Inexpensive but good quality fans

[RevGAM]

8 hours ago, Dogzilla07 said:

@RevGAMdon't forget the Thermalright TL-G12, TL-E12, they're only $7 in the US.

Unless you've already considered them and they're too mainstream.

The e12 is a cooler...I'll order the G12.

[RevGAM]

On 3/31/2023 at 10:08 AM, thrasher_565 said:

these i think are the same on there coolers

 

https://www.amazon.ca/Thermalright-TL-C12CW-S-Computer-Included-Quantities）/dp/B0BNBTJ7J4/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=Thermalright&qid=1680271580&sr=8-6&th=1

Yeah, the TL-C12 series are used on some of the coolers, including PA120, which I have.

 

On 3/31/2023 at 1:42 AM, fonzz1e said:

artic p12 / p14 (get max version if its in yer budget)

On 3/30/2023 at 8:31 PM, da na said:

I second this. Solid fans.

On 3/30/2023 at 7:42 PM, RONOTHAN## said:

The Arctic P12

Added the P12 Max, too.

On 3/31/2023 at 10:08 AM, thrasher_565 said:

 

https://www.amazon.ca/Phanteks-SK120-PWM-Fan-PH-F120SK_BBK_PWM/dp/B08C2HDWJ1/ref=sr_1_243?crid=7GWKPC9DZFXT&keywords=120mm%2Bfans&qid=1680272287&sprefix=120mm%20fans%2Caps%2C135&sr=8-243&th=1

On 3/30/2023 at 7:43 PM, Hinjima said:

Phanteks SK 120 - Cooler Master SickleFlow 12 - Be Quiet Pure Wings 2 120mm

Added to my list.

On 3/30/2023 at 11:52 PM, thrasher_565 said:

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0BNHP12HV/?coliid=I3IK5F6CZON0U3&colid=1FAOHYDQQPCKN&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

 

best fan out there for the money...

Added.

 

On 3/31/2023 at 1:42 AM, fonzz1e said:

• xpg vento pro 120 pwm (aka nidec gentle typhoons), daisy chain cables
• bequiet silent wings 3 high speed (since sw4 came out sw3 drop in price)

Added.

On 3/31/2023 at 10:08 AM, thrasher_565 said:

https://www.amazon.ca/Sirius-Addressable-Performance-Cooling-Computer/dp/B07PXNCQCG/ref=sr_1_436?keywords=pwm%2B120mm&qid=1680272936&s=pc&sr=1-436&th=1

I decided on the Saturn because I couldn't find the Mars easily. Mars is pretty expensive, but no LEDs and it's for spot cooling so you can adjust it's position.

On 3/31/2023 at 10:08 AM, thrasher_565 said:

xpg vento pro 120 pwm is also good.

Also added.

On 3/31/2023 at 10:54 AM, thrasher_565 said:

there this one too

 

https://quietpc.ca/gelid-gale-fans?product=7401

https://quietpc.ca/gelid-gale-fans?product=7400

Trying to get the Gales is pretty hard, but I'm gonna try.

 

In other words, folks, sooner or later I'll probably order all of the fans you suggested. Thanks!

I'm gonna need to make a Patreon account to help fund this testing! I'm a single dad with 2 teens.

 

Whew!

[RevGAM]

On 4/1/2023 at 10:31 AM, thrasher_565 said:

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B09LYLKMJK/?coliid=I2GCXIVN1JDHDN&colid=1FAOHYDQQPCKN&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

 

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B09KZV9K2G/?coliid=I3UA4WSHK1SW35&colid=1FAOHYDQQPCKN&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Dude, I said inexpensive, not $100+!

[thrasher_565]

26 minutes ago, RevGAM said:

Dude, I said inexpensive, not $100+!

its probly just a place holder but thats the only one i found of that fan in Canada... thow buying the cooler would atlest get you 2 fans and a cooler thow...

 

ya i dont even no how many hundreds of dollars i spent on fans over they years. ive had hundreds of fans too... but i like pc build so...

 

it all started when my dad got an athlon 64 and some how he got a metal 120mm fan and moded the case and put it up front with a toggle switch, 5v,7v,12 mod as it was loud. then i got my p4 for $800. then i got in to moding case and well got me in to buying moded stuff and case/fans... my dad keept saying i was wasting my moeny... probly was right... anyway he would get an upgrade i got his old stuff.

 

thow stupid fluid barring fans omg so done with them. times we put oil in them to make em go like 6moths...

 

some how my dad found some fans for $4.99 and we needed rad fans and we could nit justife $20 a fan at the time. and thow fans still work today... and pwm just came out too. that was for are x56 builds and i7920 and i7960. and well everyone and there mom was water cooling so thats how i got in too water cooling. $150 to start back then...

