Which case fan?

humbug · 31 Oct 2014 at 02:28

I'm looking for the best ~£20 200mm intake fan to replace the Cooler Master 200mm MEGA in my Cooler Master HAF 912

The ones which cough my eye are;

NZXT FZ-200 Airflow

BitFenix Spectre PRO 200mm

But i'm unsure which is best, and i'm not even sure they are better than the fan that already in the case.

Reasons are, the NZXT FZ-200 is listed as having "Air flow volume: 174 m³ / h" while the BitFenix is listed with "Air Flow (CFM): 148.72 CFM"

On the face of it the NZXT is better as it has the highest number, but are they just playing the numbers game? two different measurements here "m³ / h" and "CFM"

Can anyone tell me which is actually better?

The only other difference between those two is one is 700 RPM and the other is 900 RPM, i'm leaning toward the later one.

The "Cooler Master 200mm MEGA Flow" is listed on the CM website as having 110 CFM so i'm assuming both? are better.

Thanks

MorleySA · 31 Oct 2014 at 07:52

Are noise levels a concern too? if they aren't then i'd suggest going for the BitFenix Spectre, it has higher airflow and a higher static pressure than all the other fans.

humbug · 31 Oct 2014 at 10:52

MorleySA said:
Are noise levels a concern too? if they aren't then i'd suggest going for the BitFenix Spectre, it has higher airflow and a higher static pressure than all the other fans.

Its not too much of a concern, more often than not i game with headphones.

for when i'm not i can set a quiet profile in the Asus BIOS.

Thanks.

topgun06 · 31 Oct 2014 at 10:55

Based on manufacturer claims converting cubic meter/hr to cubic foot/min:
CoolerMaster: 108 cfm
NZXT: 102 cfm
BitFenix: 148 cfm

humbug · 31 Oct 2014 at 10:59

I think the BitFenix it is.

topgun06 · 31 Oct 2014 at 11:03

Yep if you're not concerned about noise. The BitFenix spins faster so produces more noise and more airflow. You always have the option to stick it on a fan controller.

humbug · 1 Nov 2014 at 14:23

Ok, Fan arrived from OcUK this morning with a packet of Haribo (fantastic service as always)

For anyone thinking about swapping out their intake fan for something better in their Cooler Master case (in this case HAF 912+) its not as straight forward as it should be.

First the front grill, it has plastic protrusions on the inside of it whose only purpose as far as i can tell is to stop any fan that isn't shaped like a Cooler Master fan from fitting.

However, if you aren't fussed about a few missing useless plastic lumps from the inside of the front grill then a pair of pliers taken to them will sort that problem out!

Second, if like me you would like to move the original 200mm fan to the top of the case then make sure you have room if you also have a 120mm CPU Rad at the back.

Now, don't make any assumptions, what i have is a Cooler Master Case, the Cooler Master fan i want to move, a Cooler Master 120mm CPU Rad at the back with a 120mm Cooler Master Fan attached to it, should all go well right?
No, not quite, despite all these components being siblings they don't quite fit well together, there isn't really enough room between the Rad Fan and where the 200mm Fan hangs, the 200mm fan will go into that space, but you have to wrestle it in and once in it will be somewhat tightly wedged.

Anywho... the BitFenix is a good fan, its not quiet at full RPM, but its far from 'loud' and it does move a lot more air than the "Mega Flow" fan it replaced.

I ran some GPU temp test before and after.

powercolor pcs+ r9 290 @ 1102/1375 (daily clocks)

before: 68c
after: 66c

so 2c, doesn't seem like a lot, but to be honest this card runs so cool i wasn't actually expecting any difference, this exercise was more about moving more air in and out to give my cpu vrms a bit more air to breath, which as also worked, they have gone from 74c stressed to 70c.

before.

After.