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Be Quiet! Silent Wings 3

Hi all! I currently have in my system the stock fans that came with my NZXT s340 case and Kraken x61 radiator. They cool fine and haven't broken, but they are loud, so loud that when I measured my system while gaming, it measured 55 decibels! After much research, I have decided that I think i will replace my 2 radiator fans and my 2 case fans with Be Quiet! Silent Wings 3 140mm PWM. This is an expensive investment for fans, but worth it to me if it means very quiet performance while still cooling just fine and the possibility of moving these fans to future cases. I am not looking to set world records for cooling, I just want my components to be cooled well enough to keep their current overclocks. I have an Intel i5 600k overclocked to 4.5Ghz and an MSI GTX 1070 Gaming 8G overclocked to 1873Mhz. Both run stably and the cpu never goes above ~60-65C and the gpu never goes above ~70-74C when in stress tests. My question: will the Be Quiet! Silent Wings 3 maintain my performance and also give me quieter operation and better control? Thank you!

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The stock case fans shouldn't be loud. Are you running them at full speed?

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/
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38 minutes ago, WoodenMarker said:

The stock case fans shouldn't be loud. Are you running them at full speed?

They are a little loud, just look at the specs.

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1 hour ago, Enderman said:

They are a little loud, just look at the specs.

Specs don't give a good idea of how the fans actually sound. I've had experience with the stock 120mm FN V2's and they're far from loud at 5v. They're noisy at full speed though. FX140 V2's aren't as quiet at low speeds but running them at full speed isn't a common issue since most people know to plug them into a 4pin pwm cpu fan header.

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I also didn't like stock fans from NZXT. I was using them on my custom water loop, and I wasn't happy with those.

I'm now using Silent Wings 3 PWM fans.

At 25% speed (around 600rpm) I don't even hear them. I trust me, if I don't hear them, you won't either.

At 50% speed they become audible, but still quiet.

 

Those are just amazing fans, and I don't think you can get any other fans that are more quiet.

 

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5 minutes ago, WoodenMarker said:

Specs don't give a good idea of how the fans actually sound. I've had experience with the stock 120mm FN V2's and they're far from loud at 5v. They're noisy at full speed though. FX140's aren't as quiet at low speeds but running them at full speed isn't a common issue since most people know to plug them into a 4pin pwm cpu fan header.

They do, you just need to compare them at full speed.

I can easily tell that my 25db fans are louder than my 21db fans which are louder than my 17db fans.

 

There's no point in saying "oh well this fan isn't loud if you run it at 30%" because then another fan which has a lower db rating at full speed will almost certainly be quieter when also run at 30%.

 

Plus, you should be buying fans to run them over their full range of rpm, it is a complete waste to buy a high rpm (or simply louder) fan and run it always slowly because then you never get the mmH2O or CFM that it is rated for, and it will probably perform worse than a quieter but lower spec fan running at 100%. If you never push fans above a certain percentage because they are too loud then you're also wasting a huge range of their control.

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1 minute ago, Simon771 said:

I'm now using Silent Wings 3 PWM fans.

Those are just amazing fans, and I don't think you can get any other fans that are more quiet.

I find NF-S12A's to be quieter. They're a bit less versatile due to the more airflow-oriented design but excel when used on something like a heatsink.

Just now, Enderman said:

They do, you just need to compare them at full speed.

I can easily tell that my 25db fans are louder than my 21db fans which are louder than my 17db fans.

Plus, you should be buying fans to run them over their full range of rpm, it is a complete waste to buy a high rpm (or simply louder) fan and run it always slowly because then you never get the mmH2O or CFM that it is rated for, and it will probably perform worse than a quieter but lower spec fan running at 100%. If you never push fans above a certain percentage because they are too loud then you're also wasting a huge range of control.

Most fans aren't quiet at full speed. 

NF-F12's are pretty noisy at full speed but I wouldn't call them loud fans.

There's plenty of merit in buying a fan to run it at lower speed and never at max. Most quiet fans are designed with this in mind. Few fans have a max rpm of 600rpm when that's often enough in a system built with quiet operation in mind.

Arbitrarily using a fan 'to its full potential' doesn't give as much benefit as quiet operation.

 

There are plenty of quiet fans rated at 20dBA and loud fans also rated at 20dBA. Fans specs for noise generally don't give a useful comparison since they're not measured in the same way.

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/
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14 minutes ago, WoodenMarker said:

I find NF-S12A's to be quieter. They're a bit less versatile due to the more airflow-oriented design but excel when used on something like a heatsink.

Most fans aren't quiet at full speed. 

NF-F12's are pretty noisy at full speed but I wouldn't call them loud fans.

There's plenty of merit in buying a fan to run it at lower speed and never at max. Most quiet fans are designed with this in mind. Few fans have a max rpm of 600rpm when that's often enough in a system built with quiet operation in mind.

