case fans Case fan questions

[MadsAndersen2500]

Hi. So I have had the silverstone rl06 redline case for a while now, but I feel like it would be nice to get some quieter fans. Also maybe some egg fans with more colors than just red. So I had a few questions

 

1. Is aftermarket case fans often better than stock fans in cases? Currently I am

looking at the “arctic p12 pwm pst a rgb 0db” since I can get 3 fans for the same price as 1 Corsair ll120, but is the Corsair worth that much extra, or is the performance the same?

 

2. is it the case or motherboard the dictates how many fans I can plug in?

 

3. right now I have 3 front fans and 1 in the back, but if I bought 6 new fans would 3 in the front, 2 above and one in the back be better? 
 

thanks for all your input. Also let me know if you have any good suggestions to some good case fans

[Poinkachu]

21 minutes ago, MadsAndersen2500 said:

Hi. So I have had the silverstone rl06 redline case for a while now, but I feel like it would be nice to get some quieter fans. Also maybe some egg fans with more colors than just red. So I had a few questions

 

1. Is aftermarket case fans often better than stock fans in cases? Currently I am

looking at the “arctic p12 pwm pst a rgb 0db” since I can get 3 fans for the same price as 1 Corsair ll120, but is the Corsair worth that much extra, or is the performance the same?

 

2. is it the case or motherboard the dictates how many fans I can plug in?

 

3. right now I have 3 front fans and 1 in the back, but if I bought 6 new fans would 3 in the front, 2 above and one in the back be better? 
 

thanks for all your input. Also let me know if you have any good suggestions to some good case fans

1. Depends on the aftermarket fans brand & model & build quality. Arctic P12 PWM PST is a cheap but good enough solution.

If we are basing it on the tech spec, the Arctic is better in terms of performance.

The corsair fan kit included a lightning node pro (Corsair's mini RGB hub) due to Corsair really liking to use proprietary connector & system for their RGB, which most likely added into the fan kit price. Going this route (Corsair) most often means you will need to use iCUE for the RGB.

 

2. The case. Unless you go DIY route (making a mounting hole yourself).

As for the motherboard, while the fan & RGB headers have a max limit on how many Amps it can safely provide, this can be bypassed by using a fan hub with external power, such as from SATA or MOLEX. But on normal usage, the Amps they can provide is high enough without needing such method.

3. If the new fan is more high performance than the old one, yep. The 2 above though if it's as exhaust, might work against you. The one ontop nearest to the front of the case might suck & expel the fresh air the front top fans pulled in before it reaches your CPU cooler. But yea, feel free to trial & error.
 

[VIVO-US]

The stock fans look similar to the ones we used to use in our cases.  Those fans were good for general use, so I suspect these would have similar performance.  Going onto your numbered questions:

 

1. Arctic P12 PWM fans are a favorite of many builders for the quiet performance and good airflow.  As case fans, the Corsairs won't do much better, so I'd personally go for the better value.

 

2. Using PWM fans, you can control as many as you want from the motherboard as long as you have either enough ports or a PWM fan hub.  A hub will allow you to control all 6 off a single port.

 

3. Keeping things to a quiet speed, having the 2 extra fans at the top will make more of a difference than changing the fans.  I'm guessing the stock fans top out at 1,000RPM while the P12 can get up to 2,000, so that's where the biggest difference in airflow will come from, but also keep in mind that fans make a lot more noise at 2,000RPM than 1,000.  PWM lets you stay in control of that, so you could even turn them down to a near silent 500RPM at idle.

[MadsAndersen2500]

25 minutes ago, Poinkachu said:

1. Depends on the aftermarket fans brand & model & build quality. Arctic P12 PWM PST is a cheap but good enough solution.

If we are basing it on the tech spec, the Arctic is better in terms of performance.

The corsair fan kit included a lightning node pro (Corsair's mini RGB hub) due to Corsair really liking to use proprietary connector & system for their RGB, which most likely added into the fan kit price. Going this route (Corsair) most often means you will need to use iCUE for the RGB.

