Antec 920 fan upgrade.

Skynet5

Skynet5

Skynet5

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Can anyone recommend a direct fan replacement for the stock fans on the Antec 920.

Anyone with experience on if its worth it?
 
Got a 920 myself. I'd choose out of these three..

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-014-CS&groupid=701&catid=2331

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-059-AK&groupid=701&catid=2331&subcat=4

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-057-AK&groupid=701&catid=2331&subcat=4

I replaced with Apache blacks, they are virtually silent at extreme setting but I hear the SP120's are very good too as are the vipers.

All three are a better option than stock fans but if it was me upgrading now I'd choose the SP120's as they have got brilliant reviews.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBImHkwCLJ8

Finally there are the Scythe Gentle typhoons, I don't really know much about them other than people say they are good, I like the higher rpm speed on these..

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showp...ktdetailseite&emcs2=FG-014-SY&emcs3=FG-030-SY

Don't know how loud they are though and they are not PWM so can't control fan speed via the antec chill control software. They have good reviews on customer reviews though.
 
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spankingtexan said:
Got a 920 myself. I'd choose out of these three..

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-014-CS&groupid=701&catid=2331

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-059-AK&groupid=701&catid=2331&subcat=4

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-057-AK&groupid=701&catid=2331&subcat=4

I replaced with Apache blacks, they are virtually silent at extreme setting but I hear the SP120's are very good too as are the vipers.

All three are a better option than stock fans but if it was me upgrading now I'd choose the SP120's as they have got brilliant reviews.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBImHkwCLJ8

Finally there are the Scythe Gentle typhoons, I don't really know much about them other than people say they are good, I like the higher rpm speed on these..

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showp...ktdetailseite&emcs2=FG-014-SY&emcs3=FG-030-SY

Don't know how loud they are though and they are not PWM so can't control fan speed via the antec chill control software. They have good reviews on customer reviews though.
Click to expand...


Thanks. Think ill go for the same ones as you. Good price.
 
stulid said:
SP fans are the really good, tried the non PWM versions on a 920 here.
Click to expand...

Wow what a great review.

Ok. Maybe ill get the sp120! Looks like 5c cooler you saw against the stock fans. And I think I could just leave the antec at extreme then.

I want PWM model so the antec software can control it correct?
 
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spankingtexan said:
Yes, directly into the H100 water block, there should be four 4 pin fan connectors on it and you'll be able to control them.
Click to expand...

control them using the other hardware that is optional or control them straight from the bios mate ?

p.s
I am happy to have the fans at full speed, thats why I started this thread and the reason I asked what is the best fastest, quietest 120mm fans that will fit onto the 1st edition corsair H100 raidiator ? if they are very fast and also just as quiet as the stock ones I have and have that little extra cooling because of the speed and quality then I dont mind at all if I cant control them, but I guess its a bonus, I have a feeling you will tell me that I need the extra optional expensive hardware to control them though, I could be far wrong though, maybe that 4th pin is the thing that does the job ?

Can anyone confirm if these fans run the cpu slightly cooler and are any quieter than the stock fans I have now please ? I mean when they are running at full speed ? cheers :)

another intersting review >> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11TIfocssvY
 
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scotslad said:
control them using the other hardware that is optional or control them straight from the bios mate ?

p.s
I am happy to have the fans at full speed, thats why I started this thread and the reason I asked what is the best fastest, quietest 120mm fans that will fit onto the 1st edition corsair H100 raidiator ? if they are very fast and also just as quiet as the stock ones I have and have that little extra cooling because of the speed and quality then I dont mind at all if I cant control them, but I guess its a bonus, I have a feeling you will tell me that I need the extra optional expensive hardware to control them though, I could be far wrong though, maybe that 4th pin is the thing that does the job ?

Can anyone confirm if these fans run the cpu slightly cooler and are any quieter than the stock fans I have now please ? I mean when they are running at full speed ? cheers :)

another intersting review >> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11TIfocssvY
Click to expand...

