What is a good, cheap, quiet, high airflow 120mm fan?

[RenaKry]

What is a decent quality 120mm fan that is relatively high airflow and quiet enough to not make a noticeable drone or hum at full speed with the computer under a desk for $15 USD or less?

 

Blue LEDs are a bonus. It doesn't matter if it has PWM or not since I don't have a fan controller, nor does the motherboard have any control over the fans.

 

Alternatively, you can recommend a speed reducer adapter.

[TrigrH]

1 hour ago, nelsonpong said:

What is a decent quality 120mm fan that is relatively high airflow and quiet enough to not make a noticeable drone or hum at full speed with the computer under a desk for $15 USD or less?

 

Blue LEDs are a bonus. It doesn't matter if it has PWM or not since I don't have a fan controller, nor does the motherboard have any control over the fans.

 

Alternatively, you can recommend a speed reducer adapter.

 

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608061

 

or

 

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAADY4AW7927

[RenaKry]

1 hour ago, TrigrH said:

 

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608061

 

or

 

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAADY4AW7927

Right on, I totally forgot about the redux line of Noctua fans. Silly me.

[Bearmann]

I would get the 3 pin 700 RPM ones. I would guess that the 1200 RPM 4 pin model might still be too loud.

[RenaKry]

2 minutes ago, Bearmann said:

I would get the 3 pin 700 RPM ones. I would guess that the 1200 RPM 4 pin model might still be too loud.

If the fan noise becomes intolerable and I have thermal headroom, I'll just grab a fan speed reducer adapter like the ones that typically come with Noctua fans. I need this fan to pull enough air for my passive heatsink to cool well enough to not throttle or trip safety (102C). It is an experimental computer, so I don't mind running it at 90C average under full load. Whatever happens, happens.

[Bearmann]

1 minute ago, nelsonpong said:

If the fan noise becomes intolerable and I have thermal headroom, I'll just grab a fan speed reducer adapter like the ones that typically come with Noctua fans. I need this fan to pull enough air for my passive heatsink to cool well enough to not throttle or trip safety (102C). It is an experimental computer, so I don't mind running it at 90C average under full load. Whatever happens, happens.

Sounds like a plan!

[orbitalbuzzsaw]

Noctua NF-S12B Redux. Very quiet because Noctua, pretty good airflow and only $13 a fan as recommended above. Get the 1200RPM versions since the 700RPM ones move VERY little air. (source - I have both)

[RenaKry]

9 minutes ago, OrbitalBuzzsaw said:

Noctua NF-S12B Redux. Very quiet because Noctua, pretty good airflow and only $13 a fan as recommended above. Get the 1200RPM versions since the 700RPM ones move VERY little air. (source - I have both)

Yep, that is what I ended up getting. $15 after tax, free Newegg shipping. Now to wait a week...

 

if there are any other recommendations for cheap ass fans, I'd like to hear about them just in case I really need some cheap ass fans.

[orbitalbuzzsaw]

3 minutes ago, nelsonpong said:

Yep, that is what I ended up getting. $15 after tax, free Newegg shipping. Now to wait a week...

 

if there are any other recommendations for cheap ass fans, I'd like to hear about them just in case I really need some cheap ass fans.

The S12Bs can do it all. No need for any other fans except maybe the P12s for radiators and even then it's not really needed.

[Bearmann]

9 minutes ago, nelsonpong said:

Yep, that is what I ended up getting. $15 after tax, free Newegg shipping. Now to wait a week...

 

if there are any other recommendations for cheap ass fans, I'd like to hear about them just in case I really need some cheap ass fans.

Look at the Arctic P12's and F12's.

[Bearmann]

I almost forgot about the Artic fans with the temp sensor built in:

 

https://www.amazon.com/ARCTIC-F12-Temperature-Controlled-intelligent-Configuration/dp/B0037AQLLM/ref=asc_df_B0037AQLLM/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312760964359&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=14807456182930968603&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=t&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9013526&hvtargid=pla-563006678780&psc=1

 

You could also get a fan splitter which would use the power and PWM signal from the CPU fan header of which most, if not all, modern motherboards are 4 pin PWM. You would be limited in the number of added fans depending on their amperage.

[Quadriplegic]

http://www.akasa.com.tw/search.php?seed=AK-FN058

Obviously not the best airflow fans in the world, but they are pretty good all-around  fans

[RenaKry]

3 hours ago, Quadriplegic said:

http://www.akasa.com.tw/search.php?seed=AK-FN058

Obviously not the best airflow fans in the world, but they are pretty good all-around  fans

I could take your word on it if you own some yourself, or I can look at the Newegg prices and rating and see it doesn't really hold a candle to the Noctua redux fans, which are cheaper and are higher quality. If I want to go really cheap, I'll consider the Arctic fans. The Akasa AK-FN058 doesn't really have any advantages over the two brands as far as I can tell.

[WoodenMarker]

5 minutes ago, nelsonpong said:

I could take your word on it if you own some yourself, or I can look at the Newegg prices and rating and see it doesn't really hold a candle to the Noctua redux fans, which are cheaper and are higher quality. If I want to go really cheap, I'll consider the Arctic fans. The Akasa AK-FN058 doesn't really have any advantages over the two brands as far as I can tell.

Apaches perform pretty well on rads and have much better static pressure but that doesn't seem to be the use case here.

You can see an example here with the Hyperborea clone on a H80: https://www.anandtech.com/show/6391/120mm-radiator-fan-roundup-part-2-fan-harder/7

[hello_there_123]

Arctic f12

[Quadriplegic]

6 hours ago, nelsonpong said:

I could take your word on it if you own some yourself, or I can look at the Newegg prices and rating and see it doesn't really hold a candle to the Noctua redux fans, which are cheaper and are higher quality. If I want to go really cheap, I'll consider the Arctic fans. The Akasa AK-FN058 doesn't really have any advantages over the two brands as far as I can tell.

Almost, but close. I do have 140mm Apaches and 120mm Redux fans, I would say Apache fans have better noise profile (hell, I'd say Redux fans had worse noise profile than Thermaltake Riing fans). There are 2 reviews of fans on Newegg, one guy who gave 5* rating and one guy who gave 2* rating claiming fans needed lot of power for startup, which was probably a defect fan.


But yeah, Arctic fans are pretty much the best in budget

[WoodenMarker]

58 minutes ago, Quadriplegic said:

one guy who gave 5* rating and one guy who gave 2* rating claiming fans needed lot of power for startup, which was probably a defect fan.

I haven't seen that specific reviews but I'm guessing it could've also been a lack of control from the motherboard. Asus' Qfan for example won't recognize the proper minimum rpm and may require several calibrations for it to work properly. 

[RejZoR]

CoolerMaster Silencio fans are also really good and within that price point:

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

 

They resemble the shape of Silent Typhoon fans in general and they are really quiet while generating a lot of pressure and airflow. They also don't look like diarrhea unlike most Noctua fans unless you go with Redux ones...

[Bearmann]

13 hours ago, nelsonpong said:

 If I want to go really cheap, I'll consider the Arctic fans.

I've never used the Arctic fans, but amazingly, they come with 10 year warranties, four more years than Noctua.