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Noctua vs. be quiet!

HueyTheGod
By HueyTheGod
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Go to solution Solved by Lays,

i would still get noctua or wait for their new fans.

 

i dont trust them with these specs. and the new noctua fans are available. noiseblocker.

 

They are good fans. Cougar vortex has some <20db fans that go up to 120CFM if you are interested in high airflow to noise ratio...

It also depends on the looks. Right now the new black noctua fans are not available yet, so if you want to go with noctua you will need to buy the ugly coloured ones.

Fractal design, cougar, noctua, be quiet, noiseblocker, all are good brands for quiet fans.

 

 

 
Cougars fans actually compete hand in hand with Noctua, results below done by martin's liquid lab, you can also compare yourself by going to the same FPM readings for each fan, and seeing the noise levels.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Also, here's the way his setup is configured for the testing he does:
 

 

 

 

 

@400FPM air flow levels

 

  • The two GT fans have the lowest noise level (Around 38dBA)but do have a slight whine noise quality.
  • The two Noiseblocker e-loops have the second best noise level at around 43dbA and slightly better noise quality (more air noise and less bearing whine)
  • The Corsair SP120 has the third lowest noise level at around 44-45dbA but does have a little bit more motor noise.
  • The three Cougar fans get fourth in noise level with a varied noise quality. The PWM flavor does exhibit more noise using voltage control than the HDB model. The Dual-X and Vortex HDB are pretty close. The Piranha fan is a similar noise level an quality at around 46 or so dBA, fairly smooth but not silky smooth either.
  • The loudest fan at 400FPM is the Noctua NF-F12 at around 48dBA

@500FPM air flow levels

  • The two GT fans continue to have the lowest noise level at 42-43dbA, but it is a different tone (very little air noise, mostly just a bearing sound). Interestingly the AP-45 sample seems a bit smoother here than the AP-15
  • The Corsair SP120 is second lowest at this performance level at about 49dBA, noise quality is ok but not ultra smooth either.
  • The Noiseblocker B12-3 1900RPM model may not have super low noise level at 50dBA, but by ear it actually sounds much better. It is a smoother sound quality and makes it seem like a good number and actually comparatively good as the GTs. Also interestingly the noise quality of the higher speed Noiseblocker e-loop 2400RPM doesn’t seem nearly as good as the 1900RPM slower speed brother at this performance level.
  • The Cougar Vortex PWM is the only one to make it this far of the Cougars and putting out around 52dBA however noise quality is rather poor with a stronger motor tick.
  • The Noctua and Piranha also have legs to get to this air flow level, but the noise is also higher in the 52-53dBA levels and the noise quality not very good. The Piranha also seems to have a slight motor tick at this speed.

@600FPM air flow levels

  • The two GT fans continue to have legs to get to this point and at their trademark low noise levels although not what I would call great noise quality. There is a rather dominating bearing noise without much air noise to mask it. Regardless, it is hard to argue with the low 46dBA noise level at these speeds.
  • The Corsair SP120 would take second lowest noise level at this point with about 54dBA. It is considerably higher than the GTs, but still seems to be in it’s game without any unusual noise quality issues, fairly smooth for the speed.
  • The B12-4 higher speed Noiseblocker E-loop also makes it this far, but noise quality dramatically reduces with a higher whine developing. Noise level is a similar 54dBA, but it sounds louder than that by ear.
  • The Piranha also has legs to get here, but it’s the loudest of the bunch at 58dBA and also has some noise quality issues with an undulating low frequency and some motor tick.
  • The Noctua and Cougar fans are not capable of this much air flow.
Posted

Hey guys! I have a question about some case fans. I want some quiet fans that  move air at a more than exceptional rate, so I knew Noctua would be on the list. I have, however, found the be quiet! SilentWings 2 140mm fan's that seem to be great, judging by their air flow and noise level specifications.

 

Do any of you have any experience with these fans? They seem to be almost unheard of, and that scares me.

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/be-quiet-case-fan-bl063

My dream build is a watercooled 450D or 750D with a i7-4930k and 2 780 Ti's in SLI. My realistic build is a $1500 budget build. 

 

I need a job.

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noctua!

 

be quiet is pretty good as well, and also pretty well known but specs isnt everything-

Well, how does Be Quiet! compare against Noctua? They are about the same price, and the be quiet! fans are all black while the noctua's are... yeah.

