What Is The Best 120MM Case Fan?

TheNameIsJambo

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Hi guys,

Some good upgrade news, I just bought a Corsair Graphite 600TM (The one with the mesh side) from the AVF Classifieds. I'm just awaiting for it to be dispatched :)

Although, now that I have a new case, I have a new problem. It has 4 empty slots for 120mm case fans, and I'm looking for some (superb) fans to keep my ASUS HD6950 DirectCU II and 2600K (4.7GHz w/ AC Freezer 13) nice and cool(er than usual).

I've got a few fans in mind [in order of ascending price]:

  1. Pudsey Computers Online - Arctic Cooling F12 - 120 mm 1350RPM - £2.49 *4 = £9.96 + £2.99 P&P = £12.95
  2. OcUK - Akasa Apache 120mm 1350RPM -£9.98*4 = £39.94 + 3.26PP = £43.20
  3. OcUK - Scythe Gentle Typhoon 120mm 1850 RPM - £12.98*4 = £51.94 + £4.98 P&P = £56.92

From experience, Arctic Cooling always provide a great cooling solution, and I'm overly tempted to go for these 4 at the very minimalistic price [Thank you Tris for my bargain hunting skills!]. I have their Freezer 13 HSF and have used several AC HSFs over the years; including VGA cooling solutions. And they always have low prices, coupled with low noise and extremely good performance. This 'Pudsey' place, surprisingly, reflects the USA Prices, which results in it being about $6. Whereas every other retailer in the UK charges about £5 for one of these fans - Which I think is pretty damn good.

Any other suggestions & ideas?

Or should I just stick to my laurels and go with the Arctic Cooling fans, since I've been using their coolers for years? :) [The price doesn't exactly matter, I've got about £100 to play with for the fans, but I'd prefer not to spend £100 on something to blow around luke-warm air!]

Btw, I'm not too fussed about LED fans, they'd be nice, but I'd prefer practicality over aesthetics :D

Cheers,
Jamie.
 
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Noctua if you can stomach the price and colour but I am next week going to go for some Noiseblockers.
 
I don't think they have any LED versions. PL1's are <1000RPM, while PL2 are <2000RPM.

Mine definitely do not - check my link above I have plenty of pics added.

Ash mentions the Noctua's above - they are also excellent, and I had the NF-S12B's in my P180 Antec case - again my build threads had loads of pics. My mate now has my case and these fans, and keeps mentioning to me about how quiet it is.

Noctua NF-S12B FLX Ultra Quiet Flexible (Veri-Speed) 120mm Cooling Fan - NF-S12B-FLX - Scan.co.uk
 
While we are on the subject could anyone recommend a beastly heatsink fan? I currently have a Noctua PF12 on my Venomous X and was seeing max core temps of 82 @ 4.0Ghz yesterday.
 
While we are on the subject could anyone recommend a beastly heatsink fan? I currently have a Noctua PF12 on my Venomous X and was seeing max core temps of 82 @ 4.0Ghz yesterday.

I've just replaced a Corsair A50 with an Antec Kuhler 620. Now idle at around 26 from 30 and when i fully loaded it in prime it was sticking around 50 from 60(i5 2500K).

Easy install and a stop up from air to water cooling without the hassles. :thumbsup:

Because of that upgrade i can now use my 4 slots of RAM as previous air cooler covered then end slot. So stuck another 8gb in to give me 16gb.

Some pics

01a1f101.jpg


7dcff7ef.jpg


0e28a463.jpg
 
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I have a120mm Noctua in the front of this case currently, very good fan.
I've got 2x140mm & 1x120mm blue led's so I'd like to get the quietest possible.
Not too worried about price as I got the case for a daft price.
 
Well these threads are often the catalyst for change and improvement. I opened up my case just now to check how many fan headers I had free and noticed my rear exhaust was on backwards!!!! I have never changed the config nor thought to check it! While I had the case open I have put on another 120mm coolermaster fan so my venomous x now has a push pull combo and the boon of the exhaust fan actually exhausting :laugh: I'm about to run prime and watch an episode of Fringe. I'm expecting to see some decent reductions in max temps :thumbsup:

EDIT: FWIW I'm already idling 7C cooler!!
 
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put one of theses Shrouds on it TFC - The Feser Company or cut out an old fan and use that , the depth around 31mm is the sweet spot for them , your fan noise will drop and temps in some cases and with better flow your temps drop faster.

push pull would be even better with shrouds as well :)


have a read here Radiator Fan Orientation and TFC Shroud Testing & Review

ideal in your case while your using the cooler as an exhaust as well.




