are a huge plus and very smooth.
 
notarat said:
That's a tough call. I avoid anything from NZXT thanks to prior experience using their stuff. That one is too loud anyway

I like the second fan you linked, but the thought of using a sleeve bearing is "meh..."

Last fan is "okay" but still louder than what I want.

If I had to choose from the 3 listed, I'd go with #2
Click to expand...
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/140mm-fan-roundup.html
The only review I could find on 140mm fans, showed the Thermalright X-Silent 140 to be a pretty good fan, along with the Scythe Slip Stream 140 and the Thermalright TY-140.

I would go with the Scythe Slip Stream 140s, but they only seem to have 120mm mounting holes. :mad:
 
vdragonlance said:
Instead of making another best case fan thread, I will hijack this one. :D
Any recommendations on 140mm case fans? I need 3 to replace the stock ones that come with the Lian Li PC-k58W. It seems like there isn't many reviews on 140mm fans.

I'm looking at these:
http://www.svc.com/fan-nt-140mm.html
http://www.svc.com/blue-vortex-14.html
http://www.svc.com/tr-x-silent-140.html

I'm not too sure about the first 2, the Thermalright seems to be the best out of the bunch.
Click to expand...

X-silent is good, but it doesn't push much air (low static pressure), and cannot be mounted horizontally due to its bearing design (I've read that this particular fan develops bearing noise quickly when mounted in that orientation).

Thermalright's TY-140 is even better (I own 3 of them, but my scythe GTs are better), and can be mounted any way you want. I'd consider it a 140mm fan, but it's oddly shaped, and features 120mm mounting holes. You can just use double-sided tape to mount. This is the best 140mm-sized fan I know of... SVC had a decent price on it.

Search: X-bit labs ty-140 , and X-bit labs silver arrow (comparison against Noctua 140mm fan - TR wins by large margin).

I haven't seen any tests on the PL Blue Vortex.

120mm: Scythe GT series for anything above 1100 RPM. Below that = diminishing returns, and the trusted Yate Loon does nearly as well (as well as several other fans... Zalman's older ZM-F3 is pretty good I think... some others... I'd have to look at the testing done by "Martinm210" - the best on the Internet).

The Scythe Gt-AP15 with 140mm adapter will push more air through a radiator than the 140mm fans at the same noise level... I'm not sure how this translates to case-fan performance - I think the TY-140 closes the gap slightly.
 
I'm gonna go the sensible route...Yate Loon D12SM-12. Less then $4, quiet, responds well to a fan controller. If its just going to be used as a case fan, no need to go nuts buying premium fans. I have yates with over 3yrs continuous use on them, and they still work great. They come in low and high speed models too...in case the medium speed doesn't cut it for you.

The low speed Yates are just about as quiet as the Nexus. They are actually pretty much the same fan, sans the color. Sleeve bearings, but mine have held up quite well. Considering there is a 6 month old Gentle Typhoon with a bad bearing whirring away in my case, I've grown a great deal of respect for my Yates, and what I've put them through.
 
Hey, hey! C'mon people, didn't you see that Bootleg Usher already had the final word, back in the seventh post? How can you all keep posting after that definitive "/thread"?

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

My past couple builds have been all Scythe fans, S-Flex on the radiator and Slip Stream for the case fans, and everything has worked well. I was surprised at how nicely the 1900 RPM Slip Stream runs under mobo speed control. For the next build I have a stack of Gentle Typhoons ready.
 
as far as I'm concerned the GT AP-14s or AP-15s are the only option for me. They aren't expensive, they are $14.99. Thats nothing compared to a $500 video card.
 
silent-circuit said:
Panaflo 120x38mm mid speeds. Use a controller. Done. Best fan there is.
Click to expand...

Or the Low speed version L1A, L1BX, they have outlasted the computers I have put them into and get recycled through different cases and builds :)
Absolutely my favorite fan, great static pressure, and work well in any orientation.

Currently in the process of replacing all my dead yates, those things were certainly not with the $4-5 I paid for them. Can't fit the L1BX unfortunately since they are thicker and need to go in front of my case.
 
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