Cougar fans - 120mm vs 140mm specs

M

Momo

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Mar 3, 2005
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:confused:

Cougar CF-V14H:
140mm fan
1200rpm
70.5CFM
1.38mm
19.2db

Cougar CF-V12HP
120mm fan
1500rpm
70.5cfm
2.2mm
17.9db


... what am i missing here? the 140mm fan spins 300rpm slower and generates more noise? is that correct? (i pulled the numbers from the cougar website).

I thought slower spinning 140mm fans were supposed to move more air with less noise basically, doesnt this go against that?

Looking to order 2 x 140mm (case) and 2 x 120mm (radiator), hence the question.
 
The bigger fans might be more unstable and have more wobble/vibration and thus be louder. Or use a different motor entirely.

But if it makes you feel any better, most dB measurements done by companies themselves are wildly inaccurate, so those firgures are make believe and probably nonesense anyway, and they are both closer to or higher than 30dB in a real life situation.
 
Curious, would you say the same thing about Noctua's offerings ? You said most, not all.
 
I have both of these fans, the 120mm on my cpu cooler and the 140 on the front of my case, i also have 4 slipstream fans (120mm with crazy cfm). All I can say is the fans are silent compared to those slipstreams, the other day I plugged the Cougars in alone just to see what the noise level was like and its whisper quiet. I am thinking of replaces those noisy ass slipsreams with more cougars, even though they are triple what I paid for the slipstream and don't generate as much cfm.

Cougars are really nice fans and worth the price.
 
Thanks for your first hand input Aumakua.

Would it be a PITA for you to compare the noise levels of just the two cougar fans? if it is, no worries :)
 
I've been looking into these fans also. From the reviews, they seem to be very quiet and produce a good of air compared to most quiet fans.

Thinking about picking up four of them, but not sure if it's worth the extra $6 per 140mm over the 120mm.
 
guess it depends on how much you value lack of noise.
My wife is a migraine sufferer. She's on day ~34 right now, for example. Noise = bad.

... but, to be honest, even if she wasnt, i'd still much prefer not to hear the fans on my Corsair H100 at all.
 
Momo said:
Thanks for your first hand input Aumakua.

Would it be a PITA for you to compare the noise levels of just the two cougar fans? if it is, no worries :)
Click to expand...

thats a little tough since the 120mm is on my cpu (so unless its at full load the fan isn't blowing that hard. But I can tell you that at full force the 140mm are pretty silent, better than the stock 140mm fan my case came with.

These fans are extremely well built, best built fans I have seen, when you get it you will see what I mean, just rock solid feel compared to the normal cheap plastic.
 
thanks for your input. I'm looking into order a pair (120mm pwm) locally. If all goes well, i'll likely order more, as there seems to be no point in using the 140mm version (more noise, same cfm, less static pressure)
 
Momo said:
Curious, would you say the same thing about Noctua's offerings ? You said most, not all.
Click to expand...

Hard to say as i've never used any (with the current build they weren't compatible, the horrendous colors are always a big turn off too...:D) But any measurements I have seen done of noctua haven't rated them at 19.6dB. I think at some point there needs to be an agreed upon industry standard for the measuring of loudness of fans. Because this is kind of rediculous.
 
The 140mm is slightly slower at the tips, but there's more linear distance.
fan blade tip speed * circumference, normalized:
120mm @ 1500 rpm = 100%
140mm @ 1200 rpm = 109%

But as you know, the numbers are useless -- you have to hear the fan for yourself ...
 
just got in 4 of the 120mm cougars for my WC setup. I didn't really believe the reviews but yeah, they are for the most part silent (running these at full power). There's no real electric hum but more of a gentle "breeze" sound, like sitting outside on a nice spring day, lol. it's actually very pleasant on the ears. I can compare also to the xigmateks and coolermasters that are popular on newegg (and I can definitely hear the difference, xig and cm's are "louder" sounding - i hear electric hums from the xig's and cm's).

build quality is excellant and it what really caught my attention when I opened up the box. they feel solid, the cables are nicely sleeved in a "solid" feeling sleeve.

totally worth the money i spent on them.
 
saranya said:
just got in 4 of the 120mm cougars for my WC setup. I didn't really believe the reviews but yeah, they are for the most part silent (running these at full power). There's no real electric hum but more of a gentle "breeze" sound, like sitting outside on a nice spring day, lol. it's actually very pleasant on the ears. I can compare also to the xigmateks and coolermasters that are popular on newegg (and I can definitely hear the difference, xig and cm's are "louder" sounding - i hear electric hums from the xig's and cm's).

build quality is excellant and it what really caught my attention when I opened up the box. they feel solid, the cables are nicely sleeved in a "solid" feeling sleeve.

totally worth the money i spent on them.
Click to expand...

Your comparison is what i've read about these regarding Gentle Typhoon AP-15's. The AP-15's are actually a little quieter, but have a higher frequency tone, which can (see: will for me) be more audible and annoying.
 
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