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Why Are Fractal Fans So Rubbish? RANT

This is something that the Fractal fanboys will roast me for it, but I need to say this.

So in my quest to find the balance between good temps and low noise in my Fractal Design R6 case, I realized that I never did one test to actually determine the correct settings.

So last week I decided to set the case fans at 100% all the time to see just what difference that would make on the temps for the CPU, VRM and GPU. Because before that what I did was set the fans to run all the time at the lowest rpm that they would run at and through the bios set a fan curve so they can ramp up when temps get too high. I was trying to find the balance between noise and temps. That's why I even bought this case because I wanted silence. I even bought an a completely unnecessary overpowered power supply just to make sure I have silence so the fan won't turn on at idle.

Anyway the fans that come with the case are the Dyncamics X2-GP14. So I decided to set the fans at 100% because I realized I never tested what would the best temps be if the fans of the case run at 100%. So I did and what I discovered blow me away pun intended.

 

It made basically no difference at all. I saw a 2 degree difference, that's it. So I opened the panel and decided to put my hand behind the fan to see how much air they push. I felt nothing. They are completely pointless. The fans were running at 1000rpm and they might've been turned off and it would've been the same. It would've been better if I took them off and stuck my head in the front of the case and blow that would actually lower the temps. Not even blowing is required, just a breathing. Even the act of breathing would push more air than those fans.

I know very well Fractal fans are going to attack me, I don't care so far I've had too many issues with my purchase and it pissed me off. I was a fan of this company, but not anymore. The more time I spent with my R6, the more I find things about it that are crap. I've spent 170$ with tax on it and regret every single dollar.

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16 minutes ago, TheNamelessOne said:

1000rpm

Isn't this like next to nothing?

 

 

 

Are you sure you have your fans configured properly?

Quote me to see my reply!

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CPU: Ryzen 7 3700X Motherboard: MSI B450-A Pro Max RAM: 32GB I forget GPU: MSI Vega 56 Storage: 256GB NVMe boot, 512GB Samsung 850 Pro, 1TB WD Blue SSD, 1TB WD Blue HDD PSU: Inwin P85 850w Case: Fractal Design Define C Cooling: Stock for CPU, be quiet! case fans, Morpheus Vega w/ be quiet! Pure Wings 2 for GPU Monitor: 3x Thinkvision P24Q on a Steelcase Eyesite triple monitor stand Mouse: Logitech MX Master 3 Keyboard: Focus FK-9000 (heavily modded) Mousepad: Aliexpress cat special Headphones:  Sennheiser HD598SE and Sony Linkbuds

 

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30 minutes ago, kelvinhall05 said:

Isn't this like next to nothing?

That's the max those fans are capable of.

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I mean I don't think there is anything wrong with Fractal's fans. I think the R6 case in general has always gotten kind of mediocre reviews, especially given it's price. But that's probably why their meshify series of cases are so much more popular, and any reviews/research i did when shopping suggested the meshify series instead, so it's no secret the r6 has some drawbacks. Less than half the price, excellent airflow, great looks.

 

As far as getting no airflow from the fans, again this might be an issue with the case itself, i haven't checked to see if Gamers Nexus has done their extensive case airflow testing on it in the past. But those Fractal fans are rated for 68.4 CFM which seems pretty damn good to me (especially for stock case fans. The ones that came with my Meshify are the quietest stock fans i've ever used). That's better than the Corsair LL140 fans at like 55CFM (although those are static pressure focused fans). 

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I have FDs older fans, Silent R2 and R3. They work as well as the Bitfenix fans I had before, just bit less noisy.

 

Another thing I have noticed, on several fans. You don't get any difference in performance after 80% of full speed. None. Some may even have that lower.

 

1000rpm max speed is obviously very low for 140/120mm fans. And obviously its also for silent operation, not performance. IIRC thats what Define cases are for, silence not peformance. If you want cooling performance, you go to Meshify case.

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2 hours ago, LogicalDrm said:

I have FDs older fans, Silent R2 and R3. They work as well as the Bitfenix fans I had before, just bit less noisy.

 

Another thing I have noticed, on several fans. You don't get any difference in performance after 80% of full speed. None. Some may even have that lower.

 

1000rpm max speed is obviously very low for 140/120mm fans. And obviously its also for silent operation, not performance. IIRC thats what Define cases are for, silence not peformance. If you want cooling performance, you go to Meshify case.

Here's another thing if they were actually silent I wouldn't complain because I would get it, they are meant for silent operation, but the problem is they are not. Especially after 550rpm they sound like a jet engine. I still have in my house some old 80/92mm fans that spin at much higher rpm and they are dead silent and actually move air. My cpu cooler currently is the Freezer 34 Duo which has 2 120mm fans and they spin over 1200rpm and are silent and they actually push air.

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20 minutes ago, TheNamelessOne said:

Here's another thing if they were actually silent I wouldn't complain because I would get it, they are meant for silent operation, but the problem is they are not. Especially after 550rpm they sound like a jet engine. I still have in my house some old 80/92mm fans that spin at much higher rpm and they are dead silent and actually move air. My cpu cooler currently is the Freezer 34 Duo which has 2 120mm fans and they spin over 1200rpm and are silent and they actually push air.

Those new Arctic fans are great. Much better than a couple of year old Noctua f12:s or a12s:s.

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42 minutes ago, TheNamelessOne said:

Here's another thing if they were actually silent I wouldn't complain because I would get it, they are meant for silent operation, but the problem is they are not. Especially after 550rpm they sound like a jet engine. I still have in my house some old 80/92mm fans that spin at much higher rpm and they are dead silent and actually move air. My cpu cooler currently is the Freezer 34 Duo which has 2 120mm fans and they spin over 1200rpm and are silent and they actually push air.

I would need video to check how accurate that assessment is.

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5 hours ago, LogicalDrm said:

I would need video to check how accurate that assessment is.

Which part?

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Just now, TheNamelessOne said:

Which part?

Any 1000rpm fan and jet engine being in same category. They can be loud, sure. But term "jet engine" and fans mean stock cooler blowing away at 3000rpm. So I would be inclined to believe you are mixing the case fans to your GPU or maybe PSU instead. And only video where the case is actually powered on has too much background noise to tell if its loud or not. In that sounds very much as expected.

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Buy some delta fans if you want some serious horsepower ;)  

 

Intel I7-10700KF stock - Noctua NH-D15 - A15+A12x25 

Micron Ballistix Sport LT 4133MHz CL17-21-21-40 @1.45v

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Seasonic PX-1000

Lian-Li Lancool II Mesh 

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13 hours ago, TheNamelessOne said:

 

Admittedly I didn't read the thread, but if its fans and noise, a big factor can be what the fan is put against. I did this demonstration a while ago with a Fractal stock fan (came with Define C) to show that the noise can be produced depending on what kind of grill, the fan is put up against.

 

 

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After 550 RPM the fractal fans sound like a jet engine?

 

Lol.

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Specs and temps?

If temps are already in check, it's not abnormal for higher rpm to yield little improvement in temps since you're probably running into diminishing returns. 

You can see similar results here: 

 

If you ever need help with a build, read the following before posting: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/3061-build-plan-thread-recommendations-please-read-before-posting/
Also, make sure to quote a post or tag a member when replying or else they won't get a notification that you replied to them.

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