Which radiator fans to replace my Corsair ML120s?

Goose

Goose

Goose

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I currently have 6 ML120s on my two radiators and i've never been particularly happy with them. It's not the volume that bothers me so much as it's type of sound they make.

My two radiators are both 360mm Hardware Labs Black Ice items, one is the 60mm thick SR2 and a 30mm thick GTS.

I've heard good things about the Be Quiet Silent Wings 3 fans but I know Noctua also have a very good reputation.

FWIW i prioritize silence over performance.

Thanks
 
What RPM were you running the corsair fans at?

I just ordered 6 of these for my new build.

NF-F12 Chromax are the best I beleive but they're pricey.
 
Too Tall said:
What RPM were you running the corsair fans at?

I just ordered 6 of these for my new build.

NF-F12 Chromax are the best I beleive but they're pricey.
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I have them controlled with an Aquaero and set the max speed at 1200rpm. That's already too loud for my liking so any faster would be unbearable.
 
@ttaskmaster

They're all on pull, i couldn't afford to go push/pull. I actually removed the dust filters altogether as they were severely impacting on performance so i'm just going to have to dust everything out frequently.
 
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My ML120s don't make any sound at all, other than the sound of air moving when they're cranked up. Such is the joy of magnetic levitation.

They did make a really weird noise when I was testing a custom fan splitter I made because I had my motherboard set to voltage control, not PWM control, and you simply cannot control mag lev fans with voltage.

So forgive me presumption, but are you 100% sure you're using PWM control?
 
I use 2x Ml120 and 2x ML140s, my rig is damn near silent and I've got Silent Wings 3's in the same build for comparison, but I don't run the ML's above 450RPM at idle and mostly under 1000RPM at load.
 
Goose said:
They're all on pull, i couldn't afford to go push/pull. I actually removed the dust filters altogether as they were severely impacting on performance so i'm just going to have to dust everything out frequently.
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Try them in Push first, mainly because it's free.

Then look at the spacing between fans and rads. If they're tight up, with no gaps, try adding a gasket or something to increase that distance. Conversely if there's any spaces around the sides, consider adding something (Sugru™ perhaps) to close those off.
Something else you can try, from Pull, is adding a fan grille over the exhaust. All my fans are ML120s but the rear, and only the rear, makes weird resonance noise with increased airflow. Adding rubber grommets to space it out from the case grille and putting a Silverstone grille (remove the mesh filter) on the outside keeps it dead silent below 1400rpm.
 
LePhuronn said:
My ML120s don't make any sound at all, other than the sound of air moving when they're cranked up. Such is the joy of magnetic levitation.

They did make a really weird noise when I was testing a custom fan splitter I made because I had my motherboard set to voltage control, not PWM control, and you simply cannot control mag lev fans with voltage.

So forgive me presumption, but are you 100% sure you're using PWM control?
Click to expand...

They're connected to my Aquaero 6 PWM headers and i've set a custom fan curve with Aquasuite.
 
Goose said:
They're connected to my Aquaero 6 PWM headers and i've set a custom fan curve with Aquasuite.
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Just because they're connected to PWM headers doesn't mean they're set to use PWM control.

I had my fans connected to the PWM headers on the Asus Fan Extension board, but were still set up to use voltage control. I only noticed because the LEDs were dimming during a fan capability test.
 
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