Quieter Fans?

[spacepickle]

To preface this post, I have already set fan curves and done anything else I can think of to minimize noise within reason.

 

My question is, are there any fans out there that would drastically increase noise levels? I'm currently using a Montech Air 903 Base and its included HP140 pwm fans with a Thermalright TL-E12B fan on my CPU cooler. 

 

Noise level at idle/slow usage is actually quite good but when I do something demanding it ramps up to be fairly loud. This is important because I record a good amount of audio and will occasionally leave the PC on overnight and silence is optimal for both of these situations. Based on a probably unreliable phone app I'm getting about 32-34 db right next to the case at idle. 38-40 db when running a game, and about 50 db when doing more heavy stuff (ambient noise is like 29-30 db in the same location). 

 

I don't have a particular budget but I am curious if there are fans that would be able to significantly cut this down. 100 bucks to upgrade to absolute silence would be totally worthwhile, but I probably won't spend anything if it's not going to make much of a noticeable difference. I know Noctua is about as quiet as it gets, but can you buy Noctua noise levels without spending Noctua money?

 

GPU is not really a factor because a) It's already very quiet, b) most of the stuff I need silence for doesn't involve the GPU in the slightest, and c) I don't have the money to upgrade atm

 

 

[Hinjima]

3 minutes ago, spacepickle said:

To preface this post, I have already set fan curves and done anything else I can think of to minimize noise within reason.

 

My question is, are there any fans out there that would drastically increase noise levels? I'm currently using a Montech Air 903 Base and its included HP140 pwm fans with a Thermalright TL-E12B fan on my CPU cooler. 

 

Noise level at idle/slow usage is actually quite good but when I do something demanding it ramps up to be fairly loud. This is important because I record a good amount of audio and will occasionally leave the PC on overnight and silence is optimal for both of these situations. Based on a probably unreliable phone app I'm getting about 32-34 db right next to the case at idle. 38-40 db when running a game, and about 50 db when doing more heavy stuff (ambient noise is like 29-30 db in the same location). 

 

I don't have a particular budget but I am curious if there are fans that would be able to significantly cut this down. 100 bucks to upgrade to absolute silence would be totally worthwhile, but I probably won't spend anything if it's not going to make much of a noticeable difference. I know Noctua is about as quiet as it gets, but can you buy Noctua noise levels without spending Noctua money?

 

GPU is not really a factor because a) It's already very quiet, b) most of the stuff I need silence for doesn't involve the GPU in the slightest, and c) I don't have the money to upgrade atm

 

 

The question is: Your custom fan curve, is it still too aggressive?  Are you able to lower the fan speed even more at the cost of higher temperatures?  Are you near the limit of thermal throttle or nowhere near?

 

I have one BeQuiet Silent Wings 4 Pro as an exhaust in my case and its the quietest fan I have ever owned, I run it at quite a high speed and its not audible.

 

[leclod]

In my opinion, no fan on the market will noticeably improve your cooling at the same noise level (except if one of your current fans is faulty).

What model is your cpu cooler ? a dual tower cooler like a peerless assassin will be quieter than a smaller cooler 

(Although the 7600 isn't even a hot cpu)

Good airflow in the case is important.

Good thermal paste application on the cpu is important.

 

 

Edited December 27, 2025 by leclod

[spacepickle]

3 minutes ago, leclod said:

In my opinion, no fan on the market will noticeably improve your cooling at the same noise level (except if one of your current fans is faulty).

What model is your cpu cooler ? a dual tower cooler like a peerless assassin will be quieter than a smaller cooler.

Also good airflow in the case is important.

 

 

Airflow is pretty decent in my opinion, entire front, back, and floor is perforated so air is moving from front to back without issues. I have a Thermalright Assasin Spirit 120 Evo which is a single tower. Honestly upgrading the CPU cooler might be the most effective move, I'm playing cyberpunk at the moment and whenever I tab out the case fans actually turn off.

50 minutes ago, Hinjima said:

The question is: Your custom fan curve, is it still too aggressive?  Are you able to lower the fan speed even more at the cost of higher temperatures?  Are you near the limit of thermal throttle or nowhere near?

 

I have one BeQuiet Silent Wings 4 Pro as an exhaust in my case and its the quietest fan I have ever owned, I run it at quite a high speed and its not audible.

 

They're theoretically below the max temperature, but they're at the point where I start losing game fps if I lower speeds any more.

[leclod]

6 minutes ago, spacepickle said:

Honestly upgrading the CPU cooler might be the most effective move, 

The 7600 isn't a hungry cpu, you shouldn't have to change the cooler.

Did you consider the thermal paste application ? 

[Hinjima]

14 minutes ago, spacepickle said:

Airflow is pretty decent in my opinion, entire front, back, and floor is perforated so air is moving from front to back without issues. I have a Thermalright Assasin Spirit 120 Evo which is a single tower. Honestly upgrading the CPU cooler might be the most effective move, I'm playing cyberpunk at the moment and whenever I tab out the case fans actually turn off.

They're theoretically below the max temperature, but they're at the point where I start losing game fps if I lower speeds any more.

What temperatures are you seeing when fps starts to go down?

The 7600 will boost all the way up to 95c and will give you max performance until 95c.

You can try to do a curve optimizer, I did this with my 7700x and I dropped 8c on average. 

[thrasher_565]

a better cooler would drop temps then you can run the fan slower...

posably find a quieter fan but a cooler would do way more imo... can replace the fans on the new cooler if you want even more... 

 

can go for broke and put the biggest aio in or just get the Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE (fan on it is meh. for aio ied go arctic. the pro are the newest fans. 

[manikyath]

those are pretty good noise levels to begin with, perhaps the solution is to find some sound absorbing material and pad the space around/behind the pc to avoid reflections.

 

in the end moving air just causes noise, and the trick is in reducing that noise as much as possible before it gets to your ears.

 

i have a retro pc with a stock intel cooler and a blower style GPU that's absolutely dead silent, because every flat surface in the case is covered in sound dampening material.

[spacepickle]

8 hours ago, Hinjima said:

What temperatures are you seeing when fps starts to go down?

The 7600 will boost all the way up to 95c and will give you max performance until 95c.

You can try to do a curve optimizer, I did this with my 7700x and I dropped 8c on average. 

I figured it out, turns out my 7800xt was thermal throttling because the hotspot temp was reaching the limit. All the numbers I was actively monitoring looked fine, but there was more going on than I was aware of. I made that one a little less aggressive and made the CPU and case fans a little more aggressive.  I'll try out curve optimizer and see if that does any more.

Right now I've got my curves absolutely dialed in to the point where I really can't hear it at all with the GPU at idle, guess I'll just make sure nothing crazy is running next time I'm recording audio.