 

anyway i got a bunch of orange fans non pwm because i love orange an they would die here and there. one point having 40 of them in my case...

 

 

Edited April 4, 2023 by thrasher_565

[RevGAM]

When shopping for fans, be careful because some brands charge a VERY low price ($1-5), however the shipping can range wildly.
Examples:

WinnerEco 120mm PC Computer Clear Case Quad 4 LED Light CPU Cooling Fan 12cm: $4.99+$4.99

XUnion Magic Diamond 120Mm Argb Pwm Case Fan: $1.79+14.99!

No/Brand 120mm PC Computer 16dB Ultra Silent 15 LEDs Case Fan Heatsink Cooler Cooling W/Anti Vibration Rubber,12CM Fan,12VDC 3P IDE 4pin|Fans & Cooling|: $4.99+$28!!!

 

Also, be aware that there are multiple vendors selling named and unnamed fans for different prices. I came across some where the prices varied by cents, but shipping varied by dollars. Sometimes the photos are identical, but other times the 1st photo is from a different angle.

 

And then there are the fans that are just really expensive, like Razer - the cheapest I could find:

Razer Kunai Hydraulic 120MM aRGB PC Fan: $41.39, with others double that. Other brands are over $100 for a fan!

[thrasher_565]

3 hours ago, RevGAM said:

When shopping for fans, be careful because some brands charge a VERY low price ($1-5), however the shipping can range wildly.
Examples:

WinnerEco 120mm PC Computer Clear Case Quad 4 LED Light CPU Cooling Fan 12cm: $4.99+$4.99

XUnion Magic Diamond 120Mm Argb Pwm Case Fan: $1.79+14.99!

No/Brand 120mm PC Computer 16dB Ultra Silent 15 LEDs Case Fan Heatsink Cooler Cooling W/Anti Vibration Rubber,12CM Fan,12VDC 3P IDE 4pin|Fans & Cooling|: $4.99+$28!!!

 

Also, be aware that there are multiple vendors selling named and unnamed fans for different prices. I came across some where the prices varied by cents, but shipping varied by dollars. Sometimes the photos are identical, but other times the 1st photo is from a different angle.

 

And then there are the fans that are just really expensive, like Razer - the cheapest I could find:

Razer Kunai Hydraulic 120MM aRGB PC Fan: $41.39, with others double that. Other brands are over $100 for a fan!

ya that has been a think since ebay... welcome to the internet... and now you have to add border crossing fee... yay...

amazon aslo scams you by saying there a cheap price you click it and the price is no ware to been seen...

aslo prices can change hourly and can be different per person... not only that adding things to your wish list the seller might give an offer on ebay and on ammazon it normally gets lower some times... but also listings get delisted then relisted so you have to go re look it up and add it to the list.. a way to get rid of bad reviews...

not only that thy can sell an item sell thousands then swap the item to make it seem like the shit item sell... and fake revews. cant even read all of them...

and now shipper can chage w/e they want... i got a bill for $250 for who knows what as the bill dose not say... FU fedex..i.. and well all shippers...

 

obo is also a scam...

Edited April 6, 2023 by thrasher_565

[RevGAM]

5 hours ago, thrasher_565 said:

ya that has been a think since ebay... welcome to the internet... and now you have to add border crossing fee... yay...

amazon aslo scams you by saying there a cheap price you click it and the price is no ware to been seen...

aslo prices can change hourly and can be different per person... not only that adding things to your wish list the seller might give an offer on ebay and on ammazon it normally gets lower some times... but also listings get delisted then relisted so you have to go re look it up and add it to the list.. a way to get rid of bad reviews...

not only that thy can sell an item sell thousands then swap the item to make it seem like the shit item sell... and fake revews. cant even read all of them...

and now shipper can chage w/e they want... i got a bill for $250 for who knows what as the bill dose not say... FU fedex..i.. and well all shippers...

 

obo is also a scam...

I have NEVER seen a price switch on Amazon. Admittedly, I've only ordered 100 or so products, but I've looked at thousands. Amazon does not control pricing, and only controls shipping if they are shipping it, otherwise it is determined by the seller.

As far as delisting, switching to eBay and stuff, that's all shenanigans played by disreputable sellers and there's only so much that any company can do about it. AFAIK, Amazon's strategy is to ban bad sellers (until they change their info?), put all their FBA stuff on pallets and sell them cheap.

