Premium Fans vs Stock Fans

[ErgoPandemonium]

After a few pc builds for office and gaming use my general rule is to put some money aside for good quality fan bearings. The cheap fans just don't remain quiet for more than a few months.

Cooling wise I have never found any significant improvement vs noise. These days I rather look for fans that can move a large volume of air in the laminar flow regime and mod it into the case.

[brockelley]

I'd love to participate in this community, but everyone here seems like a bunch of ass hats.

[Victorious Secret]

I'd love to participate in this community, but everyone here seems like a bunch of ass hats.

 

No, thats just the obnoxious assholes who need to shove their opinions as "facts" down everyones throats, the ones who judge you based off what kind of cable sleeving you have. Or what OS you use. You can ignore those guys. 

 

Everyone else is pretty reasonable. 

[TheProfosist]

-snip-

Everyone else is pretty reasonable.

nope not really.

[MegaDave91]

I'd love to participate in this community, but everyone here seems like a bunch of ass hats.

Don't worry, I don't think @helping owns/has ever even owned a single Noctua. Could be wrong though.

 

Personal hands on experience trumps every time.

[helping]

Don't worry, I don't think @helping owns/has ever even owned a single Noctua. Could be wrong though.

 

Personal hands on experience trumps every time.

I'm not sure for what reason we agree that I'm being an asshat, I thought it was just a normal conversation, but ok

 

I had 5 before, but gave two away.

 

 

They're getting quite dusty, might considering buying them filters.

[ShadowCaptain]

 

The QE line only of Corsair fans are also what I consider good. 

 

I love my SP 120 quiets, they look great, cool well, are pretty quiet, and cost very little

[Menta]

Any Aerocool DC users out there, whats the take? just gotta love that look and seems solid

[nicklmg]

FYI: This video is listed as "PRIVATE" in Google Plus. You might want to look into this to make sure you maximize your views. Excellent video!

Yeah one of the graphs glitched out in the original upload so the wrong link was in the thread for a few hours

Sorry about that and thanks for pointing it out!

[VSG]

I agree eloops are good but they can only go on one side of a rad if I recall. Also they have only 2 PWM models and I believe only come in 120mm.

 

That's only true for heatsinks/rads where the fins are right up next to the frame. The only radiator that I have had this issue with was the Mo.Ra 3 (that very few people have) and even then it was very slight. Also, a single 30 w fan controller channel can control 16 of the B12-4s (likely even more but I haven't tested) for push-pull on 480mm radiators. Other eloops consume less power than this so the PWM benefit isn't a whole lot.

 

I wish Martin stayed close to me, I could give him access to do his tests in an isolated heatbox that is sound/vibration proof and at a constant, controllable ambient temperature.

[Victorious Secret]

@Slick would you consider doing a more thorough test of all the popular fans out there, just so we can generate some lovely price to performance graphs for everyone and maybe start to bury bickering that comes up when fans are involved?

Oh who am I kidding, bickering will always happen. 

[Slick]

@Slick would you consider doing a more thorough test of all the popular fans out there, just so we can generate some lovely price to performance graphs for everyone and maybe start to bury bickering that comes up when fans are involved?

Oh who am I kidding, bickering will always happen. 

 

People enjoy being angry is a constant

 

I do think this would be fairly interesting but the investment would be substantial And honestly most people seem to buy them based off looks in the end anyways so I don't think it's a big deal

[Victorious Secret]

People enjoy being angry is a constant

 

I do think this would be fairly interesting but the investment would be substantial And honestly most people seem to buy them based off looks in the end anyways so I don't think it's a big deal

 

Fair enough, unless you guys already have enough spare fans of various makes. 

 

I just wanted to see more slo mo of you throwing fans at a PC

[Queek]

Ok so this video was comparing the sound of the fans at 1100 rpm (under load?), but when I'm under load, I couldn't give a single damn what my noise levels are because I'm gaming at that point.  

Isn't the whole allure of NF-F12's to be more effective and quieter at lower rpm, so that when you're just doing basic stuff beside your PC, it's nice and quiet?  Why not compare the general usage and idle noise levels and temperatures?  Those numbers would have a whole lot more meaning to me than these.  I think this is one of those situations where having the exact same rpm on both fans (standardization) isn't a big deal.  

