Best 120mm Fan - Performance / Noise

U

USMC2Hard4U

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Apr 4, 2003
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I am looking at getting a Thermal Right XP 120 and Antec P180 Case. So that is 5 - 120mm Fans... I am looking to keep things Quiet... but Not hot.

Anyone recommend some good 120's?

I am looking for someting Really powerful but not too noisy for my CPU and 4 of some quieter alternatives for the Case.

Thanks
 
take a browse: www.sidewindercomputers.com

i don't think that their prices are very good, but they have a lot of good delta and panaflo stuff, in one place, with a listenig room to boot.

about the only thing that they don't have, in my known-good knowledge base, is yate-loon/nexus stuff, for the ultra quite oriented user.
 
I'd reccommend Panaflow or Papst.
The only one I know offhand is the Panaflow.
69CFM at 30dB, and the rating is slightly overrated, from my tests (with a dB meter). I've got three of them on my radiator, and I've never had them higher than 23dB, even at 12V. *shrugs*
 
banGerprawN said:
I'd reccommend Panaflow or Papst.
The only one I know offhand is the Panaflow.
69CFM at 30dB, and the rating is slightly overrated, from my tests (with a dB meter). I've got three of them on my radiator, and I've never had them higher than 23dB, even at 12V. *shrugs*
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how would one of those work on a Black Ice Xtreme and would it be enough to keep the rest of the case relativly cool?
 
One concern is that if you plan on undervolting these fans you may get some noise at cerain rpms. My sunon's 120's have an irritating whine in the 7 to 9 Volt range? but are fine at 6-7V and above 9V. Rubber washers may help some but then again maybe not.
 
Bugalaman said:
how would one of those work on a Black Ice Xtreme and would it be enough to keep the rest of the case relativly cool?
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go with the pro, not the xtreme.

so......what normal case has somewhat less than 200 CFM moving through it? case temps are not a worry, since you're shifting your radiating surface such that it will dump heat directly outside of the case, and you are moving tonnes of air out of the case, in response to the air that the rad is taking out.
 
Autochthon said:
One concern is that if you plan on undervolting these fans you may get some noise at cerain rpms. My sunon's 120's have an irritating whine in the 7 to 9 Volt range? but are fine at 6-7V and above 9V. Rubber washers may help some but then again maybe not.
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doesn't help with the noise that you get from under-volting a good quality fan like a panaflo or a delta. probably not a sunon either.
 
DFI Daishi said:
doesn't help with the noise that you get from under-volting a good quality fan like a panaflo or a delta. probably not a sunon either.
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I haven't had any experience with 120mm delta's and panaflos but I have 80mm versions of both and they are both much quieter when undervolted as is the vantec tornado and even the sunon 120's with the caveat of the odd whine/vibration at some speeds. Basically all the 80/90mm fans I have are quite at 2000 rpms the difference is some top out at 2000 rpms and some go as high as 5000rpms.
 
I really like my Panaflo H1A's.
Run those on a fan controller, or mod to 7V and you have good airflow at very low db

D.
 
Autochthon said:
I haven't had any experience with 120mm delta's and panaflos but I have 80mm versions of both and they are both much quieter when undervolted as is the vantec tornado and even the sunon 120's with the caveat of the odd whine/vibration at some speeds. Basically all the 80/90mm fans I have are quite at 2000 rpms the difference is some top out at 2000 rpms and some go as high as 5000rpms.
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i should have been more clear in the first place: the rubber washers won't help. undervolting is greatly benficial.

a resistor based controller would probably deal with your beefs about under-volting, assuming that you are presently using a PWM based controller. if you are uning a theobus already, then i truely wonder what is goig on with your fans.
 
DFI Daishi said:
i should have been more clear in the first place: the rubber washers won't help. undervolting is greatly benficial.

a resistor based controller would probably deal with your beefs about under-volting, assuming that you are presently using a PWM based controller. if you are uning a theobus already, then i truely wonder what is goig on with your fans.
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I've been around the barn with this and though I'm on a PWM (MB header through a ampilying transistor) now it did the same thing on a rheostat and In my case I suspect it is at least partially vibration related; a capacitor didn't seem to help either. This isn't the place I don't want to steal USMC's thread ;) I just wanted to relate my mixed experience with large fans, there can be issues with even the quitest setup and it's not like he can run down to the nearest Radioshack :)
 
I have a Thermalright XP120 myself for cooling my FX55. I originally purchased an Akasa Ultraquiet Paxpower fan which is incredibly quiet but no where near fast enough. I then went OTT withthe fan and bought a YS-Tech 120mm 125CFM noisemaker!

After some lengthly research I have found that Panaflo are very good for their reliability and noise to performance ratio, but the best ratio can be found with the SilenX fans. Here in the UK they are proving very difficult to get hold of and only http://www.kustompcs.co.uk seem to have them. Panaflos I can only find from http://www.dorothybradbury.co.uk/

Hope that helps. Check out the specs of the SilenX fans for yourself.
 
I recently got an AeroCool 58cfm 120mm and it's very quiet.. I was pleasantly surprized. :)
 
This is the one on my shopping list:

SilenX 120mm 14 dBA Fan
[size=-1][/size][size=-1]
Features:
Fan Swept Forward Fan Blade Design
Smoother, Thinner Fan Blades
Highly Efficient Hypro Bearings
Vibration Isolation Mounts

Specifications
Dimensions: 120 x 120 x 25mm
Input: 12V/1.2W
Speed: 1800 RPM
Air Flow: 58 CFM
Noise Level: 14 dBA
Three Pin Connector with Speed Monitoring
Four Pin Adapter included[/size]
 
I thought SilenX fans were just marketing crap like Thermaltake fans that are rated way lower in noise output then they are in real life. SilenX fans are way too expensive as well. Stick with Panaflo if you want the best for a good price.
 
starfury6 said:
Really? The SilenX are that bad compared to the Panaflos?
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they rate with the fan farther away from the mic and under les stringent testing room conditions than the big, reputable manufacturers.

they are quiet fans, but trying to compare the ratings that silenx gives their stuff to anyone else's numbers doesn't give a accurate picture of the situation.
 
Panaflo makes fantastic 80mm fans, but their 120mm fans are lacking, imo.

The best 120mm fan for the price is the Thermaltake Thunderblade 120mm.
Do a simple 5v conversion and it moves a respectable amount of air, and is very, very quiet. No bearing noise at all. Just a very soft hum from the fan blades.
They are only $8 a piece, with free shipping at 2coolshopping.com

Unfortunately their site seems to be down at the moment.
 
Aerocool Turbine fans look good, especially in light of the bad Silenx reviews.... haven't heard anything bad, although there are a very limited number of reviews at all on them.
 
I buy these, when running full blast (12v) they are rather loud (they vibrate) but when you run them at about 7v they're incredible quiet and still blow alot of air.
 
i like my panaflo M1A its quiet even when its at 12v, silent at 7v
 
i love my Silverstone! thats right! 103.4 CFM@ 12v. 5-13.5v range. keeps my stuff nice and cool!
SST-FMC3XW
 
so guys, how DO you make it go at 7v? is there some inline resistor thing you plug the fan header into or supn? let mek now as i have no idea
 
Zalman actually bundle their silent fans with inline resistor attachments to use if you wish. Haven't seen them separately though.
 
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