140mm Fans for R6

[RandomMonkeH]

I would like to upgrade the front case fans in my Define R6 - after a bit of reading, the percieved wisdom appears to be a Static Pressure fan is most suited due to the high airflow restriction of the front filter and door.

I would like them to be PWM, and I want a simple black fan, no RGB. Simple enough I niavely thought.

I don't really want to drop £20+ per fan on Silent Wings 3 or Noctua Chromax.

Phanteks PH-F140 MP are highly recommended, and also out of stock everywhere, possibly discontinued.
Fractal Venturi HP-140 also look good, also out of stock, also discontinued.

Noctua Redux are an old design and apparently not great, the Corsair ML140 are expensive for the pro versions and they seem to be quite loud.

Anybody got any suggestions for a reasonably priced fan that you can actually still buy and not total *****?

 

[Roguey000]

I know what you mean; paying £20+ for a fan seems a lot. I did get two Silent Wings 3 140mm PWN high speed fans awhile back; my old corsair fans started to rattle (AF140L's? - the ones that come with the H110i GT?). The Silent Wings are massively better; so much quieter. However I dont have much experience comparing fans, due to their price.

 

[Grimley]

I've used these fans for years both in mine & my familys PC builds. Cheap quiet & do the job.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x Arctic Cooling P14 PWM PST Black Fan - 140mm= £6.95

Total: £9.69 (includes shipping: £2.74)​

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[EsaT]

Arctic P12 and P14 are steal for their performance and also come with really nice warranty unlike most of those expensive ones.

 

[PC777]

Corsair ML series is excellent and largely misunderstood in terms of noise as they have such high max RPMs they give the highest noise rating for that max RPM. Truth is you can run them as quiet as a silent wings 3 which I also use in the same system. The noise is only for extreme cooling that you'll never need. Eg ML140s top out at 2000rpm but cool excellently as low as 400 rpm which is my idle setting. Have 2 x ML140s, 2 x ML120s + 2 x AF140s that came with the case all tuned for silence at idle and very quiet gaming.

 

[RandomMonkeH]

Thanks chaps,

I did look at the Artic P14 - but I understand these are just a basic sleeve bearing fan, the CO units are the better ball bearing ones, but I also read some iffy reviews on these units so I was unsure. Have you tried the CO version?

@PC777 - would you rate the ML as better or worse than the silent wings 3? I can pick up SW3 for the same price as the ML140 pros but the ML twin pack works out about £12 cheaper.

 

[tamzzy]

Have you tried the CO version?

The PWM PST-CO have longer life rated bearings but they're noisier/worse noise profile than the standard PWM PST

 

[PC777]

Thanks chaps,

I did look at the Artic P14 - but I understand these are just a basic sleeve bearing fan, the CO units are the better ball bearing ones, but I also read some iffy reviews on these units so I was unsure. Have you tried the CO version?

@PC777 - would you rate the ML as better or worse than the silent wings 3? I can pick up SW3 for the same price as the ML140 pros but the ML twin pack works out about £12 cheaper.

I like both but personally prefer the ML Pros as I like having blue LEDs without extra RGB cables, etc, which I admit isn't the most objective opinion, but they also look great and are also really sturdily built and heavier than the Silent Wings 3, apparently the non LED ML Pro versions are even better due to having slightly longer fans due to more space without LEDs. I also believe the ML Pros are Corsair's best fans, some more expensive ones don't have magnetic levitation tech because they use the money on extra RGB instead.

I saw that 2 pack deal and almost went for it as I think it's good value, the only downside is the double pack aren't the ML Pro versions with the rubber dampening mounts, they're just MLs, not much difference otherwise though.

Silent Wings 3 are a bit quieter overall at similar RPM and also come with rubber mounts, I would say a ML120 is quietly audible above 500 or so RPM and a 120 Silent Wing 3 quietly audible at above 650-700 or so. If I had to guess I think the MLs pump more air at the same RPM though, just my hunch no tests done or anything.

2 x ML140s at 400RPM as front intakes at idle are almost silent and the front grill is really quite cold to the touch so they do a great job, ML's are definitely a lot more viable for a silent/quiet build than their max DB implies.

Though I think Silent Wings 3 would easily be as good, if not better for your use. I use the Silent Wings 3 120 PWM 1450 rpm max version as a second CPU fan but they do a 2200 rpm version as well, a lot noisier at max RPM, but still quieter than a similar speed ML Pro though neither will ever have to be run that fast anyway.