Best 120mm fan?

setter · 10 Nov 2008 at 13:56

Swordfish125 said:
My mobo not control speed for some reason. Thanks for the heads up!

No probs

Which mobo are you using btw, for my deluxe i enabled the asus q fan function in the bios, set fan control to turbo, saved this, on entering windows under asus ai suite, set turbo as well for chassis fans and this controls my 3 case fans. Unfortunately this only works on the chassis 1-3 headers. My sharkoon fans are run via the cpu and pwr headers, pwr header doesnt support bios fan controll at all and the cpu pin will only control a 4 pin pwm fan. Prior to the sharkoon's i used 2x arctic cooling pwm fans connected together and powered via the 4 pin cpu fan header, hence the need for a fan controller for the new cpu fan setp.

Swordfish125 · 10 Nov 2008 at 14:29

Im using a DFI DK x48 board. For some reason you cant set speed either through Bios or any utility. The board is a bit spartan on Features and OC memory, but it OC's my q6600 Easily.
I could use Speedfan to do it, but its a lot of hassle. My case is fairly Cool as it is 2 new Sharkoons and a Junior would cost about £28 wereas 2 yate loons would cost £8.
I just like the qualiyy fo Sharkoons but tbh using the fanmate I run at 1000rpm most of the time anyway, even when running games or Prime.

setter · 10 Nov 2008 at 14:37

Ahh i wouldnt be all that fammilair with dfi boards as ive only ever run nvidia 680i and a few different asus boards, regarding the yate loons, you wont be dissapointed, fantastic price and good airflow/noise ratio.

lettuce · 10 Nov 2008 at 17:20

I tried both the Noctua NF-P12 120mm & the Xilence XPF120R Red Wing. Noise wise i couldnt tell a difference between the 2, but the red wing was just ever so slightly better at cooling my CPU than the Noctua was, we're only talking 2-3c more so nothing major, but at half the price of the Noctua you can complain really, just all depends on there durability i guess

Berserker · 10 Nov 2008 at 20:44

Owenb said:
Noctua are good if you want a very quiet machine but as you already have some tricool running at 1600rpm i don't really see the point in spending £14 on a fan that won't really give any benefit. It won't move a lot of air and you won't get the benefit of it's quietness due to the louder tricool fans.
Maybe something like the Akasa AK-191-SM which is similar in performance to your tricool at medium settings.

The case (Antec Verso) came with two TriCools, and given that one is failing I'll probably kick both into touch. Having said that, the noisiest fan in the system is the Zalman CNPS8700 cooler. I'm happy with the current noise level but given the large number of fan failures I've had (mostly due to dust) I'd rather pay more and get something that'll last. I don't know what the longevity of the Akasa fans is like but most of them seem pretty cheap (and packed full of LEDs which I really don't want).

shadowscotland said:
Hi Mr.B

zalman ZM-f3 if your best option - follow the link in this thread post a week back

Ugh. I know it's the thought that counts, but with all due respect, no thanks. I got a ZM-F2 some time ago, tried the resistor cable, and got burned by it.

Just looked at the Xilence fan - looks a little loud compared to other options, though to be honest I don't know what 21.2 dBA sounds like.

Swordfish125 · 10 Nov 2008 at 21:28

If you want quiet and good speed go for the noctua, mine are silent.

Berserker · 10 Nov 2008 at 21:34

I suspect that's probably going to be the plan - unless someone drops a bombshell between now and when I order (Wednesday or Thursday).

EvilOne · 11 Nov 2008 at 09:23

If i replaced all the 120mm tri-cool fans on my A900 would the 200mm fan at the top make too much noice and make the upgrade pointless? I know i can turn it to lowest setting, but then it doesnt move much air

Had a quick look at the website and there arent any quite 200mm fans avalable, so that doesnt seem to be an option either

schumi84 · 11 Nov 2008 at 09:47

I have just fitted the Noctua heatsink with said Noctua fan and was surprised at the amount of air it pushed whilst still being ridiculously quite, my mate's rig is pretty much silent now.

I have the Sharkoon Silent Eagle 2000, and it is the only thing in my case that makes a real 'whooshy' noise, as i have it plugged into the PSU directly due to there being a lack of fan headers on the mobo. Fan speed controller in order i reckon.

Glaucus · 11 Nov 2008 at 10:40

Noctuas are the way tio go, nothing else can even get close to them.
As for the np12 or sp12, that all depends on how much airflow you want. Very little difference. if you have enough fan holes I would consider the 800rpm version though.