[Faa]

Uhm buy some random cheap 1000 rpm fan with a sleeve bearing, lubricate it by yourself and it will be quieter than a noctua fan >.> I bought a pair of PPC fans, both were making some whizzing fizzing noises at its lowest speed (500rpm).
 

 

 Corsair fan in my opinion are just poor very poor. Maybe the PWM ones are better but I had a bunch of motor noise and odd stuff when undervolting them. 

The high performance ones? They seem to be having at the same speed a louder motor than the QE's, but still their sound quality at 2400 rpm is much better than the NF-F12.
 

 

Of course, Noctua has some more exotic offerings, but they're not really the be all end all of fans which many people are led to think, especially the NFF12.

How can the NF-F12 be the best fan when its a massive downgrade towards their older P12? The P12 used a modified sleeve bearing, the sound quality was much better and the bearing is overall much quieter. 

 

 

Isn't the whole allure of NF-F12's to be more effective and quieter at lower rpm, so that when you're just doing basic stuff beside your PC, it's nice and quiet? 

Can be practically said to all pwm fans. The concept of the nf-12 isn't "they should be used for slow speeds", you see jonnies recommending them because theyre "whisper" quiet at full speed when people have no clue how to make enable fan control in the bios. NF-F12's are just extremely loud not even exaggerated for 1500 rpm fans. My AP181's at 700rpm are so much more pleasing than them.

[spwath]

Any Aerocool DC users out there, whats the take? just gotta love that look and seems solid

Haha, yeah just bought one today and carried it home on my bike

 

Its very nice, looks great, compared to my spectre pro is muhc quieter. And pretty. Matches my ap123 blue

[spwath]

 

Uhm buy some random cheap 1000 rpm fan with a sleeve bearing, lubricate it by yourself and it will be quieter than a noctua fan >.> I bought a pair of PPC fans, both were making some whizzing fizzing noises at its lowest speed (500rpm).

 

 

The high performance ones? They seem to be having at the same speed a louder motor than the QE's, but still their sound quality at 2400 rpm is much better than the NF-F12.

 

 

How can the NF-F12 be the best fan when its a massive downgrade towards their older P12? The P12 used a modified sleeve bearing, the sound quality was much better and the bearing is overall much quieter. 

 

 

Can be practically said to all pwm fans. The concept of the nf-12 isn't "they should be used for slow speeds", you see jonnies recommending them because theyre "whisper" quiet at full speed when people have no clue how to make enable fan control in the bios. NF-F12's are just extremely loud not even exaggerated for 1500 rpm fans. My AP181's at 700rpm are so much more pleasing than them.

 

Yeah i agree their are much better options than Nf-f12. For example, NB eloops, Ap123, Aerocool DS

 

This too. My ap123 and ap122 are nice and quiet, no anoying noise. NEver used noctua, but i dont plan to, i dont want to put 30$ poo colored stuff in my system.

[TheProfosist]

That's only true for heatsinks/rads where the fins are right up next to the frame. The only radiator that I have had this issue with was the Mo.Ra 3 (that very few people have) and even then it was very slight. Also, a single 30 w fan controller channel can control 16 of the B12-4s (likely even more but I haven't tested) for push-pull on 480mm radiators. Other eloops consume less power than this so the PWM benefit isn't a whole lot.

 

I wish Martin stayed close to me, I could give him access to do his tests in an isolated heatbox that is sound/vibration proof and at a constant, controllable ambient temperature.

its just what I have heard from multiple sources and even in a build log in the past that used them. I would like to try them but where I was going to use them the industrial A14 2000rpm noctua's are a better fit.

What is their power rating because noctua's are also quite low. on high end fans the motors just seem much more efficient. PWM isnt there for ton of fan control (which is nice) but because you can control then far more and more accurately. Generally you can get a fan quite a but lower with PWM and with voltage since the motors are designed for 12v. Its the same way with LEDs.

There are a bunch of ways you could do this and a bunch of data that could and possibly should be recorded including the sound for the tone. Also I dont know if a standalone test it best some real world testing would be needed as well. It would be a very larger undertaking. It would actually love to do something like that but would need backing cause all the tech and time that would be spent on a project like that.