Buying their own products and fake reviews are also a problem everywhere since the Internet makes it easy, especially if it's not fulfilled by the website. All the seller has to do is order their own products but never send them anywhere. Sure, they lose some money to Amazon, but it improves their apparent value.

 

It all sucks.

If FedEx sent you a bill and you don't know why, then challenge it.

 

Obo? Never heard of it.

[thrasher_565]

4 hours ago, RevGAM said:

I have NEVER seen a price switch on Amazon. Admittedly, I've only ordered 100 or so products, but I've looked at thousands. Amazon does not control pricing, and only controls shipping if they are shipping it, otherwise it is determined by the seller.

As far as delisting, switching to eBay and stuff, that's all shenanigans played by disreputable sellers and there's only so much that any company can do about it. AFAIK, Amazon's strategy is to ban bad sellers (until they change their info?), put all their FBA stuff on pallets and sell them cheap.

Buying their own products and fake reviews are also a problem everywhere since the Internet makes it easy, especially if it's not fulfilled by the website. All the seller has to do is order their own products but never send them anywhere. Sure, they lose some money to Amazon, but it improves their apparent value.

 

It all sucks.

If FedEx sent you a bill and you don't know why, then challenge it.

 

Obo? Never heard of it.

or best offer. its when you add it to the wish list and at the top they will give a better buy it now price. its different from make best offer witch 99% is a scam and sell dose not accept much lower...

 

ya thats one way to make it look like you sold more items... and its bs... same with having 2 accounts and biding it up...

 

who ever changes the price on ammazon it dose happen. i buy too much stuff on there... i know...

 

 

Edited April 6, 2023 by thrasher_565

[Lurking]

This thread made me look more into researching better fans. I currently only have DC fans. I stumbled across this professional review about a really silent fan, the Silent Wings Pro 4. For a single fan I would even invest the $32. But even a really expensive fan has 2 major design/quality issues that basically make it a non-starter. From the review:

- "Warning: This fan may collide with nylon dust filters that don’t have a mesh of some type. The height difference between the frame and the rotor structure is too small and there is a risk of mutual contact resulting in excessive, extremely unpleasant noise."

- The above improvements are indeed commendable, but we must also point out one downside that never needed to happen. At a frequency of about 2.4 GHz, you can see a narrow peak in the spectrograms, caused by the coil of the circuit changing the linear voltage to a pulse voltage. This sound is always very mild, but it will make life miserable for people with more sensitive hearing (although it will almost completely disappear in the enclosed space between the sides of the case). It’s as if it’s ringing in your ears. If you don’t know exactly how to match this tone, you can listen to it here (link to YouTube with 2400 Hz sample). 

 

Honestly, for $32 a fan should be perfect and not interfere with dust filter (or other obstacles that could be in a case fan location) and should not make an annoying noise. The whole point of a silent fan is to not have annoying noises. That coil whine must be true and annoying, I also read about it in some other reviews. This is really disappointing since I only need one fan and would invest $32 knowing I could have this fan for life. But not with 2 major design/QC issues. 

 

Looks like  you are better off buying a $10-$15 fan from Thermalright or Arctic from Amazon. If it creates a problem, return it. 

 

[thrasher_565]

3 hours ago, Lurking said:

This thread made me look more into researching better fans. I currently only have DC fans. I stumbled across this professional review about a really silent fan, the Silent Wings Pro 4. For a single fan I would even invest the $32. But even a really expensive fan has 2 major design/quality issues that basically make it a non-starter. From the review:

- "Warning: This fan may collide with nylon dust filters that don’t have a mesh of some type. The height difference between the frame and the rotor structure is too small and there is a risk of mutual contact resulting in excessive, extremely unpleasant noise."

- The above improvements are indeed commendable, but we must also point out one downside that never needed to happen. At a frequency of about 2.4 GHz, you can see a narrow peak in the spectrograms, caused by the coil of the circuit changing the linear voltage to a pulse voltage. This sound is always very mild, but it will make life miserable for people with more sensitive hearing (although it will almost completely disappear in the enclosed space between the sides of the case). It’s as if it’s ringing in your ears. If you don’t know exactly how to match this tone, you can listen to it here (link to YouTube with 2400 Hz sample). 

 

Honestly, for $32 a fan should be perfect and not interfere with dust filter (or other obstacles that could be in a case fan location) and should not make an annoying noise. The whole point of a silent fan is to not have annoying noises. That coil whine must be true and annoying, I also read about it in some other reviews. This is really disappointing since I only need one fan and would invest $32 knowing I could have this fan for life. But not with 2 major design/QC issues. 

 

Looks like  you are better off buying a $10-$15 fan from Thermalright or Arctic from Amazon. If it creates a problem, return it. 

