Opinions on rad fans

Damob9k · 26 Jan 2022 at 20:21

Hi all,
I feel the need to upgrade my aging and now below par Corsair SP120 fans now that i'm running hotter components.

What are ppls opinions on the below, and which ones would you go for ?

I want to maintain a near silent PC when at normal use, but don't mind if it gets a little loud when under heavy gaming.
I can't make my mind up on either the Corsair ML120 or the Thermaltake Toughfan turbo.
The Noctura NF-F12 gets rave reviews, but looks less impressive against the 2 above.

The Noctua NF-S12A highlighted is what i'm probably going to get to replace the 2 internal 120 mm case fans (seem like the best option for non static pressure requirements)

Any thoughts and or experiences with any of the above ??

Cheers
Damian

andy_mk3 · 26 Jan 2022 at 21:00

I run ML120 fans, they're very very quiet when running 600-800rpm. I generally don't need to take them past 1000rpm to keep my loop below 35C under load. Past 1000rpm they do get louder, but the performance at low rpm is good enough for me not to worry about that.

EsaT · 26 Jan 2022 at 21:30

Damob9k said:
I can't make my mind up on either the Corsair ML120 or the Thermaltake Toughfan turbo.

So let's be fair to both:
Arctic P12 PWM
They perform really well in most situations and you can get pack of five for less than two of those fans.

Neither of those specs really matters that much, because they're from completely irrelevant for actual usage situation.
In fact they can be very misleading.
Only P-Q curve showing fan's behaviour between those two useless for real use extremes gives real information about fan's performance.
https://martinsliquidlab.wordpress....w-specs-are-poor-measures-of-fan-performance/
So of course hardly any PC fans (unlike those made for industry) have P-Q curves available.

Damob9k · 26 Jan 2022 at 21:58

Thanks andy mk3, useful info

i'm probably not going to get down to 35c with my Ryzen 5900 running at 4.8Ghz most of the time and an overclocked RTX3080 ! but i'm sure these will be better than my SP120's.

EsaT ... i get what you are saying, but if the manufacturers don't give this information then we can't use it for making our decisions, so that's why i'm asking for others experiences

PS i ruled out the Artic's based on the fact that they use a completely useless (for comparisons sake) noise level measure. I don't trust a company that doesn't use a standard method, looks like they are trying to hide something !

LePhuronn · 26 Jan 2022 at 22:53

Damob9k said:
i ruled out the Artic's based on the fact that they use a completely useless (for comparisons sake) noise level measure.

Even if the noise metrics were legit, the numbers are always in lab conditions so not entirely believable for the real world anyway. This is why we should always go by actual reviews, and to be honest the reviews of the Arctic P12s are very good. So good in fact the slim 15mm version is on par with the Noctua A12x15 for 1/4 the price.

mickyflinn · 26 Jan 2022 at 23:04

Damob9k said:
PS i ruled out the Artic's based on the fact that they use a completely useless (for comparisons sake) noise level measure. I don't trust a company that doesn't use a standard method, looks like they are trying to hide something !

That's what reviews are for.

When you say you dont trust companies not using standardized methods look at tdp and how that's measured.

im4gine3 · 26 Jan 2022 at 23:19

I've used both the Arctic P12 & slims and the Noctua A12 slim varients and personally couldn't tell the difference between the 2. They are both quiet and both push a lof of air running at similar speeds. Sure according to tests the Noctua's are slightly better performance wise, but the Arctics aren't far off.

Personally my fan choice would be either the Noctua A12x25, Arctic P12 or the Lian Li AL120's.

Damob9k · 27 Jan 2022 at 07:01

OK cool thanks guys, that's a few more back on the list ! .... i will start searching for reviews for these now

Ayahuasca · 27 Jan 2022 at 11:57

Nothing wrong with the Arctic's as long as you stay outside of a certain RPM range where they hum.

Glanza · 27 Jan 2022 at 15:09

Noiseblocker were my go to when I used to be on water.

EsaT · 27 Jan 2022 at 15:46

Damob9k said:
PS i ruled out the Artic's based on the fact that they use a completely useless (for comparisons sake) noise level measure. I don't trust a company that doesn't use a standard method, looks like they are trying to hide something !

No reason to trust noise claims of any fan brand.

