Corsair or Noctua

[T.Calen]

I am planning to fill up my R4 with fans and was wondering if Corsair SP120 and AF140 Quiet versions are alot louder than Noctua NF-F12 and NF-A14's . I know the Noctua fans are superior but I am also aiming for looks since I will have the windowed Sidepanel version . I don't mind noctua in the front since I won't see them but I was wondering if Corsair would be a good compromise for the h100i , the bottom intake and the  rear exhaust?

[Andi]

I don't like the corsair fans that much, you could also go for some noiseblockers or Silverstone AP's

[Dan.]

 

Linus did a fan comparison a while ago.

He made 3 graphs of the results:

 

http://i.imgur.com/L8uvRzw.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/30KH9lV.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/UFZlxxk.jpg

 

As seen in the last graph, the corsair quiet editions are quieter than the noctua's. But if you look in the second graph, you also lose a little bit of performance.

[SSOB]

I would go with corsair in this case cause of the windowed case

[XiaoPigs]

Corsair SP120 fans push quite a good amount of air. I even use them on my H100i. If you want looks go for Corsair's fans and if you want the best performance and don't mind looks go with Noctua. Noctua fans are the cream of the crop in terms of fans.

[cogeary]

From my experience the noctuas will offer better performance as well as quieter operation than the corsairs. I've got an R4 with two AF140's. At 7v the noise level is acceptable and they help maintain decent airflow through the case, but they're too loud for me to run them at 12v (my R4 is, however, sitting head-level on my desk and I'm a very picky person  ^_^). Also, keep in mind with the noctuas that the NF-F12 can get a little noisy at full speed.

 

However. Don't limit the search to a couple brands, either. I would also look into Noiseblocker, Be Quiet!, and Silverstone. Especially for the bottom intake, the Silverstone AP123 might be interesting. The R4's honeycomb-style cutouts fan ventilation holes are actually not great in terms of noise/restriction, and on many fans will produce a noticeable sort of "whine" at any useful speed.

[Theo]

i love the AP121's from silverstone, AP123 came out recently i think, personally i'd go with those

[ACK]

I prefer the noctuas because I value silence a lot. I have my pc under my desk anyway facing a wall so you can say I actually son't care at all about looks. 

It's also probably because I do a lot of work on my pc and loud or whining fans are huge distractions.

I have used the SP120s but lowering their voltage made them whine so I replaced them with NF-F12s and now I have a silent pc with even lower temperatures.

[suvroadrage]

I just got an Antec P280 and decided to go with the best of both worlds. I am putting the Noctua's on top with my H220 (because Linus said in the updated review of the H220 - "...they're frickin' AWESOME!") and sticking 2 SP120's in the front behind the door. I don't have a side panel so need for the bling.

[Andrew666drew]

what is the best performance.fanis it

1. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608026

[Mdgtman91]

noctua is the best hands down

corsair is great for looks

[ericlee30]

Noctua fans are the best if you can get past the color scheme of them :)

[Sergeant Acorn]

I have the same setup with corsair SP120 performance edition and im enjoying them. need to add some lighting in my case to actually see them though.

[unidentical]

i love the AP121's from silverstone, AP123 came out recently i think, personally i'd go with those

Silverstone fans are boss.

And they look pretty good too, apart from the multi coloured wires.

[Ashratt]

bequiet silent wings are a great option too!  -_-

[liveturbo24]

I replace my Corsair SP120s after a week of using them. SP120s are just to damn loud. Even at low speeds. I replace them with Noctua NF-F12s. Could not be more happy. I have two on my H100i and one for case exhaust. Now I need to figure out how to mount two 120mm Noctua NF-F12s on the front of my 600T case. Which the intake is designed for 200mm or 230mm. I'm using a CoolerMaster 200mm megaflow but its just alittle to loud. Off topic. I recommend Noctua NF-F12 to everyone. Price is not bad when you know your getting a fan that will work for many many years.

[Hyydrah]

I am planning to fill up my R4 with fans and was wondering if Corsair SP120 and AF140 Quiet versions are alot louder than Noctua NF-F12 and NF-A14's . I know the Noctua fans are superior but I am also aiming for looks since I will have the windowed Sidepanel version . I don't mind noctua in the front since I won't see them but I was wondering if Corsair would be a good compromise for the h100i , the bottom intake and the  rear exhaust?

Check out my avatar, all Noctua fans and it's dead silent even under load. They match well with red and black themes too.

[Shaqo_Wyn]

On paper and IMO in practice Noctua fans are better. Now I'm only comparing the Corsair Quite Edition's because they are closer to the Noctua fans since the the Performance Edition's sacrifice quietness to deliver more CFM. I'm a quite freak tho so maybe you don't mind the sacrifice in which case you'd be better off with Performance Edition's.  

 

If you compare the Corsair SP120 Quite Editions with the Noctua F12's on paper, they are both pressure optimized fans, you get about 38 CFM at 23 dBA spinning at 1450 RPM for the SP120's vs 55 CFM at 22.4 dBA spinning at 1500 RPM. So the Noctua makes slightly less noise at a slightly higher max RPM while giving you 17 more CFM. You could get SP120's Performance Editions but those make a lot more noise (35 dBA) at a max RPM of 2350 to deliver about 63 CFM.  

 

The difference is even bigger when comparing the Corsair AF120 Quite Editions against the Noctua A14's. The AF120's do about 68 CFM at 24 dBA spinning at 1100 MAX RPM, while the A14's do about the same CFM at 19.2 dBA but can go all the way up to 82.5 CFM at about 25 dBA.

 

Of course most people find the Noctua fans ugly but in my case I just couldn't sacrifice the performance.

[Jobobee]

Why not get the new Noctua fans? They're black and grey. I wouldn't get the industrial ones though.

[loccilucas]

I am planning to fill up my R4 with fans and was wondering if Corsair SP120 and AF140 Quiet versions are alot louder than Noctua NF-F12 and NF-A14's . I know the Noctua fans are superior but I am also aiming for looks since I will have the windowed Sidepanel version . I don't mind noctua in the front since I won't see them but I was wondering if Corsair would be a good compromise for the h100i , the bottom intake and the rear exhaust?

Noise blocker blacksilent pros, are cheaper, look great and destroy the corsair fans. Also if you care about look don't get corsair fans, they are so boring, think about it, how many people have a h100i and corsair fans all around....EVERYONE.

I would personally get the noctua's as I actually like the look, however in your case noiseblocker blacksilent pros are the best, or if you have more money noiseblocker E-loops perform as well as the noctua's and look great.

[kingdorian]

I would go with corsair in this case cause of the windowed case

Exactly why was going to say. If you have a closed case go with the noctua's.

 

Are the new noctua's available already?  

But I thought I had read somewhere they're focused on server applications (where noise doesn't really matter).