Best high-performance low-noise fan.

[Addikt]

I did a quick forum search, and I'm surprised that there is no sticky with someone looking at all the specs of these. But, as the title suggests, what are the best fans out there?

Also, what would be your top pick for best price to performance?

 

[Lightflash]

What are these fans going to be used for? Best fans are usually different depending on what you plan you use them for and orientation.

 

[Addikt]

Sorry, I'm looking for just regular case fans. I want something that pushes a lot of air, but the noise is the most important factor. As quiet as possible.

 

[JBDan]

Noise is perceived differently by everyone. If your looking for "almost silent" than most 120mm fans run @ 900RPM or lower can achieve this. If your looking for what I consider "quiet" than ~1000-1400RPM fans by Scythe, Nexus, Noctua are my favorites. I've used SpeedFan to control "noise" since I built my 1st PC in 2004.

Your looking for 120mm I assume? How is your case airflow and what components are inside?

 

[Addikt]

The only issue with airflow is that I have 4 hard drives staggered in a 7 drive bay. But I imagine as long as the air is leaving my case, it's OK. Any time I put my hand at the back of my case it's always blowing cool air. The computer gets hot, but only when the video card is under constant load when gaming. Aside from that it's just too noisy and all the fans are doing is pushing cool air from the case.

I'm trying to minimize the amount of noise and keep the computer relatively cool. The computer specs are old.

I have an Intel Core 2 Duo E6600, and nVidia GeForce 250 GTS DK, 3x1TB WD Caviar Black and 1 Intel X-25M 160 GB SSD.

 

[JBDan]

The only issue with airflow is that I have 4 hard drives staggered in a 7 drive bay. But I imagine as long as the air is leaving my case, it's OK. Any time I put my hand at the back of my case it's always blowing cool air. The computer gets hot, but only when the video card is under constant load when gaming. Aside from that it's just too noisy and all the fans are doing is pushing cool air from the case.

I'm trying to minimize the amount of noise and keep the computer relatively cool. The computer specs are old.

I have an Intel Core 2 Duo E6600, and nVidia GeForce 250 GTS DK, 3x1TB WD Caviar Black and 1 Intel X-25M 160 GB SSD.

I see and your case and case fans presently? Also your temps that your seeing now? Srry didn't ask for that earlier.

 

[Addikt]

I have a Thermaltake Element S, so there is tons of room. I have stock fans, 1 120 in the back, 1 in the front and a 240 on top.

Case temps, not really sure. I don't have anything to monitor ambient temps, but CPU temps are usually around 45c per core.

 

[Alexandr0s]

If you want a casefan that pushes a lot of air but is quiet at the same time, I'd consider the Scythe Slipstreams. If you undervolt them, they're extremely quiet, so they're definitely worth considering. Other good fans are Noctuas, and if you're willing to pay a bit more, most Noiseblockers make great casefans as well .

 

[JBDan]

I concur with Alexandro the SlipStreams are great fans

So you have this case (here also) with 1 120 up front intake, and 2 exhaust one on the rear @ 140mm and a top one @ 23cm. Is your CPU HSF blowing out the rear?

Firstly I would say to think about a fan controller as this would probably be the most economical. You could then control each fan as I'm thinking they are running at full speed all the time. (ie connected with 4-pin molex to your PSU right?)

If you have $ burning a hole in your pocket you could order some fans and start tinkering around with different setups. Only thing is the top fan is probably not user replaceable unless you get the exact same kind.

With your hardware I would think 2 front 120mm low speed (1000RPM or less) intakes cooling your HD's, then the 140mm rear exhaust and the top 23cm exhaust controlled with a fan controller you could tame the noise well. Unless ambient temps are horrendous I can't see you ever having cooling issues as that case is packed with airflow imo.

 

[Addikt]

Yes, that's the case that I have, except that I turned the HDD chassis so that it's pointing forward for better airflow. Also, I removed the panel that separates the PSU from the rest of the case as I felt it was un-needed. The PSU pulls cool air from the bottom of the case and vents it out the back. I have the stock fans installed, without the 2x80mm that are optional. Also, I only have 1 120 on the front, and 1 140 in the back with the 230 on the top.

My issue is that it's really loud because all the fans are running at full speed. The majority of them are molex connectors, so they run at full speed and as far as I'm aware aren't compatible with a fan controller. That said, a fan controller is the option that I have been looking into, but none of them support molex fans. It looks like I'll have to just buy new fans anyway.

 

[JBDan]

Yes, that's the case that I have, except that I turned the HDD chassis so that it's pointing forward for better airflow. Also, I removed the panel that separates the PSU from the rest of the case as I felt it was un-needed. The PSU pulls cool air from the bottom of the case and vents it out the back. I have the stock fans installed, without the 2x80mm that are optional. Also, I only have 1 120 on the front, and 1 140 in the back with the 230 on the top.

My issue is that it's really loud because all the fans are running at full speed. The majority of them are molex connectors, so they run at full speed and as far as I'm aware aren't compatible with a fan controller. That said, a fan controller is the option that I have been looking into, but none of them support molex fans. It looks like I'll have to just buy new fans anyway.

Why can't you just use 4-pin molex to 3-pin fan adapters? Like these

then get you a reliable sunbeam fan controller

 

[Addikt]

I could do that, but my main concern is that the fans that I have right now aren't really good. I like the case design and I've been toying with taking the 230mm fan out entirely. It's relatively quiet, but it moves almost no air. Then again with a decent fan controller I could just have it a very slow speed I imagine.

