Corsair H90 Fan Options

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Fervent_Render

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Hey Everyone!

I have a question regarding the 140mm fan that comes with the Corsair H90 cooler and what options I have in terms of using a different fan than the one that comes with it.

I wanted to try and use the Fractal Design Silent R2 140mm fan on the H90's radiator, but I do not know too much about static pressure and how much is really required to give sufficient push or pull to / from the radiator. Reading reviews on the H90, it appears that it already is a fairly quiet cooler, but I am trying to mitigate noise with my PC as much as possible.

I just rebuilt my PC into a Fractal Define R4 case, which has the Silent R2 140mm fans in it, and I can only hear any audible noise when the stock AMD cooler starts moving while I'm playing a game. I've been comparing the specifications between the R2 fans and the fan that comes with the H90. Here are said specs for each of these fans:

Technical Specifications (H90, from Corsair website)

Radiator dimensions: 140mm x 170mm x 27mm
Fan dimensions: 140mm x 25mm
Fan speed: 1500 +/- 10% RPM
Fan airflow: 94 CFM
Fan static pressure: 1.64mm-H2O
Noise level: 35dB(A)
- - - - - - -

Specifications (Silent R2 fans, Fractal Design website)

Low Speed Normal Speed
Speed 800 +/-200RPM 1000 +/- 10%
Dimensions (mm) 140 x 140 x 25
Weight (g) 149.0
Cable length (mm) 500 +/- 10mm
Number of blades 11
Connector 3-Pin fan header
Starting voltage <11 <6
Max. airflow (CFM) 52.8 66.0
Max. pressure (mm H2O) 0.54 0.84
Noise level (dBA) 14.9 18.5

As I said I'm not at all familiar with what kind of static pressure the radiators on these AIO coolers need to function well, I assume the fan that comes with the H90 is plenty, but I'm trying to figure out if the RPM / CFM / static pressure on the Silent R2 fans would be enough to safely move air through the radiator, knowing of course that these specifications are lower and understanding that the performance of the cooler would not be as good for that reason, but is it good enough?

Any thought on this are appreciated, thanks in advance! Also, I do not really plan on doing much overclocking on my CPU, just trying to maximize a balance between noise reduction and keeping my CPU cooler than it is with the stock AMD HSF.
 
You will lose a few degrees in performance, 3 tops if I had to guess. It will still be much cooler than a stock cpu cooler. Do a normal test at load with the stock fan and the new one, and see if you feel comfortable with the difference.
 
I will definitely give that a shot, thanks for the advice! If it's only a few degrees, I can definitely live with that. Those R2 fans are whisper quiet, I'm really excited to test this out!

On a side note, the Define R4 case is extremely quiet. I did a test today where I ran the computer at full load and the only thing in there making any audible noise was the AMD stock cooler, I hadn't realized before just how loud that thing gets! I always thought in my old case it was the 7870, but that thing doesn't hardly make a peep comparatively speaking.
 
UPDATE: Just installed the H90 today on an FX8320 CPU, running a cool 34c using the Fractal Design Silent R2 fan attached to the radiator instead of the provided Corsair fan; looks like it is simply running that fan at the 1500 RPM that the Corsair fan runs at by default, and the computer is whisper quiet, barely making a peep even under load. :D
 
the corsair h90 fan its PWM... so you can control the speed to your like.. also its very very silent the corsair h90 stock fan even at full RPM ... instead the 3 pin fractal runs max speed all the time.. unless you use a fan controller.. also the stock corsair h90 offer double the static pressure that its the more important on a radiator fan cooler more than the airflow and RPM.. if i were you i'd give a try to the stock fan too.. over a p95 shoot and gaming.. comparing to the fractal fan..
 
Awesome! I'm glad everything worked out. The corsair kits are pretty nice imo. I have the 100i myself and I love it.
 
Thanks! I totally agree the Corsair coolers are incredible! The 100i, how is the noise level on that one? I have to say I am pretty happy with the way this turned out, even under full load my PC does not make but a whisper. I have to say the sound dampening built into the Fractal Define case actually works incredibly well, I went from the stock HSF and an Antec 900 case sounding like a vacuum cleaner to a nice, quiet hum, not to mention there is a lot less heat pouring out of the case, so my ambient room temperature is noticeably lower too.

