Is there a Tier list for fans?

[Eighjan]

Looking for fans - as in "not buying today" - for my Meshify C... and possibly my Pure Rock cooler.

 

Candidates:

Shadow Wings (Silent Wings, for cooler?)

NZXT AER F (or P, for cooler?)

Fractal Design Dynamic X2 - stock Meshify C

 

Must be 4-pin PWM, no RGB & 120 (exhaust/cooler) or 140 (intake).

Quiet preferred; high airflow would be nice.

[Levent]

I dont think any of us own hardware than can tier fans. Fans are really hard to tier up imo (that is why I am kind of hoping that GN would fix that with their fan testing setup). On that note, I cannot recommend Arctic's fans enough, they are great.

[tkitch]

Noctua are generally regarded as the top of the line for PC Cooling fans.  And I don't think you're going to beat it.  (Of course, they're ugly.)

 

I hear positive things about Shadow Wings, but have no personal experience.

 

Arctic P12 fans are crazy good, and shockingly cheap.  On sale a 5 pack will be only a little more than a single noctua, and they work /really/ well.

[Eighjan]

4 minutes ago, Levent said:

I dont think any of us own hardware than can tier fans.

I feared that being the case (no pun intended)...

[Eighjan]

Just now, tkitch said:

Noctua are generally regarded as the top of the line for PC Cooling fans.  And I don't think you're going to beat it.  (Of course, they're ugly.)

 

I hear positive things about Shadow Wings, but have no personal experience.

 

Arctic P12 fans are crazy good, and shockingly cheap.  On sale a 5 pack will be only a little more than a single noctua, and they work /really/ well.

I have an ideal vision of:

Two 140mm Shadow Wings for intake

Two 120mm Shadow Wings for exhaust

One Silent Wings 120mm on the Pure Rock (think that's the stock cooler, anyway)

 

That said, trying to find an identical setup WITH those fans is about as high as an MSRP 30-series, so I ain't holdin' my breath...

 

IIRC, don't Arctic use P & F for pressure & airflow, resp. ...?

[jaslion]

1 minute ago, Eighjan said:

IIRC, don't Arctic use P & F for pressure & airflow, resp. ...?

Their p fans are better in both cases. I mean they simply move more air so yeah that kinda beats the purpose of the f series existing (pretty much just exists because it is even cheaper and there are sizes they don't make in the p series).

 

So yeah get some p series arctic fans if you want noctua silence and performance on the dirtcheap. They made a new revision of them with rgb and they are no joke even better than the standard p series whilst still being cheaper than any fan you listed (normally).

[tkitch]

2 minutes ago, Eighjan said:

I have an ideal vision of:

Two 140mm Shadow Wings for intake

Two 120mm Shadow Wings for exhaust

One Silent Wings 120mm on the Pure Rock (think that's the stock cooler, anyway)

 

That said, trying to find an identical setup WITH those fans is about as high as an MSRP 30-series, so I ain't holdin' my breath...

 

IIRC, don't Arctic use P & F for pressure & airflow, resp. ...?

Yeah, they do.  I forgot they're just labeled PWM if they're controlled.

 

The F fans don't really seem to offer any significant airflow benefit, so I just get the P variants for my builds. 

[XnonXte]

Noctua is undoubtedly the winner, But it's freaking expensive, The second might be for artic cooling

or whatever might work best for you...

 

Pro tip:

At the end of the day, Don't overspecing your fan, Because it's just a fan. Try to find a fan that have a great review. With low noises. Other than that there are no fan tier if I'm being honest with ya 

[Guest]

Noctua is no-compromises, just the best of the best. It's really expensive. Arctic is a small step down and far less expensive, they're a great choice if you don't want to break the bank but want fans that won't be loud.

 

I hear positive things about Be Quiet! but I've not had the greatest time with their fans. Their 92mm Pure Wings 2 was far louder than the Noctua NF-A9 in my experience, and is only about $5 cheaper. Perhaps their larger fans are better? Maybe the Pure Wings 2 just had a certain whine or hum that I didn't like. Currently I have Noctua P12's all around (3 of them), an NH-D15, and aircooled everything.

There's really no fan tier list. It's a little subjective because everyone has different priorities. Some just want the pretty lights, some want the performance, some want the quiet. Say you just want a fan that's quiet and want the best value, Corsair LL120s are a terrible value since it's $35 per fan or so and you don't care about RGB, there are tons of cheaper options that perform the same or better as a functional fan. But if you want RGB, they start to make more sense.

