Best thin fans?

yolostrats

Weaksauce
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Well, what are the best thin fans?

Like many people in this subforum, i'm designing my own SFF case. It will be for personal use and i'm not looking to make it public or gain feedback at this stage.

I'm looking at thin fans because reasons. Should be obvious - tradeoff performance to noise ratio with smaller size. Standard fans at 25mm thick and most thin fans are 15mm thick and go as low s 12mm from scythe.

From my research, the best appear to be prolimatech ultra sleek vortex. I don't believe their spec sheet CFM of 98 on the 140mm version but I can't find solid info on the fan at all. I've ordered a few 140mm and a single 120mm to test.

So taking the ultra sleek vortex 14 (140mm), the specs are 9-18dB and 300-1000rpm and a max CFM of 98. You may notice this as being much higher than regular case fans.

The other thin fans i've identified are:

- Prolimatech Ultra Sleek Vortex 12 & 14
- Scythe Slip Stream 1200/1600/2000RPM 120mm Slim Case Fan
- Scythe Kaze Jyu SLIM 100mm 2000RPM
- Gelid Slim 12 UV Blue 3pin
- Gelid Slim 12 PL Blue PWM
- CoolerMaster XtraFlo 120 Slim
- Akasa AK-FN078 120mm slim PWM
- Titan 120mm x 15 mm Extreme Super Thin PWM

Thoughts and opinions?
 
Thermalright has very nice L150 mm x H140 mm x W13 mm fans: TY-14013: amazon.com/Thermalright-TY-14013/dp/B00G8GUE74/
 
Good additions. Best is subjective, but my definition is amount of air moved vs noise. It's entirely possible for some fans to be better at lower or higher speeds too, but most manufacturers only have stats for max fan speed.

The cooler master fan linked is 30dB vs 17dB on the ultra sleek vortex 12. Since decibels are exponential, this is a pretty huge difference. It's the same fan I listed - 'temperature control' is just a dodgy way to market PWM. There is no temperature control module included but I think there are fans that exist with this actually built in or attached.
 
That article says the Noctua slim 120mm should be out second half of 2015. We'll probably see a close to final version at Computex this year.
 
Awesome!

My main design doesn't use 120mm fans atm but i'm in no rush to complete this. It may take a few months, half a year or even more than a year.

When I get the 140mm prolimatech fans, i will test airflow just by.. feeling. I use an external PSU brick and good fan controller so it should be fairly simple. I will be comparing to 150cfm 200mm spectre pros and a thermalright TY-141 which should have similar noise level and lower airflow (73cfm).

If the ultra sleek vortex outperforms the thermalright fan, then I will be very happy.
 
As a point of comparison, I use the 140 ultra sleek Prolimatech on my Thermalright AXP100 cooler in a 5.3L case. When I was looking at reviews, they usually tested with stock 100mm fan and 140x25mm TY-14x provided by Thermalright and the their 100mm outperformed their 140mm on the cooler(should be able to find those reviews, I'll look). The Prolimatech 140 blows both of these away mounted on my AXP100 (though even a Noctua A9x14 worked bettter than the 100mm stock by a few degrees). As well I tried an ultra sleek 120 and it also exceeded both Thermalright fans by quite a bit. Both 120 & 140 are very quiet and provide very good cooling at very low RPMs.


EDIT: Here's a review http://hardocp.com/article/2013/01/15/thermalright_axp100_cpu_air_cooler_review/3
 
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Cryorig have a really nice slim 140mm fan.

Link for the lazy

only 13mm thick, and with the typical cryorig design. I'm curious as to how it performs, though, the blades seem very spaced out, so airflow is probably good but static pressure not so much. Nevertheless, it could be a viable option if your case design actually allows for 140mm fans.
 
Link for the lazy

only 13mm thick, and with the typical cryorig design. I'm curious as to how it performs, though, the blades seem very spaced out, so airflow is probably good but static pressure not so much. Nevertheless, it could be a viable option if your case design actually allows for 140mm fans.

There are various reviews around. From what I've seen, it's pretty damn good. Static pressure seems pretty good too, to the point that they're willing to bundle it with their C1 heatsink cooler.
 
There are various reviews around. From what I've seen, it's pretty damn good. Static pressure seems pretty good too, to the point that they're willing to bundle it with their C1 heatsink cooler.

Well then it is certainly recommendable :)
 
There are various reviews around. From what I've seen, it's pretty damn good. Static pressure seems pretty good too, to the point that they're willing to bundle it with their C1 heatsink cooler.

The user reviews on newegg aren't great
 
1. You can't trust the specs from the manufacturers on fans. independent reviews show over and over they are almost always far from accurate. About the only safe stats are the listed RPM and physical size.
2. I wouldn't trust newegg or any other sites' user reviews. "Silent" is very subjective, and all other data from them will be anecdotal.

Try to find a tech site that has done a review that lists testing methodology. Otherwise, just pick the one that goes the RPM you prefer that fits the physical space you need it for at the price your willing to pay.
 
Received my prolimatech fans today. Not much time so here is a quick update.

I tested the 120mm against a aerocool dead silence 120mm which has mostly standard specs, roughly 55cfm. The prolimatech won.

I then tested the 140mm against a thermalright TY-140 which has a max CFM of 73.6 CFM. The thermalright won. This tells me the actual CFM of the prolimatech 140 is likely around 65-70CFM and not the 98CFM figure from prolimatech.

Having said that, this is a very simple test to see which one is stronger. Given an enclosed tunnel, the results could be different.

