fans Corsair LL120 or something else..?

[gal-m]

Budget (including currency): ~$300 for 9 120mm fans + ~$50 for a controller (was planning to purchase the Corsair Commander Pro).

Country: Europe

 

Hey guys. 

Looking to purchase 9 premium, 120mm quiet, RGB fans for my custom Lian Li PC-O11-Dynamic build.

I was (and still am) originally looking at Corsair's LL and QL series of fans, but I like the look of the LL's a bit more, due to their rectangular housing, which I prefer over the QL's (I know QL fans have more LED's).

 

MAIN QUESTION: Are there any alternatives worth looking at?

 

The main build:

• CPU: 5900X
• Cooler: Arctic LF II 360
• Motherboard: ROG X570 Strix-E
• Memory: 32GB G.Skill Trident Z Neo 3600
• GPU: waiting for the potential release of the RTX 3080 Ti, and for anyone asking - no I don't mind the wait, even with my components waiting quietly in storage at the moment  
• Storage: 970 EVO Plus 2TB
• PSU: Corsair RM1000x

 

 

[Stahlmann]

I was looking for the same for the last few months. And i found out that quiet and good fans do not come with RGB. All really good and quiet fans come without RGB. I ended up going with "Nocuta NF-A12x25" fans (you could go with the "Noctua NF-F12 chromax.black.swap" series for black fans) and then add "Phanteks Halos LUX" RGB frames for the RGB effect. This way you have the best of both worlds. I tried many RGB fans that claimed to be quiet or high-performance and none of them ended up meeting my expectations.

[gal-m]

4 minutes ago, Stahlmann said:

I ended up going with nocuta fans (you could go with noctua chromax series for black fans) and then add phanteks halos rings for the RGB effect. This way you have the best of both worlds. I tried many RGB fans that claimed to be quiet or high-performance and none of them ended up meeting my expectations.

Darn.. I actually have lot's of experience with Noctua fans and also Corsair ML, LL and QL series of fans and they are in my opinion completely fine and still very quiet. HOWEVER @Stahlmann you are absolutely correct about Noctua - they are on another level. It's just.. I reaaaallly don't want to mess around with extras like ring lights + RGB is, unfortunately, a must in my case. Don't worry though - they'll be set to white hahah (going for a nice classic black/grey/white build).

[brob]

Halos have the advantage of being aura sync compatible so the motherboard will be able to sync the lighting.

[Stahlmann]

6 minutes ago, gal-m said:

RGB is, unfortunately, a must in my case. Don't worry though - they'll be set to white hahah (going for a nice classic black/grey/white build).

I think you misunderstood me. I don't have a problem with RGB. I'm using the Halos RGB Frames myself because i wanted RGB fans. But after searching for a RGB fan with Noctua-like performance for months i just ended up buying the Halos frames for my Noctuas. If you want some pictures, you can DM me. The Halos RGB effect looks better than most RGB fans imo because it's very subtle.

 

Thing is, i've never heard any bearing noise from Noctua fans. The only thing you can hear is the moving air when they spin faster. But with any other brand of fans i tested there was always some grinding or other bearing noises. Be it Cooler Master, Corsair, EK, etc...

[gal-m]

4 minutes ago, Stahlmann said:

I think you misunderstood me.

No no, @Stahlmann I got ya before.

What I meant was I appreciate when RGB is integrated right into the fan.

The Phanteks Halos Lux are a fantastic choice for fans that don't have RGB, HOWEVER... here we run into a big problem in my case and that is the budget. Noctua fans are easily going to cost me ~250EUR (let's just say EUR = $ for argument's sake) PLUS 200EUR for the Halos Lux + a controller and I'm going to end up spending upwards of 500EUR for fans..

Even though my build is high end, I simply just cannot justify spending that much on fans ..

[brob]

No need for a controller with the Halos. But the solution is expensive.

[Stahlmann]

8 minutes ago, gal-m said:

No no, @Stahlmann I got ya before.

What I meant was I appreciate when RGB is integrated right into the fan.

The Phanteks Halos Lux are a fantastic choice for fans that don't have RGB, HOWEVER... here we run into a big problem in my case and that is the budget. Noctua fans are easily going to cost me ~250EUR (let's just say EUR = $ for argument's sake) PLUS 200EUR for the Halos Lux + a controller and I'm going to end up spending upwards of 500EUR for fans..

Even though my build is high end, I simply just cannot justify spending that much on fans ..

 

5 minutes ago, brob said:

No need for a controller with the Halos. But the solution is expensive.

 

I guess you're right. It's by far the most expensive solution. But if you want the best of both worlds (like me) that's pretty much the only solution. If corsair fans work for you, then i'd say go for it. All in all the LL and QL fans are very highly rated. (Albeit not by my standards )

[gal-m]

Well, decided to order 3X Corsair LL120 RGB 120mm RGB fans (3 pack) + a Corsair Commander Pro to control everything.

They are quiet, just not silent like the Noctua fans are. 

 

I was thinking someone would maybe have some fun alternatives in mind like the fans mentioned in this video: 

 

But I do believe these Corsair fans will serves me just well + Corsair is a brand that I've trusted for a long time.

 

Thanks for the help everyone, appreciate it.