[Eighjan]

Not entirely sure why I got the two AER F140mm units I have as intake, currently... they're too noticeable, as it stands.

I'm considering a pair of Shadow Wings 2 to replace them, but would a pair of these be better, instead?

[12345678]

I doubt

but look at the given specifications of any known manufacturer, they should be (more or less) trustworthy 

[NorKris]

It would be cool to see a Fan tier list. Fans have many variables that people can judge them on for a list like this.
My take on such a list after testing over 10 fans on an aio and after looking on reviews and assuming we are going basted on radiator temps with as little noise as possible is
Noctua NF-A 12x25
Arctic P12

Nidec Gentle typhoon

 

 

My take on best ARGB fans are

Arctic P12 ARGB
Coolermaster Mirage Fan
 

[CryingWimp]

Temps and noise are easy to measure. A lot of decent fans will measure quite similarly though. The problem with a tier list is the subjective part of sound, 2 fans at 35dB can make very different sounds and be considered annoying to one person vs another.

 

Having a build quality tier would be nice.

 

I had a Noctua NH-D14 for 8 years that was still whisper quiet before I sold it. I've never heard anything in the same league as noctua. Arctic p12's are very nice.

[Orian Pax]

On 6/16/2021 at 7:52 PM, Eighjan said:

I have an ideal vision of:

Two 140mm Shadow Wings for intake

Two 120mm Shadow Wings for exhaust

One Silent Wings 120mm on the Pure Rock (think that's the stock cooler, anyway)

 

if you have this cooling setup i really would like to hear more about temps and all.

[thrasher_565]

On 6/16/2021 at 7:32 AM, XnonXte said:

Noctua is undoubtedly the winner, But it's freaking expensive, The second might be for artic cooling

or whatever might work best for you...

 

Pro tip:

At the end of the day, Don't overspecing your fan, Because it's just a fan. Try to find a fan that have a great review. With low noises. Other than that there are no fan tier if I'm being honest with ya 

 

[Pharr Carnell]

yeah....using these Gentle Typhoons myself...found them to be excellent!!

[Eighjan]

Update:

Decided to go FULL Arctic Cooling...

F14 PWM PST CO x2 for intake

F12 PWM PST CO x2 for Exhaust

P12 PWM PST CO for CPU cooler

 

Waiting for the F12's to arrive, then I'll report back on initial performance/difference...

[Winterlight]

Be Quiet fan is good quality as well they very quiet even at 2200 RPM. Have 4 x 1450 RPM and 2 x 2200 RPM all fun run 100% and still PC is very quit compared too others fans with 100% speed. They not cheap and no RGB but they very quit and good quality. High speed version is very good for CPU cooler or AIO radiator due they have high air pressure 3,37 at 100% speed.

1450 RPM fan rated only 16.4dB

2200 RPM fan rated only 28.6dB

[Stahlmann]

1 hour ago, MinR said:

Be Quiet fan is good quality as well they very quiet even at 2200 RPM. Have 4 x 1450 RPM and 2 x 2200 RPM all fun run 100% and still PC is very quit compared too others fans with 100% speed. They not cheap and no RGB but they very quit and good quality. High speed version is very good for CPU cooler or AIO radiator due they have high air pressure 3,37 at 100% speed.

1450 RPM fan rated only 16.4dB

2200 RPM fan rated only 28.6dB

I refuse to believe that they're quiet at 2200RPM not even the best fans can be quiet at this speed. Of couse "quiet" is pretty subjective and depends a lot on ambient noise. For me, even the best fans i've tried (and i've tried a lot of fans over the past few years) were getting very loud and annoying (imo) between 1000-1200RPM.

 

We could start throwing around dB numbers, but there is one important thing these numbers ignore: Sound pitch. Not all fans that run at 20 dB sound equally as loud to human ears. Also every person has different hearing and will perceive different noises in a different way.

 

In the end fans and especially noise can be very subjective, but this information is what i've gathered over the last few years:

 

The best fans i've tried are Noctua NF-A12x25's. They're the best balance between noise and airflow i have had myself. Plus they have (from my own experience) the best noise profile when used on radiators and heatsinks. If you don't like the look, the Nocuta NF-F12 chromax are there but they're slightly louder and have slightly less performance. So far Noctua fans are the only ones i found to be anywhere close to a "no compromise" fan. And so far Noctua fans are the ONLY ones i found where the bearing/motor cannot be hard at any RPM. But that also reflects in their price.

