Fans recommendations (First time liquid cooler)

[MadPug]

Hi all, I'll be building my first water-cooled system soon, I've already decided on most parts and planned out the loop, now I need to decide on what fans to put on my radiators.

 

I've done some research on both Google and YouTube but there are too many factors to consider when it comes to fan choices so I thought I'd ask some of you experienced water-coolers.

 

So my top rad will be an EK SE 360 Slim, with a fpi of 22 and thickness of 26mm, and my front rad will be a Black Ice Nemesis 240GTS Black Carbon, with a fpi of 16 and thickness of 29.6mm. I will be overclocking both my i7-6700K and 980Ti but nothing too extreme.

 

I've only come up with one option and that's the Noctua NF-F12 Industrial 3000RPM as they have the highest static pressure rating I've seen so far, and I need some strong fans to push that 22 fpi top rad especially, but I also know that I shouldn't look at that mm/H2O number alone and the number might not even be accurate, so what are your opinions on the NF-F12 3000RPM and what are some viable choices given my scenario? Also, what are your views on 3000RPM fans? Are they unbearably loud? I'm expecting to lose some quietness because of the high fpi radiator that I chose, and no that radiator cannot be replaced because I need the thinnest radiator up there to not block the sight of my CPU and ram.

 

Thanks all.

[TeeTwo]

Try using the 2000-RPM variant. A bit more silent and cooling wont be affected in any major way.

[Nacho Marco Segui]

Those fans are loud AF

[done12many2]

3 minutes ago, MadPug said:

Hi all, I'll be building my first water-cooled system soon, I've already decided on most parts and planned out the loop, now I need to decide on what fans to put on my radiators.

 

I've done some research on both Google and YouTube but there are too many factors to consider when it comes to fan choices so I thought I'd ask some of you experienced water-coolers.

 

So my top rad will be an EK SE 360 Slim, with a fpi of 22 and thickness of 26mm, and my front rad will be a Black Ice Nemesis 240GTS Black Carbon, with a fpi of 16 and thickness of 29.6mm. I will be overclocking both my i7-6700K and 980Ti but nothing too extreme.

 

I've only come up with one option and that's the Noctua NF-F12 Industrial 3000RPM as they have the highest static pressure rating I've seen so far, and I need some strong fans to push that 22 fpi top rad especially, but I also know that I shouldn't look at that mm/H2O number alone and the number might not even be accurate, so what are your opinions on the NF-F12 3000RPM and what are some viable choices given my scenario? Also, what are your views on 3000RPM fans? Are they unbearably loud? I'm expecting to lose some quietness because of the high fpi radiator that I chose, and no that radiator cannot be replaced because I need the thinnest radiator up there to not block the sight of my CPU and ram.

 

Thanks all.

You have more than enough surface area to keep up with the 6700k and 980 Ti during overclock.  Yes the Noctua has great static pressure, but you have to remember that the static pressure is relative to speed and that at a tolerable RPM level, you will not be getting the maximum rated static pressure.

 

The Noctua NF-F12 Industrial 3000RPM fan is a great fan, but I can assure you that you will not want to run it anywhere near it's rated max speed.  It's just that loud as any fan would be at that RPM.  Not to mention expensive.

 

Taking into consideration the surface area that you've planned on, you should be fine in the 1,500 RPM range.

 

I personally use (13) EK Vardar F4 120ER fans with a max speed rated at 2,200 RPM.  They are ER (Extended Range) fans which allows them to drop to an extremely low RPM without startup or issues maintaining their slow RPMs.  So essentially they run without any issues between 250 to 2,200 RPMS.  I went a little overkill with my radiators, so they spend more time closer to 250 to 300 RPM than 2,200 RPMs.  They are surprisingly heavy for a fan and pull very little current to operate.  All 13 are running off of my motherboard with plenty of headroom.

 

I'm about to order a pedestal for my case for 2 more 360s and I plan to use the Vardars on them as well.

 

 

[MadPug]

20 minutes ago, TeeTwo said:

Try using the 2000-RPM variant. A bit more silent and cooling wont be affected in any major way.

The static pressure rating drops down significantly from 7.63 to 3.94 mm/H2O though, I don't know how much static pressure is considered sufficient for those radiators.

[TeeTwo]

Just now, MadPug said:

The static pressure ratring drops down significantly from 7.63 to 3.94 mm/H2O though, I don't know how much static pressure is considered sufficient for those radiators.