This thread may be of some use..

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18405664
 
spankingtexan said:
Got a 920 myself. I'd choose out of these three..

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-014-CS&groupid=701&catid=2331

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-059-AK&groupid=701&catid=2331&subcat=4

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-057-AK&groupid=701&catid=2331&subcat=4

I replaced with Apache blacks, they are virtually silent at extreme setting but I hear the SP120's are very good too as are the vipers.

All three are a better option than stock fans but if it was me upgrading now I'd choose the SP120's as they have got brilliant reviews.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBImHkwCLJ8

Finally there are the Scythe Gentle typhoons, I don't really know much about them other than people say they are good, I like the higher rpm speed on these..

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showp...ktdetailseite&emcs2=FG-014-SY&emcs3=FG-030-SY

Don't know how loud they are though and they are not PWM so can't control fan speed via the antec chill control software. They have good reviews on customer reviews though.
Click to expand...

I have some venom vipers. They are the most disappointing fans I have ever bought. They are genuinely worse than my Zaward Golf's which I got for £2.49 apiece. And just to add insult to injury, they are yellow. The Apache's are worse because they are essentially the same but with a lower maximum speed.

I would personally just grab a pair of SP120's.
 
The reason I was asking about OC'ing was that if you are then I wouldn't advise the Apache's. I have them and at stock speed they are perfectly fine at keeping the CPU in check even running IBT. The problem comes with this heat and an OC. I had cause to run IBT the other day and the fans just couldn't keep the temp down that well.

Now I know IBT probably gets the chips unrealistically hot, but the fact remains, they got hot and the fans where at full tilt.

So I have these on order: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-017-CS&groupid=701&catid=2331&subcat=4

If you can wait until the weekend before you order I can give you a direct comparison between the Apache's and the SP120's. Hopefully I should see a few degrees lower purely on pressure alone.
 
I'm very interested in the comparison as I use the Apache's and am thinking of getting the SP120's myself, what CPU you using? Also what are your thoughts on push pull configuration? as the OP and myself are using the Antec 920, would a high pressure fan be wasted at the rear of the radiator, you know the one that exhausts so not blowing air over the rad? I am using a 4770K @ 4.4GHz current temps are 75c with a 2 hour run on Aida64 so getting those temps down would able me to up the frequency as my vcore is only at 1.145V, I am stable at 4.5GHz with vcore @ 1.152 but just backed off during this hot spell so I'm restricted only by heat. Thanks.
 
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acme15 said:
I have some venom vipers. They are the most disappointing fans I have ever bought. They are genuinely worse than my Zaward Golf's which I got for £2.49 apiece. And just to add insult to injury, they are yellow. The Apache's are worse because they are essentially the same but with a lower maximum speed.

I would personally just grab a pair of SP120's.
Click to expand...

Yes, I think I'm a bit behind here, the Vipers and Apaches were ok with Sandybridge but due to the higher temps with IVY and Haswell I am inclined now to agree with you and the SP120's are now the ones to have, glad the OP opted for the 120's ;) will be interesting to see DTWD's comparison results.
 
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spankingtexan said:
I'm very interested in the comparison as I use the Apache's and am thinking of getting the SP120's myself, what CPU you using? Also what are your thoughts on push pull configuration? as the OP and myself are using the Antec 920, would a high pressure fan be wasted at the rear of the radiator, you know the one that exhausts so not blowing air over the rad? I am using a 4770K @ 4.4GHz current temps are 75c with a 2 hour run on Aida64 so getting those temps down would able me to up the frequency as my vcore is only at 1.145V, I am stable at 4.5GHz with vcore @ 1.152 but just backed off during this hot spell so I'm restricted only by heat. Thanks.
Click to expand...