 

If value is the main concern, than then you can go for Arcitc P12 PWM's. They also have good performance, but had to cheap out on some stuff to make the price work. One example are the missing rubber corners to stop vibrations going to your case. The other is the bearing/motor. It's okay, but has some RPM ranges where it becomes noticeable. Many people say that there is noticeable motor noise when the fan is around 1000RPM. So they have some of the same issues that other budget fans have, but generally good performance.

 

Corsair fans are generally OK in terms of fan performance. But their focus is mostly on looks and they're very expensive. And noise is not a strong point of them either. Some of them are even priced higher than Noctua's.

 

be Quiet fans can vary. The Shadow Wings and Silent Wings are quite good in terms of noise. The Pure Wings are your average fan that can also get quite noisy, even at lower RPMs. But all of them don't perform as good as other options because noise reduction is their main concern.

 

Other than that, stay away from Cooler Master and EK fans. All of the ones i've had from them had bad quality control issues going from "grinding" noises from the bearing to off-center stickers that just look bad.

 

NZXT fans are not performing that good and can get quite loud. At least some of them have (imo) pretty nice aesthetics. I'd not get them if you're not just purely going for looks.

 

I can't say anything about Fractal fans. Never tried any of them.

[Quackers101]

That youtube channel and for custom 3D printed fans, shows some of their spec or is maybe the closest thing to a fan tier list.

Doing both how loud they are, and temps. While it doesn't show them being in a case with other fans in various directions.

It's maybe the best you would find.

[Ralfi]

2 hours ago, Stahlmann said:

I refuse to believe that they're quiet at 2200RPM not even the best fans can be quiet at this speed. Of couse "quiet" is pretty subjective and depends a lot on ambient noise. For me, even the best fans i've tried (and i've tried a lot of fans over the past few years) were getting very loud and annoying (imo) between 1000-1200RPM.

 

We could start throwing around dB numbers, but there is one important thing these numbers ignore: Sound pitch. Not all fans that run at 20 dB sound equally as loud to human ears. Also every person has different hearing and will perceive different noises in a different way.

 

In the end fans and especially noise can be very subjective, but this information is what i've gathered over the last few years:

 

The best fans i've tried are Noctua NF-A12x25's. They're the best balance between noise and airflow i have had myself. Plus they have (from my own experience) the best noise profile when used on radiators and heatsinks. If you don't like the look, the Nocuta NF-F12 chromax are there but they're slightly louder and have slightly less performance. So far Noctua fans are the only ones i found to be anywhere close to a "no compromise" fan. And so far Noctua fans are the ONLY ones i found where the bearing/motor cannot be hard at any RPM. But that also reflects in their price.

 

If value is the main concern, than then you can go for Arcitc P12 PWM's. They also have good performance, but had to cheap out on some stuff to make the price work. One example are the missing rubber corners to stop vibrations going to your case. The other is the bearing/motor. It's okay, but has some RPM ranges where it becomes noticeable. Many people say that there is noticeable motor noise when the fan is around 1000RPM. So they have some of the same issues that other budget fans have, but generally good performance.

 

Corsair fans are generally OK in terms of fan performance. But their focus is mostly on looks and they're very expensive. And noise is not a strong point of them either. Some of them are even priced higher than Noctua's.

 

be Quiet fans can vary. The Shadow Wings and Silent Wings are quite good in terms of noise. The Pure Wings are your average fan that can also get quite noisy, even at lower RPMs. But all of them don't perform as good as other options because noise reduction is their main concern.

 

Other than that, stay away from Cooler Master and EK fans. All of the ones i've had from them had bad quality control issues going from "grinding" noises from the bearing to off-center stickers that just look bad.

 

NZXT fans are not performing that good and can get quite loud. At least some of them have (imo) pretty nice aesthetics. I'd not get them if you're not just purely going for looks.

 

I can't say anything about Fractal fans. Never tried any of them.

Great summary man. Cheers.

[NorKris]

2 hours ago, Stahlmann said:

I refuse to believe that they're quiet at 2200RPM not even the best fans can be quiet at this speed. Of couse "quiet" is pretty subjective and depends a lot on ambient noise. For me, even the best fans i've tried (and i've tried a lot of fans over the past few years) were getting very loud and annoying (imo) between 1000-1200RPM.

 

We could start throwing around dB numbers, but there is one important thing these numbers ignore: Sound pitch. Not all fans that run at 20 dB sound equally as loud to human ears. Also every person has different hearing and will perceive different noises in a different way.