My dream build is a watercooled 450D or 750D with a i7-4930k and 2 780 Ti's in SLI. My realistic build is a $1500 budget build. 

 

I need a job.

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They are good fans. Cougar vortex has some <20db fans that go up to 120CFM if you are interested in high airflow to noise ratio...

It also depends on the looks. Right now the new black noctua fans are not available yet, so if you want to go with noctua you will need to buy the ugly coloured ones.

Fractal design, cougar, noctua, be quiet, noiseblocker, all are good brands for quiet fans.

NEW PC build: Blank Heaven   minimalist white and black PC     Old S340 build log "White Heaven"        The "LIGHTCANON" flashlight build log        Project AntiRoll (prototype)        Custom speaker project

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Well, how does Be Quiet! compare against Noctua? They are about the same price, and the be quiet! fans are all black while the noctua's are... yeah.

i would still get noctua or wait for their new fans.

 

They are good fans. Cougar vortex has some <20db fans that go up to 120CFM if you are interested in high airflow to noise ratio...

It also depends on the looks. Right now the new black noctua fans are not available yet, so if you want to go with noctua you will need to buy the ugly coloured ones.

Fractal design, cougar, noctua, be quiet, noiseblocker, all are good brands for quiet fans.

i dont trust them with these specs. and the new noctua fans are available. noiseblocker.

G3258 - Sabertooth Mk. I - 560 Ti - 530 240GB - R4 - 750 G2

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I think Noctua vs. Be Quiet is a long-debated topic, since they're quite close. Personally I'd go with Be Quiet, if only because of Noctua's poop and vomit colour scheme. If I was building a system with little internal visibility, IE no window, then it'd be Noctua all the way. :P

 

EDIT: Also I think the reason that Be Quiet's case fans are as you put it "unheard of" is that in this price range I think most people would sacrifice looks for Noctua's top-notch performance. Honestly though, from what I can gather the two are neck-and-neck in terms of silence and quality, with Noctua just edging BQ out, so if colour isn't a concern, then again, Noctua it is.

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I guess I will go with Noctua, considering this case has no windows. Thanks.

My dream build is a watercooled 450D or 750D with a i7-4930k and 2 780 Ti's in SLI. My realistic build is a $1500 budget build. 

 

I need a job.

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the new noctua fans are available

Oh really now. Show me a link.

NEW PC build: Blank Heaven   minimalist white and black PC     Old S340 build log "White Heaven"        The "LIGHTCANON" flashlight build log        Project AntiRoll (prototype)        Custom speaker project

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I guess I will go with Noctua, considering this case has no windows. Thanks.

Lets say they were in a race.. noctuas would be an F1 car and the be quiets would be a lambo...both are great but noctuas are better, however I would say noiseblocker is better.

CPU: i7 3770k@ 4.6Ghz@ 1.23v - GPU: Palit GTX 660ti - MOBO: Asrock Extreme 4 - RAM: Corsair vengeance 8GB 1600Mhz - PSU: OCZ 650watt - STORAGE: 128Gb corsair force GT SSD/ 1TB seagate barracuda 7200rpm

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Oh really now. Show me a link.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/120mm-noctua-nf-f12-industrialppc-2000rpm-ip67-pwm-high-performance-fan

CPU: i7 3770k@ 4.6Ghz@ 1.23v - GPU: Palit GTX 660ti - MOBO: Asrock Extreme 4 - RAM: Corsair vengeance 8GB 1600Mhz - PSU: OCZ 650watt - STORAGE: 128Gb corsair force GT SSD/ 1TB seagate barracuda 7200rpm

                                                                                         COOLING: NH-U14s/ 3x Noiseblocker blacksilent pros/ Silverstone Air Penetrator/ 2 corsair AF120s

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  • Solution

i would still get noctua or wait for their new fans.

 

i dont trust them with these specs. and the new noctua fans are available. noiseblocker.

 

They are good fans. Cougar vortex has some <20db fans that go up to 120CFM if you are interested in high airflow to noise ratio...

It also depends on the looks. Right now the new black noctua fans are not available yet, so if you want to go with noctua you will need to buy the ugly coloured ones.

Fractal design, cougar, noctua, be quiet, noiseblocker, all are good brands for quiet fans.

