Which 120mm rad fans should I get?

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TLDR: I need some rad fans!

I'm looking at installing a 240mm AIO in the front of a Bitfenix Pandora, most likely one of these:
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/ocuk...id-cooling-upgrade-bundle-bu-096-tl.html#t=b1

I have one of the Asetek AIOs in my main PC. The stock fans it comes with are good, but I have a fan controller so that they stay quiet. At 1800RPM, the fans are a bit noisy.

The Pandora won't fit a front bay fan controller, so I need some efficient but quiet radiator fans. I was looking at the Piranha fans, but I think they could be a little loud as well.

I've been looking at the Akasa Apaches and they seem to have really good static pressure, although the max airflow is less.

Is it better for me to have high static pressure and less airflow, or are there fans out there which have high static pressure and high airflow?
 
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Thanks for the input. I'm pretty new to AIO/liquid cooling so the advice is appreciated.

The Corsair magnetics do look interesting. If I went with EK Vardars, which version would I need. I'm guessing the F1 or F2 because they're supposed to be the quiet ones?
 
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EK Vardar, *IF* you're getting the 120mm F4-ER.
You can turn them down for silence and still get decent cooling.

The standard F4s are not so good, though.

Alternatively, Noctua NF-F12 in your choice of regular or IndustrialPPC.
Noiseblockers used to be pretty good.

Could try the new Corsair ML120s, although I've no personal experience of them myself... yet.
 
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It'll have to be 120mm fans, as I don't think I'll have room for a 140mm setup. If NF-12s are good as rad fans, I could go with those - ideally the grey redux ones.

Back to my OP quickly, are the Apaches actually any good? My main goal here is to get a quiet running, yet cool PC. The CPU will be a 5820K, lightly OC'd to 4.1GHz.
 
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It'll have to be 120mm fans, as I don't think I'll have room for a 140mm setup. If NF-12s are good as rad fans, I could go with those - ideally the grey redux ones.

Back to my OP quickly, are the Apaches actually any good? My main goal here is to get a quiet running, yet cool PC. The CPU will be a 5820K, lightly OC'd to 4.1GHz.

I believe the grey redux are case fans, not suitable for rads. I'm sure I've seen a review of them which confirmed that... great case fans, but not optimal for rads. The Corsair ML120's or Vardars really are your best bet I'd say.
 
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It'll have to be 120mm fans, as I don't think I'll have room for a 140mm setup. If NF-12s are good as rad fans, I could go with those - ideally the grey redux ones.

Back to my OP quickly, are the Apaches actually any good? My main goal here is to get a quiet running, yet cool PC. The CPU will be a 5820K, lightly OC'd to 4.1GHz.

Apaches are in the top 5 I've tried many many many fans, and keep going back to those.
 
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Yeah, just looked at the Noctua reduxes - they are indeed case fans. I don't mind the colour of the regular ones, but the build isn't for me and the beige can be an acquired taste!

Cheers for the info. I think it'll come down to whatever the best deal is. The Apaches are available as a bundle so they're looking quite good at the moment. Plus they get about 2.6mm static pressure at 1300RPM.

The Vardars are more expensive and will need a fan profile tweak to keep them quiet. Then again, their static pressure is great.
 
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Personally I found the Apaches rather loud. I had them in an H440, on a PWM hub, so they did crank up quite high given the case needed it, and I found the noise somewhat perturbing. Any fan will be loud at high RPM though.
 
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I believe the grey redux are case fans, not suitable for rads. I'm sure I've seen a review of them which confirmed that... great case fans, but not optimal for rads. The Corsair ML120's or Vardars really are your best bet I'd say.
The P14 Reduxes are actually OK for rads, but not the best. The S12 Reduxes are indeed airflow/case fans. If you want 120mm non-beige SP fans, that's what the IndustrialPPCs are for... Just turn 'em down if you need silence.
 
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I think you're right, any fan will be loud when cranked up high. My plan is to set up a fan curve to keep the fans within sensible noise levels.

I'm going to start ordering stuff tomorrow, so I'll have a think about it. I really appreciate all the comments, as I said before I don't have a lot of experience working with liquid and AIO cooling. I'm more used to trying to work out how to keep a massive heatsink cool!

I take it that rad screws are all of the 6-32 UNC type?
 
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I think you're right, any fan will be loud when cranked up high. My plan is to set up a fan curve to keep the fans within sensible noise levels.
What matters more is what the airflow is going through. Most noise is usually from the air moving through grilles and rads, bouncing off components, causing resonance and even vibrating things like the case window.
This is why there are so many differing opinions on 'the best fan'. It depends on the individual build.

Unfortunately it's not that practical to figure all teh variables out in advance, meaning it's mostly a case of suck it and see.

I take it that rad screws are all of the 6-32 UNC type?
They perhaps ought to be, but different rads come with different screws and they usually don't work between brands. It's weird and frustrating.
 
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Yeah it depends on the rads (HWLabs uses M4, EK and XSPC use UNC 6-32, Alphacool and Phobya use M3 for example) and that's why they provide screws with the rads as well.
 
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They perhaps ought to be, but different rads come with different screws and they usually don't work between brands. It's weird and frustrating.

Yay... so does anyone know what screw size the Antec Kuhler H600 uses? Got one of these at home, but I can't find the short screws it came with. Had a stupid moment and they've managed to get mixed up in my toolbox in a massive collection of misc. screws! At the moment I've got it in a pull config with the supplied fan and it's running warm with a 4670K on stock. I'd like to either have a push-pull setup or a push setup.

Fan-wise I think I'm just going to buy something from the suggestions you've all made.
 
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Had a stupid moment and they've managed to get mixed up in my toolbox in a massive collection of misc. screws!
Unless you actually mean hundreds of screws, it might be a case of just trying them and seeing.
While different Mfrs supply different screws, I've often found that even the Mfr's own supplied screws aren't necesarily the best-fitting anyway. It does wind me up quite a bit when expensive kit comes with crap screws like that!

At the moment I've got it in a pull config with the supplied fan and it's running warm with a 4670K on stock. I'd like to either have a push-pull setup or a push setup.
A better fan would be your first step.
Push usually does nothing over Pull, performance-wise. You'll find better performance with Push-Pull, making sure to use the same fan either side... or, if you really have to, have a lower rpm Push fan going into the faster Pull fan.
 
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Fortunately, the screws concerned are black. So I can rule out the massive bag of generic screws and standoffs I have. I guess it'll be a case of trying out several dozen and seeing whether anything fits!

The airflow in the case is pretty pants anyway (Xigmatech Mach), so that probably doesn't help! I think when I get the fans, I'll get an extra one for that.
 
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