Other than fan speed there is no difference in the fans. It's the increase in speeds from the quiet to the performance that gives you the extra static pressure, air flow and noise.
I have SP120 performance fans on my H100i, the 3pin (non-pwm) and at the same speeds as the quiets they're comparable noise-wise.
I actually do control mine using PWM. A forum member on here, Tealc, makes PWM converters allowing you to plug 3pin fans into PWM and control them as PWM fans. You can find his thread
HERE
Now with the PWM converter and the curve I've set the fans rarely spin over 1400rpm so some people will probably wonder why I went performance. The reason being that IF my system requires it, the fans CAN provide more air-flow/static pressure.