 

 

 
Cougars fans actually compete hand in hand with Noctua, results below done by martin's liquid lab, you can also compare yourself by going to the same FPM readings for each fan, and seeing the noise levels.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Also, here's the way his setup is configured for the testing he does:
 

 

 

 

 

@400FPM air flow levels

 

  • The two GT fans have the lowest noise level (Around 38dBA)but do have a slight whine noise quality.
  • The two Noiseblocker e-loops have the second best noise level at around 43dbA and slightly better noise quality (more air noise and less bearing whine)
  • The Corsair SP120 has the third lowest noise level at around 44-45dbA but does have a little bit more motor noise.
  • The three Cougar fans get fourth in noise level with a varied noise quality. The PWM flavor does exhibit more noise using voltage control than the HDB model. The Dual-X and Vortex HDB are pretty close. The Piranha fan is a similar noise level an quality at around 46 or so dBA, fairly smooth but not silky smooth either.
  • The loudest fan at 400FPM is the Noctua NF-F12 at around 48dBA

@500FPM air flow levels

  • The two GT fans continue to have the lowest noise level at 42-43dbA, but it is a different tone (very little air noise, mostly just a bearing sound). Interestingly the AP-45 sample seems a bit smoother here than the AP-15
  • The Corsair SP120 is second lowest at this performance level at about 49dBA, noise quality is ok but not ultra smooth either.
  • The Noiseblocker B12-3 1900RPM model may not have super low noise level at 50dBA, but by ear it actually sounds much better. It is a smoother sound quality and makes it seem like a good number and actually comparatively good as the GTs. Also interestingly the noise quality of the higher speed Noiseblocker e-loop 2400RPM doesn’t seem nearly as good as the 1900RPM slower speed brother at this performance level.
  • The Cougar Vortex PWM is the only one to make it this far of the Cougars and putting out around 52dBA however noise quality is rather poor with a stronger motor tick.
  • The Noctua and Piranha also have legs to get to this air flow level, but the noise is also higher in the 52-53dBA levels and the noise quality not very good. The Piranha also seems to have a slight motor tick at this speed.

@600FPM air flow levels

  • The two GT fans continue to have legs to get to this point and at their trademark low noise levels although not what I would call great noise quality. There is a rather dominating bearing noise without much air noise to mask it. Regardless, it is hard to argue with the low 46dBA noise level at these speeds.
  • The Corsair SP120 would take second lowest noise level at this point with about 54dBA. It is considerably higher than the GTs, but still seems to be in it’s game without any unusual noise quality issues, fairly smooth for the speed.
  • The B12-4 higher speed Noiseblocker E-loop also makes it this far, but noise quality dramatically reduces with a higher whine developing. Noise level is a similar 54dBA, but it sounds louder than that by ear.
  • The Piranha also has legs to get here, but it’s the loudest of the bunch at 58dBA and also has some noise quality issues with an undulating low frequency and some motor tick.
  • The Noctua and Cougar fans are not capable of this much air flow.

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Thats 120mm. The fan he linked to was a 140

NEW PC build: Blank Heaven   minimalist white and black PC     Old S340 build log "White Heaven"        The "LIGHTCANON" flashlight build log        Project AntiRoll (prototype)        Custom speaker project

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Ryzen 3950X | AMD Vega Frontier Edition | ASUS X570 Pro WS | Corsair Vengeance LPX 64GB | NZXT H500 | Seasonic Prime Fanless TX-700 | Custom loop | Coolermaster SK630 White | Logitech MX Master 2S | Samsung 980 Pro 1TB + 970 Pro 512GB | Samsung 58" 4k TV | Scarlett 2i4 | 2x AT2020

 

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Thats 120mm. The fan he linked to was a 140

Oh didnt notice that, but still if he wanted to use them he could, the difference in performance is pretty minimal.

CPU: i7 3770k@ 4.6Ghz@ 1.23v - GPU: Palit GTX 660ti - MOBO: Asrock Extreme 4 - RAM: Corsair vengeance 8GB 1600Mhz - PSU: OCZ 650watt - STORAGE: 128Gb corsair force GT SSD/ 1TB seagate barracuda 7200rpm

                                                                                         COOLING: NH-U14s/ 3x Noiseblocker blacksilent pros/ Silverstone Air Penetrator/ 2 corsair AF120s

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Oh didnt notice that, but still if he wanted to use them he could, the difference in performance is pretty minimal.

Ehh, they are way too pricey and would rather have butt ugly fans than pay that much.

My dream build is a watercooled 450D or 750D with a i7-4930k and 2 780 Ti's in SLI. My realistic build is a $1500 budget build. 

 

I need a job.

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