And there's even less of standard for noise profile's smoothness.
NF-F12's marketing BS design makes its noise profile restless with frequency spikes in it.
Those motor supporting "stator guide vanes" being in practise parallel with trailing edge of the blades creates those spikes every time any blade passes vane:
You can imitate effect by blowing air from mouth and moving pen or finger fast back and forth through that airflow.
That's why acoustically good fans have angle between motor supports and blade trailing edge closer to perpendicular.
(so that only small part of airflow separating from blade is disturbed at any single moment)

NF-S12 is again very quiet, because it really can't push air against back pressure and is bad for use with heatsinks and radiators.
I mean easy for fan to be quiet, if you don't do actual heavy lifting...

Damob9k · 27 Jan 2022 at 18:49

Thanks again all.
Does anyone have any experience of the Arctic P12 PWM PST and this documented noise resonance issue ?? I am levitating towards them but this issue worries me ! But i do like the PST connection thing, would tidy up the cabling somewhat

WantoN · 28 Jan 2022 at 12:10

Cheeky vote for the NoiseBlocker B12-PS.

Set up in push, unobstructed, they are extremely quiet and shift a lot of air. I really, really like them.

They also have a modular cable system, rubber mounts and look rather snazzy. Set up in pull, or with restrictive filters, they're not quite as good, but still get my vote.

This is after running ML120 Pros. Good fans, no doubt, I'd happily recommend them. It's just that as they ramp up, they get loud extremely quickly. You have to be careful with curves to avoid your PC sounding terrible. Imo the rpm range is too wide, or the pwm curve too rough.

Gavster · 28 Jan 2022 at 19:16

Damob9k said:
Thanks again all.
Does anyone have any experience of the Arctic P12 PWM PST and this documented noise resonance issue ?? I am levitating towards them but this issue worries me ! But i do like the PST connection thing, would tidy up the cabling somewhat

I have experienced it, at around 850rpm you get a distinct humming but it's at quite a lot frequency so it's not irritating, you can set your fan curve in the bios to avoid it.
They are great fans if you don't want RGB, though they have RGB versions Scottsdale now, and the PST feature it's good for making cabling minimal.
It's a bit of a nightmare to find quiet fans especially as the figures you read are generally inaccurate and some reviews are flawed as they're not real world applications.

Damob9k · 28 Jan 2022 at 19:32

Again thanks for all the input guys

I've taken the plunge and bought 4 of the Arctic P12's, 2 of the Arctic F12's and a BitFenix Spectre PRO 230mm to replace the standard old Coolermaster 230mm fan in the front of my case

I'll let you know in a week if i love or regret it !! and how much if any difference it makes to the cooling

- i'm hoping it will !

Cheers
Damian

im4gine3 · 29 Jan 2022 at 17:35

Good review here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po4l8y5ZMoc&t=926s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1zFi7bjPpk

Drumroll · 29 Jan 2022 at 19:41

Really like the Silent Wings 3, but as mentioned before, the Arctic are quite good, specially at their price. the issue, again mentioned before, is the noticeable noise at certain rpm. Never had big issues setting a low, yet enough and quiet RPM range when delta is less than 5C for the coolant, and up to 850rpm ish, never crossing 1000rpm when delta is higher. If airflow and radiator area are enough, no point going faster.

Ross Thomson · 29 Jan 2022 at 19:44

Damob9k said:
Thanks again all.
Does anyone have any experience of the Arctic P12 PWM PST and this documented noise resonance issue ?? I am levitating towards them but this issue worries me ! But i do like the PST connection thing, would tidy up the cabling somewhat

run 6 of them around 900rpm and get no noise.

wouldn't bother with F12's at all.

Radox-0 · 29 Jan 2022 at 20:58

To add, real happy with artic I used on one of the external radiators in one of my builds. Got 4 of the 120mm on a radiator and they are very quiet. Some resonance in a very tiny range, but non issue. Have EK vardars, Noctua and be quiet fans for other rads and the artic in actual use, can not notice a massive difference and precise difference was massive.

D1craig · 30 Jan 2022 at 17:33

Drumroll said:
Really like the Silent Wings 3, but as mentioned before, the Arctic are quite good, specially at their price. the issue, again mentioned before, is the noticeable noise at certain rpm. Never had big issues setting a low, yet enough and quiet RPM range when delta is less than 5C for the coolant, and up to 850rpm ish, never crossing 1000rpm when delta is higher. If airflow and radiator area are enough, no point going faster.

I have silent wing 3s and after a couple of years they stopped starting up at low rpm. I've had to stick some noctua resistors on them to have them start up and reasonable speeds.