Replacing Noctua Fans

gksdfjghe98 · 15 Jul 2009 at 18:17

I've been looking at my Noctua NH-U12P SE 1366 cooler through the window in my case and although it's doing a fantastic job of keeping my cpu cool, I think the colour scheme is quite frankly hideous. It looks like it was coloured after a pair of war-issue nylon stockings and doesn't really fit in with my case colours (HAF 932 with a Blue GigaByte board (with the blue OC LEDs on inside it)).

I reckon it'd look better with some blue LED fans in there but I'm pretty worried that it's going to dramatically effect the performance of the cooler. The Noctua fans are rated at 1300rpm +/- 10% so do you think that sticking a couple of 2000rpm blue-LED beasts in Push-Pull will have a negative effect on it?

Noise isn't really a problem for me as I've got my 4890s with 45% fan on each half the time and I use headphones, although if it's going to be seriously unbearable it'd be nice if someone would point that out.

I've also considered painting the fans, but it's obviously going to increase the weight of the fan and thus, slow it down, so that's a no-no. So basically my question is:

Will I lose cooling performance by switching the noctua fans with 2000rpm fans?

Once again, thanks in advance

Geekazoid · 15 Jul 2009 at 20:12

lol

why loose performance over looks its silly... but if ur that worried about looks im sure there is a mod other there somewhere where you can remove the blades on a nocturna and respray the casing...

gksdfjghe98 · 15 Jul 2009 at 20:21

Geekazoid said:
why loose performance over looks its silly... but if ur that worried about looks im sure there is a mod other there somewhere where you can remove the blades on a nocturna and respray the casing...

This is why I'm asking.. I'm not prepared to add any temperature to my CPU over cosmetics, but it does look ugly, so I'd be prepared to shell out a few quid to make it look a bit better. Also, if it's 2000rpm and moving a higher CFM, then might it actually improve my temps? Just wondering.

mod1fied · 15 Jul 2009 at 20:33

Spray them blank & blue/red ?

gksdfjghe98 · 15 Jul 2009 at 20:37

mod1fied said:
Spray them blank & blue/red ?

Can't really spray the fans since it'll add weight and slow them down, not to mention it could screw up the airflow if the layer of paint was too thick.. I don't think painting them is such a good idea. If I only painted the casing it'd be black or whatever with a brown fan, which would look ugly as hell. It's just a shame they didn't pick a more neutral colour for it since like I said it performs really well. I saw a thread before with someone using LED fans on a noctua heatsink and it made me rethink it.. I just can't find the thread again now

mod1fied · 15 Jul 2009 at 20:40

gksdfjghe98 said:
Can't really spray the fans since it'll add weight and slow them down, not to mention it could screw up the airflow if the layer of paint was too thick..

Thats a new one on me

gksdfjghe98 · 15 Jul 2009 at 20:57

mod1fied said:
Thats a new one on me

I'm speculating here, but it's common sense.. The fans are made to be lightweight to rotate faster so adding any weight is going to reduce the rpm, I don't know exactly by how much though. The noctua fans are cut on one side of the blade presumably for airflow reasons so if details like that make enough of a difference to warrant manufacturing them that way, then I guess an uneven paint job could throw the balance of the fan into a more turbulent rotation.. Again just speculating.

Geekazoid · 15 Jul 2009 at 21:06

ok

ok then the fans i recommend if you dont like the nocturna ones are the Sharkoon Silent Eagle 2000's (also known as golf ball fans) they very good looking and good performance... OCUK dont sell em but you find them am sure i cant post any competitive site on here...

gksdfjghe98 · 15 Jul 2009 at 21:17

Geekazoid said:
ok then the fans i recommend if you dont like the nocturna ones are the Sharkoon Silent Eagle 2000's (also known as golf ball fans) they very good looking and good performance... OCUK dont sell em but you find them am sure i cant post any competitive site on here...

They look fantastic and move more air than the Noctuas

Cheers! I'll find a couple of these for push pull and see how we go. Much appreciated!

cmndr_andi · 15 Jul 2009 at 21:21

I say remove the fans, and spray the rest of the PC Brown and Red.

Failing that, get a door without a window.

game4it · 16 Jul 2009 at 00:36

gksdfjghe98 said:
They look fantastic and move more air than the Noctuas Cheers! I'll find a couple of these for push pull and see how we go. Much appreciated!

I was thinking of doing the same not for looks just for better temps so can you reply with the before and after temps please when you get the fans?

JonJ678 · 16 Jul 2009 at 00:40

cmndr_andi said:
I say remove the fans, and spray the rest of the PC Brown and Red.

I'm with Andi on this, must be the best answer

oh, and cfm measurements mean sod all for a heat sink, you want a fan with high static pressure. This wont be an led fan

gksdfjghe98 · 16 Jul 2009 at 00:41

JonJ678 said:
I'm with Andi on this, must be the best answer

oh, and cfm measurements mean sod all for a heat sink, you want a fan with high static pressure. This wont be an led fan

Point taken.

game4it said:
I was thinking of doing the same not for looks just for better temps so can you reply with the before and after temps please when you get the fans?

I would be happy to if I could find the damn things.. They do a 120mm Blue LED version but damned if I can find anywhere on the internet that sells them... I've found where I can get the 120mm 2000 version but it's advertised as a "case fan".. What difference does this make to a "system fan" in terms of functionality or am I being overly anal about the nomenclature here? Does this have anything to do with the static pressure that Jon pointed out?

game4it · 16 Jul 2009 at 00:47

gksdfjghe98 said:
Point taken.

I would be happy to if I could find the damn things.. They do a 120mm Blue LED version but damned if I can find anywhere on the internet that sells them... I've found where I can get the 120mm 2000 version but it's advertised as a "case fan".. What difference does this make to a "system fan" in terms of functionality or am I being overly anal about the nomenclature here? Does this have anything to do with the static pressure that Jon pointed out?

Kewl thanks and good luck finding them.
As JonJ said you want a fan with high static pressure which are system/cpu fans as the case fans have lower static pressure so they dont move as much air through the tight fins of a heatsink.

EDIT:
"Does this have anything to do with the static pressure that Jon pointed out?"
Yes it does.

JonJ678 · 16 Jul 2009 at 01:04

A case fan has high airflow at bugger all static pressure
A heatsink/radiator fan has lower airflow at much higher static pressure

A heatsink fan used as a case fan will do ok, but be slightly louder and push less air. A case fan, which all led fans I know of are, is likely to do terribly on a heatsink.

Sem · 16 Jul 2009 at 01:51

Geekazoid said:
why loose performance over looks its silly... but if ur that worried about looks im sure there is a mod other there somewhere where you can remove the blades on a nocturna and respray the casing...

exactly

also am i the only one that thinks the noctua fans look fine?

i even like the look of them very distinctive got 3 for my Tj09 + CPU cooler they do a brilliant job and are quiet

well i guess i cant talk really i avoid gigabyte boards because i think they look like hell even tho they are among the best OCing boards out there

/shrug

Geekazoid · 16 Jul 2009 at 02:02

gksdfjghe98 mate

those Silent Eagles 2000's are EXCELLENT heatsink fans good as Noctua with good high static pressure make sure you get the 2000rpm version....

im sure everyone will agree with me on my suggestion...