WaterCooling fans

Orddie

2[H]4U
Joined
Dec 20, 2010
Messages
3,368
Looking for what people are using as fans on the Rads. Currently using the Corsair fans that came with the Rad and feel like i can do better air movement. Would need to be white light fans to match the design
 
Noctua and Gentle Typhoons are the favorites from a pure performance perspective. If aesthetics are the primary focus, pick the ones that look best to you in the RPM range you want. If you provide a list of fans that look good to you, it would help us better sort through them and provide recommendations.
 
Looking for what people are using as fans on the Rads. Currently using the Corsair fans that came with the Rad and feel like i can do better air movement. Would need to be white light fans to match the design
Great timing for posting about radiator fans. I am at the stage to purchase 3 x 120mm static pressure fans to run on my EK 360 Rad. Quiet operation is a requirement with lots of air movement. I think I will take performance over flashy RGB.
 
I still think NBeloops are great, make sure to get pwm versions. In my current build I am using noctua chromax fans, great fans. Noctua redux would be the best budget choice.
 
I was looking at the EK Vardars and the Corsair ML 120. Reading some posts about fans some guys using the Vardars said they were very loud. They also said Corsair ML's were also not that quiet. Those were both on my list. Will look into the Noctua's
 
Anyone have a link to more recent fan roundups? I still have 4 Yate Loon D12SM-12 fans from about 10yrs back, and while I have no complaints with them, not sure how they comoare with today's fans.
 
Anyone have a link to more recent fan roundups? I still have 4 Yate Loon D12SM-12 fans from about 10yrs back, and while I have no complaints with them, not sure how they comoare with today's fans.
I’m also interested in a round up that compares the 10yr old Yates Loons and gentle typhoons with modern fans. I have Yates loons on an old thin rad and one is starting to squeak - since I’m planning on a system upgrade this year, I’ll just replace them all.
 
Anyone have a link to more recent fan roundups? I still have 4 Yate Loon D12SM-12 fans from about 10yrs back, and while I have no complaints with them, not sure how they comoare with today's fans.

Even back in the day, Yate Loons were just average radiator fans, with their primary appeal being a lot of fan for the dollar. The Gentle Typhoons have been mostly unchanged for at least 8 years. Most of the fan evolution has been in the aesthetics department.
 
You know what! Why are these same fans that we keep pushing because it is ingrained to do so so expensive? I did it myself, and have been thinking after a couple of good fellows have asked when the last time a good fan roundup happened. It is the same old story on every old school forum like this; "What fans do you recomend for rads?" "Noctua, of course" or "gentle typhoons" and then there is fuck this and that. We can all google best fans for whatever year but when is the last time we have seen a fan roundup by a reputable source that is specific to radiator performance. I raved earlier in this thread about noctua because they made some black fans and provided half as many colored edge thingies as were needed. But were they worth 27 bucks a fucking fan? I am not sure. The answer for the OP is that noone knows and cannot guarantee anything because there has been no fan reviews for years. I will admit that I am a little drunk, but seriously. Fan makers are getting by on reputation and are charging too damned much.
 
You know what! Why are these same fans that we keep pushing because it is ingrained to do so so expensive? I did it myself, and have been thinking after a couple of good fellows have asked when the last time a good fan roundup happened. It is the same old story on every old school forum like this; "What fans do you recomend for rads?" "Noctua, of course" or "gentle typhoons" and then there is fuck this and that. We can all google best fans for whatever year but when is the last time we have seen a fan roundup by a reputable source that is specific to radiator performance. I raved earlier in this thread about noctua because they made some black fans and provided half as many colored edge thingies as were needed. But were they worth 27 bucks a fucking fan? I am not sure. The answer for the OP is that noone knows and cannot guarantee anything because there has been no fan reviews for years. I will admit that I am a little drunk, but seriously. Fan makers are getting by on reputation and are charging too damned much.

Hey Smoked, Cheers Bud. Hope your drink was good. Mine was. I totally agree with you. I am presently looking at fans on Amazon.ca and they are asking $75.35 for a Noctua NF-A12x25 PWM fan. Thats a lot of money considering that I need 3 of them. It seems Corsair is pushing more bling in their fans as well.
I will feel seriously ripped off on price alone. I know their fans are good but damn!!!
 
I ran 8x NF-A12x25 on my setup and would say it was not worth it, yes I could keep my loop temps 2-3c above ambient (mix of fans/GTX560). But I am sure I could have obtained near the same performance with less costly fans, especially since Ill end up buying the black versions when they become available...
 
