What cheap fan kits do you guys recommend?

[nobody4324]

Hello. 

 

I built a PC (Ryzen 5 3600, RTX 3060ti, 2x8gb RAM, 750W psu) two months ago, but still didnt buy a fan kit for it, bc i really dont know which one i should buy. Don't know if i should buy one with a controller, or without it just with a splitter. I'm really confused I just need help lmao

 

My case supports 1 fan on the back (included),  two on the top , and three at the front. My Mobo is a Gigabyte B550M DS3H, and has 2 SYS_FAN thingies on it. 

So im not sure how im supposed to buy the kits. Can you guys help? Thank you!!

 

(don't really care about rgb, just cooling)

 

[--SID--]

Arctic F12 PWM/F14 PWM or P12 PWM/P14 PWM

[Bombastinator]

Arctic cooling used to be great for cheap decent fans.  I dunno if it’s still the case though.  If they’re vertical case fans only literally the cheapest thing you can find might be the best TCO value.  A bottom of the barrel fan is going to last 70-80% as long as the best ones which may cost multiple times as much. If you need a horizontal fan though dual ball or some sort of rifle bearing can be important.  At one point Arctic cooling was selling quite quiet rifle bearing fans (called LLS or something) for near bottom competitive pricing.  I understand this has changed.  How much I don’t know.

[--SID--]

They don't give a 10 year warranty for garbage fans. They're all FDB.

[Bombastinator]

10 minutes ago, --SID-- said:

They don't give a 10 year warranty for garbage fans. They're all FDB.

All fans sold currently are FDB?  I know there are single ball fans still out there because AMD coolers use em.  The only difference between FDB and straight sleeve is how the sleeve is cast.  FDB was actually a brand name.  The patent for the type of casting FDB used long ago went out of patent.  Warranty could matter I suppose.  It’s really important for some parts.  A fan dying isn’t going to instantly destroy a system like a bad PSU can though.  Depends on how long it’s for and what it costs. If it’s a $6 fan vs a $35 fan though you could get 5 $6 fans for the price of one $35 one. If they only lasts a third as long you would still be money ahead. A fifth as long and you’d still even be money ahead if you didn’t buy them all at once.  At 70% as long it isn’t even close though.  A high grade fan could still make sense if it’s installed in a hard to reach place though.  Like long life light bulbs.  Sometimes it’s worth the extra money.

Edited March 30, 2021 by Bombastinator
I use “though” way too much. Erased a couple. Might still be too many.

[57chevy]

6 hours ago, nobody4324 said:

So im not sure how im supposed to buy the kits. Can you guys help? Thank you!!

 

6 hours ago, --SID-- said:

Arctic F12 PWM/F14 PWM

 

I just jumped onto the Arctic P14 and P12 boat and can say they are exceptional.  Exceptional price and super quiet. They have a nice little feature called PST for  PWM Sharing Tech.  It means you can daisy chain your Arctic fans instead of using a splitter or controller because they built a splitter right into the cable.   

 

For your setup, you could get the 5 pack of the P14 or P12 with PST and be able to run all 5 fans on just the two sys fan headers without issues.  I would just say try doing 3 intakes on one header and using 2 exhaust fans on the other fan header. Remove the exhaust fan that came with the case. Put one exhaust fan on the back and another at the top, towards the rear of the case.  You won't need a splitter or controller.  I added the Newegg links but check Amazon as well.  Sometimes the price is better there.

 

The P14 PWM with PST - https://www.newegg.com/arctic-cooling-acfan00125a-case-fan/p/N82E16835186221?quicklink=true

 

The P12 PWM with PSt - https://www.newegg.com/arctic-cooling-acfan00137a-case-fan/p/1YF-000P-000H9?quicklink=true

[Tedv2]

good advice, i have a set of those artic and they are really good, pretty quiet. good bargin units

[Scania556]

Deteled

[weeblord]

On 3/30/2021 at 12:42 PM, Bombastinator said:

Arctic cooling used to be great for cheap decent fans.  I dunno if it’s still the case though.  If they’re vertical case fans only literally the cheapest thing you can find might be the best TCO value.  A bottom of the barrel fan is going to last 70-80% as long as the best ones which may cost multiple times as much. If you need a horizontal fan though dual ball or some sort of rifle bearing can be important.  At one point Arctic cooling was selling quite quiet rifle bearing fans (called LLS or something) for near bottom competitive pricing.  I understand this has changed.  How much I don’t know.

They're still great value AFAIK