Fan me up......120mm fan recommendations

Spunjcake

Spunjcake

Spunjcake

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Hi gang

Just completed a new build that I am super happy with but currently running the case without fans, as there is LITERALLY too much choice and I ended up in a divide by zero error in my head

I am fortunate in that the case is super venty and probably doesn't need much in the way of big blowing

However, I went with the nuclear ball of heat that is the Ryzen 7 5800X and am currently trying to tame it with a BQ Dark Rock 4. I like the simplicity of air, not a mad overclocker or anything etc and haven't seen any crazy temps yet (apart from a brief foray into P95 that hit 90 in a heartbeat :/)

So, I want to start moving some air round the case. I have space for 3 120's at the front, I also hate RGB, its just turd so I am looking for clean, quiet and efficient as the build is essentially silent right now on air.

BQ fans are lovely but too 'spensive, as are Noctuas. Just no budget for that I am afraid.

I was close to pulling at the Artic 120 F12's but got confused between P12, F12, static pressure optimized blaaaah

So just popping my head up for real world user recommendations rather than trusting site reviews.

Thanks
Andy
 
5800X runs hot, but doesn't emit much heat.
But presumably you do have a GPU which dumps more heat into the case.

For a basic case fan you can ignore all the static pressure blah.

Arctic is a solid choice. I would go with 2x140mm P14 PWM ones front, for low noise set to run between 500-800 rpm.
Ensures fresh air for GPU and Dark Rock.
 
Artic P12 or P14 are the ones you want - cheap and powerful.

P series are supposedly optimised for Static Pressure (which is what you want for heatsinks/radiators, whereas F series are supposed to be for airflow (e.g. case fans without obstruction). In most cases P series will perform better as even as case fans there are normal some areas of obstruction.

You want PWM fans so that they can be controlled more accurately, and Artic's PST feature is another connector that allows fans to be daisy chained (e.g. so you can control all of your front fans at the same time)

The P12 CO/P14 CO (Continuous operation) are also worth looking at (although OcUK don't look to have them), as have slightly better bearings, so should last longer (although I haven't had a problem with the standard P12's to be fair)


My basket at OcUK:

Total: £21.60 (includes delivery: £8.70)​




​
 
That is super stuff gents, thanks for that. I think that is decided.

Yeah, I have a 3070 FE that I did not expect to run so hot in the mix too and suspect that it is bathing the CPU cooler in hot air so if I can push some cool through it should help.

I know I am asking a lot of the Dark Rock but I had hoped a premium air cooler should have been ok. Hope this helps.

Thanks again guys :)

Andy
 
Armageus said:
P series are supposedly optimised for Static Pressure (which is what you want for heatsinks/radiators, whereas F series are supposed to be for airflow (e.g. case fans without obstruction). In most cases P series will perform better as even as case fans there are normal some areas of obstruction.
Click to expand...
P-serie's performance is such good for all around use that don't see much use for rougher noise profile F12.
With stamped meshes instead of wire finger guards there just aren't many places in todays cases with low impedance.
In fact some very hyped/popular cases like Lian Li O11 have literal garbage for fan meshes.

Basically you want to see second page's P-Q curve bulging toward upper right if you draw imaginary line between points where curve crosses axes:
https://www.arctic.de/media/cb/67/c0/1638880679/Spec_Sheet_P12_PWM_PST_A-RGB_0dB_EN_white.pdf
Any dents to other direction, especially anywhere near mid point of curve, tells fan is going to have "hiccups" in real world no matter what's marketed as max airflow or static pressure.


Also motor of P-serie PWM fans is insanely efficient and even standard output fan header could easily take half dozen of those.
 
Arctic P12 can't be beaten for the cost. I recently tried out some MP120 Pros and while they feel nicer (heavier and better build quality) they give off an incredibly annoying motor whirring noise. All I can hear from my Arctic P12's above around 1000~1100RPM is air being pushed.

Have been tempted to see what the Silent Wings 3 are like compared to Arctic P12.
 
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