120mm fans...

[ShyguyXPC]

wanting to know, what some of you think are some of the best 120mm fans on the market, for cooling, yet also the quietest (looking for a couple really good ones, average CFM, but as quiet as can be with out sacrificing performance)

preferably slimmer profile if possible, but standard size is fine, no 38mm ones though, too damn big & bulky.

reason I'm asking, is soon I'll be doing my CPU upgrade, & last year on a sale from newegg I picked up a Coolermaster Gemini II CPU cooler for when I jump to Quad core.

last night I ordered the upgrade side panel for my Thermaltake Armor case (the panel with the 250mm fan on it), I intended on using just the bare heatsink as a passive cooler with the case fan blowing over it. but just incase that isn't enough (since the case fan is 250mm wide, 67CFM max, & thats distributed over a larger area), I wanted to order a couple of really quiet, yet good performing 120mm fans to put on the cooler, hopefully I won't have to, but you never know. (initially no OCing will be done).

I've found a couple, but not sure whether they are as good as stated, one was one of the newer Noctua fans, there were some of the older Sharkoon golf ball style ones, & then there are some of the Thermaltake designs, (one is the 130mm.... ah hell, I'll just link them here, can't remember half of these fans names... LOL)


Thermaltake:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811999144

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...ducts_id=21583


Noctua:

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...ducts_id=21243

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...ducts_id=21136


Sharkoon:

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...ducts_id=20897





(the only "thicker" style ones I'll consider, & also on my top choices...)

Arctic Cooling:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835186018

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835186008

I've used a couple of Arctic Coolings CPU & GPU coolers in past & have been very satisfied with them, but never ones of this size.


but, these are some of the fans I've been looking at.

anyone have any experience with these, on their sound levels & how they perform for CPU cooling?

I've heard some good things on the SilenX fans over the years, but lately some of the reviews I've been reading of individual users, has made me wonder how good they are, so I left those out of the list, but pretty sure I wouldn't want them if its true the die out or become unbalanced after a relatively short period of use?

[KarmaKiller]

SilenX are pretty good fans. My only problem with high CFM, Low DB fans is they are like $15 for GOOD ones.
I always hear about Panflows. I've never used any, but everyone says they move a ****load of air, and you can't hardly hear them.
Also, a choice of H2O coolers is Yate Loons. I also hear they are very good. I've used one 120mmx25mm fan in a build once. It was very quiet.
But in my experience, it's come down to this, Would you rather have a high CFM fan, or a low DB fan. Because really, there is no such thing as both. If you want alot of air movement, your gonna have to listen to it. If you want no noise, you'll have to sacrifice some air movement..

[ShyguyXPC]

well I don't care about really high CFM, but more about low Db, but if it can move an average amount of air for a 120mm, & still be low enough, thats what I'm looking for, but not ruling out lower air flow ones either, as there would be 2 of these fans on that cooler, plus what air the case panel would be taking in. basically the 2x 120mm fans would be more or less, just directing the airflow over the heatsink in a way.

I already have 2 stock 120mm Thermaltakes for intake & exhaust, 2x 92mm rear & top exhaust, plus the current 8800GTS 320MB that exhausts out the rear, not including the PSU also. intake into case would/should be more than enough, & hoping using the heatsink in a Passive state should be enough. but if it isn't, then would like something that could more or less direct the intake air directly down through the fins & dissipate the heat better, as I'm not sure how much turbulance the intake in front with the one from side would create. (either way, I'll also be removing the tiny little chipset fan that was an extra add on when I bought the board, going with passive on chipset, and eliminating some additional noise.)

also plan on replacing the one top 92mm as it every so often makes noises when the case is bumped, like its rubbing/grinding against something, usually a few good bumps or hits on top of case where its located, fixes things, but its a real PITA when it suddenly starts getting noisy, that one, I'm thinking of installing a 92mm Arctic Cooling one on though. may try & make some sort of screen mesh for it before hand, keep wires & what not from straying into blades, but still not sure on that.

but yeah, even a good lower CFM one would be nice, as I mentioned there'd be 2 of those on that heatsink. as to the pricing, I'm actually willing to pay $15-20 for a fan, I have some extra bucks to play with right now so not too worried about that.

[KarmaKiller]

Hmm... I'm guessing you got a big GeminII sitting in your case??
Well, if you want the quiet fans, then I'd really suggest a lower RPM Yate Loon. Those are running at 28dba's/47CFM($6.95). Another option would be the (yet again) overpriced Panflo's. Those are running 30dba's/68.9CFM ($14.99)
The only other one I might consider would be the Silenx. I've read pretty good things on those fans lately. Those are running 14dba's/72CFM ($22.95)

Those would be my suggestions..

[ShyguyXPC]

ok, cool (pun intended )

originally I had planned on the SilenX ones, but in recent months I've been reading some reviews on newegg & a couple other places, people having trouble with the fans becoming unbalanced prematurely & getting loud with in time periods of like 3 months or less of usage...

but I guess I'll give them a try while I still have a few bucks LOL

as to the Gemini II I mentioned in my 1st post, I grabbed it while on sale at Newegg last year, for pretty cheap, figured it'd be good for my eventual quad core upgrade, but its still sitting in the box, not installed yet, I have an additional RAM upgrade to do before I install that thing, since it'll be so hard to get at that stuff afterwards.

but yeah, that thing is massive

[vknid]

Shyguy, did you ever buy the SilenX fans? how are they working for you?

I read a few reviews on them and personally I'm turned off by people saying the fans tend to spew fluid.. enough to give everything inside a nice greasy coat

[JPMiller]

I can vouch for these...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811999144
great airflow vs. noise
Air Flow 54.4 CFM
Noise Level 16 dBA

We use these at work in machines that run 24/7

[KarmaKiller]

I've had good luck with Silentx fans.
But IMO, the Yate Loon 120mm fans I got are better.
More air with less noise, at a reasonable cost that is..
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/61...?tl=g36c15s521

[JPMiller]

Generally clear fans rarely work as well as other plastics
Max Air Flow: 70.5 CFM
Sound Level: 33 dB
it has good airflow, but pretty high decibels

[ShyguyXPC]

Originally Posted by vknid

Shyguy, did you ever buy the SilenX fans? how are they working for you?

I read a few reviews on them and personally I'm turned off by people saying the fans tend to spew fluid.. enough to give everything inside a nice greasy coat

No, not yet, have yet to still buy a quad core, but will soon, most of my income tax return will be used for down payment for a newer car (current one is not worth the amount it will cost to repair, just easier to get a newer car), but part of the stimulus rebate or whatever its called will be used for new CPU (probably go for a Q6600 to save a few bucks, still a nice upgrade from my current E6400), remaining amount possibly used to get a cheap Pentium M or AMD Turion X2 laptop. next weeks paycheck though I'm buying at least one fan.

Originally Posted by JPMiller

I can vouch for these...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811999144
great airflow vs. noise
Air Flow 54.4 CFM
Noise Level 16 dBA

We use these at work in machines that run 24/7

those were the ones I was thinking of getting, I know one of them will at least fit on the CPU heatsink, I'm hoping 2 would fit as well, Coolermaster GeminII.