 

i would have to see how they did the fan test... alot can change depends on how it was done. my first question was what case... hi rpm fans are known to fan problems with fan mounts and mesh but as a stern point you probably dont care its going to be loud anyway... no one needs anything above 1500 rpm. kinda odd that thats what were going after witch make no sence to me. unless there think of posably server options? as the market is getting bigger even diy home server.

 

the artic fan has problems too... also to the point it should be a class action law sue. but since its like $7 not many people care i guess... i own like 50 of them... 2 of them the corners snapped off... 

 

but we had good fans like 10 years ago the problem is on the box says w/e you want and we have no way to prove it...

 

the thermlright fans are hitting the price point but not seen any testing on them witch is odd...

 

people can justified the cost if they know the quolaty of it but manufacturers lie so... and who knows maybe the $7 fans also can last a long time too...

 

if i were to buy a fan it would be the Thermalright TL-B12 or xpg genital typhoon.

Edited April 7, 2023 by thrasher_565

[Lurking]

1 hour ago, thrasher_565 said:

i would have to see how they did the fan test... alot can change depends on how it was done. my first question was what case... hi rpm fans are known to fan problems with fan mounts and mesh but as a stern point you probably dont care its going to be loud anyway... no one needs anything above 1500 rpm. kinda odd that thats what were going after witch make no sence to me. unless there think of posably server options? as the market is getting bigger even diy home server.

 

the artic fan has problems too... also to the point it should be a class action law sue. but since its like $7 not many people care i guess... i own like 50 of them... 2 of them the corners snapped off... 

 

but we had good fans like 10 years ago the problem is on the box says w/e you want and we have no way to prove it...

 

the thermlright fans are hitting the price point but not seen any testing on them witch is odd...

 

people can justified the cost if they know the quolaty of it but manufacturers lie so... and who knows maybe the $7 fans also can last a long time too...

 

if i were to buy a fan it would be the Thermalright TL-B12 or xpg genital typhoon.

The test I linked details in very deep detail how they tested and they also tested varying obstacles (radiators, filters, hexagonal obstacle etc.). Looked like legit lab testing. At least  better than most tests i see with a guy sitting in his mom's basement holding a dB meter in front of the fan  

 

I'm still waiting for Gamers Nexus roll out their fan tests. it probably will take them a while to get 100% familiar with their setup before publicising results. 

 

 

For the last few years a mixture of DC cheaper Be Quiet and Fractal Design fans worked well. but if i need a new fan, i just wanted to get something better. At least wanted to jump to PWM. I kind of like the Arctic PST if you have multiple fans. 

 

I don't even know how the computer fan manufacturers get away with their data. They give a flowrate and a pressure, if you are lucky. But not the complete fan curve. I assume they just give the pressure at zero flow, and the flow at zero pressure. And the noise data are even better. Arctic says they have 0.3 sone (10.6 dB) for a fan that seems to perform like other fans that show 22 dB (and every 3 dB is twice as loud). So Arctic must have measured in 10m distance instead of 1m, or they were smoking some highly illegal substances. Or Arctic literally possess black magic. But they have cheap 5-packs of fans  

 

That Thermalright TL-B14 (I'm only looking for 140mm) is what I originally came up with to be a good  inexpensive fan. But haven't seen professional tests. 

 

I looked at Noctua fans. Initially I got overwhelmed by their choice. The NF-A14 PWM for $23 seems nice. It looks like some of their fans are 12V. and some of the fans might be the exact same fan, just with different constant speed (no PWM). Not knowing much about fans, Noctua seems to be a conservative choice. 

 

Edit: And it seems many of the good famous fans mostly exist in 120mm and 140mm is just coming to the market. It sounded like the 140mm Noctua is a recent release. is that true? And there is a famous Phantek T30, but that may come out later as 140mm. Am I the only one who used 140mm fans in cases? when it comes to performance, larger fan is just logical trick to be inherently better. Or is the reason that many people use the "good" fans on CPU coolers and radiators? 

 

[thrasher_565]

9 minutes ago, Lurking said:

The test I linked details in very deep detail how they tested and they also tested varying obstacles (radiators, filters, hexagonal obstacle etc.). Looked like legit lab testing. At least  better than most tests i see with a guy sitting in his mom's basement holding a dB meter in front of the fan  

 

I'm still waiting for Gamers Nexus roll out their fan tests. it probably will take them a while to get 100% familiar with their setup before publicising results. 

 

 

For the last few years a mixture of DC cheaper Be Quiet and Fractal Design fans worked well. but if i need a new fan, i just wanted to get something better. At least wanted to jump to PWM. I kind of like the Arctic PST if you have multiple fans. 

