noctua fans for case

[jimmy818]

i need some recommendation and advice on the choice of fans for case intake and exhaust

i am strictly speaking of case application here and not heatsink fan, i am aware of the fact that the NF-P12's are better for tightly packed fins


however,
i do see alot more ppl using the p12's as opposed to the s12's for just about anything because they say "the p12's are just better"

on the noctua website they advertise the s12's for having better air flow and quieter at the cost of lower static pressure

on the exhaust side of a case where you are trying to push through a "grille"/exhaust port of some sort, would the p12's be a better choice?

as for the intake where you are simply drawing air from an intake port, and not pushing against it, would a s12 be better in this scenario?

have you guys tried both kinds of setups?
comments?

 

[Tudz]

I own a couple of noctua fans, I find the S12 isn't very good when you place any sort of obstruction on the low pressure side. It can deal with a bit of an obstruction on the high pressure side like a grill or something, but not something like a heatsink. The difference between using an S12 and a P12 on my Xigmatek Thor's Hammer was a few degrees hotter for the S12 even though its louder (I have the FLX S12 which goes up to 1300rpm I believe).

As an intake fan, again the P12 was better because it has to draw through a filter and push through a hard drive cage. Not a very dense filter mind you, and the hard drive cage has no drives in it, but still you can feel with your hand the S12 isn't pulling in as much air as the P12 with all the obstructions, even though the S12 is louder and runs a higher RPM.

As an exhaust fan, the S12 works pretty well. Because the exhaust grill generally isn't much of an obstruction, at least on my case it's not.

If you place the two fans next to each other on a bench spinning at the same speed, the S12 definitely feels like its blowing a lot of air. But you dont have to place much of an obstruction on the low pressure side of it for it to choke.

That's why I tend to prefer the P12, even though the S12 can be better in some situations, the P12 is way more flexible. The S12 only works well if you place it somewhere with absolutely no obstruction, where as the P12 works great regardless of where you place it.

 

[FaRKle0079]

For case fans why not get Scythe Slipstreams? They move more air and are just as quiet.