Conclusion
If you’re looking for the quietest fan of the three to run with your stock or lightly overclocked machine, then the Noctua NF-F12 fan is a great option. I can’t say I’m sold on the color scheme though, but you’re not going to forget it. It performed very well on the sound level front at low and high load, but due to the lower RPM, it struggled a little when the heat was really pushing. Perfect for a silent build.
If you want a fan that can do quiet, but not quite silent, and also deal with big heat loads then the Alpenfohn is the best choice of these three. It’s also the best looking in my opinion. It managed to bridge the gap between airflow and sound levels. It has the ability to get the high RPM’s and airflow while also giving a quieter option when needed.
If airflow is what you want and you’re not bothered by how loud it is, then the Zaward Golf Fan G3 ZG3-120TL is probably your best option of the three. The noise can be tamed via a fan controller or similar, but if you just want the raw 95 CFM all the time, it might be worth putting the box in another room. The fan noise could start to get irritating.
These three fans turned out to be quite different in the end, with each having their own, equally useful performance areas.