 

I don't even know how the computer fan manufacturers get away with their data. They give a flowrate and a pressure, if you are lucky. But not the complete fan curve. I assume they just give the pressure at zero flow, and the flow at zero pressure. And the noise data are even better. Arctic says they have 0.3 sone (10.6 dB) for a fan that seems to perform like other fans that show 22 dB (and every 3 dB is twice as loud). So Arctic must have measured in 10m distance instead of 1m, or they were smoking some highly illegal substances. Or Arctic literally possess black magic. But they have cheap 5-packs of fans  

 

That Thermalright TL-B14 (I'm only looking for 140mm) is what I originally came up with to be a good  inexpensive fan. But haven't seen professional tests. 

 

I looked at Noctua fans. Initially I got overwhelmed by their choice. The NF-A14 PWM for $23 seems nice. It looks like some of their fans are 12V. and some of the fans might be the exact same fan, just with different constant speed (no PWM). Not knowing much about fans, Noctua seems to be a conservative choice. 

 

ya ill have to take a look at that test.

 

posably gn might have that behind a paywall or i may of miss under stud something?  dose not sound like him but who knows he spent alot of moeny...

 

linus did a test years ago suing corsair test thing same as what gn has now and found all the data on box's false. or atlest cant be combarable between manufacturers. since then now one had the moeny to spend to do the testing and i guess linus didnt care or has sponsors with Noctua so thats the only fan he recommends.

 

ied be agents buying the artic fan but you do you.  

 

ya i was looking at the tr 140mm fan too.. tempting on buying some... but ya no data...

 

ya pwm is nice to have make thing easer imo.

 

Noctua  are grate fans just is it worth the cost... but i also didn't find them, quiet...

Edited April 7, 2023 by thrasher_565

[Lurking]

10 minutes ago, thrasher_565 said:

ya ill have to take a look at that test.

 

posably gn might have that behind a paywall or i may of miss under stud something?  dose not sound like him but who knows he spent alot of moeny...

 

linus did a test years ago suing corsair test thing same as what gn has now and found all the data on box's false. or atlest cant be combarable between manufacturers. since then now one had the moeny to spend to do the testing and i guess linus didnt care or has sponsors with Noctua so thats the only fan he recommends.

 

ied be agents buying the artic fan but you do you.  

 

ya i was looking at the tr 140mm fan too.. tempting on buying some... but ya no data...

 

ya pwm is nice to have make thing easer imo.

 

Noctua  are grate fans just is it worth the cost... but i also didn't find them, quiet...

I consider case, PSU and fans to be very long term investments that will survive many systems. So for me, it is worth to spend some extra $ to get a better fan. As long as 140mm fans will be a thing in future cases, it won't be obsolete. 

[Dogzilla07]

5 hours ago, thrasher_565 said:

i would have to see how they did the fan test... alot can change depends on how it was done. my first question was what case... hi rpm fans are known to fan problems with fan mounts and mesh but as a stern point you probably dont care its going to be loud anyway... no one needs anything above 1500 rpm. kinda odd that thats what were going after witch make no sence to me

Happens on lower speeds as well, HWcooling didn't just test at high speeds, and there's user reports of weird noise issues with SIlent Wings 4/PRO 120mm which match the HWcooling findings.

8 hours ago, Lurking said:

$10-$15 fan from Thermalright

Thermalright fans with scythe-like blade curves also make a weird noise, like Arctic P12/P14

3 hours ago, Lurking said:

looked at Noctua fans. Initially I got overwhelmed by their choice. The NF-A14 PWM for $23 seems nice. It looks like some of their fans are 12V. and some of the fans

NF-A14 is in the middle of the pack/nothing special in expreview testing 

3 hours ago, Lurking said:

That Thermalright TL-B14 (I'm only looking for 140mm) is what I originally came up with to be a good  inexpensive fan. But haven't seen professional tests. 

Here you go, professional testing, just a slight notch below HWcooling

https://www.expreview.com/87476.html

 

ignore 40.dBA it's a typo, it was testing at 36dBA

Quasarzone also has professional testing, and a bigger number of 140mm fans tested than HWcooling:

https://quasarzone.com/bbs/qc_qsz/views/1494102

 

HWBusters also started testing (with the same Longwin machines GamersNexus has):

 

https://hwbusters.com/cooling/phanteks-t30-120-cooling-fan-review/

[RevGAM]

9 hours ago, Lurking said:

This thread made me look more into researching better fans. I currently only have DC fans. I stumbled across this professional review about a really silent fan, the Silent Wings Pro 4. For a single fan I would even invest the $32. But even a really expensive fan has 2 major design/quality issues that basically make it a non-starter. From the review:

- "Warning: This fan may collide with nylon dust filters that don’t have a mesh of some type. The height difference between the frame and the rotor structure is too small and there is a risk of mutual contact resulting in excessive, extremely unpleasant noise."