Arbitrarily using a fan 'to its full potential' doesn't give as much benefit as quiet operation.

 

There are plenty of quiet fans rated at 20dBA and loud fans also rated at 20dBA. Fans specs for noise generally don't give a useful comparison since they're not measured in the same way.

Maybe it doesn't apply to cheap fans with fake ratings, but all of the decent quality fans that I've bought (about 10+ different brands and models) have pretty much all been in order from quietest to loudest just like they are rated in their specs.

 

I would say that that is a VERY good comparison when deciding on a fan.

 

Running a loud fan at a slow speed often performs worse and is louder than a quiet fan that has the same volume level at 100% simply because the fan is engineered to perform best at those low speeds. By increasing the number of winds in a motor you end up with slower speed and more torque, which will move more air than a higher speed fan running at a reduced voltage in order to make less noise.

 

You can do some research on "motor turns" to learn about how that works and why getting a motor suited for a specific rpm is much better than getting a higher rpm motor and running it slow.

 

14 minutes ago, WoodenMarker said:

Arbitrarily using a fan 'to its full potential' doesn't give as much benefit as quiet operation.

The point is to get a fan that is QUIET at it's full potential.

That way you know exactly what specs you're getting when running it full speed.

You also get the full range of control, from 10% to 100% or whatever it's PWM range is, unlike running a high speed fan and only getting 10%-30% range because it becomes too loud past 30% (just an example) so the other 70% goes to waste and you have less granular control.

And finally, if it is quiet at full speed, then it is even quieter at anything lower than full speed, so that's even better than a louder fan running at a low speed.

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Just now, Enderman said:

Running a loud fan at a slow speed often performs worse and is louder than a quiet fan that has the same volume level at 100%

Do you have any examples of these quiet fans that are meant to be run at 100%?

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/
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8 minutes ago, WoodenMarker said:

Do you have any examples of these quiet fans that are meant to be run at 100%?

Here are some 120mm examples of fans which will be extremely quiet at full speed:

http://www.bequiet.com/en/casefans/718

http://noctua.at/en/products/product-line-redux/nf-s12b-redux-700

http://www.coolermaster.com/cooling/case-fan/silencio-fp-120-pwm/

(also there's a non-pwm version of this one ^)

http://www.blacknoise.com/site/en/products/noiseblocker-it-fans/nb-eloop-series/120x120x25mm.php

(B12-1 and B12-2 are the super quiet ones, I have the B12-PS because I wanted PWM, and it's slightly louder than my 19db noctuas)

 

I have completely stopped buying fans that are near 25db because I found them all too loud.

Ideally all my fans would be sub-20db, but the noiseblockers are an exception because 21db is not that bad and I wanted them for looks+PWM.

Anything rated below 15db is incredibly silent, however those fans start having very sub-par static pressure and aren't good for rads.

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30 minutes ago, Enderman said:

Here are some 120mm examples of fans which will be extremely quiet at full speed:

http://www.bequiet.com/en/casefans/718

http://noctua.at/en/products/product-line-redux/nf-s12b-redux-700

http://www.coolermaster.com/cooling/case-fan/silencio-fp-120-pwm/

(also there's a non-pwm version of this one ^)

http://www.blacknoise.com/site/en/products/noiseblocker-it-fans/nb-eloop-series/120x120x25mm.php

(B12-1 and B12-2 are the super quiet ones, I have the B12-PS because I wanted PWM, and it's slightly louder than my 18db noctuas)

The NF-S12B is performs the same at 700rpm regardless of whether or not its the max rated rpm. Lowering the rpm of a NF-S12B with a higher max rpm would net identical results. Many quiet fans are tested and designed with running a lower pwm duty cycle or undervolting in mind.

Other than fans with a max rpm of 600-900 or so, the engineers behind the fans aren't intending for most people to run their fans at 100%. 12v is useful when referring to specs but there's no harm in running a fan at lower than max rpm.

 

As for the other fans listed, they're regarded as quiet to extremely quiet but generally not at 100% rpm. Asides from low rpm variants, I wouldn't deal with running them near max rpm if I had the choice. For reference, I start hearing my NF-A14/15's if they go past ~450rpm and they're too loud beyond 600-650rpm when I'm not playing music or videos.

When it comes to fans that are quiet enough for me at 100% rpm, the list is very short. Since there isn't an infinite selection of fans and not a lower rpm counterpart to every fan, its unrealistic to expect a fan that's quiet enough at 100% rpm that also provides enough performance if needed.

 

If you consider these fans extremely quiet at 100%, FN V2's at 5v shouldn't be too loud.

