3x NF-F12 or 2x NF-A14

[Thisunami]

As far as Airflow, sound level (dBa) and static pressure what configuration would work better in lets say the NZXT H440 as intake fans. *Looking more at the IndustrialPPC varients because of the better motor and the color. 

[TheProfosist]

Depends what you plan on using in the rest of the case.

[loccilucas]

As far as Airflow, sound level (dBa) and static pressure what configuration would work better in lets say the NZXT H440 as intake fans. *Looking more at the IndustrialPPC varients because of the better motor and the color.

Go for the 2 A14's although the 3 F12's would move more air, I guarantee you wouldnt see a difference in temps between them

[TheProfosist]

Go for the 2 A14's although the 3 F12's would move more air, I guarantee you wouldnt see a difference in temps between them

The 140s will be quieter too

[Thisunami]

Depends what you plan on using in the rest of the case.

This is what I planned on running

 

The 140s will be quieter too

Im definitely more concerned with sound than temps, but if I have the fan configs running at lets say the max rpm they could run at 30dB(A) will the 3 still significantly outperform the 2? Dont take into consideration budget, im a min/max type person with a hint of ocd lol.

[TheProfosist]

This is what I planned on running

 

Im definitely more concerned with sound than temps, but if I have the fan configs running at lets say the max rpm they could run at 30dB(A) will the 3 still significantly outperform the 2? Dont take into consideration budget, im a min/max type person with a hint of ocd lol.

I would go 140mm all the way around (so 5 total) and the hook them all up to this PWM splitter http://goo.gl/7XO1MD and plug them into your CPU header. Nice simple control for all the fans and itll be crazy quiet at idle.

[Norman_the_Owl]

I have three of  those sexy black NF-F12s...

 

Make sure you buy don't run them at full speed, they're hella loud

 

They'd probably be better than NF A14s as they have better coverage. Don't want to choke the 140mm fans, you want to use up all of that little intake you get

[TheProfosist]

I have three of  those sexy black NF-F12s...

 

Make sure you buy don't run them at full speed, they're hella loud

I have one 2K rpm one that im going to hook up to my GPU.

[Norman_the_Owl]

I have one 2K rpm one that im going to hook up to my GPU.

Your GPU?

 

What?

 

That would kinda defeat the entire "Silence" thing

[Thisunami]

I would go 140mm all the way around (so 5 total) and the hook them all up to this PWM splitter http://goo.gl/7XO1MD and plug them into your CPU header. Nice simple control for all the fans and itll be crazy quiet at idle.

Now 2 of those fans are going to be hooked up to the Kraken X61. So is hooking those up to the splitter as well better than just the normal setup? And I know this is off topic a little, but my friend recommended getting 3x SP120 for the front intake, 2x SP140 for the top exhaust via the X61, and 1x AF140 for rear exhaust. He said I wont notice a big difference in anything, but i'll spend about $50 less and have red led ambient lighting from the 6 fans. But being that Im a quiet freak is there a way to control those fans speed because from what i can tell they're not PWM nor does Corsair make a PWM version.

[Nomy]

Now 2 of those fans are going to be hooked up to the Kraken X61. So is hooking those up to the splitter as well better than just the normal setup? And I know this is off topic a little, but my friend recommended getting 3x SP120 for the front intake, 2x SP140 for the top exhaust via the X61, and 1x AF140 for rear exhaust. He said I wont notice a big difference in anything, but i'll spend about $50 less and have red led ambient lighting from the 6 fans. But being that Im a quiet freak is there a way to control those fans speed because from what i can tell they're not PWM nor does Corsair make a PWM version.

As I currently own a H440 with all noctua fans(except for the rear Corsair AF140) I'm a silence freak as well.

I went for 3 NF-F12's in the front and 2 NF-A14's in pull on my NZXT X60 top.

They're all PWM fans, the 2 radiator fans' rpm is configured by my cpu cooler and I used the Y-splitter cables on my 3 front fans to connect them to my mobo and configure their rpm's as I please.

They're soundless, love them.