The thing that I find odd is all these fans are rated at certain speeds, but you should be able to set them to almost any RPM less than the maximum rated if you wished, could you not? I mean, it would simply be a variable resistor restricting voltage, no?

 

[Blain]

You can volt the fans down to 7v or 5v without a rheostat.
Some fans won't spinup at 5v but will spin once they are turned.

 

[joelmartinez]

case fans the noctua 120mm is a good fan but a bit expensive, go for rheosmart 6 for fan controller.

 

[Soccerman06]

Scythe Gentle Typhoon, from what I hear they are the best. Ive never had one so I dont know for sure, but they seem to get very high praises.

 

[dkm777]

Hate to sound like a Scythe shill, but I second the Gentle Typhoon. I have 2x1150RPM for intake and a 1850RPM exhaust all controlled by my mobo's BIOS (normally the intakes hover around 600RPM and the exhaust at 1000RPM). Under normal use this is the quietest computer I ever used including a last-gen 15" MBP and a GMA950 Mac Mini (under full tilt, however, it does sound like a typhoon :awe. Even running at lower RPMs the GTs provide enough cooling capacity for my Q9650@3.6GHz temps not to go over 50 deg. C when folding. Also all three combined are quieter than a Slipstream PWM@1600RPM* on my Yasya CPU cooler. Probably my best cooling related purchase in years.

* BTW, can somebody recommend a lightweight 120mm fan for a CPU cooler? The Slipstream is too loud for its performance and I want to replace it. Thinking of Noctua NF-P12, since a GT weighs a lot and it doesn't really fit into the notches on the cooling fins meant to stabilize the fan.

 

[Interitus]

For case fans I recommend Yate Loons. Low speed ones should suit you well and they move good air for such slow fans. They're also available in 120 and 140mm size, unlike Gentle Typhoons which don't come in 140mm.

Also note that while GT's are good fans, they're designed to excel at pushing air through stuff. For case fans I stick to the Yates and leave my GT's for heatsinks, radiators and massive clumps of drives.

* BTW, can somebody recommend a lightweight 120mm fan for a CPU cooler? The Slipstream is too loud for its performance and I want to replace it. Thinking of Noctua NF-P12, since a GT weighs a lot and it doesn't really fit into the notches on the cooling fins meant to stabilize the fan.

I use Yates on a lot of heatsinks too. Just keep in mind they have closed corners. They're super cheap so if needed, order two and use one to practice your dremel skills

 

[Rekonn]

Have you come across silentpcreview yet? Great site if you really want to get a quiet setup. I'm currently using 4 120mm PWM fans, low rpm at idle, and automatic spin up under load.

 

[birthdaymonkey]

* BTW, can somebody recommend a lightweight 120mm fan for a CPU cooler? The Slipstream is too loud for its performance and I want to replace it. Thinking of Noctua NF-P12, since a GT weighs a lot and it doesn't really fit into the notches on the cooling fins meant to stabilize the fan.

I recently replaced the two GT1850s on my Hyper 212+ with two NF-P12s (one of my GTs had a bearing rattle noise) and was astonished to find that at 12v (max RPMs), the Noctuas actually worked better than the GTs (load temp under Intel Burn Test was 2-3 degrees better) despite their lower speed (1350 vs. 1850). I've only run the test once, so it could have just been cooler ambient temps in my apt that day, but still... the NF-P12 seems like an excellent heatsink fan.

 

[mb103051]

guy a fan controller is one of the best mods ive made to my computer..i have the this sunbeam one http://www.svc.com/rhk-ex-ba.html..
i can control all my fans anytime i want..its so nice while gaming or just surfing the net..
i can go from silent to screaming...always having the cooling i want...
the gentle typhoons are so quiet even at full speed and push alot of air....the fan controller is like 30 bucks and ive had it for 2 years...never had any problem with it or with temps....

 

[dkm777]

I recently replaced the two GT1850s on my Hyper 212+ with two NF-P12s (one of my GTs had a bearing rattle noise) and was astonished to find that at 12v (max RPMs), the Noctuas actually worked better than the GTs (load temp under Intel Burn Test was 2-3 degrees better) despite their lower speed (1350 vs. 1850). I've only run the test once, so it could have just been cooler ambient temps in my apt that day, but still... the NF-P12 seems like an excellent heatsink fan.

Looks like the Noctua is a real winner then.

 

[deimos3428]

The P12 is a great fan, and for performance it would be one the ones I'd recommend. However, you also asked about price/performance, and Noctua is just too expensive to win any bang-for-buck crowns. If cost is a factor look at GTs, AC F12s or Yate Loons.

 

[ViviTheMage]

I love the Scythe series ... SFF21D, or SFF21E...I put them in all of my cases, rather high static for my rads, and great general case fans.

sweet, found the best/largest latest round up review :

http://www.overclock.net/air-cooling/969907-roundup-large-fans-roundup-2010-2011-a.html

The actual site is in german, but very reliable...otherwise another :

http://www.madshrimps.be/articles/article/936/#axzz1KjgNikPj

 

[dkm777]

I remembered something - Be Quiet Silent Wings. They claim massive static pressure and quietness. Are these available in the States?

 

[joelmartinez]

Scythe Gentle Typhoon, from what I hear they are the best. Ive never had one so I dont know for sure, but they seem to get very high praises.

great for rads but not perfect for case fans, expensive and don't push a huge amount of air (low CFM)