I have an i5 2500k at 4.5Ghz

I too have the 920 hence why I chimed in on this thread :D

As for the pressure I can't pretend to understand fluid dynamics. But I would have thought that by having equal push and pull forces you will keep the air flowing better than having a slower fan pulling. With a slower fan I suspect you have the possibility of negatively affecting the air pressure in the radiator, slowing down the flow and increasing the temperature. By removing the air faster using greater thrust you are able to exhaust more heat out the back.

Imagine, if you will, a speed graph of the air travelling through the radiator, at the point it's accelerated by the push fan it's travelling at say 15mph, by the time it gets to the middle of the rad it's travelling at say, 10mph. By the addition of the exhaust fan you are sucking in that slowing air and sustaining the 15mph. With two fans working in in tandem I would have thought it's also possible that you could create greater negative pressure within the radiator increasing the performance of both fans.

But as I said, I don't know fluid dynamics so that's just pure guess work.
 
DTWD said:
I have an i5 2500k at 4.5Ghz

I too have the 920 hence why I chimed in on this thread :D

As for the pressure I can't pretend to understand fluid dynamics. But I would have thought that by having equal push and pull forces you will keep the air flowing better than having a slower fan pulling. With a slower fan I suspect you have the possibility of negatively affecting the air pressure in the radiator, slowing down the flow and increasing the temperature. By removing the air faster using greater thrust you are able to exhaust more heat out the back.

Imagine, if you will, a speed graph of the air travelling through the radiator, at the point it's accelerated by the push fan it's travelling at say 15mph, by the time it gets to the middle of the rad it's travelling at say, 10mph. By the addition of the exhaust fan you are sucking in that slowing air and sustaining the 15mph. With two fans working in in tandem I would have thought it's also possible that you could create greater negative pressure within the radiator increasing the performance of both fans.

But as I said, I don't know fluid dynamics so that's just pure guess work.
Click to expand...

Your guess work though is logical and makes sense to me, thankyou, I'll just grab a pair of 120's ;)
 
Well the results are a little inconclusive.

I really can't tell if the fans have made THAT much difference.

I started off running an IBT 5 pass to get a base level with my Apache's. I am using a relatively aggressive fan profile by default, but then again I can because those Apache's are pretty much silent at full whack.

Fan Control: My Aggressive Custom
Ramp Start: 28
Full Fan: 35

Room Ambient: 25.5 (how hot the room is according my basic mercury thermometer)

Idle Coolant: 35 (the temperature the coolant is reported as according to the Antec software)

Idle Max (left alone for 10 minutes what was the max idle temperature recorded - note this is after a reboot and allowed to settle for a few minutes before being measured)
C1: 42
C2: 37
C3: 29
C4: 38

Idle Normal: 36 [package] (human, me, watching the temps and taking an approximate average - take with a pinch of salt)
C1: 34
C2: 32
C3: 27
C4: 32

IBT Coolant: 42 (average coolant temperature during an IBT run - watched by me, but it doesn't change very much or very fast so it's quite a safe reading)

IBT Max (max temps of run as reported by hardware monitor and coretemp)
C1: 68
C2: 73
C3: 70
C4: 75

IBT Normal: 60 [package] (human, me, watching the temps and taking an approximate average - take with a pinch of salt)
C1: 59
C2: 59
C3: 56
C4: 60

-------------------------------------------------------------

Next up a 1 pass IBT (I didn't like the temps so I stopped the 5 pass and re-ran it as 1) with the default custom fan profile.

Fan Control: Default Custom
Ramp Start: 40
Full Fan: 50

Room Ambient: 26.5

Idle Coolant: 38

Idle Max
C1: 43
C2: 40
C3: 34
C4: 43

Idle Normal: 41 [package]
C1: 40
C2: 37
C3: 31
C4: 37

IBT Coolant: 45

IBT Max
C1: 73
C2: 78
C3: 76
C4: 77

IBT Normal: 77 [package]
C1: 70
C2: 76
C3: 73
C4: 77

-------------------------------------------------------------

Next up I decided to give my case it's 6 monthly clean. So I took it outside and blew it all out with the compressor...lots of dust came out.

