Performance / noise 120mm fans

Grimley · 21 Nov 2020 at 09:04

You can buy Artic PWM PST fans in up to packs of 5 if you need lots & they work out cheaper than if you bought them one at a time. I bought a pack of 5 about a month ago with a view to keeping what's left over, in case I get one or two with a short shelf life. Not that I've ever had any bad Artic case fans. The only bad Artic fan I've had was on the freezer 7 pro. It ran at full speed even though it was PWM & point blank refused to do anything else.

ik9000 · 7 Dec 2020 at 12:32

Having now got my hands on several Noctua and Akasa Apache+Vipers I agree the Vipers are noisy above 8V but they are far more powerful at full tilt. I'm going to have a play and see what the airflow and cooling are like at controlled rpm for acceptable noise. Which are the alternatives you recommend? I might add a few more things into this test. If I'm making an air test enclosure I may as well try and test a wider range of fans.

Meddling-Monk · 7 Dec 2020 at 16:51

Supposedly Thermaltake made a clone of the Noctua NF A12x25, and has it in 120mm form and a 140mm form; Their Toughfan series (in stock here at OCUK). Reportedly very close in noise and performance to the Noctua whilst being around £5-10 cheaper, and is not in Noctua colours for those who aren't a fan of that. Then of course, the Arctics P12 and P14, at an even cheaper rate with similarly excellent results.

MrRockliffe · 7 Dec 2020 at 16:54

I'm struggling with fans at the moment.

I've got a liquid freezer 240 II and the included P12s are quite noisy at idle. I swapped them out for ML120 and they're quieter under load but at idle they exhibit a whine that's very tiresome.

Unsure whether I can request new fans from Arctic?

ik9000 · 7 Dec 2020 at 18:35

MrRockliffe said:
I'm struggling with fans at the moment.

I've got a liquid freezer 240 II and the included P12s are quite noisy at idle. I swapped them out for ML120 and they're quieter under load but at idle they exhibit a whine that's very tiresome.

Unsure whether I can request new fans from Arctic?

just to check - is it definitely the fans whining and not the pump? How is the thing mounted in your case? (no airlock etc?)

MrRockliffe · 7 Dec 2020 at 19:32

ik9000 said:
just to check - is it definitely the fans whining and not the pump? How is the thing mounted in your case? (no airlock etc?)

Definitely fans - if I stop them the system is silent

I’ve ensured that I’ve mounted the pump in accordance with GNR video

Ross Thomson · 7 Dec 2020 at 20:21

MrRockliffe said:
I'm struggling with fans at the moment.

I've got a liquid freezer 240 II and the included P12s are quite noisy at idle. I swapped them out for ML120 and they're quieter under load but at idle they exhibit a whine that's very tiresome.

Unsure whether I can request new fans from Arctic?

P12's are pretty quite all the way up to 1000rpm. you must have something either wrong with the fans or they are mounted poorly.

MrRockliffe · 7 Dec 2020 at 21:15

Ross Thomson said:
P12's are pretty quite all the way up to 1000rpm. you must have something either wrong with the fans or they are mounted poorly.

It was the way they were mounted with factory but doesn’t mean they were done right

what should I look out for?

Hakanese · 7 Dec 2020 at 21:31

The p12s have a distinct fan noise around the 900-1000rpm mark, past that it's just air you're hearing and whatever noise it's making through your mesh/rad/etc.
I bought enough for 2 480mm rads for push/pull. I still have my scythe gentle typhoons. There is truth in the arguement you get what you pay for, but the uplift in performance from what is termed a budget fan is small, especially if you're on a budget.
If these arctics last 2 years, they will have paid back the investment I made in them.
If I could have found 8 more Gentle typhoons I may have never found out about the P12s and P14s

Hakanese · 7 Dec 2020 at 21:33

The pwm pst fans are the ones you want, they daisy chain to each other and are Pwm controlled via your motherboard, I have mine idling at 300rpm most of the time on my rads

N00bie · 18 Dec 2020 at 19:51

I just bought these: ARCTIC P12 Slim PWM PST - 120 mm Case Fan. They're not expected to launch till 15th January 2021. Looking to use in a Push-Pull with the EKWB 480 XE. Reckon I've made the right choice?

