Best intake / exhaust / CPU-cooler fans for quietness and cooling?

[Delicieuxz]

Which fans do you like most for intake, exhaust, and on a CPU cooler?


My air cooler is a Noctua NH-D15, and I have three NF-A15 fans I can put on it. Is there a better choice than those?

I'm thinking of replacing my case's Be Quiet Pure Wings 2 fans with 140mm Silent Wings 4 PWM high-speed fans, having 3 intake and 2 exhaust. Would the Silent Wings 4 be a good choice for exhaust fans, when silence is my priority, with cooling performance also being important, or would something else be better?

A post here mentions they got the non high-speed (1,100 max RPM) 140mm Silent Wings 4 and used it as an exhaust fan, and it didn't work that well. While I think my case's 140mm Pure Wings 2 fans top out at 1,000 RPM (I'm unsure if the exhaust fan would be the 1,600 RPM high-speed version).

Tech Power Up's benchmarks here suggest that at lower RPM, the Silent Wings 4 doesn't push as much air as a lot of other fans, but at 1,000-and-up RPM, it pushes more air than most, while still being quieter than most.

Igor's Lab has some good comparison charts for fans, and makes Silent Wings 4 look much quieter than Pure Wings 2.

 

[Mad Maxx]

I’m a Phanteks guy. Replaced all my Cougar FV270 case fans with 140mm and 120mm Phanteks D30 fans.

 

[Delicieuxz]

I haven't tried Phanteks.

I did buy a bunch of Be Quiet's 140mm Silent Wings 4s, and put them in my case. And they were pretty bad, so I removed them and will return them. They had a dirty spinning sound. And when starting, and at various RPM ranges, they often emitted faint grindy or rattling sound that I just couldn't live with - I got the same unpleasant noise from 3 different fans, each tested separately. I also heard the same sound in a YouTube vid comparing them to some other fan, I think a Noctua 120mm fan, and heard the same roughness in the Silent Wings 4. But I don't recall what that video was called.

So, I swapped-out my air cooler and the Silent Wings 4s, and reinstalled the 420mm Liquid Freezer 3 AIO I have, which uses 3x Arctic P14 fans. And the P14s have a way smoother fan sound, and might also be quieter. They're also a lot cheaper and can be bought in packs for an even lower price. P14s are great.

Also, after reinstalling the AIO, I'm getting better temps and Cinebench scores than the last time I installed it. I'm thinking of sticking with it now.

 

[Delicieuxz]

I keep getting unwanted noises with my Liquid Freezer 3, so I'm going to do more playing around with my cooling solution.

I often, but not always, hear a high-pitched whine noise that seems to trace to the pump, as turning off all the fans in the PC doesn't make it go away, but it quietens a lot when I set the pump speed to 0% - but it doesn't go completely away. At other times, it's just completely not present at all.

And I occasionally hear some variation of a noise that sounds like resonation, which I didn't get with my Noctua air cooler setup. Yesterday when I heard it, I tried pushing my PC around a bit, the noise stopped. That noise can vary in intensity, fade in, and fade out. Online reports suggest P14 fans sometimes have an issue with resonance noise.


I'm thinking of trying Arctic P14 ARGB as intake and exhaust fans, as they review as quieter and pushing of more air than the regular P14s, which with the LF3 AIO are already very quiet and capable. The main difference in design I see between the P14 ARGB and the P14 is that the ARGB's fins are all connected with an outer circle frame.


View: https://youtu.be/kKiTCwtZUXU

I also want to look into replacing the NF-A15 PWM fans on my Noctua NH-D15 cooler with something quieter and higher performing, if there is anything like that, or maybe getting another air cooler that serves that purpose.

BTW, I tried putting three NF-A15 PWM fans on an NH-D15 cooler, and it didn't work: The third fan placed on the rear side of the rear heatsink tower (which already had a fan on the front side) would always cause a loud, almost sci-fi like whistle sound when it touched the heatsink tower. Even while holding the fan not attached to the tower, and just holding it so it partially would sit against the tower, the sound would emerge, and increase in loudness the more the fan was touching the tower.

 

[Delicieuxz]

I've ordered a 5-pack of Arctic P14 Max 140mm fans. They look to have the same or similar design as the ARGB variant (all fins are connected in a circle mold), but they're a lot newer, releasing this year, and without RGB, so much cheaper. And they're reviewed well. They should be a significant improvement in quietness and air movement over the original P14.

Here's a great deal on them for people in Canada: P14 Max 5-pack for $57

 

[chameleoneel]

Which fans do you like most for intake, exhaust, and on a CPU cooler?


My air cooler is a Noctua NH-D15, and I have three NF-A15 fans I can put on it. Is there a better choice than those?