 

2. The case. Unless you go DIY route (making a mounting hole yourself).

As for the motherboard, while the fan & RGB headers have a max limit on how many Amps it can safely provide, this can be bypassed by using a fan hub with external power, such as from SATA or MOLEX. But on normal usage, the Amps they can provide is high enough without needing such method.

3. If the new fan is more high performance than the old one, yep. The 2 above though if it's as exhaust, might work against you. The one ontop nearest to the front of the case might suck & expel the fresh air the front top fans pulled in before it reaches your CPU cooler. But yea, feel free to trial & error.
 

Okay, I don’t remember if my case has mounting holes for fans in the top, but if I can would it be good to take 1 extra fan in the top at the back of the case or is 3 fans in the front and 1 in the back more than enough. I mean is the one in the back enough considering there is 3 in the front? Also if I get 3 new fans in the front should I also replace the one I have in the back?

[MadsAndersen2500]

18 minutes ago, VIVO-US said:

The stock fans look similar to the ones we used to use in our cases.  Those fans were good for general use, so I suspect these would have similar performance.  Going onto your numbered questions:

 

1. Arctic P12 PWM fans are a favorite of many builders for the quiet performance and good airflow.  As case fans, the Corsairs won't do much better, so I'd personally go for the better value.

 

2. Using PWM fans, you can control as many as you want from the motherboard as long as you have either enough ports or a PWM fan hub.  A hub will allow you to control all 6 off a single port.

 

3. Keeping things to a quiet speed, having the 2 extra fans at the top will make more of a difference than changing the fans.  I'm guessing the stock fans top out at 1,000RPM while the P12 can get up to 2,000, so that's where the biggest difference in airflow will come from, but also keep in mind that fans make a lot more noise at 2,000RPM than 1,000.  PWM lets you stay in control of that, so you could even turn them down to a near silent 500RPM at idle.

2. I know my case came with the little thing where all the fans was connected to, I don’t know if there is a difference between those kind of things or if that would be good enough? 

 

3. yea, I am mostly looking at reducing the noise than improving the airflow, so if I could get the pc to be quieter while not losing performance in terms of temps, that would be great

 

 

[Poinkachu]

46 minutes ago, MadsAndersen2500 said:

Okay, I don’t remember if my case has mounting holes for fans in the top, but if I can would it be good to take 1 extra fan in the top at the back of the case or is 3 fans in the front and 1 in the back more than enough. I mean is the one in the back enough considering there is 3 in the front? Also if I get 3 new fans in the front should I also replace the one I have in the back?

Usually 3 fans in front and 1 fans at the back is enough, adding a fan on top back usually helps lower temp yeah, but most often the amount is not significant.
But yeah, IMHO, your mileage may vary, since each case, setup, and environment is different.

That's why I said feel free to experiment, same goes for fan curve too.

 

42 minutes ago, MadsAndersen2500 said:

2. I know my case came with the little thing where all the fans was connected to, I don’t know if there is a difference between those kind of things or if that would be good enough? 

 

3. yea, I am mostly looking at reducing the noise than improving the airflow, so if I could get the pc to be quieter while not losing performance in terms of temps, that would be great

 

 

2. Fan Hub is basically a fan splitter cable with PCB base, it's main usage is to give you more fan headers by pigtailing.
The side effect is that every fans you connected to that fan hub acts as one, meaning, if you change the speed of the fan on the header the fan hub is connected to, every fans connected to the hub will follow suit.

Example : Fan #1, #2, #3 are connected to fan hub, Fan hub is connected to CHA_FAN #1 header on motherboard. Fan #4 connect directly to CHA_FAN #2.

When you change the fan curve on CHA_FAN #1 to let's say 50% at 60c, FAN #1, #2, #3 will automatically be using the same setting. While FAN #4 will follow the settings you set for CHA_FAN #2 header.