Mission accomplished! :D
 
I love my h100i.. It perform simply excelent.. Flawless and so silent on performance mode never reach more than 1800RPM and its able to keep my temps under 45C while gaming.. And no more than 52 over p95 27.9 several hours... I posted my experience with h100i here: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1760860 being honest the way to hear the h100i its over 2200RPM. Being extremely loud at max 2600 RPM but trust me.. Never will be this kind of RPM needed.. I made several test between fixex RPM 2000 and maximum RPM profile 2600RPM and the big difference was only 1 degree..!!! And still at 2000RPM the only way to hear it is disconnecting all my 10 case fans.. And other things on my room, tv etc..
 
Shroud for a 120mm fan and use a GT on it, most 140mm fans are crap compared to 120mm, and many sites show this when putting 120mm fans like the GT on 140mm rads and the GT's cool better.
 
BlueFireIce said:
Shroud for a 120mm fan and use a GT on it, most 140mm fans are crap compared to 120mm, and many sites show this when putting 120mm fans like the GT on 140mm rads and the GT's cool better.
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most 140mm fan are made for high flow at the lowest RPM possible and reduced noise.. and that was exactly Corsair has been done flawless on their h110 and h90. on the first h100 they put great 120mm fans @2500RPM that have a airflow of 92CFM with 7.7mm/h2o but was horribly noisy... on the h100i they changed fans to even faster 120mm fans @2700RPM Static Pressure optimized fans that have a airflow of 77CFM with 4mm/h2o that was the enough airflow and static pressure to handle same as h100 with less noise.. except at full RPM where are exactly noisy as the h100. what happen on the h110? they put 140mm fans @1400RPM that have a airflow of 97CFM with 1.64mm/h2o but with a noise level of 35db?.. 15db less than h100 with the exactly rate of 92CFM and 10db less than h100i increasing the airflow in 15CFM but just at 1400RPM and trust me 10db almost a twice in loud perceptible.... thats what most 140mm fans are made for..
 
Araxie said:
most 140mm fan are made for high flow at the lowest RPM possible and reduced noise.. and that was exactly Corsair has been done flawless on their h110 and h90. on the first h100 they put great 120mm fans @2500RPM that have a airflow of 92CFM with 7.7mm/h2o but was horribly noisy... on the h100i they changed fans to even faster 120mm fans @2700RPM Static Pressure optimized fans that have a airflow of 77CFM with 4mm/h2o that was the enough airflow and static pressure to handle same as h100 with less noise.. except at full RPM where are exactly noisy as the h100. what happen on the h110? they put 140mm fans @1400RPM that have a airflow of 97CFM with 1.64mm/h2o but with a noise level of 35db?.. 15db less than h100 with the exactly rate of 92CFM and 10db less than h100i increasing the airflow in 15CFM but just at 1400RPM and trust me 10db almost a twice in loud perceptible.... thats what most 140mm fans are made for..
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Please don't quote mfg specs everyone knows they are fluff and we also know the fans they used were very loud for the cooling they provided compared to GT's when swapped out. 140mm fans are less well made compared to the industry norm of 120mm fans, most 140mm fans do not perform well where higher pressures are needed and the simple facts back this up, look at all the tests martin did on this, he found the gain is all from extra fin area and not extra blade area.

As you can see from the chart, the GT, a 120mm fan out performed all the 140mm fans throughout it's whole rpm range.

 
I am very happy with the stock fan on my H90. I would like to find another fan to mount to the back side of the radiator. Anyone know where to find another identical Corsair PWM fan? I emailed Corsair but so far... crickets.
 
Fervent_Render said:
UPDATE: Just installed the H90 today on an FX8320 CPU, running a cool 34c using the Fractal Design Silent R2 fan attached to the radiator instead of the provided Corsair fan; looks like it is simply running that fan at the 1500 RPM that the Corsair fan runs at by default, and the computer is whisper quiet, barely making a peep even under load. :D
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I'm interested in getting an H90 with my new build which will use a Define R4. I'd like to mount it in the rear, but I'm worried about whether the radiator will fit without blocking the top expansion slot. Can you confirm whether this is a problem?
 
VirtuaBoza said:
I'm interested in getting an H90 with my new build which will use a Define R4. I'd like to mount it in the rear, but I'm worried about whether the radiator will fit without blocking the top expansion slot. Can you confirm whether this is a problem?
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here are a Kraken X40(its the same radiator of H90) mounted rear on a Fractal R4 no problem with the first slot. another pic is just fine.
 
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