I belive anything above 2 mm/H2O is more than enough for most radiators, and pretty good for high density.

Besides, with the radiator setup you have you wont need alot of airflow.

[done12many2]

6 minutes ago, MadPug said:

The static pressure ratring drops down significantly from 7.63 to 3.94 mm/H2O though, I don't know how much static pressure is considered sufficient for those radiators.

Neither of those radiators is going to require that much static pressure to keep up with what you're trying to do.

 

Keep in mind that when you lower the RPM of that 3,000 RPM monster to say 1,500 to 2,000 RPMs, you will have lowered the static pressure at the same time.  

[Enderman]

you can use airflow fans on radiators and they will still work fine

you do not need 4mmH2O static pressure, thats just overkill

 

and yeah the ippc noctua fans are loud

[MadPug]

7 minutes ago, done12many2 said:

You have more than enough surface area to keep up with the 6700k and 980 Ti during overclock.  Yes the Noctua has great static pressure, but you have to remember that the static pressure is relative to speed and that at a tolerable RPM level, you will not be getting the maximum rated static pressure.

 

The Noctua NF-F12 Industrial 3000RPM fan is a great fan, but I can assure you that you will not want to run it anywhere near it's rated max speed.  It's just that loud as any fan would be at that RPM.  Not to mention expensive.

 

Taking into consideration the surface area that you've planned on, you should be fine in the 1,500 RPM range.

 

I personally use (13) EK Vardar F4 120ER fans with a max speed rated at 2,200 RPM.  They are ER (Extended Range) fans which allows them to drop to an extremely low RPM without startup or issues maintaining their slow RPMs.  So essentially they run without any issues between 250 to 2,200 RPMS.  I went a little overkill with my radiators, so they spend more time closer to 250 to 300 RPM than 2,200 RPMs.  They are surprisingly heavy for a fan and pull very little current to operate.  All 13 are running off of my motherboard with plenty of headroom.

 

I'm about to order a pedestal for my case for 2 more 360s and I plan to use the Vardars on them as well.

Thanks for answering with such details. Fans around the 1500RPM range are usually under 2 mm/H2O, is there anywhere near enough for that 22 fpi radiator? Are you able to give me a rough idea of how much mm/H2O is sufficient for my radiators?

 

I just thought I'll be running the fans at full speed at all times, maybe not 3000RPM as you recommended, but I'll get something lower and run them at full RPM at all times, is that what most people do?

[done12many2]

27 minutes ago, MadPug said:

 

Are you using two pumps in this setup?  I'm a bit confused by your flow chart.

[MadPug]

12 minutes ago, TeeTwo said:

I belive anything above 2 mm/H2O is more than enough for most radiators, and pretty good for high density.

Besides, with the radiator setup you have you wont need alot of airflow.

I just read that high density radiators require a lot of static pressure, and 22 fpi is considered quite high, so I thought I'd find the most powerful fans available haha, but thanks for your clarification.

[MadPug]

19 minutes ago, done12many2 said:

Neither of those radiators is going to require that much static pressure to keep up with what you're trying to do.

 

Keep in mind that when you lower the RPM of that 3,000 RPM monster to say 1,500 to 2,000 RPMs, you will have lowered the static pressure at the same time.  

But I didn't plan to lower the RPM, I'm gonna be running them all at full speed whether I get a 3000, 2000, or even lower speed fans. I don't see the point of getting a 3000RPM fan and lowering it.

 

Now I thought of another question, if you get a NF-F12 3000RPM and lower the RPM to 2000, is the performance gonna be the same as the NF-F12 2000RPM?

[Seri]

i know most people won't like my thought on the subject but if you take a few medium or cheap priced fans and slow em down to 50 % you wills till get decent performance out of them without spending ridiculous amounts of money on static preasure fans.

The surface of your radiators is high enough to cool these components without some 2000 rpm fans.

[MadPug]

12 minutes ago, Enderman said:

you can use airflow fans on radiators and they will still work fine

you do not need 4mmH2O static pressure, thats just overkill

 

and yeah the ippc noctua fans are loud

22 fpi with air flow fans, I'm no expert but I don't think I'll be down to try that haha

[MadPug]

8 minutes ago, done12many2 said:

Are you using two pumps in this setup?  I'm a bit confused by your flow chart.

Just one pump, the grey tube is the reservoir, and the grey square below it is the pump, sorry for the confusion.