 

Additional note : Some fan hub comes with a SATA / MOLEX port, for you to connect SATA / MOLEX power cable to. This is to provide additional power for the fans/RGBs connected to it. Usually this is found in a hub that lets you connect more than 4 fans.

 

Additional info : Usually on a fan hub there is 1 fan header that is colored differently (usually red), this is the main header, meaning all other fans connected to the hub will follow the settings the fan on red header set to. You have to connect a fan to this main header, other fans you plan to put on the hub can be plugged into whichever other headers on it.

 

3. Noise caused by chasis fan spin level kinda correlates with airflow. The cooler your components are, the less your fans needs to ramp up high, which therefore reduces the noise they are making. Sometimes fans noise level can go up significantly after passing a certain spin level threshold.

[MadsAndersen2500]

22 minutes ago, Poinkachu said:

Usually 3 fans in front and 1 fans at the back is enough, adding a fan on top back usually helps lower temp yeah, but most often the amount is not significant.
But yeah, IMHO, your mileage may vary, since each case, setup, and environment is different.

That's why I said feel free to experiment, same goes for fan curve too.

 

2. Fan Hub is basically a fan splitter cable with PCB base, it's main usage is to give you more fan headers by pigtailing.
The side effect is that every fans you connected to that fan hub acts as one, meaning, if you change the speed of the fan on the header the fan hub is connected to, every fans connected to the hub will follow suit.

Example : Fan #1, #2, #3 are connected to fan hub, Fan hub is connected to CHA_FAN #1 header on motherboard. Fan #4 connect directly to CHA_FAN #2.

When you change the fan curve on CHA_FAN #1 to let's say 50% at 60c, FAN #1, #2, #3 will automatically be using the same setting. While FAN #4 will follow the settings you set for CHA_FAN #2 header.

 

Additional note : Some fan hub comes with a SATA / MOLEX port, for you to connect SATA / MOLEX power cable to. This is to provide additional power for the fans/RGBs connected to it. Usually this is found in a hub that lets you connect more than 4 fans.

 

Additional info : Usually on a fan hub there is 1 fan header that is colored differently (usually red), this is the main header, meaning all other fans connected to the hub will follow the settings the fan on red header set to. You have to connect a fan to this main header, other fans you plan to put on the hub can be plugged into whichever other headers on it.

 

3. Noise caused by chasis fan spin level kinda correlates with airflow. The cooler your components are, the less your fans needs to ramp up high, which therefore reduces the noise they are making. Sometimes fans noise level can go up significantly after passing a certain spin level threshold.

Using a phone app to messerne dBA it says my pc is at around 45-46 dBa, and that is on silent setting, and when my pc is running at around mid to High 30’s celcius. Don’t know if that is bad or if it won’t be better with new case fans?

[VIVO-US]

4 minutes ago, MadsAndersen2500 said:

Using a phone app to messerne dBA it says my pc is at around 45-46 dBa, and that is on silent setting, and when my pc is running at around mid to High 30’s celcius. Don’t know if that is bad or if it won’t be better with new case fans?

"Bad" is subjective when it comes to PC noise.  I personally like to go for "you can't hear it in a quiet room" while others I know don't mind a near jet engine.  If it's quiet enough for you, then that's all that matters.

[Poinkachu]

50 minutes ago, MadsAndersen2500 said:

Using a phone app to messerne dBA it says my pc is at around 45-46 dBa, and that is on silent setting, and when my pc is running at around mid to High 30’s celcius. Don’t know if that is bad or if it won’t be better with new case fans?

What @VIVO-US said above.

Also, you can opt to do it this way for example :
Making your fans run slower in exchange for an increase in temp. At the very least,when the PC is not under heavy usage.
As long the components (mainly CPU & GPU) doesn't reach thermal throttle temp, it should be fine enough.