People enjoy being angry is a constant

 

I do think this would be fairly interesting but the investment would be substantial And honestly most people seem to buy them based off looks in the end anyways so I don't think it's a big deal

It is the internet afterall...

Yep just like how most people who stand by noctua have never bought them or if they have they have not had something comparable from another brand to make a proper comparison. But yes for many first or even second time builder looks trump everything.

Uhm buy some random cheap 1000 rpm fan with a sleeve bearing, lubricate it by yourself and it will be quieter than a noctua fan >.> I bought a pair of PPC fans, both were making some whizzing fizzing noises at its lowest speed (500rpm).

 

 

The high performance ones? They seem to be having at the same speed a louder motor than the QE's, but still their sound quality at 2400 rpm is much better than the NF-F12.

 

 

How can the NF-F12 be the best fan when its a massive downgrade towards their older P12? The P12 used a modified sleeve bearing, the sound quality was much better and the bearing is overall much quieter. 

 

 

Can be practically said to all pwm fans. The concept of the nf-12 isn't "they should be used for slow speeds", you see jonnies recommending them because theyre "whisper" quiet at full speed when people have no clue how to make enable fan control in the bios. NF-F12's are just extremely loud not even exaggerated for 1500 rpm fans. My AP181's at 700rpm are so much more pleasing than them.

Maybe you have bad ones idk. mine are about as quite as you can get for having 14 fans.

The QE's rpm is close to a NF-F12's but the HP is 2350 which is significantly higher. the QE's spec wise dont get close to the NF-F12's and ive had other issues with them that ive mentioned before. It looks like the QE's are also available in PWM now so at least that should resolve the undervolting issues I experienced. i just noticed something that of the two the new SP120 LEDs are closer to the HP not the QE which to me makes no sense but I guess people usually dont fill their cases with fans like I do so maybe the higher RPM is needed.

The NF-F12 has much high pressure and for 120mm and 1500rpm not much comes close. Its specifically designed for rads. I think the focused flow system actually creates much of the noise since it essentially strights out the air before getting to the rad which would normally do this. Someone would have to sacrifice a NF-F12 to try this though. The P12 is more of a general case fan and im super bummed they didnt bring the 120mm back in the redux line. Hopefully they will since they have the 140mm in both variants.

your comparing a NF-F12 @ 1500rpm to a AP181 at 700rpm? That doesnt seem fair unless something about them is equivalent.

Yeah i agree their are much better options than Nf-f12. For example, NB eloops, Ap123, Aerocool DS

 

This too. My ap123 and ap122 are nice and quiet, no anoying noise. NEver used noctua, but i dont plan to, i dont want to put 30$ poo colored stuff in my system.

my pentium 20th anniversary build is going to get a bunch of AP123's since I wanted to use them on a build a while ago when I first had my intel X79 board. Normally I wouldnt want voltage controlled fans but those are a exception since they go so low (3v I think). Also the cause im using has built in 3 pin fan controller. They will also fit my theme perfectly I think.

[helping]

I do think this would be fairly interesting but the investment would be substantial

??

You didn't specify, so I'd be inclined to disagree under the assumption you're talking about the initial cost of this type of project and not the amount of work and time that would have to go in to it (to which you could quote the cost of time, but I think this would be pretty high yield)

 

A basic digital CFM meter can be rented pretty cheaply, or "rented" by buying and returning, but I don't know if Canadeh has any hardware shops you can do that. Even static pressure can be calculated, albeit it's probably a useless exercise due to differences in blade and frame design.

You guys could do it, ballparking around 200$ freedoms, probably slightly more maple dollars. What you guys lack is the man power, the ingenuity, and the methodology. You guys have the physical resources to produce a respectable video and data, I'm certain of that.

 

I also can't figure out why everyone thinks everyone is angry and being butts. If we can't have a discussion about anything why should I even bother posting anything meaningful anymore.

