Quietest 120mm fan

MR_MU53NDO · 8 Sep 2012 at 13:06

quick question: what's the quietest 120mm fan i can buy, that moves a pretty decent amount of air around a machine? I'm not too bothered about speed, so long as there's a lot of air going in/out and it's quiet

Monkeyspaz5000 · 8 Sep 2012 at 14:32

Noctuas are thought of as one of the quieter.

I would say get a decent fan and a fan controller. Then you can control the noise yourself.

NXZT · 8 Sep 2012 at 16:06

Be quiet - Silent Wings 2...replaced all my stock fans with them and they are quiet...very quiet

Monkeyspaz5000 · 8 Sep 2012 at 16:07

Fractal fans are also very quiet at 12v

The Matrix · 8 Sep 2012 at 21:50

I'm using a Corsair AF series 120mm as my exhaust fan, they are virtually silent

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-002-CS

BrianB · 8 Sep 2012 at 22:06

Sorry but I have owned AF 120's (airflow) by Corsair and they are nowhere near silent without a fan controller up to 1850RPM. If you bought the silent version they would be alright. I had to cut the fan mesh out of my old case to stop the airflow version whining away at high RPM. They are also very expensive unless bought in twin packs. After reading the above post a bit more he did link the quiet edition, 1100 RPM which the 120mm I had were very quiet at, 1100 RPM was my "silent" speed for my old case.

Noctua 120mm fans, are very quiet, and also have high static pressure.

I have been told many times that the Scythe Gentle Typhoon 1150RPM moves a lot of air for how much noise it makes.

I use the Corsair AF140's and really like them, but the 120's did not amaze me at all, except for under 1200 RPM.

The Matrix · 8 Sep 2012 at 22:12

Ive not had a problem with mine Brian, it is the quiet edition and i have it hooked up the fan controller on my 650D. Even at full tilt its still quiet.

Thinking of getting 2 x 140mm static pressure ones for the exhaust on the top of the case or would you leave it as 1 x 200mm cooler master megaflow ?

BrianB · 8 Sep 2012 at 22:15

Yeah, after reading your post, they are fine at 1100rpm and have a nice pitch to them. I had the airflow version (1850RPM).

What case do you have? I find that my 200mm bitfenix fan moves as much air through the roof of my arc midi as the stock 140mm fans did, guess 200mm just have bad static pressure though. If the 200mm is moving air I wouldn't change it, a 200mm is meant to move more air than two 140mm because it actually has more surface area or something like that. Should be quieter too.

The Matrix · 8 Sep 2012 at 22:21

Its a Corsair Obsidian 650D.

BrianB · 8 Sep 2012 at 22:27

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-027-BX I put this in the top of my Arc Midi, look's really good and has so many mounting holes lol. Come's with two ways to mount it as well, has the anti vibration option as well as screws. Hand held the airflow is similar to a desk fan. The fan mesh/filter in the top of my case restricts it a bit but when I remove the top it shifts loads of air and is really quiet, wish I could fill my whole case with them.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-023-BX&groupid=701&catid=2331&subcat=2335 Maybe this would fit.

PapaLazaru · 8 Sep 2012 at 22:40

antec truequiet pro™ 120 revolutionary quiet cooling 120mm case fan

http://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/antec_truequiet_pro_120_review,9.html

The Matrix · 8 Sep 2012 at 22:41

BrianB said:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-027-BX

I presume that this one is the same fan but with a blue LED as mine is a blue theme ?

The noise level on those seems high at (Noise (dB-A): 27.5 dB(A)

BrianB · 8 Sep 2012 at 23:54

Yeah, it's not silent, but it's not loud either, more realistic db level. More corsair fans would look better probably, match the other ones you have.

troops · 9 Sep 2012 at 00:08

Using a couple of Apache blacks PWM, they seem pretty quiet.

dacads · 9 Sep 2012 at 00:29

Coolink SWiF2-120

Resident · 9 Sep 2012 at 01:22

BrianB said:
Yeah, after reading your post, they are fine at 1100rpm and have a nice pitch to them. I had the airflow version (1850RPM).

What case do you have? I find that my 200mm bitfenix fan moves as much air through the roof of my arc midi as the stock 140mm fans did, guess 200mm just have bad static pressure though. If the 200mm is moving air I wouldn't change it, a 200mm is meant to move more air than two 140mm because it actually has more surface area or something like that. Should be quieter too.

AF120s don't spin to 1850. 1100 for the Quiets & 1650 for the Performance. Only the SP120 Performance go above 1650 (upto 2350)

Link

I have the SP120 Performance on my CPU cooler and upto around 1400 RPM I don't hear them. At 1500 you can notice them but it's not really till 17-1800 that I'd call them noisy. At 2300 they're like a Turbo-prop engine lol.

Haven't tried the AF's yet but I will be soon.

BrianB · 9 Sep 2012 at 02:41

Sorry yeah, 1650, thanks for correcting that.

Still were quite loud at 1650, but quieter than cheap fans I have heard at that speed.

MR_MU53NDO · 9 Sep 2012 at 09:54

Wow... Looks like I've got a lot of choices then... Any way of possibly narrowing it down, or is this mostly opinion-based?

doyll · 9 Sep 2012 at 13:00

The quietest ones are still in their boxs.

Resident · 9 Sep 2012 at 17:54

MR_MU53NDO said:
Wow... Looks like I've got a lot of choices then... Any way of possibly narrowing it down, or is this mostly opinion-based?

TBH there's not much in between the suggestions other than the aesthetics.

But how quiet a fan really is will always be subjective to the individual.

For instance I might think my rig is quiet but someone else might come along and think it's not if you get my meaning.