I've just replaced a Corsair A50 with an Antec Kuhler 620. Now idle at around 26 from 30 and when i fully loaded it in prime it was sticking around 50 from 60(i5 2500K).

Easy install and a stop up from air to water cooling without the hassles. :thumbsup:

Because of that upgrade i can now use my 4 slots of RAM as previous air cooler covered then end slot. So stuck another 8gb in to give me 16gb.

Some pics

image


image


image
 
Well these threads are often the catalyst for change and improvement. I opened up my case just now to check how many fan headers I had free and noticed my rear exhaust was on backwards!!!! I have never changed the config nor thought to check it! While I had the case open I have put on another 120mm coolermaster fan so my venomous x now has a push pull combo and the boon of the exhaust fan actually exhausting :laugh: I'm about to run prime and watch an episode of Fringe. I'm expecting to see some decent reductions in max temps :thumbsup:

EDIT: FWIW I'm already idling 7C cooler!!
It just goes to show how much a decent airflow can help your temps Steve :smashin:
 
I've just replaced a Corsair A50 with an Antec Kuhler 620. Now idle at around 26 from 30 and when i fully loaded it in prime it was sticking around 50 from 60(i5 2500K).

Easy install and a stop up from air to water cooling without the hassles. :thumbsup:

Because of that upgrade i can now use my 4 slots of RAM as previous air cooler covered then end slot. So stuck another 8gb in to give me 16gb.

Some pics

image


image


image

Hey, did you cut out a 120MM slot on the bottom of your case? :)

I was a little disappointed that the case had no under-floor cooling (so to speak), so I might endeavour into cutting out some metal myself!
 
Hey, did you cut out a 120MM slot on the bottom of your case? :)

I was a little disappointed that the case had no under-floor cooling (so to speak), so I might endeavour into cutting out some metal myself!

No thats already in the case mate. :thumbsup:

Fractal Design R2 or 3 cant remember which it is. Really good case.
 
Chalky, what's your fan setup on your R2/R3? I'm thinking of putting a fan on the side blowing the hot air out from the graphics card, and maybe one on the top or bottom but not sure the best way of setting that one up.
 
Best 120mm fan you can buy is the Thermalright TY-140, which is actually a 140mm fan that should fit into most 120mm mountings. However, you need to check around the mounting to make sure it fits as it won't fit all 120mm mountings if there's no enough clearance around the edges.

Product | Thermalright Ultimate CPU Cooling Solutions! USA

Much better than the Noctua fans now

As you can easily notice, Thermalright TY-140 fan is way quieter than Noctua NF-P14 FLX. And the difference is so significant that at the level of acoustic comfort when both fans produce the same amount of noise the difference in rotation speed reaches 200 RPM in favor of the Thermalright solution. From the subjective prospective I would also like to point out not the low level of noise from TY-140 that much, but the pleasant sound it makes: it doesn’t rattle, crackle or whistle. There are no acoustic parasitic additions of any kind. At up to 800-850 RPM we can only hear the sound of flowing air creates by the fan blades. In other words, while Thermalright Silver Arrow didn’t really outperform Noctua NH-D14 that much in cooling efficiency, but when it came to acoustics, Silver Arrow was indisputably on top.

Two Against One, Part 2: Thermalright Silver Arrow vs. Noctua NH-D14. Page 5 - X-bit labs
 
Chalky, what's your fan setup on your R2/R3? I'm thinking of putting a fan on the side blowing the hot air out from the graphics card, and maybe one on the top or bottom but not sure the best way of setting that one up.

One pulling air over the HD's at the front and one exhaust attached to the radiator for the cpu. Thats it. :smashin:

PC is now idling at 28 degrees but the heating just come on so i imagine that will go up slightly.
 
for 8 quid there are bargain on par with the NF-P14 FLX's as well and there £18.




Best 120mm fan you can buy is the Thermalright TY-140, which is actually a 140mm fan that should fit into most 120mm mountings. However, you need to check around the mounting to make sure it fits as it won't fit all 120mm mountings if there's no enough clearance around the edges.

Product | Thermalright Ultimate CPU Cooling Solutions! USA

Much better than the Noctua fans now



Two Against One, Part 2: Thermalright Silver Arrow vs. Noctua NH-D14. Page 5 - X-bit labs
 

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