Best Silence vs Performance PWM fan for Radiators?

[Rhynotank]

Can someone give me some good PWM fans for my Radiator. My current Raijintek Triton stock fans sound like a Jet Engine and a V8. Gets really loud under load and it's worse with sensitive hearing. Can you Computer Wizzes give me a few recommendations for fans?

[Janne]

the obvious: Noctua

[samcool55]

I agree, noctua FTW. You can't go wrong with them if you take the right one that suits your needs.

[brandishwar]

Looking at details for it, I can see why the fans are how they are: the radiator is 100% aluminum. The fans are rated at up to 100CFM as well, and I'm wondering if that's necessary -- how well will lower RPM fans perform on that radiator? Looks like a pretty dense fin array, though, so going with PWM fans with good static pressure will be worth your while to get silence when things are light but get the airflow you need when things get intense.

 

To that end, Corsair's PWM SP120s might do the trick on that one. They're also a little lighter on the pocketbook compared to Noctua, but Noctua will probably give you the best overall noise to performance ratio. You're just going to be dropping about 25 to 30 USD per fan on them, whereas the SP120 PWM can be had for under 40 USD for a twin pack.

[Rhynotank]

I've looked at noctuas and heard of them as being the best out there. Sadly, it'll dent my wallet a bit. Are there anything cheaper than a Noctua? I also looked at Corsair SP but what are the major differences between Quiet Edition and High Performance other than the obvious names?

[brandishwar]

I've looked at noctuas and heard of them as being the best out there. Sadly, it'll dent my wallet a bit. Are there anything cheaper than a Noctua? I also looked at Corsair SP but what are the major differences between Quiet Edition and High Performance other than the obvious names?

 

The Quiet Edition SP120s have about half the overall performance of the High Performance ones. The HP fans come with a step-down adapter to run them continually at a lower voltage, and therefore a lower RPM. Obviously that'll affect performance as well.

 

There are plenty of other brands that are less expensive than the Noctua. For what you've got, though, you need something with a high static pressure and good airflow. And if you want those fans to also be quiet, Noctua's pretty much the only way to go on that one. I don't know of any other fans that can match Noctua on that mark.

 

OutletPC appears to have the NF-F12 on sale for under $20 right now.

[VSG]

EK Vardar fans. I have tested out the Noctua fans and they are really overhyped for both performance and noise in any moderate airflow impedance situation.

[Theo]

AP121's? I had 3 noctuas and returned all 3

[Keksmonster]

The Gentle Typhoons have the best ratio, but sadly aren't available anymore.

In my opinion the Noiseblocker eLoop B12-2 are the next comparable radiator fans followed by the noctua NF-F12. Noctua fans aren't the best, they are just well known.

And if you want the best performance for the money just get some Yate Loons, very good fans and they arent loud either.

Here are some interesting graphs by Martin which compare some of the best radiator fans out there.

https://martinsliquidlab.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/round10fantestresults.png?w=614

Here is the link to the full test:

http://martinsliquidlab.org/2012/05/07/r10-fan-testing-bitfenixnoctuasilenxnoiseblockerphobya/

[Rhynotank]

The Gentle Typhoons have the best ratio, but sadly aren't available anymore.

In my opinion the Noiseblocker eLoop B12-2 are the next comparable radiator fans followed by the noctua NF-F12. Noctua fans aren't the best, they are just well known.

And if you want the best performance for the money just get some Yate Loons, very good fans and they arent loud either.

Here are some interesting graphs by Martin which compare some of the best radiator fans out there.

https://martinsliquidlab.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/round10fantestresults.png?w=614

Here is the link to the full test:

http://martinsliquidlab.org/2012/05/07/r10-fan-testing-bitfenixnoctuasilenxnoiseblockerphobya/

Interesting, I'll look into it