Budget friendly silent fans?

Kawaii Koneko · April 27, 2016

When I built my PC, I recycled old fans I had sitting around but they are starting to get quite noisy and aren't cooling effectively anymore as my PC is running a bit warmer than it should. So I really want to get some new fans but I'm not sure how long I will have my current build. I'm kind of deciding which upgrade path I want to take but I know I will probably be going the water cool route. Because of this, I really don't want to spend much on fans as I will be eliminating them anyway (well, most of them). I don't know how long exactly it will be until I upgrade but I'm hoping in 3-4 months.

You can see my PC specs in my profile and here is what my case can take in terms of fans:

Front: 2 120mm fans

Rear: 1 120mm fan

Side: 2 120/140mm fans

Top: 2 120/140mm fans

The rear stock fan seems quiet enough for now so I think I am more focused on the two front and two top fans. I can always move these around if I feel the need or buy another if I really have to. I am looking for something really quiet but able to handle a full load while gaming or processing video. It would also be nice if they were at least competent enough to take advantage turbo mode. Note that I am not planning to do any overclocking other than turbo mode.

I already have parts from my last upgrade and will have some more when I upgrade again, so it is possible that I am going to use old parts to make a dedicated HTPC (right now my rig doubles as a gaming PC and HTPC with an HDMI cable running from the office to main HDTV), so these fans might get recycled for that in the end. It depends on if I recycle or just do a micro atx HTPC build. So that may be worth keeping in mind. I may just spend some good money on super quiet fans for that if I do recycle though.

So since these are temporary, I'd like to spend around $50 for 4 fans. I'd like to use a 4 pin solution for more elegant control but I notice there seem to be a lot more options for 3 pin fans and they are cheaper, at least on Amazon.

I see there are some very cheap 3 pin fans on Amazon with pretty good reviews such as:

http://www.amazon.com/Fractal-Design-Silent-Blackout-FD-FAN-SSR2-140-BK/dp/B00LPMHMWQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1461715473&sr=8-2&keywords=silent+140mm+fan

http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Bearing-Computer-Radiators/dp/B00314J422/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1461715473&sr=8-1&keywords=silent+140mm+fan

http://www.amazon.com/Nexus-Silent-120mm-Anti-Vibration-Mounts/dp/B001AZHRYG/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1461715832&sr=8-3&keywords=silent+120mm+fan

I also saw these Corsairs which look pretty nice.They are a little more expensive but I might be willing to spend a little more if these would be good for an HTPC build, because like I said, there is a possibility I will recycle.

http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-AF140-Quiet-Single-CO-9050009-WW/dp/B007RESGGC/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1461715707&sr=8-3&keywords=sp140

http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-SP120-Quiet-Twin-CO-9050006-WW/dp/B007RESFR2/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1461715633&sr=8-6&keywords=silent+120mm+fan

Any advice would be appreciated it. The fact that I plan to upgrade and possibly recycle makes choosing my fans not quite so straight forward so I would appreciate all the help I can get. Also, this is the first PC I have ever built fully from scratch (although I have torn down more than my fair share of computers in the past) and I don't now a whole lot about fans since I normally just used what came in my PC lol.

Thanks in advance and sorry if I am asking noob questions.

aisle9 · April 27, 2016

Corsair fans are like Ford Mustangs. You buy them for looks, not performance.

The airflow on the Nexus seems awfully weak. 36 CFM on a 120mm fan? Cooler Master stuff is generally pretty good, but I'd go with the Fractal ten times out of ten.

A good way to cool your PC down in the meantime is to open it up, go in there with a can of compressed air and blow the dust out.

flibberdipper · April 27, 2016

I have 3 fans from an Air 540 (more or less the AF140 silent edition fans just boring af) and they move a decent amount of air and are pretty damn quiet. But they are 140mm.

DrM · April 27, 2016

id say the best budget silent fan is the bequiet pure wings 2. decent cfm and rifle bearing too

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA68V21E0614

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA68V21E0613

Kawaii Koneko · April 30, 2016

On 4/27/2016 at 7:32 PM, aisle9 said:

A good way to cool your PC down in the meantime is to open it up, go in there with a can of compressed air and blow the dust out.

Thanks for the suggestion but I've already done that. It is still running just a bit too warm. Not the danger zone or anything. It will be fine until my new fans come.

Thanks to everyone who responded. I decided to go with the fans DrM posted. The reviews are pretty impressive and I have heard good things about BeQuiet in the past. So thanks for that DrM.