At this point the Apache's are still in and as with all the tests other than the first, it's a 1 pass IBT at maximum.

Fan Control: Default Custom
Ramp Start: 40
Full Fan: 50

Room Ambient: 26.7

Idle Coolant: 35

Idle Max
C1: 40
C2: 46
C3: 30
C4: 37

Idle Normal: 40 [package]
C1: 40
C2: 35
C3: 30
C4: 35

IBT Coolant: 44

IBT Max
C1: 68
C2: 76
C3: 72
C4: 75

IBT Normal: 75 [package]
C1: 67
C2: 74
C3: 75
C4: 76

-------------------------------------------------------------

At this point I fitted the new fans. First off the construction is brilliant, you can tell that they are a more expensive fan than the Apache's the moment you open the box. A nice addition is the inclusion of rubber to help deaden the vibrations.


Fan Control: Default Custom
Ramp Start: 40
Full Fan: 50

Room Ambient: 28.0

Idle Coolant: 37

Idle Max
C1: 41
C2: 40
C3: 32
C4: 38

Idle Normal: 39 [package]
C1: 39
C2: 35
C3: 31
C4: 36

IBT Coolant: 45

IBT Max
C1: 68
C2: 74
C3: 76
C4: 75

IBT Normal: 71 [package]
C1: 67
C2: 73
C3: 71
C4: 74

-------------------------------------------------------------

The final test, but this time with a more aggressive fan profile. This is likely to be the one I will use day to day.

I prefer more aggressive profiles as I believe that it's better to get in earlier with the cooling and try and keep the temperature down, opposed to trying to bring it down later from a higher value.

Fan Control: My New Aggressive Custom
Ramp Start: 30
Full Fan: 40

Room Ambient: 28.0

Idle Coolant: 36

Idle Max
C1: 41
C2: 40
C3: 32
C4: 38

Idle Normal: 37 [package]
C1: 37
C2: 35
C3: 30
C4: 36

IBT Coolant: 41

IBT Max
C1: 64
C2: 70
C3: 68
C4: 70

IBT Normal: 72 [package]
C1: 64
C2: 69
C3: 67
C4: 68

-------------------------------------------------------------

Conclusion

It's difficult to really summarise these results as the ambient temperature was rising during the whole testing. That alone pretty much makes the testing nulled, but maybe we can get some educated guesses out of it based on what we didn't see.

  1. The aggressive profile, both the first and the last, helped during IBT. During normal operations it's also probably going to be helpful to subdue those spikes.
  2. Cleaning the dust out helps quite a lot and is something maybe we should be doing before replacing our fans :D I didn't think mine would have got as bad as it had in 6 months.
  3. If you already own the Apache's I can't really recommend these fans based on this evidence - I will test again tomorrow morning though when hopefully the ambient temperature is lower.
  4. Maybe the results we are seeing here aren't being limited by the fans, but instead by the 920. Maybe we are altering a few percentile of operational performance at the outer edge, but we may be at the Kuhler's maximum in these temperatures.

For completeness I have a Haf X with the following cooling additional to the 2 120mm fans on the Kuhler:

Front: 230*30 mm fan
Top: 200*30 mm fan *2
Side: 200*30 mm fan
VGA duct: 120*25 fan

I have an i5 2500k overclocked to 4.5Ghz.

My PSU intakes and expels it's air to and from the outside of the case.

I have a 480 SOC GPU with the windforce fans on, it wasn't being taxed during these tests but was running between 40-45 degrees at idle.

I have 4 WD greens and an SSD behind the main 230mm intake fan at the front of the PC. Most of these hard drives would have been asleep and if not, would not have been very active as I was only running these tests and nothing else.
 
So, a few degrees less with the 120's, might have seen the gap a little bigger if the ambient hadn't been climbing during the test, I'll still get the 120's as a few degrees cooler is good in my book. Excellent info here, thanks for taking the time to share this with us.
 
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