[done12many2]

Here are the specs on the fans that I use.  Great fan.  Remember, you don't need a ridiculous amount of static pressure for what you are trying to do.  You will appreciate more flexibility out of your fan than you will static pressure.

I run (2) EK PE 360 rads and (1) EK PE 240 rad and I'm telling you, with fans running well below 1,000 RPMs, they can keep up with the heat of my 5960x and 980Ti SLI all day long at what some would consider really high overclocks.  That is one more 980 Ti and 4 more cores than you need to worry about cooling.  Trust me, you are overthinking the static pressure and high fan RPM a bit much.

 

I think these ran me just under $20 a pop.

Mechanical and electrical specifications:
- Speed: 2200 rpm (+/- 10%)
- Rated Voltage: 12V DC
- Power Draw: 2.16W
- PWM Duty Cycle: 25-100% - ER - Extended Range
- Connector: 4-pin PWM header
- Shaft bearing: Double-ball bearing
- Bearing durability: 50.000 hrs @ 40°C (MTBF)
- Dimensions: 120 x 120 x 25 mm

Performance characteristics:
- Max Air Flow: 77 CFM = 131 m³/h
- Static Pressure: 3.16mm H2O = 31 Pa
- Sleeved cable length: 300 mm
- Noise Level: 33.5 dBA

https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-vardar-f4-120er-2200rpm-white

 

 

[done12many2]

5 minutes ago, MadPug said:

Just one pump, the grey tube is the reservoir, and the grey square below it is the pump, sorry for the confusion.

I see.  The tube coming out of your front 240 rad is not passing through the pump, but behind it and then onto the video card.

[courtiousdoge]

49 minutes ago, MadPug said:

Hi all, I'll be building my first water-cooled system soon, I've already decided on most parts and planned out the loop, now I need to decide on what fans to put on my radiators.

 

I've done some research on both Google and YouTube but there are too many factors to consider when it comes to fan choices so I thought I'd ask some of you experienced water-coolers.

 

So my top rad will be an EK SE 360 Slim, with a fpi of 22 and thickness of 26mm, and my front rad will be a Black Ice Nemesis 240GTS Black Carbon, with a fpi of 16 and thickness of 29.6mm. I will be overclocking both my i7-6700K and 980Ti but nothing too extreme.

 

I've only come up with one option and that's the Noctua NF-F12 Industrial 3000RPM as they have the highest static pressure rating I've seen so far, and I need some strong fans to push that 22 fpi top rad especially, but I also know that I shouldn't look at that mm/H2O number alone and the number might not even be accurate, so what are your opinions on the NF-F12 3000RPM and what are some viable choices given my scenario? Also, what are your views on 3000RPM fans? Are they unbearably loud? I'm expecting to lose some quietness because of the high fpi radiator that I chose, and no that radiator cannot be replaced because I need the thinnest radiator up there to not block the sight of my CPU and ram.

 

Thanks all.

ek vardar

 

[MadPug]

45 minutes ago, done12many2 said:

Here are the specs on the fans that I use.  Great fan.  Remember, you don't need a ridiculous amount of static pressure for what you are trying to do.  You will appreciate more flexibility out of your fan than you will static pressure.

I run (2) EK PE 360 rads and (1) EK PE 240 rad and I'm telling you, with fans running well below 1,000 RPMs, they can keep up with the heat of my 5960x and 980Ti SLI all day long at what some would consider really high overclocks.  That is one more 980 Ti and 4 more cores than you need to worry about cooling.  Trust me, you are overthinking the static pressure and high fan RPM a bit much.

 

I think these ran me just under $20 a pop.

Mechanical and electrical specifications:
- Speed: 2200 rpm (+/- 10%)
- Rated Voltage: 12V DC
- Power Draw: 2.16W
- PWM Duty Cycle: 25-100% - ER - Extended Range
- Connector: 4-pin PWM header
- Shaft bearing: Double-ball bearing
- Bearing durability: 50.000 hrs @ 40°C (MTBF)
- Dimensions: 120 x 120 x 25 mm

Performance characteristics:
- Max Air Flow: 77 CFM = 131 m³/h
- Static Pressure: 3.16mm H2O = 31 Pa
- Sleeved cable length: 300 mm
- Noise Level: 33.5 dBA

https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-vardar-f4-120er-2200rpm-white

 

 

I just happened to be looking at the those fans actually. Thanks for sharing your experience, that's exactly the kind of information I wanted to get an idea of what I need. I knew 7.63 mm/H2O would be an overkill but because I didn't know what's considered high and what's considered low, it seemed like a safe bet.