They are both very quiet and move a lot of air regardless. Just holding them in my hand and feeling the air as well as putting my ear to it.


iukTqIx.jpg


This is the way I tested fans against each other. Very simple setup. Even if you don't trust CFM numbers from the manufacturers, you can trust that one side is blowing air harder than the other side.

The example NZXT fan is a low CFM and low noise one. It's not competition.

Didn't pay attention to noise too much so better testing will come.
 
Ive never had the chance to test any slim fans, but I compiled a small list of fans that I think should be great for air or watercooled SFF builds. Let me know if anyone has tested these fans.

Deepcool GS120 120x20 Fan
http://www.deepcool.com/product/gamerstorm/2013-12/6_112.shtml

Silverstone FN123 120x15 Fan (Slim Gentle Typhoon?)
http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=499

Yate Loon D12SM-12C 120x20 Fan
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/7...x_20mm_Slim_Fan_-_Medium_Speed_D12SM-12C.html

Gelid Slim 12 120x15.8 Fan
http://www.gelidsolutions.com/products/index.php?lid=1&cid=2&id=83

Cooler Master XtraFlo Slim 120x15 Fan
http://www.coolermaster.com/cooling/case-fan/xtraflo-120-slim/
 
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This is the way I tested fans against each other.

Some fans do a better job directing airflow centrally than others. You would need to create a tunnel on both ends to verify all the airflow from each fan hits the test item to account for that variance for this to work.
 
There is also the Scythe PWM 120mm model (in addition to the set rpm fans you have listed) :)
 
Some fans do a better job directing airflow centrally than others. You would need to create a tunnel on both ends to verify all the airflow from each fan hits the test item to account for that variance for this to work.

My thoughts exactly. Without such tunnels, the air penetrator is going to win most of those battles because he forms a vortex-like air stream while other fans have lots of turbulence in the exiting stream, at least that's what Silverstones promo video shows.
 
There are various reviews around. From what I've seen, it's pretty damn good. Static pressure seems pretty good too, to the point that they're willing to bundle it with their C1 heatsink cooler.

I have a C1 and I would only class the stock fan as adequate, when my M1 comes I will be swapping the fan for a better 25mm fan so can test it better. I also have a Prolimatech slim vortex and that wasn't very good either, far too noisy when pulling in air through a case vent.

I think most fans are pretty quiet when tested outside of a case in freestanding air, but when pushed up against a grille sucking in air then they can get quite noisy.
 
Ive never had the chance to test any slim fans, but I compiled a small list of fans that I think should be great for air or watercooled SFF builds. Let me know if anyone has tested these fans.

Deepcool GS120 120x20 Fan
http://www.deepcool.com/product/gamerstorm/2013-12/6_112.shtml

Silverstone FN123 120x15 Fan (Slim Gentle Typhoon?)
http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=499

Yate Loon D12SM-12C 120x20 Fan
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/7...x_20mm_Slim_Fan_-_Medium_Speed_D12SM-12C.html

Gelid Slim 12 120x15.8 Fan
http://www.gelidsolutions.com/products/index.php?lid=1&cid=2&id=83

Cooler Master XtraFlo Slim 120x15 Fan
http://www.coolermaster.com/cooling/case-fan/xtraflo-120-slim/

I tested some of those fans above in a "thin fan roundup" for my last build over here.
http://www.overclock.net/t/1526575/build-log-little-mac-4-2l-gaming-htpc/0_100#post_23482231

fd30fbbd_Capture.PNG


Bottom line is that the Deep Cool Gamerstorm was the best performer at the expense of noise. It wasn't obnoxiously loud, but I was looking for HTPC levels of silece, so I settled on the middle ground Yates. The surprising (shouldn't be if you believe the hype) performer was the Noctua 92mm! It did really well against the larger fans! Probably due to its massive RPM advantage.
 
Some fans do a better job directing airflow centrally than others. You would need to create a tunnel on both ends to verify all the airflow from each fan hits the test item to account for that variance for this to work.
but depending on the situation, at a fixed cfm, the fans which direct airflow centrally may be better than those which don't. so the potential bias this test creates is not completely a bad thing
 
I tested some of those fans above in a "thin fan roundup" for my last build over here.
http://www.overclock.net/t/1526575/build-log-little-mac-4-2l-gaming-htpc/0_100#post_23482231

fd30fbbd_Capture.PNG


Bottom line is that the Deep Cool Gamerstorm was the best performer at the expense of noise. It wasn't obnoxiously loud, but I was looking for HTPC levels of silece, so I settled on the middle ground Yates. The surprising (shouldn't be if you believe the hype) performer was the Noctua 92mm! It did really well against the larger fans! Probably due to its massive RPM advantage.

Thank you for the tests. Any chance you could test the Scythe Slim fan?
 
Is anyone willing to provide a URL with performance results of these slim fans while used with a water cooling setup?
 
but depending on the situation, at a fixed cfm, the fans which direct airflow centrally may be better than those which don't. so the potential bias this test creates is not completely a bad thing
Also this test is useful when planning to mount the fans in free air without those pesky grilles, filters or rads. Might be good to test the fans with front or back filters/grilles (or both) and then see if there is a high pressure fav on the testing menu before we order.

Oh...who am I kidding. There's nothing in the DIY world as satisfying as receiving new fans that will likely spend their full warranty life in the closet, with the previous few dozen hopefuls. ;-)
 
Link for the lazy

only 13mm thick, and with the typical cryorig design. I'm curious as to how it performs, though, the blades seem very spaced out, so airflow is probably good but static pressure not so much. Nevertheless, it could be a viable option if your case design actually allows for 140mm fans.

Its just a damn shame that it actually only fits 120mm mounting holes.
 
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