- The above improvements are indeed commendable, but we must also point out one downside that never needed to happen. At a frequency of about 2.4 GHz, you can see a narrow peak in the spectrograms, caused by the coil of the circuit changing the linear voltage to a pulse voltage. This sound is always very mild, but it will make life miserable for people with more sensitive hearing (although it will almost completely disappear in the enclosed space between the sides of the case). It’s as if it’s ringing in your ears. If you don’t know exactly how to match this tone, you can listen to it here (link to YouTube with 2400 Hz sample). 

 

Honestly, for $32 a fan should be perfect and not interfere with dust filter (or other obstacles that could be in a case fan location) and should not make an annoying noise. The whole point of a silent fan is to not have annoying noises. That coil whine must be true and annoying, I also read about it in some other reviews. This is really disappointing since I only need one fan and would invest $32 knowing I could have this fan for life. But not with 2 major design/QC issues. 

 

Looks like  you are better off buying a $10-$15 fan from Thermalright or Arctic from Amazon. If it creates a problem, return it. 

 

Thanks for sharing that - very interesting! I'm not particularly sensitive to noise, having taught myself to "turn a deaf ear" to it, but some sounds, like the ones my teen son makes, get on my nerves.  LOL!

6 hours ago, thrasher_565 said:

xpg genital typhoon.

Bro, I know your dyslexia caused this. "genital"...Should be "gentle". I'm hope you can see the difference since this is one case where spelling is important. It took me a second when I saw it.

[RevGAM]

5 hours ago, Lurking said:

I don't even know how the computer fan manufacturers get away with their data. They give a flowrate and a pressure, if you are lucky. But not the complete fan curve. I assume they just give the pressure at zero flow, and the flow at zero pressure. And the noise data are even better. Arctic says they have 0.3 sone (10.6 dB) for a fan that seems to perform like other fans that show 22 dB (and every 3 dB is twice as loud). So Arctic must have measured in 10m distance instead of 1m, or they were smoking some highly illegal substances. Or Arctic literally possess black magic. But they have cheap 5-packs of fans  

LOL! I can't say I will do testing that you'll say is professional as I've got very limited equipment and money, but I'll do the best I can and improve as I go (and get funding someday, I hope). Reading this discussion is educational for me. Lying on packaging (and the number of data-less and false-data-driven reviewers) is part of my impetus to do this. Maybe someday my YT channel will have followers, too. LOL!

5 hours ago, thrasher_565 said:

since then now one had the moeny to spend to do the testing and i guess linus didnt care or has sponsors with Noctua so thats the only fan he recommends.

I think you're right. It irritates me, but then the amount of fluff that LTT produces irritates me. Oops, did I write that on the LTT forum?

9 hours ago, Lurking said:

The whole point of a silent fan is to not have annoying noises. That coil whine must be true and annoying,

I wonder if maybe some of these problems arise from...damn, what's it called...Resonant frequency? Sympathetic resonance? That phenomenon when something reaches a specific speed and starts making an audible ringing/whining noise because the frequency matches something in the material. I can't remember the name.

On a separate note, one of the reasons I object to speed limiting is because there are so many different speed ranges for fans and, if you want to test DC fans (I already bought a couple and more are on the way - spent hundreds already on anemometer, tunnel and fans, and I shouldn't) then you can't even test them against PWM and other types of fans with variable speeds, let alone fans that drop to 0 RPM at low enough power. So, if I want to test a P12 against a T30, I can't test the full power of the T30, and even setting the T30 to 2,000 RPM will still produce different results because they don't have the same top end. At least, however, they both have 0 RPM. I don't know how to compensate for this challenge other than to only compare like against like, which is even more difficult since there are too many variables aside from RPM, including the ones that I cannot measure like the blade parameters.

As for sound limiting, I can't quite grasp the reason for using a 40 dB test, and some fans cannot be tested at that point because they don't even get that noisy, which is why I've seen 35 dB (and, I think, less).

So, I've taken the approach of looking at what I can, measuring what I can, and let people choose the factors that are most important for them (for the idiots, LEDs will be #1): RPM, SP, AF, dB, power consumption, size, weight, price, MTTF, warranty, etc. I'm really curious to see what the P12 sounds like since it's got those scoopy blades.

 

BTW, I've seen reviewers plug in and unplug fans from headers while the PC is on, which strikes me as risky. Is it?