Hakanese · 18 Dec 2020 at 19:59

Aye, fans are a pita because not all fan makers use the same metrics for the fan performances, but a good static pressure fan, with low noise levels and a good price are always welcome when you realise you need so many for things like watercooling. I just can't bring myself to paying £80 on fans.
I use the normal p12 pwm pst on 2 480mm rads, and I'm well chuffed with the performance, have them never going above 1000rpm. they barely touch 800rpm at top whack

EsaT · 18 Dec 2020 at 20:10

N00bie said:
I just bought these: ARCTIC P12 Slim PWM PST - 120 mm Case Fan. They're not expected to launch till 15th January 2021. Looking to use in a Push-Pull with the EKWB 480 XE. Reckon I've made the right choice?

Slimmer profile of fan always drops pressure capability lot.
That's not a good thing for use with radiator.

N00bie · 18 Dec 2020 at 20:23

EsaT said:
Slimmer profile of fan always drops pressure capability lot.
That's not a good thing for use with radiator.

Their website still states it'll provide 2,20 (mm/H2O) which isn't far from what Noctua shows? I guess if they're awful i'll return.

N00bie · 18 Dec 2020 at 20:24

Hakanese said:
Aye, fans are a pita because not all fan makers use the same metrics for the fan performances, but a good static pressure fan, with low noise levels and a good price are always welcome when you realise you need so many for things like watercooling. I just can't bring myself to paying £80 on fans.
I use the normal p12 pwm pst on 2 480mm rads, and I'm well chuffed with the performance, have them never going above 1000rpm. they barely touch 800rpm at top whack

I bought 16 fans cost me 160 quid ouch lol. What radiators did you use?

EsaT · 18 Dec 2020 at 20:25

N00bie said:
Their website still states it'll provide 2,20 (mm/H2O) which isn't far from what Noctua shows? I guess if they're awful i'll return.

Arctic's website doesn't list slim version.

N00bie · 18 Dec 2020 at 20:37

EsaT said:
Arctic's website doesn't list slim version.

I am thinking it's a typo on the e-tailer....when I click the link on that site it takes me back to the Arctic site and yes it doesn't state slim....

Hakanese · 18 Dec 2020 at 20:45

#

N00bie said:
I bought 16 fans cost me 160 quid ouch lol. What radiators did you use?

I have 2 ultra slim xspc 480's and a 480 Alphacool Monsta from a previous build, I'm tempted to take the 2 xspcs, and just use the Monsta, but in push pull the thing is almost 15cm thick, and it would be a ballache to fit that in the enthoo 719 I have and have it not the gpu and make the entire front of the case a black block, toying with the idea of mounting it externally when I finally get a waterblock for my 3090
Edit: I bought them when the price on the 5 fan pack was about £25. Component costs are mental now

N00bie · 18 Dec 2020 at 21:26

Hakanese said:
#

I have 2 ultra slim xspc 480's and a 480 Alphacool Monsta from a previous build, I'm tempted to take the 2 xspcs, and just use the Monsta, but in push pull the thing is almost 15cm thick, and it would be a ballache to fit that in the enthoo 719 I have and have it not the gpu and make the entire front of the case a black block, toying with the idea of mounting it externally when I finally get a waterblock for my 3090
Edit: I bought them when the price on the 5 fan pack was about £25. Component costs are mental now

Oh yea the Enthoo 719 is quite a beast, but even that many Radiators is enough to make it struggle. I saw that the Level 20 XT can handle two 480mm roof top radiators of a thick nature, that is why I went for that. And at 184 quid it wasn't too shabby.

pp111 · 23 Dec 2020 at 08:48

MrRockliffe said:
I'm struggling with fans at the moment.

I've got a liquid freezer 240 II and the included P12s are quite noisy at idle. I swapped them out for ML120 and they're quieter under load but at idle they exhibit a whine that's very tiresome.

Unsure whether I can request new fans from Arctic?

Are you using them in push or pull mode? Most fans make a lot more noise when they are in pull mode ~ when there is something close to the blades on the pull side of the fan. Most fans are designed to work in push mode so they are much quieter when used in that mode. If you reverse the fans on the 240 II so they are pulling through the radiator they are a lot noisier than when they are pushing through the radiator ( bearing in mind this will also be affected by any filters that may be close to the blades too ). With the ML fans the ML PRO are better than the normal ML ( slightly deceptive of Corsair ).