Noctua NF-F12 or BeQuiet Silentwings 3

[craigdt]

Suggestions?

These will be replacing the stock CoolerMaster fans from the Masterliquid 240 AIO.

The stock CoolerMaster ones sound like a jet engine spooling up, so noise is a pretty important factor.

I know Noctua is generally really good, but I have no experience with either brand.

 

[Chimpee]

I have couple of NF-F12, it is audible at max rpm of 1500, around 22 decibels or around 18 decibels with Low Noise Adaptor which limits the rpm to 1200. Looking at be-quiet fan, their max decibels is around 16 decibels while still pushing decent air at 1450 rpm. Though I have never own a Be-Quiet, I probably go for the be-quiet based on specs for a quieter operations while still maintaining decent air flows.

 

[Krenum]

I have all Noctua 140mm PWM fans in my system, great fans they are. Quality construction, performance & accessories. Couldn't see myself buying anything else.

 

[craigdt]

Does a given fan get louder when you have it blowing out through a radiator (mounted in the top of a case) verses a fan sucking cool air into a radiator (front mounted)?

 

[FJC]

Both are great fans, you'd be well served by either. That said, I love the Be Quiet fans. The mounting options are great, and they are really, really quiet. Nice long, sleeved power cables as well.

 

[DangerousMan]

I have 3x 140 SW3, they are much quieter then most stock case fans. I can however hear them (slight hum) over a pair of corsair MLs I purchased to replace the stock NZXT AERs on my x62. That being @50%-70% speed in a room with little ambient noise, any higher and they all sound loud.

 

[Mav451]

SW3 has very good numbers, particularly in linear airflow (FPM) through rad and in low RPM scaling. I don't think I'll buy a Noctua again if I was buying today. But yeah, I certainly wouldn't even touch an older fan like the F12. Now of course, the Noctua rep in February told me to expect a new 120mm in Q1 2018. If and only if they scale better than the 140 SW3 would they be under consideration though.

 

[craigdt]

I ended up getting the BeQuiet Silentwings 3.

Yeah- they are silent at full blast. They also led to slightly lower temps than the stock CoolerMaster fans too.

Im very impressed.

The weird mounting clip things were weird though.