 

Now that I have a rough idea of what to look at, here are some options I picked:

Noctua NF-F12 Industrial 2000RPM - 71.7 CFM, 3.94 mm/H2O, 29.7 dBA

EK Vardar F4-120ER 2200RPM - 77 CFM, 3.16 mm/H2O, 33.5 dBA

CoolerMaster JetFlo - 95 CFM, 2.72 mm/H2O, 36dBA

 

The Noctua is the quietest, has the most static pressure but the lowest air flow, but which should I be focusing on more? CFM or mm/H2O?

 

Thanks again.

[done12many2]

1 hour ago, MadPug said:

 

One last thing.  It looks like you have a total of 6 intake 120mm fans and 1 exhaust in the rear.  I'm all about positive pressure, but when 5 out of 6 intake fans are hot air, you may want to give thought to more exhaust fans.  You could turn the rear fan into an intake, keep all the front fans as intake, and then reconfigure your top 360mm rad fans as an exhaust.  This will pull cool air past your VRM on the way out the top.

 

The amount of heat from your case will not have that much impact on your 360mm rad.

[MadPug]

36 minutes ago, done12many2 said:

I see.  The tube coming out of your front 240 rad is not passing through the pump, but behind it and then onto the video card.

Yes that's right, that tube is just passing behind the pump.

[done12many2]

1 minute ago, MadPug said:

I just happened to be looking at the those fans actually. Thanks for sharing your experience, that's exactly the kind of information I wanted to get an idea of what I need. I knew 7.63 mm/H2O would be an overkill but because I didn't know what's considered high and what's considered low, it seemed like a safe bet.

 

Now that I have a rough idea of what to look what, here are some options I picked:

Noctua NF-F12 Industrial 2000RPM - 71.7 CFM, 3.94 mm/H2O, 29.7 dBA

EK Vardar F4-120ER 2200RPM - 77 CFM, 3.16 mm/H2O, 33.5 dBA

CoolerMaster JetFlo - 95 CFM, 2.72 mm/H2O, 36dBA

 

The Noctua is the quietest, has the most static pressure but the lowest air flow, but which should I be focusing on more? CFM or mm/H2O?

 

Thanks again.

You have to remember that your fans are dual purpose.  Then move air through the case and through your radiator.  Air volume with some static pressure is a good thing.

[MadPug]

13 minutes ago, done12many2 said:

One last thing.  It looks like you have a total of 6 intake 120mm fans and 1 exhaust in the rear.  I'm all about positive pressure, but when 5 out of 6 intake fans are hot air, you may want to give thought to more exhaust fans.  You could turn the rear fan into an intake, keep all the front fans as intake, and then reconfigure your top 360mm rad fans as an exhaust.  This will pull cool air past your VRM on the way out the top.

 

The amount of heat from your case will not have that much impact on your 360mm rad.

The top 3 fans are exhaust, so I have 3 intake and 4 exhaust (I might not put the rear one in if the pressure is leaning towards negative).

 

If using 3 intake and 4 exhaust as shown in my picture, what would you predict the pressure to be? The front rad is less restrictive than the top (16 fpi v 22 fpi).

 

If it's negative I'll remove the rear exhaust, or as you said, turn it around and make it an intake.

[MadPug]

12 minutes ago, done12many2 said:

You have to remember that your fans are dual purpose.  Then move air through the case and through your radiator.  Air volume with some static pressure is a good thing.

So does that mean air flow should be given more weight than static pressure? Making the CoolerMaster JetFlo the best choice out of the 3 I named (while disregarding noise level)?

[done12many2]

I would just stick with Noctua or EK Vardar fans.  There's a lot of quality between those two brands.  Don't get too caught up in the specs because each manufacturer tests their stuff differently.  It's kind of like stereo equipment.  You can't just look at the numbers and hope to end up with the best.  

 

As far as your fans, I'd run the 2 front radiators fans as intake plus the one fresh air above them as intake. I'd also run the rear fan as intake.  As long as all of your intake fans are filtered, you should have a nice positive flow with more than adequate cooling for your VRM.  You'll appreciate that VRM cooling when you start pushing that overclock and seeing the VRM temps rise.