I'm thinking of replacing my case's Be Quiet Pure Wings 2 fans with 140mm Silent Wings 4 PWM high-speed fans, having 3 intake and 2 exhaust. Would the Silent Wings 4 be a good choice for exhaust fans, when silence is my priority, with cooling performance also being important, or would something else be better?

A post here mentions they got the non high-speed (1,100 max RPM) 140mm Silent Wings 4 and used it as an exhaust fan, and it didn't work that well. While I think my case's 140mm Pure Wings 2 fans top out at 1,000 RPM (I'm unsure if the exhaust fan would be the 1,600 RPM high-speed version).
View attachment 679828

Tech Power Up's benchmarks here suggest that at lower RPM, the Silent Wings 4 doesn't push as much air as a lot of other fans, but at 1,000-and-up RPM, it pushes more air than most, while still being quieter than most.

Igor's Lab has some good comparison charts for fans, and makes Silent Wings 4 look much quieter than Pure Wings 2.

View attachment 679829

I haven't tried Phanteks.

I did buy a bunch of Be Quiet's 140mm Silent Wings 4s, and put them in my case. And they were pretty bad, so I removed them and will return them. They had a dirty spinning sound. And when starting, and at various RPM ranges, they often emitted faint grindy or rattling sound that I just couldn't live with - I got the same unpleasant noise from 3 different fans, each tested separately. I also heard the same sound in a YouTube vid comparing them to some other fan, I think a Noctua 120mm fan, and heard the same roughness in the Silent Wings 4. But I don't recall what that video was called.

So, I swapped-out my air cooler and the Silent Wings 4s, and reinstalled the 420mm Liquid Freezer 3 AIO I have, which uses 3x Arctic P14 fans. And the P14s have a way smoother fan sound, and might also be quieter. They're also a lot cheaper and can be bought in packs for an even lower price. P14s are great.

Also, after reinstalling the AIO, I'm getting better temps and Cinebench scores than the last time I installed it. I'm thinking of sticking with it now.

Many of the newer 9 blade etc designs have a problem as a pull fan (where their back is against a vent or heatsink, pulling air through or intaking). The high blade count often results in a buzzy or fizzy sort of sound. I think some of them manage to avoid it, such as Noctua's NF-A12X25 (but I'm personally not a fan of Noctua's motor noise).
In my personal experience, the Silent Wings 4 suffer from it and so do the Toughfan 12 Pro. The regular Toughfan 12 may not. The Toughfan 14 and 14 pro do not suffer from it.

For BeQuiet, their Silent Wings 3 are very good as pull/intake. I actually think they have one of the most pleasant sound profiles, in pull configuration. Their Lite-Wings RGB fans have two different blade designs, for this reason.

If you want good all-arounders in 25mm thickness, Most of EK's fans. Or I would try the regular Toughfan 12. Arctic P12 also doesn't suck. But, its cheaper build quality means a resonance/whine around like 1100 RPM or something. The P12 max mostly fixes this. But, is also louder, overall.

For thicker fans, the Phanteks T30 is the king. Corsair RS120 MAX is good, may cost a little less. But maybe not enough less to make it attractive.

 

[doyll]

I've ordered a 5-pack of Arctic P14 Max 140mm fans. They look to have the same or similar design as the ARGB variant (all fins are connected in a circle mold), but they're a lot newer, releasing this year, and without RGB, so much cheaper. And they're reviewed well. They should be a significant improvement in quietness and air movement over the original P14.

Here's a great deal on them for people in Canada: P14 Max 5-pack for $57

Have you had a chance to try these out? Really interested in your thoughts about them.

 

[Delicieuxz]

Have you had a chance to try these out? Really interested in your thoughts about them.

I have, I just haven't made use of it yet, lol. I guess I burned myself out from swapping the LF3 AIO with my Noctua air cooler a bunch of times and just haven't felt motivated to take things apart again to put the Arctic P14 Max fans in with the air cooler again.

But I have the 5-pack here, and they seem sturdily built, and have some heft to them. I can probably install the rear and top-rear exhaust fans without shutting-down my PC, and then continue to be lazy a little longer regarding the rest that involve swapping out the AIO.

 

[doyll]

I have, I just haven't made use of it yet, lol. I guess I burned myself out from swapping the LF3 AIO with my Noctua air cooler a bunch of times and just haven't felt motivated to take things apart again to put the Arctic P14 Max fans in with the air cooler again.

But I have the 5-pack here, and they seem sturdily built, and have some heft to them. I can probably install the rear and top-rear exhaust fans without shutting-down my PC, and then continue to be lazy a little longer regarding the rest that involve swapping out the AIO.

Take your time. I have them in one of my systems for a few years now and like them. Am curious mostly because you have been trying other fans, so gives us a good comparison.