 

In the end fans and especially noise can be very subjective, but this information is what i've gathered over the last few years:

 

The best fans i've tried are Noctua NF-A12x25's. They're the best balance between noise and airflow i have had myself. Plus they have (from my own experience) the best noise profile when used on radiators and heatsinks. If you don't like the look, the Nocuta NF-F12 chromax are there but they're slightly louder and have slightly less performance. So far Noctua fans are the only ones i found to be anywhere close to a "no compromise" fan. And so far Noctua fans are the ONLY ones i found where the bearing/motor cannot be hard at any RPM. But that also reflects in their price.

 

If value is the main concern, than then you can go for Arcitc P12 PWM's. They also have good performance, but had to cheap out on some stuff to make the price work. One example are the missing rubber corners to stop vibrations going to your case. The other is the bearing/motor. It's okay, but has some RPM ranges where it becomes noticeable. Many people say that there is noticeable motor noise when the fan is around 1000RPM. So they have some of the same issues that other budget fans have, but generally good performance.

 

Corsair fans are generally OK in terms of fan performance. But their focus is mostly on looks and they're very expensive. And noise is not a strong point of them either. Some of them are even priced higher than Noctua's.

 

be Quiet fans can vary. The Shadow Wings and Silent Wings are quite good in terms of noise. The Pure Wings are your average fan that can also get quite noisy, even at lower RPMs. But all of them don't perform as good as other options because noise reduction is their main concern.

 

Other than that, stay away from Cooler Master and EK fans. All of the ones i've had from them had bad quality control issues going from "grinding" noises from the bearing to off-center stickers that just look bad.

 

NZXT fans are not performing that good and can get quite loud. At least some of them have (imo) pretty nice aesthetics. I'd not get them if you're not just purely going for looks.

 

I can't say anything about Fractal fans. Never tried any of them.

i find NZXT to perform much better than corsair (even for being abit louder) 

Also the Arctic p12 ARGB has rubber and much less hum  

[NorKris]

3 hours ago, MinR said:

Be Quiet fan is good quality as well they very quiet even at 2200 RPM. Have 4 x 1450 RPM and 2 x 2200 RPM all fun run 100% and still PC is very quit compared too others fans with 100% speed. They not cheap and no RGB but they very quit and good quality. High speed version is very good for CPU cooler or AIO radiator due they have high air pressure 3,37 at 100% speed.

1450 RPM fan rated only 16.4dB

2200 RPM fan rated only 28.6dB

ive seen radiator/ AIO tests  where be quiet does badly : / 

[Stahlmann]

3 hours ago, Quackers101 said:

That youtube channel and for custom 3D printed fans, shows some of their spec or is maybe the closest thing to a fan tier list.

Doing both how loud they are, and temps. While it doesn't show them being in a case with other fans in various directions.

It's maybe the best you would find.

You mean Major Hardware? Yeah he does fun stuff but i wouldn't give him much credit in terms of fan testing. He tests all fans at max RPM, which is completely unrealistic for 99% of people.

 

1 hour ago, NorKris said:

i find NZXT to perform much better than corsair (even for being abit louder)

Yeah but both brands are more focused on looks than on noise and performance.

 

Quote

Also the Arctic p12 ARGB has rubber and much less hum  

True, but they are also much less appealing cost-wise than the plain P12 PWM's. Can't say anything about the hum though. Never tested them. But afaik they use the same motor/rotor assembly as the normal P12? The "less hum" could come from the rubber corners though.

 

1 hour ago, NorKris said:

ive seen radiator/ AIO tests  where be quiet does badly : / 

That's the biggest downside of be Quiet fans. Thanks for bringing that up. Forgot to write about that. Be Quiet fans generally perform poorly on radiators.

[NorKris]

15 minutes ago, Stahlmann said:

 

 

True, but they are also much less appealing cost-wise than the plain P12 PWM's. Can't say anything about the hum though. Never tested them. But afaik they use the same motor/rotor assembly as the normal P12? The "less hum" could come from the rubber corners though.

 

No the less hum comes from the ring around the blades if we are to believe arctic, I've hold the fans in my hands while spinning and heard the difference.

 

P12 ARGB is 4bucks more than the P12, 4 extra bucks for less hum, more ARGB, rubber and all the P12ARGB has Ysplitters/daisy chains on both the PWM and ARGB wire(s)

(prices from 5 pack vs 3 pack divided by number of fans)

 

waiit, Why do we recommend the P12 again??