The figures speak for themselves

Sharkoon Silent Eagle 1000 120mm
- Sound: 19.0 dB(A)
- Air flow: 36.8 CFM

Noctua NF-P12 120mm Silent Case Fan - 3 Pin
- Fan Speed: 1300RPM / 1100RPM / 900RPM
- Airflow: 54.3CFM / 46.2CFM / 37.3CFM
- Fan Noise: 19.8 dB / 16.9 dB / 12.6 dB

Noctua NF-S12 800RPM 120mm Silent Case Fan - 3 Pin
- 12v performance - 800RPM, 8dBA, 35CFM
- 7.5v performance - 500RPM, <5dBA, 20CFM

lettuce · 13 Nov 2008 at 19:40

The Red Wings can almost match those and a fraction of the price too!!..

Xilence XPF120R Red Wing 120mm Quiet Fan
- Fan Speed: 1400RPM
- Airflow: 68CFM
- Fan Noise: 21.2 dBA

WJA96 · 13 Nov 2008 at 22:30

Published dBA specs mean absolutely nothing unless a distance is quoted.

My 120mm Yate Loons are quoted as 28dBA at 1m and they actually move the air they claim. They're probably about 10dBA at 3m and inaudible in the next room :rolleyes:

. Buying fans from the manufacturers claims is only going to upset you when they're not as quiet as you were hoping.

If you want a proper quiet fan then Yate Loon is a good way to go.

littlepuppy · 13 Nov 2008 at 22:31

Akasa ambers for me....

Berserker · 14 Nov 2008 at 20:33

A pair of NF-P12s arrived in the post this morning. I have to say I'm impressed - both from the fact that OcUK sent the shipment confirmation six minutes after I placed the order (I think that might just be a record), and from the fact that they're so quiet. My main PC room isn't particularly noisy but it's a hell of a lot quieter than it used to be (I don't have accurate figures, but think about a 120mm Delta and you won't be far off what it used to sound like). I could barely hear the Noctua on full (12v) unless I put my ear within about 5cm of the fan blades and risk getting it bitten off. :cool:

How it'll compare against the TriCools, only time will tell when I get around to doing the swap. That PC is in a different room, and it's somewhat quieter in there.

setter · 15 Nov 2008 at 02:44

Berserker said:
A pair of NF-P12s arrived in the post this morning. I have to say I'm impressed - both from the fact that OcUK sent the shipment confirmation six minutes after I placed the order (I think that might just be a record), and from the fact that they're so quiet. My main PC room isn't particularly noisy but it's a hell of a lot quieter than it used to be (I don't have accurate figures, but think about a 120mm Delta and you won't be far off what it used to sound like). I could barely hear the Noctua on full (12v) unless I put my ear within about 5cm of the fan blades and risk getting it bitten off.

How it'll compare against the TriCools, only time will tell when I get around to doing the swap. That PC is in a different room, and it's somewhat quieter in there.

The noctua nf-p12's are great fans, my nephew uses them on his case and he's very impressed with them, whereas i like to oc a bit, im gonna stick sharkoon silent eagle 2000 rpm's in my case (2 on my cpu cooler, 2x intake and 1 exhaust, (2 cpu fans ran by a fan controller, the other 3 powered by mobo fan control) but youve made a very good choice with the noctua fans

Berserker · 15 Nov 2008 at 03:03

You call 3.6ghz a bit? I call a 50% overclock rather a lot actually.

I've only gone as far as 20% with my Q6600 but then I'm not one for heavy overclocks (it's remarkable that I overclocked it at all - especially given that I've managed to underclock RAM in at least one of my PCs

) and those sort of clocks wouldn't be possible in this case anyway (the case won't accept a 'tower' format heatsink, for starters).

setter · 15 Nov 2008 at 03:17

Berserker said:
You call 3.6ghz a bit? I call a 50% overclock rather a lot actually.

I've only gone as far as 20% with my Q6600 but then I'm not one for heavy overclocks (it's remarkable that I overclocked it at all - especially given that I've managed to underclock RAM in at least one of my PCs ) and those sort of clocks wouldn't be possible in this case anyway (the case won't accept a 'tower' format heatsink, for starters).

I know what you mean mate, the q6600 is a bit of a git when it comes to clocking and cooling, if i can get mine clocked at 3.8ghz prime stable ill be very happy. 7 months ago i knew sod all about oc'ing but ive got the bug, if i can get this chip to a good speed ill probly sell it and buy a 45 nm quad (far cheaper to run) but i like the idea of pushing a rig to its best, and it's more fun when you do it on air cooling. (water cooling in a pc still scares me

)

MoRT489 · 16 Nov 2008 at 03:54

I have AC Ryan Blackfires and Yate Loon D12SL's, both are quiet at 1,000 rpm but the Ryans go up to 1900/2000 RPM and are very noisy at this speed (shift lots of air tho). Both quite good at this slower speed and cheaper than some of the other solutions. I'm yet to replace my Tuniq Tower standard fan with one of them to see if there is any difference.