 

[Delicieuxz]

Take your time. I have them in one of my systems for a few years now and like them. Am curious mostly because you have been trying other fans, so gives us a good comparison.

The P14 Max are a new variant which came out this year. I have 3x regular P14s as front intakes, on my radiator. The regular ones are pretty good, quiet, and have a smooth sound to them - I like them a lot more than the Silent Wings 4 I tried out, which, despite the comparison graph below, were noisier than the regular P14s with each of the three SW4 fans I tested individually. But the P14 Max are supposed to be a significant improvement over them.

The P14 Max have a closed-circle fin design, and feel heavier, to me. I've installed the P14 Max in rear and top-rear exhaust positions. The Be Quiet Pure Wings 2 exhaust fans I've replaced them with weigh 162g, while the P14 Max weigh 242g.

The P14 Max certainly push more air than the Pure Wings 2. If I don't mind just a bit of noise, they can make a strong exhaust wind come out my PC. And when they are going, the sound is smooth, and their resonant frequency is a nice low pitch, which isn't irritating. Still, I want to have them set where they'll be silent, but I'll let them ramp-up some during a heavy load, where the GPU is likely to be already making more noise than them. There is some startup noise, if starting from 0 RPM. On the top-rear exhaust fan, it's been very faint and disappears completely once the fan gets going. On the rear fan, it's been sometimes faint and sometimes loud, and I can notice it faintly continuing faintly even after it's going - so, I'm going to swap that fan for another and see if it also does the same.

I have the rear exhaust fan set to a baseline of 16% speed, and the top-rear one set to 18% speed. Those are about the highest speeds I can set them before I generally begin to hear them (maybe I can do 17% on the rear exhaust), if I'm trying to notice a change in sound when switching a fan off while sitting at my desk. So, I'm able to hear the rear fan sooner than I hear the top-rear fan. I wonder if that's just the particular fan, or if it comes down to the direction it's pushing air and sound (though, I'd expect the top-rear fan's noise to be able to reach my ear more easily).

Right now, with those fan speeds, my 7800X3D is idling / under light OS usage at 39 - 41C.

View: https://youtu.be/CIXL89IWXvE


View: https://youtu.be/8RpC7vmhUL8

 

[doyll]

The P14 Max are a new variant which came out this year. I have 3x regular P14s as front intakes, on my radiator. The regular ones are pretty good, quiet, and have a smooth sound to them - I like them a lot more than the Silent Wings 4 I tried out, which, despite the comparison graph below, were noisier than the regular P14s with each of the three SW4 fans I tested individually. But the P14 Max are supposed to be a significant improvement over them.

The P14 Max have a closed-circle fin design, and feel heavier, to me. I've installed the P14 Max in rear and top-rear exhaust positions. The Be Quiet Pure Wings 2 exhaust fans I've replaced them with weigh 162g, while the P14 Max weigh 242g.

The P14 Max certainly push more air than the Pure Wings 2. If I don't mind just a bit of noise, they can make a strong exhaust wind come out my PC. And when they are going, the sound is smooth, and their resonant frequency is a nice low pitch, which isn't irritating. Still, I want to have them set where they'll be silent, but I'll let them ramp-up some during a heavy load, where the GPU is likely to be already making more noise than them. There is some startup noise, if starting from 0 RPM. On the top-rear exhaust fan, it's been very faint and disappears completely once the fan gets going. On the rear fan, it's been sometimes faint and sometimes loud, and I can notice it faintly continuing faintly even after it's going - so, I'm going to swap that fan for another and see if it also does the same.

I have the rear exhaust fan set to a baseline of 16% speed, and the top-rear one set to 18% speed. Those are about the highest speeds I can set them before I generally begin to hear them (maybe I can do 17% on the rear exhaust), if I'm trying to notice a change in sound when switching a fan off while sitting at my desk. So, I'm able to hear the rear fan sooner than I hear the top-rear fan. I wonder if that's just the particular fan, or if it comes down to the direction it's pushing air and sound (though, I'd expect the top-rear fan's noise to be able to reach my ear more easily).

Right now, with those fan speeds, my 7800X3D is idling / under light OS usage at 39 - 41C.

View attachment 682903


View: https://youtu.be/CIXL89IWXvE


View: https://youtu.be/8RpC7vmhUL8

I haven't had a chance to try Arctic P14 MAX. I'm kinda surprised temp to dB graph starts at 35dB, but I guess for most people that's quiet.

I have a pair of original P14 and like them. That system's fans rarely go above 30-32dBA and are inaudible at idle. Case is about 1.5 meter from me.

My room has an ambient noise level of about 26-28dBA which is very quiet. We live at end of paved lane with houses on each side. It's quiet I can sometimes hear peoples' steps as they walk by about 8 meters from window.