Performance / noise 120mm fans
- Thread starter slipd
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Associate
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loudness isn't the only factor with sound - the noctua are by your tests quieter on the dba scale but the sound they produce isn't to my liking.
Soldato
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Ive had a lot of fans over the years and IMHO i cant find better than the Arctics for the price, sure the Noctua's are slightly better regarding noise but i cant justify the price difference. My system has P14's (and P12's fitted to my gfx), seriously quiet and even at full chat the hum is nice.
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Sorry I didn't see your reply. Lots of places not in stock. I had to pre-order and wait a few weeks.
Only a few places do pre-orders for out of stock items, so that should help.
I think i found somewhere need juat chexk the bank balance first lol
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They're only £5 or so each!
New born baby and missus on maternity leave Satutory rate so working all hours to help and survive
I've found the akasa Apache 120mm fans to be very good combo of low noise and good air flow + static pressure. They're pwm but you can run them as a case fan. I have one running in this configuration and it is fine. I also have a pair as cpu fans in my old machine where they work admirably
I've got a case of the apache viper blacks which I've found to be great but I'm still tempted by the arctics :/ being able to daisy chain them and drop to a lower RPM, as well as the promise of noctua like performance for cheaps has me tempted.
It's hard to tell from spec sheets though, comparative performance and noise.
Soldato
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Spec sheets are only a guideline. It depends far more on what your case is like and your subjective perspective on noise.
The only way is to try some out and see how you get on.
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this one is good as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnBo9bTRsxk albeit slightly bad science in the 2nd chart though as it's not giving the full picture to talk solely about rpm. Just because something spins faster doesn't mean it can shift more air. Fans have a threshold above which spinning them faster actually achieves nothing more by way of cooling. It's why you need to look at static air pressure as well as rate of air flow. Something with a high cfm but low mm H20 can in theory shift some air, but doesn't have the oomph to really force that air flow against much resistance so it can actually be a bit pants when run through a large cooler with lots of fins or filtered fan ducts etc. Just because it spins at high rpm doesn't necessarily achieve better results. It it doesn't have the force to overcome the resistance it won't make a difference. It's why I look for a fan with a good CFM and good mm H20, as well as low noise. On that Venn diagram I find the Akasa Apache does well - better than the noctua.
Thanks for that. Interesting and convinced me to dive on some P12's. 7 for 40 quid makes it an easy enough choice.
Associate
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How did you get on with the P12s?
Can't find them anywhere at the moment so wondering if I should wait or pull the triiger on something else.
Funnily enough, they've been on order since that post. Today was the updated dispatch day but haven't heard anything. I won't be putting them in straight away anyway so I'm happy to wait at the moment but unfortunately that doesn't help you much :/ I'll report back when I do though.
~edit~
They've been dispatched!
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Know its a bit late but they have been installed and they have blown away my expectations of them coming from the Viper Blacks. Great cooling and much quieter even when sitting at 1100-1300 RPM compared to the Vipers at 700RPM. Wonderful fans. Daisy Chain is very helpful as well
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Ended up getting some myself and was equally impressed. Some mentions of reliability out there but for the price, you can replace a few of these for the equivalent Noctua for similar performance
Haven't seen much myself but given they offer 10 year warranty on them over noctua's 6. I'd risk it, even if they did creep up in price.
Absolute bargain though. price of the fan would probably be the cost of RMA shipping so you might as well buy a new one anyway.