[TheProfosist]

Now 2 of those fans are going to be hooked up to the Kraken X61. So is hooking those up to the splitter as well better than just the normal setup? And I know this is off topic a little, but my friend recommended getting 3x SP120 for the front intake, 2x SP140 for the top exhaust via the X61, and 1x AF140 for rear exhaust. He said I wont notice a big difference in anything, but i'll spend about $50 less and have red led ambient lighting from the 6 fans. But being that Im a quiet freak is there a way to control those fans speed because from what i can tell they're not PWM nor does Corsair make a PWM version.

Noctua fans are significantly better in my opinion than the corsiar's. You could hook up all the fans to the kraken using that splitter as well and its something that I would do as MSI doesnt have the best fan control. Also Fans dont do much ambient lighting. it mostly stays withing the fan. Corsair does make PWM versions but they then wont be LED. You can control fan via voltage but the kraken controls the fan via PWM. Depending on what theme your going for, if your going for one at all Noctua does also off the Redux line which has the P14's. Those will be a slightly cheaper option. They will have a bit more air presure and a bit less air flow. Theyll likly be a bit louder than the A14's due to their older style construction but I wouldnt say by much. I just bought 8 of these to put into my HTPC which I just bought a Fractal Define R5 for. i will be controlling all of those fans with the same splitter off the on board ASUS fan control via the CPU Fan header.

[TheProfosist]

As I currently own a H440 with all noctua fans(except for the rear Corsair AF140) I'm a silence freak as well.

I went for 3 NF-F12's in the front and 2 NF-A14's in pull on my NZXT X60 top.

They're all PWM fans, the 2 radiator fans' rpm is configured by my cpu cooler and I used the Y-splitter cables on my 3 front fans to connect them to my mobo and configure their rpm's as I please.

They're soundless, love them.

140mm fans will just inherently be quieter than 120mm's. Also having them all the same model and being PWM allows you to control all the fans from just one place with ease.

[Nomy]

140mm fans will just inherently be quieter than 120mm's. Also having them all the same model and being PWM allows you to control all the fans from just one place with ease.

Not according to noctua's own website.

 

NF-F12's:

http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=productview&products_id=42&lng=en&set=1

 

NF-A14's:

http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=productview&products_id=65&lng=en&set=1

[Charger]

Not according to noctua's own website.

 

NF-F12's:

http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=productview&products_id=42&lng=en&set=1

 

NF-A14's:

http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=productview&products_id=65&lng=en&set=1

at a lower rpm a 140 will move the same amount of air as a 120 at full speed which is where the idea that lager fans are quieter comes from

[TheProfosist]

at a lower rpm a 140 will move the same amount of air as a 120 at full speed which is where the idea that lager fans are quieter comes from

I also prefer the tonal qualities of the A14's over the F12's. Its only slight but hey if ive got the choice. Ill be seeing soon about the redux P14's. I did have the original P12's which were nice though.

[Thisunami]

Not according to noctua's own website.

 

NF-F12's:

http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=productview&products_id=42&lng=en&set=1

 

NF-A14's:

http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=productview&products_id=65&lng=en&set=1

Am I right to assume the noise level they have listed is measured at max rpm? And is this a good site for getting an idea of how loud the fans will be together? : http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-spl.htm

 

and I've been doing research on the corsair fans and you're right TheProfosist im just gonna stick to noctua (specifically the iPPC branded for the closest match to my black/red theme) lol

[TheProfosist]

Am I right to assume the noise level they have listed is measured at max rpm? And is this a good site for getting an idea of how loud the fans will be together? : http://www.sengpielaudio.com/calculator-spl.htm

they should have noise level at two different speeds. Also the noise of a fan will durastically change when you run a number of then especially different ones and then you throw the case in the mix. On idle my A14's run at below 400rpm so you dont even notice them. noise under load all depends on how hot youll allow your system to be.

[warmmilk]

In my personal experience (had both, on rad and off), the A14's are quieter per rpm than the F12.  thats 1 fan vs 1 fan.  

