What 120mm fans would you use on your radiator

Paraclete

Weaksauce
Joined
Feb 27, 2006
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71
Ive seen all kinds of opinions on fans, ive read all kinds of reviews and i still cant decide which ones to buy. What fans would you use for both silent running and overall CFM power. :confused:
 
Silent fan with high CFM is somewhat of an oxymoron as these two factors are usually directly proportional. Yate Loon, Sunon, and Panaflo are reliable and have pretty good air volume/dBA ratios.
 
With me performance is it. I don't whine about the dba of a fan.
Always liked Panaflo and Delta. The lower CFM Panaflos provide decent air flow and have a good pressure rating for almost any WC radiator.

I am currently using 4x Panaflo 120mm FBA12G12U1-1BX (2x on my heater core) 114cfm
 
I run Scythe S-FDB 1600 fans. They push about 60cfm at 30db. VERY quiet and still enough performance to keep anything cool.
 
I run two Scythe 1200rpms on one rig, and a Nexus 120mm on the other. The Nexus doesn't really move much air, but it's completely silent. The Scythes move a pretty good bit of air, and they're pretty quiet. Not as quiet as the Nexus, but pretty good.
 
SilentX 120mm x 25mm 72cfm@ 14db measured at 3 ft so to be fair its really about 19-20bda @1 ft where most mfgs measure theirs
 
I've tried the Scythe 1600rpm and the Yate Loon, both at 7v. The Scythe move more air, but the Yate Loons are quieter. I'm going for quiet, so Yate Loons it is.
 
[BRO]Alaskan;1030570341 said:
SilentX 120mm x 25mm 72cfm@ 14db measured at 3 ft so to be fair its really about 19-20bda @1 ft where most mfgs measure theirs

Nope. SilenX fans are a ripoff

72cfm, at 12v.
14db, at minimum working voltage

It's a complete lie. Their motors have terrible bearing noise. They're a ripoff. For the $30 for one of their fans, you could get a huge box of BETTER fans.

Yate Loon D12SL12's are only $4 at Jab-tech.
 
Nope. SilenX fans are a COMPLETE AND UTTER RIPOFF.

72cfm, at 12v.
14db, at minimum working voltage

It's a complete lie. Their motors have terrible bearing noise. The], and for the $30 for ONE of their fans, you could get a huge box of BETTER fans.

Yate Loon D12SL12's are only $4 at Jab-tech.

While I'd edit your post (I got warned for something similar) I agree 100%. At 1ft yes, they might run at about 25dba, but they dont push 72cfm... Maybe more like 50.

yes, they are able to get the fans to run at 14dba, but that's at about 3v after they've been started up at regular voltage.

I've used some of their older ones... And from an inch or so, I could hear grinding in the bearing.
 
well im lookin for the best in both categories, for both CFM and silence.

Well, here we go again, another 10 page fan post, as mentioned before (and apparently you didnt get the msg) you cant have both without some compromise and the lack of a standard method of testing/specifications does not exist. CFM depends on back pressure and most specs are given in free air, zillion different methods of measuring the sound output yada yada yada. And people tend to get worked up over fans for some reason.

My compromise, buy high quality high speed/cfm fans and put them on a fan controller, the el-cheapo Fan-mate2 is my favorite at the moment and dial in the compromise between CFM and noise that suits YOU.

I like Panaflows (120mmx38mm med or high speed) or EBM-Pabst when I can find them cheap. /shrug
 
scythe 1600rpm FDB (the 14-16 USD ones) best fan i've owned. my opinion.
 
I'm also running the Scythe SFF21F (the S-FDB bearing, 1600RPM model that a few others have mentioned). I'd say it's between these and the Yate Loons if you are looking at a balance between airflow and noise. I run mine at 7V and they move a good bit of air and are virtually silent at that speed.

As for Panaflos, I was an L1A fan (no pun intended) for a long time, but those available as of late sometimes give off a noticeable click from the bearing at lower speeds, as do the M1As. I've not had either of the high speed models, but would expect they do the same.

Now, I can say that I've had some old 80mm L1As that were made in Japan and were as good as anything else I've ever used, but once they shifted manufacturing to China, they've been hit or miss (see clicking noise noted above :) ).
 
I found the Silverstone fans are quite good, they don't move too much CFM, but they are very silent, they come in black with a single 120mm fan grille, in a fancy box. What's most important they are inexpensive ^^ Compared to the Vantec Stealth series, they are much quieter and move similar amounts of air.

The Thermaltake ones with the fan controller aren't quiet at all, but they do move air.
 
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