Well, I'll just do what I can, and learn along the way like I already did when I started doing the testing a few weeks ago. 

One thing I want to do that I haven't seen yet is to evaluate the shape of the wind cone produced - are the blades just pushing the air, or are they focusing or scattering it? Not sure how to do that, I'm thinking of some sort of very flexible barrier made up of strips or strands with good memory. Any ideas?

[RevGAM]

And now for something completely different: 

 

[RevGAM]

2 hours ago, Dogzilla07 said:

Happens on lower speeds as well, HWcooling didn't just test at high speeds, and there's user reports of weird noise issues with SIlent Wings 4/PRO 120mm which match the HWcooling findings.

Thermalright fans with scythe-like blade curves also make a weird noise, like Arctic P12/P14

NF-A14 is in the middle of the pack/nothing special in expreview testing 

Here you go, professional testing, just a slight notch below HWcooling

https://www.expreview.com/87476.html

 

ignore 40.dBA it's a typo, it was testing at 36dBA

Quasarzone also has professional testing, and a bigger number of 140mm fans tested than HWcooling:

https://quasarzone.com/bbs/qc_qsz/views/1494102

 

HWBusters also started testing (with the same Longwin machines GamersNexus has):

 

https://hwbusters.com/cooling/phanteks-t30-120-cooling-fan-review/

It's a shame that parts of the articles can't be translated by Mr. G because they're in images. My Chinese and Korean are almost non-existent.  

 

[RevGAM]

Argh! I was trying to look at the Hardware Busters stuff, but my Brave browser and/or MBBG and/or NoScript is blocking something. Brave often blocks stuff, even when I turn off its security.

[Lurking]

6 hours ago, Dogzilla07 said:

Happens on lower speeds as well, HWcooling didn't just test at high speeds, and there's user reports of weird noise issues with SIlent Wings 4/PRO 120mm which match the HWcooling findings.

Thermalright fans with scythe-like blade curves also make a weird noise, like Arctic P12/P14

NF-A14 is in the middle of the pack/nothing special in expreview testing 

Here you go, professional testing, just a slight notch below HWcooling

https://www.expreview.com/87476.html

 

ignore 40.dBA it's a typo, it was testing at 36dBA

Quasarzone also has professional testing, and a bigger number of 140mm fans tested than HWcooling:

https://quasarzone.com/bbs/qc_qsz/views/1494102

 

HWBusters also started testing (with the same Longwin machines GamersNexus has):

 

https://hwbusters.com/cooling/phanteks-t30-120-cooling-fan-review/

Sorry, I couldn't really deal with the Chinese graphs. Have to stick to English tests. 

In the HWCooling test i linked, the 120mm Noctua is duking it out with the 140mm bequiet 4 Pro. i haven't seen professional tests of the 140mm Noctua, but if it is somewhat similar to the 120mm, it should be better. At least not worse.

 

Phantek T30 and Nidec Gentle Typhoon seem to be really good, but don't exist in 140mm. but once they have 140mm fans, they sure will be considered.

 

I think the be quiet silent Wings and and Pro 4 are out. Too many issues and for the price and I don't think they are better than Noctua. If you need little airflow, the Bequiet Pure wings 2 for $13 may be a good choice. Especially if the MB doesn't throttle fans down a lot. But they only should be used with few restrictions. it looks like Bequiet achieves a lot of silence by just reducing speed and with that flow/pressure.

 

Noctua actually shows some fan curves. that makes them stand out. 

 

4 hours ago, RevGAM said:

Thanks for sharing that - very interesting! I'm not particularly sensitive to noise, having taught myself to "turn a deaf ear" to it, but some sounds, like the ones my teen son makes, get on my nerves.  LOL!

All what makes fans good ort bad is noise. if it wasn't for noise, we could just use very powerful cheap fans to meet all cooling needs. So for me, noise-normalized tests are the only meaningful ones. the HWCooling test i linked shows 31dB, 33dB, 36 dB etc. noise normalized tests. 

 

A lot of tests are for 120mm fans. this is sad since larger fans ar einherently better (if everything was equal). i actually do like their 140mm fan is universal and not marketed as flow or pressure. The conditions in a case vary so much and there are obstructions even for exhaust fans. 

 

Here another good test for 120mm fans. It shows the Phantek T30 and Gentle Typhoon are pretty good, followed byt he Noctua NF-A12. 