[arnavvr]

This is what I planned on running

 

Im definitely more concerned with sound than temps, but if I have the fan configs running at lets say the max rpm they could run at 30dB(A) will the 3 still significantly outperform the 2? Dont take into consideration budget, im a min/max type person with a hint of ocd lol.

 

Go for a 5820k, not 5930k

[Thisunami]

they should have noise level at two different speeds. Also the noise of a fan will durastically change when you run a number of then especially different ones and then you throw the case in the mix. On idle my A14's run at below 400rpm so you dont even notice them. noise under load all depends on how hot youll allow your system to be.

I think the 3x NF-F12's in the front 2x NF-A14's for the Rad, and 1x NF-A14 in the rear is the config im going to go with. I'll get the NA-SAV2 kit to mount the front 3 and the rear (I dont think they'll work with the rad). Now my issue will be cable management/wiring them in a way where I dont have a million cables running to the motherboard while still maintaining PWM functionality on all of the fans. Im thinking using one of the 4 connectors on the X61 to control both fans on the rad and then plugging in the 3 on the front in the other 3 connections on the X61. Then just having the rear fan connect to the motherboard directly or if it's cluttered combine two of the front fans with a Y cable.

 

Go for a 5820k, not 5930k

I already got the processor and the graphics card already, I got a really good deal on them. Pretty much the only reason I went with it.

[TheProfosist]

I think the 3x NF-F12's in the front 2x NF-A14's for the Rad, and 1x NF-A14 in the rear is the config im going to go with. I'll get the NA-SAV2 kit to mount the front 3 and the rear (I dont think they'll work with the rad). Now my issue will be cable management/wiring them in a way where I dont have a million cables running to the motherboard while still maintaining PWM functionality on all of the fans. Im thinking using one of the 4 connectors on the X61 to control both fans on the rad and then plugging in the 3 on the front in the other 3 connections on the X61. Then just having the rear fan connect to the motherboard directly or if it's cluttered combine two of the front fans with a Y cable.

 

I already got the processor and the graphics card already, I got a really good deal on them. Pretty much the only reason I went with it.

My recommendation from my experiences would be 140mm all the way around. front as intakes, top as outtakes, and rear as a intake. The only time I would put 120mm fans in the front would be when fitting a 360mm rad there.

Also with PWM only one signal is set from the controller when using a splitter. Its the same for the kracken. So having different fans on the same header/controller is not ideal. You basically you have to have the fan that will PWM worst be the one that reports its RPM other wise it may stop spinning because the other fans can spin slower. As an example the A14 can spin at least 100 rpm, if not 150 rpm slower than the F12, thus you want the F12 reporting the speed so it doesnt drop too low but this also means the A14 isnt going as low as it could. This only applies if they are on the same header.

[Thisunami]

My recommendation from my experiences would be 140mm all the way around. front as intakes, top as outtakes, and rear as a intake. The only time I would put 120mm fans in the front would be when fitting a 360mm rad there.

Also with PWM only one signal is set from the controller when using a splitter. Its the same for the kracken. So having different fans on the same header/controller is not ideal. You basically have to have the fan that will PWM worst be the one that reports its RPM other wise it may stop spinning because the other fans can spin slower. As an example the A14 can spin at least 100 rpm, if not 150 rpm slower than the F12, thus you want the F12 reporting the speed so it doesnt drop too low but this also means the A14 isnt going as low as it could. This only applies if they are on the same header.

Thats good to know. Would you still suggest that Swiftech fan splitter you recommended before or another one considering I only need it for 3-4 fans (the intake front and rear) 

[TheProfosist]

Here is a 3 fan variant http://goo.gl/lfYBPV and a 5 fan variant http://goo.gl/4Q9hQU . Thing is I dont think they are as clean as long as your have room to put swiftech's hub some place.

Also just a heads up the Kraken does require a PWM fan header for itself if I recall correctly. Though I have the X41 not the X61 but I imagine they are very similar.

[arnavvr]

Thats good to know. Would you still suggest that Swiftech fan splitter you recommended before or another one considering I only need it for 3-4 fans (the intake front and rear) 

 

The NZXT Grid is also a good choice