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/
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5 minutes ago, WoodenMarker said:

The NF-S12B is performs the same at 700rpm regardless of whether or not its the max rated rpm. Lowering the rpm of a NF-S12B with a higher max rpm would net identical results. Many quiet fans are tested and designed with running a lower pwm duty cycle or undervolting in mind.

Other than fans with a max rpm of 600-900 or so, the engineers behind the fans aren't intending for most people to run their fans at 100%. 12v is useful when referring to specs but there's no harm in running a fan at lower than max rpm.

 

As for the other fans listed, they're regarded as quiet to extremely quiet but generally not at 100% rpm. Asides from low rpm variants, I wouldn't deal with running them near max rpm if I had the choice. For reference, I start hearing my NF-A14/15's if they go past ~450rpm and they're too loud beyond 600-650rpm when I'm not playing music or videos.

When it comes to fans that are quiet enough for me at 100% rpm, the list is very short. Since there isn't an infinite selection of fans and not a lower rpm counterpart to every fan, its unrealistic to expect a fan that's quiet enough at 100% rpm that also provides enough performance if needed.

 

If you consider these fans extremely quiet at 100%, FN V2's at 5v shouldn't be too loud.

The point is that he can get fans that are quieter than FN V2s that do not need to be undervolted so much.

Fans which will actually perform better than an FNV2 running at 40% which is less than half of it's rated performance.

I have used FN V2s and they are definitely not quiet.

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1 minute ago, Enderman said:

The point is that he can get fans that are quieter than FN V2s that do not need to be undervolted so much.

Fans which will actually perform better than an FNV2 running at 40% which is less than half of it's rated performance.

I have FN V2s and they are definitely not quiet.

The OP already has FN V2's. I've been through many threads where FN V2's are too loud at 100% but are perfectly fine when rpm is lowered.

Have you run your FN V2's at 5v?

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3 minutes ago, WoodenMarker said:

The OP already has FN V2's. I've been through many threads where FN V2's are too loud at 100% but are perfectly fine when rpm is lowered.

Have you run your FN V2's at 5v?

Yes but why would I want less than 40% of their performance when I can set up a much better fan curve that uses 100% of the range on a quieter fan?

If you're talking about the non-PWM ones, then that's even worse, because running them at 40% max basically means you have NO control over the speed, since the fans will stall when going lower than around 40%.

 

And btw, no, lower noise fans that run at lower rpm are not just identical motors to higher rpm fans with a resistor added.

At least not from a company with quality engineering.

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6 minutes ago, Enderman said:

Yes but why would I want less than 40% of their performance when I can set up a much better fan curve that uses 100% of the range on a quieter fan?

If you're talking about the non-PWM ones, then that's even worse, because running them at 40% max basically means you have NO control over the speed, since the fans will stall when going lower than around 40%.

.. Where are you getting pwm FN V2's?

6 minutes ago, Enderman said:

And btw, no, lower noise fans that run at lower rpm are not just identical motors to higher rpm fans with a resistor added.

At least not from a company with quality engineering.

What practical difference does that make?

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/
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5 minutes ago, WoodenMarker said:

.. Where are you getting pwm FN V2's?

https://www.nzxt.com/products/fx-v2

The ones I have are not PWM, they came with my case, not a CPU cooler.

NEW PC build: Blank Heaven   minimalist white and black PC     Old S340 build log "White Heaven"        The "LIGHTCANON" flashlight build log        Project AntiRoll (prototype)        Custom speaker project

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2 minutes ago, Enderman said:

https://www.nzxt.com/products/fx-v2

The ones I have are not PWM, they came with my case, not a CPU cooler.

These are FX V2's which I already mentioned were louder than FN V2's. The S340 comes with FN V2's.

What case did they come in? 

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5 minutes ago, WoodenMarker said:

These are FX V2's which I already mentioned were louder than FN V2's. The S340 comes with FN V2's.

What case did they come in? 

You're right, the X looked like an N :P

I have the FN which came in the S340.

NEW PC build: Blank Heaven   minimalist white and black PC     Old S340 build log "White Heaven"        The "LIGHTCANON" flashlight build log        Project AntiRoll (prototype)        Custom speaker project

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Thank you everyone for your input in this topic. I think I will go for the Silent Wings 3 as many people have commented that they are the quietest under full load. My only goal was the quietest fans you can buy, and I like the aesthetics of them fine, so the Silent Wings 3 seem to be a good fit for me. Thank you everyone, and feel free to keep debating fans in this thread.

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Just to add an extra assurance.  My case fans are all silent wings 3 and they're fantastic.  Cannot ever hear them in my case in idle and under load the gpu is the loudest thing.  One additional bit for aesthetics is you can very easily remove the be quiet logo on the front right out of the box without leaving any residue.  I found it distracting when spinning.

Thrive on change. Embrace volatility.

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