 

[thrasher_565]

4 hours ago, RevGAM said:

LOL! I can't say I will do testing that you'll say is professional as I've got very limited equipment and money, but I'll do the best I can and improve as I go (and get funding someday, I hope). Reading this discussion is educational for me. Lying on packaging (and the number of data-less and false-data-driven reviewers) is part of my impetus to do this. Maybe someday my YT channel will have followers, too. LOL!

I think you're right. It irritates me, but then the amount of fluff that LTT produces irritates me. Oops, did I write that on the LTT forum?

I wonder if maybe some of these problems arise from...damn, what's it called...Resonant frequency? Sympathetic resonance? That phenomenon when something reaches a specific speed and starts making an audible ringing/whining noise because the frequency matches something in the material. I can't remember the name.

On a separate note, one of the reasons I object to speed limiting is because there are so many different speed ranges for fans and, if you want to test DC fans (I already bought a couple and more are on the way - spent hundreds already on anemometer, tunnel and fans, and I shouldn't) then you can't even test them against PWM and other types of fans with variable speeds, let alone fans that drop to 0 RPM at low enough power. So, if I want to test a P12 against a T30, I can't test the full power of the T30, and even setting the T30 to 2,000 RPM will still produce different results because they don't have the same top end. At least, however, they both have 0 RPM. I don't know how to compensate for this challenge other than to only compare like against like, which is even more difficult since there are too many variables aside from RPM, including the ones that I cannot measure like the blade parameters.

As for sound limiting, I can't quite grasp the reason for using a 40 dB test, and some fans cannot be tested at that point because they don't even get that noisy, which is why I've seen 35 dB (and, I think, less).

So, I've taken the approach of looking at what I can, measuring what I can, and let people choose the factors that are most important for them (for the idiots, LEDs will be #1): RPM, SP, AF, dB, power consumption, size, weight, price, MTTF, warranty, etc. I'm really curious to see what the P12 sounds like since it's got those scoopy blades.

 

BTW, I've seen reviewers plug in and unplug fans from headers while the PC is on, which strikes me as risky. Is it?


Well, I'll just do what I can, and learn along the way like I already did when I started doing the testing a few weeks ago. 

One thing I want to do that I haven't seen yet is to evaluate the shape of the wind cone produced - are the blades just pushing the air, or are they focusing or scattering it? Not sure how to do that, I'm thinking of some sort of very flexible barrier made up of strips or strands with good memory. Any ideas?

the aquacomputer aquaero lt can do all the custom setting for fan control. its a must have. there is also a convertor form dc to pwm up to 1 amp fans by Phobya

https://www.titanrig.com/phobya-4-pin-pwm-to-3-pin-fan-converter-04-10-ph-0104-01-on.html

[RevGAM]

Dang it. I thought the anemometer I bought could do SP, but it only has temps (WB, DP & ambient), wind speed and wind volume. If I put a barrier on one end of my tunnel, how can I measure SP?

[Dogzilla07]

1 hour ago, Lurking said:

i haven't seen professional tests of the 140mm Noctua, but if it is somewhat similar to the 120mm, it should be better. At least not worse.

the NF-A12x25 120mm and the NF-A14 140mm are night a day, they couldn't more different in every aspect. Keep an eye on Hwcooling, when they do a NF-A14 how close it ends up to an A12x25

 

NF-A14/A15 have always been just ok, nothing special, similar to others, there's professional tests from 2015 of them losing to Thermalright 140mm fans

[Lurking]

4 minutes ago, RevGAM said:

Dang it. I thought the anemometer I bought could do SP, but it only has temps (WB, DP & ambient), wind speed and wind volume. If I put a barrier on one end of my tunnel, how can I measure SP?

Read the article I linked above. They have some chapters about their test setup. and yes, that is what you need and can't do it cheaper. 

 

Google for fan curves. Flow changes with pressure. So there isn't one value to determine, you need the whole curve (or a sample of points). 

 

This isn't something you can do at home. Unless you are very patient and very rich. 

[Dogzilla07]

11 minutes ago, RevGAM said:

Dang it. I thought the anemometer I bought could do SP, but it only has temps (WB, DP & ambient), wind speed and wind volume. If I put a barrier on one end of my tunnel, how can I measure SP?

There's no point in measuring static pressure without like a Longwin machine, even then it's just one data point as a part of an equation.

Flow is what u want, through a jerry-rigged tunnel, everyone has pictures of their tunnels, expreview, quasarzone, VSG (techpowerup). hwcooling. Some are more advanced like HWCooling or expreview, some are really bassic and easy to make at home, like the techpowerup one, or the ones Corsair and Phanteks shipped with their fans to reviewers

 

Just basically a plastic tunnel with plastic straws inside, and a mesh, and mounting point infront for a fan and a cut-out of a radiator for instance.