 

The QE's rpm is close to a NF-F12's but the HP is 2350 which is significantly higher. the QE's spec wise dont get close to the NF-F12's and ive had other issues with them that ive mentioned before. It looks like the QE's are also available in PWM now so at least that should resolve the undervolting issues I experienced. i just noticed something that of the two the new SP120 LEDs are closer to the HP not the QE which to me makes no sense but I guess people usually dont fill their cases with fans like I do so maybe the higher RPM is needed.

The NF-F12 has much high pressure and for 120mm and 1500rpm not much comes close. Its specifically designed for rads. I think the focused flow system actually creates much of the noise since it essentially strights out the air before getting to the rad which would normally do this. Someone would have to sacrifice a NF-F12 to try this though. The P12 is more of a general case fan and im super bummed they didnt bring the 120mm back in the redux line. Hopefully they will since they have the 140mm in both variants.

your comparing a NF-F12 @ 1500rpm to a AP181 at 700rpm? That doesnt seem fair unless something about them is equivalent.

I just skimmed your post, but the critical flaw you're making here is trying to make a comparison with fan specs, specifically what is provided and to a lesser extent RPM.

 

I'm not comparing performance obviously, but its sad that a 180mm fan at 800rpm is quieter than a 120mm fan at 1500 rpm thats considered to be the best fan in terms of noise/performance. Even at 1000 rpm they sound better than nf-f12's at full blast. Let alone the noise the bearing produces at full speed, it's nowhere as smooth as FDB's or sleeves.

doesn't seem that odd, the RPM of the large fan is much lower, unless these are like some 5$ fans.

[Faa]

Maybe you have bad ones idk. mine are about as quite as you can get for having 14 fans.

The original don't have a noisy bearing, the PPC line have.

 

 

The NF-F12 has much high pressure and for 120mm and 1500rpm not much comes close. Its specifically designed for rads. I think the focused flow system actually creates much of the noise since it essentially strights out the air before getting to the rad which would normally do this. Someone would have to sacrifice a NF-F12 to try this though. The P12 is more of a general case fan and im super bummed they didnt bring the 120mm back in the redux line. Hopefully they will since they have the 140mm in both variants.

Lol static pressure rating means nothing, all that matters is the gap between the blades. The gap is bigger on the nf-f12, so I'm not sure where you're getting it from that the P12 is just a general case fan. In all honesty, it's just a horrible downgrade of the P12 with 200rpm increase in speed and a bunch of useless noise for a minor performance gain.

http://content.hwigroup.net/images/products/xl/134020/noctua_nff12_pwm.jpg & http://ic.tweakimg.net/ext/i/1257242502.jpeg 

 

 

your comparing a NF-F12 @ 1500rpm to a AP181 at 700rpm? That doesnt seem fair unless something about them is equivalent.

I'm not comparing performance obviously, but its sad that a 180mm fan at 800rpm is quieter than a 120mm fan at 1500 rpm thats considered to be the best fan in terms of noise/performance. Even at 1000 rpm they sound better than nf-f12's at full blast. Let alone the noise the bearing produces at full speed, it's nowhere as smooth as FDB's or sleeves.

 

 

Yep just like how most people who stand by noctua have never bought them or if they have they have not had something comparable from another brand to make a proper comparison. But yes for many first or even second time builder looks trump everything.

The way you were comparing the P12 with the F12 doesnt seem like a proper comparison. 

[Faceman]

If you live in America, the absolute best price to performance fans available are the Cougar Vortex 120/140mm PWMs.

 

The fans are extremely high quality, just holding and spinning them you can feel the engineering in your hand.

 

They are truly whisper quiet even at full speed(if you use the included rubber grommets), they work well as both airflow and static pressure, and they can be had for as low as $5 after mail-in-rebate.

 

The two main options to buy this fan are either $10 without MIR, usually on TigerDirect or Newegg.  Or you pay the full $15 ea. and use a $10 mail in rebate to get them for $5 each(limit 3 per household).

[Shahnewaz]

EPIC Intro @Slick

Keep up the good work

[TheProfosist]

Well im done.

[Victorious Secret]

Well im done.

Don't ever mess with fan fanboys. They are up there with the worst of fanboys for their religious defence and condescension of anyone who thinks and buys differently.

[Menta]

 SPWATH thats EPIC (photo)...

 

nice bike by the way