 

Also, after looking at a pic of your PC case, IMHO the front bottom fan is pretty much almost useless for your GPU & CPU, since it sends air straight into PSU cover. Of course it can still be useful if you mount drives inside the PSU cover. But if you don't have anything that needs cooling inside the PSu cover, you can pretty much not mount any fan on the front bottom. Or run it really slow just to get the aesthetics (LED / RGB).

 

Things you can also check is your CPU Cooler fan, maybe it is the one that contributes most to the fan spin noise.

[MadsAndersen2500]

5 hours ago, VIVO-US said:

"Bad" is subjective when it comes to PC noise.  I personally like to go for "you can't hear it in a quiet room" while others I know don't mind a near jet engine.  If it's quiet enough for you, then that's all that matters.

But is there still a chance that the aftermarket fans (arctic p12) at 1000rpm will run more quite than the stock ones I have in my case now at the same 1000 rpm? Or is that not how it works?

 

right now I can hear my pc even when watching tv 2 meters away

[WoodenMarker]

4 hours ago, MadsAndersen2500 said:

But is there still a chance that the aftermarket fans (arctic p12) at 1000rpm will run more quite than the stock ones I have in my case now at the same 1000 rpm? Or is that not how it works?

right now I can hear my pc even when watching tv 2 meters away

They're probably quieter. The stock case fans are pretty old and don't seem particularly high quality. 

Have you tried changing fan speeds? You can isolate where noise is coming from and adjust to your preference. 

[MadsAndersen2500]

4 hours ago, WoodenMarker said:

They're probably quieter. The stock case fans are pretty old and don't seem particularly high quality. 

Have you tried changing fan speeds? You can isolate where noise is coming from and adjust to your preference. 

Well I have set the overall fan speeds in bios to the silent, and still I would not really say that they are silent at all. I can get like a 3 pack arctic p12 RGB fans for like 20-25 bucks. So if they will be better, even slightly I will just change the fans :D

[Poinkachu]

12 hours ago, MadsAndersen2500 said:

But is there still a chance that the aftermarket fans (arctic p12) at 1000rpm will run more quite than the stock ones I have in my case now at the same 1000 rpm? Or is that not how it works?

 

right now I can hear my pc even when watching tv 2 meters away

There's definitely a chance.

 

What is your motherboard btw ?

Just make sure there is an ARGB header on the motherboard, or you will have to use either a converter or a manual controler (meaning you can't control the color from software)

[MadsAndersen2500]

1 hour ago, Poinkachu said:

There's definitely a chance.

 

What is your motherboard btw ?

Just make sure there is an ARGB header on the motherboard, or you will have to use either a converter or a manual controler (meaning you can't control the color from software)

Right now I have the Asrock z370 extreme4, but I just bought the Asus Prime-a z790 with a i5-13600k that I am going to swap this weekend

[Poinkachu]

2 minutes ago, MadsAndersen2500 said:

Right now I have the Asrock z370 extreme4, but I just bought the Asus Prime-a z790 with a i5-13600k that I am going to swap this weekend

All good then.

[WoodenMarker]

9 hours ago, MadsAndersen2500 said:

Well I have set the overall fan speeds in bios to the silent, and still I would not really say that they are silent at all. I can get like a 3 pack arctic p12 RGB fans for like 20-25 bucks. So if they will be better, even slightly I will just change the fans

Are you sure that the noise is from the case fans and not something else in the system?

Have you tried stopping the fans individually to isolate the noise?

[MadsAndersen2500]

On 1/18/2023 at 6:46 PM, WoodenMarker said:

Are you sure that the noise is from the case fans and not something else in the system?

Have you tried stopping the fans individually to isolate the noise?

It seems it is also coming a bit from my Cryorig H5 but changing the fans did also help a lot  
I did get a Arctic freezer ii 240, that I tried to put in the top of my case when changing mobo and cpu yesterday, but the mobo is in the way, so it can't be in the top. I was then considering taking 2 of my 3 new p12 argb fans i place in the front of my case and put them on the liquid cooler and put it in the front then. Just don't know if it is possible or if it will be worse?