After looking through a lot of forums and some german reviews if I were starting from scratch and needed 6 to 10 fans for a new build I would go with these https://www.newegg.com/arctic-cooling-acfan00116a-case-fan/p/N82E16835186217 or these for a budget option https://www.newegg.com/arctic-cooling-acfan00119a-case-fan/p/N82E16835186209?Description=arctic cooling p12&cm_re=arctic_cooling_p12-_-35-186-209-_-Product&quicklink=true
DWD1961 picked up some of those bionix fans and wasnt happy with the build quality, says they are really flimsy. my P12/F14 are built great though. not sure what he was comparing to, thought i'd chime in with that.
 
There are certainly some quality fans that aren't as expensive as corsair/noctua. In general I agree though, the prices seem pretty damn high. I would give some examples but I haven't bought any in a while so I don't want to give out any garbage info.
 
The Noctuas Gentle Typhoon clone is pretty much the best there is, but I really recommend that you give Arctic P12 a go. You can get a 5-pack quite cheap and they push quite a lot of air in tight spaces like radiators. Noctua is still better, but honestly not 20$ per fan better.

Don't bother with the Bionix version though. They do not seal well againdt the rad, but leave major gaps on the sides
 
I really recommend that you give Arctic P12 a go. You can get a 5-pack quite cheap and they push quite a lot of air in tight spaces like radiators. Noctua is still better, but honestly not 20$ per fan better.

Don't bother with the Bionix version though. They do not seal well againdt the rad, but leave major gaps on the sides
do i want one fan or 5?! @$26CAN for a five pack they were hard to pass up.
thats was one of the things DWD1961 said about them too, that and they are flimsy.
 
The Noctuas Gentle Typhoon clone is pretty much the best there is, but I really recommend that you give Arctic P12 a go. You can get a 5-pack quite cheap and they push quite a lot of air in tight spaces like radiators. Noctua is still better, but honestly not 20$ per fan better.

Don't bother with the Bionix version though. They do not seal well againdt the rad, but leave major gaps on the sides
I was assuming they were the same as the p12(they have p12 in the name) with a more robust chassis and better looks. Thanks for the heads up.
 
I was assuming they were the same as the p12(they have p12 in the name) with a more robust chassis and better looks. Thanks for the heads up.
they are based on the P series motor/blades and pwm passthrough, then they upped the rpm and changed the chassis.
 
they are based on the P series motor/blades and pwm passthrough, then they upped the rpm and changed the chassis.

And the change in the chassis is a bit of a problem. The fan gets attached into the radiator from the four corner wings but the round part itself "floats" in the air above the radiator fins, with plenty of gap around it where it can suck or blow air from or into the sides instead of focusing it all through the fins by force.
 
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I've accumulated like 30 GT AP15 over the years. I've not seen anything come close to them. Some of the AP15s are over 8 years old and they still spin like new. I just add a drop of teflon oil every few years, dust them off and back to work they go.

If the high end fans are asking 20 a pop, I would spend some effort in locating real AP15s. Heck, there's a vender on Amazon selling AP15s for 19 bucks. New fan from any vendor vs AP15, AP15 hands down no comp.
 
There are some good radiator airflow comparisons between various fans in this Noctua A12x25 review:

https://www.overclockers.com/noctua-nf-a12x25-fan-review/

Also here:

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/bitspower-njord-dual-fin-drgb-fan/4.html

Current testers and testing methodology really lags behind skinnee and martinsliquidlab. The testing by the links you posted leaves so much out. How tpu arrived at their CFM, at what area size or at least give us real data like the FPM? Overclockers could not even get a mic in front of the box to measure noise. Ya don't measure inside the box, really!

https://martinsliquidlab.wordpress.com/category/fans/
 
Current testers and testing methodology really lags behind skinnee and martinsliquidlab. The testing by the links you posted leaves so much out. How tpu arrived at their CFM, at what area size or at least give us real data like the FPM? Overclockers could not even get a mic in front of the box to measure noise. Ya don't measure inside the box, really!

https://martinsliquidlab.wordpress.com/category/fans/

TPU has a link to their testing methodology right at the top.

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/darkside-gentle-typhoon-1450-black-edition/4.html

I pick a single 120 mm radiator with an average airflow restriction of all other radiators at the time of testing, which had me settle on the Swiftech MCR120QP

A calibrated Omega HHF-308 Thermo-anemometer was used on the exit side, held in place by a hook and loop fastener, to measure linear airflow which multiplied by the surface area of the exit circle provides the volumetric flow rate.

The fan under review was then controlled by an Aqua Computer Aquaero 6 XT in volume-control mode, and the RPM response was recorded as a function of applied voltage. The anemometer measured the airflow through the radiator for an average of 15 minutes per RPM value, and fan noise was measured separately in an anechoic chamber of 5′ x 8′ in size with ambient noise at ~19 dBA over a sound probe held 6" away to measure the sound volume in dBA. This then generated RPM, airflow, and noise measurements.
 
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