Quietest fans?

[verydogesuchwow]

I've been looking around for genuinely quiet fans, as lots of them say "Oh, we have the bestest most quiet power efficient blah blah blah fans" and I don't believe them.

 

-No LEDs (white ok tho)

-120mm

 

Suggestions?

[Curufinwe_wins]

Bequiet Silent Wings 2

 

Fractal Design Silent Series R3

[Enderman]

any preferences on looks?

do you want airflow or static pressure?

[Arwanell]

any Noctua or Alpenfohn

[trinityhigh]

Noctua NF-F12, Corsair SP120/AF120 Quiet Edition, or Fractal Design Venturi HP12/HF12

[Curufinwe_wins]

Just now, TrinityHigh said:

Noctua NF-F12, Corsair SP120/AF120 Quiet Edition, or Fractal Design Venturi HP12/HF12

None of those are "silent fans" and the Corsair fans are total trash, no one should buy them.

[verydogesuchwow]

5 minutes ago, Enderman said:

any preferences on looks?

do you want airflow or static pressure?

Preferably white, no black

Airflow, quiet aspect, and the above is all I'm really looking for

[Enderman]

2 minutes ago, TrinityHigh said:

Noctua NF-F12, Corsair SP120/AF120 Quiet Edition, or Fractal Design Venturi HP12/HF12

lol none of those fans are silent at all

the NF F12s are a bit quiet, but far from the best

[trinityhigh]

Just now, Curufinwe_wins said:

None of those are "silent fans" and the Corsair fans are total trash, no one should buy them.

I have 3 builds with them, one with 6 Noctua NF-F12's, one with 7 Corsair SP120 Quiet Edition, and another build with 5 Venturi fans. All my builds are near silent. PWM bra

[verydogesuchwow]

1 minute ago, Curufinwe_wins said:

None of those are "silent fans" and the Corsair fans are total trash, no one should buy them.

I've had the Corsair fans, they definitely line up with the price I'll tell you that

I've heard of the Venturi's tho.. are they actually bad?

[tomaatvk]

Just saying, if you're looking for the quietest, why not run it passively cooled, I do that with my pc unless I need performance, just 'downclock' my CPU to 3,5GHz so it can run fanless under full load and run my GPU at under 30% load and it won't need fans at all. 

[trinityhigh]

Just now, Enderman said:

lol none of those fans are silent at all

the NF F12s are a bit quiet, but far from the best

with PWM control I run all my fans at 800RPM. 

[WoodenMarker]

Where are the fans being used? Budget?

[Enderman]

Just now, verydogesuchwow said:

Preferably white, no black

Airflow, quiet aspect, and the above is all I'm really looking for

so a 100% white fan? or is a white impeller with black frame ok?

because the noiseblocker e-loops come in several versions and you can get some that are around <17db i think

they also look sweet

 

the only other fully white fan i can think of is the bitfenix spectre pro

[verydogesuchwow]

Just now, TrinityHigh said:

I have 3 builds with them, one with 6 Noctua NF-F12's, one with 7 Corsair SP120 Quiet Edition, and another build with 5 Venturi fans. All my builds are near silent. PWM bra

Are those Noctua's that ugly brown color? I seriously have but a clue why they would color them that

[EdInk]

6 minutes ago, verydogesuchwow said:

I've been looking around for genuinely quiet fans, as lots of them say "Oh, we have the bestest most quiet power efficient blah blah blah fans" and I don't believe them.

 

-No LEDs (white ok tho)

-120mm

 

Suggestions?

The quietest fans are those turned off. Configure them to turn of when doing light tasks like browsing. Although you'd have to deal with slightly higher idle temps. 

 

An important factor though is your case design. Does it have cut outs for your fans or do they push/pull air through vents/perforations?

[trinityhigh]

1 minute ago, verydogesuchwow said:

I've had the Corsair fans, they definitely line up with the price I'll tell you that

I've heard of the Venturi's tho.. are they actually bad?

I have nothing but great things to say about the Venturi fans. With PWM control you can set them to 800 or 1000RPM and they are nice and quiet! 

[Enderman]

Just now, TrinityHigh said:

with PWM control I run all my fans at 800RPM. 

so you think that a 25db fan at 800rpm is quieter than a 15db fan at 1200rpm?

lol

 

[verydogesuchwow]

Just now, Enderman said:

so a 100% white fan? or is a white impeller with black frame ok?

because the noiseblocker e-loops come in several versions and you can get some that are around <17db i think

they also look sweet

 

the only other fully white fan i can think of is the bitfenix spectre pro

Black frame is ok, not preferred, but I wouldn't say no to a good one with a black frame

[verydogesuchwow]

1 minute ago, WoodenMarker said:

Where are the fans being used? Budget?

On top and in the back

$15-20/fan is good

 

I have the NZXT stock case fans.. they can get loud at times but was wondering if it makes a difference to switch?

[trinityhigh]

1 minute ago, Enderman said:

so you think that a 25db fan at 800rpm is quieter than a 15db fan at 1200rpm?

lol

 

Part Number	BFF-SPRO-14025KK-RP
Color	All Black
Materials	PC & PBT
Bearing Type	Fluid Dynamic Bearings (FDB)
Speed	1200 RPM ±10%
Air Flow	86.73 CFM ±10%
Air Pressure	1.38 mmH2O
Noise	22.8 dB(A)
Voltage	Operating: 12VDC Starting: 5VDC
Current	0.18A ±10%
Dimensions	140 x 140 x 25 mm

[Majestic]

2 minutes ago, verydogesuchwow said:

Are those Noctua's that ugly brown color? I seriously have but a clue why they would color them that

It's called brand recognition. 

 

And NF-F12's are really silent. Their motors and bearings have no extra noise. Running them at idle at 300rpm. inaudible.

[Guest]

9 minutes ago, TrinityHigh said:

Noctua NF-F12, Corsair SP120/AF120 Quiet Edition, or Fractal Design Venturi HP12/HF12

Corsair fans are not silent at all compared to others

[Enderman]

3 minutes ago, verydogesuchwow said:

Black frame is ok, not preferred, but I wouldn't say no to a good one with a black frame

i would go with the eloop instead of the bitfenix one, its made with much more premium materials and is quieter too

they have a 800rpm version that is only 8dba

the 1300rpm version is 17dba

http://www.blacknoise.com/site/en/products/noiseblocker-it-fans/nb-eloop-series/120x120x25mm.php

the 1500rpm PWM version (which i have 3 of) is 21ba but it can be run down to about 10% speed which makes it virtually silent

obviously at 10% performance isnt that great though

[trinityhigh]

Just now, TheCovertCamper said:

Corsair fans are not silent at all compared to others

The Quiet Editions with the rubber on the corners to stop vibration are good