Fan Choice Help

[fully1208]

Hi Guys, 

 

I was hoping for some help from the knowledgeable LTT community.

 

A couple of months ago I built my first gaming PC but during my excitement of ordering everything I completely forgot to order some upgraded fans for my case (I have the NZXT S340 black and red) which came with 2 120mm fans already installed.

 

Although these are working fine and doing their job I want to upgrade them as well as add another 2 fans as I want to improve air flow as well as possibly creating a positive pressure within the case to reduce dust build up inside.

 

But I have to admit there are far too many brands / styles out there and it has confused me a bit. My preference would be for the fans to be as silent as possible yet still supply a good air flow to the system.

 

The fan set up the case can handle according to the NZXT website is:

 

Front: 2 x 140mm or 2 x 120mm

Top: 1 x 140mm

Rear: 1 x 120mm

 

Any suggestions on either what fans I should get or what orientation (push / pull) they should be installed would be massively appreciated!

 

Thanks guys

[Zangashtu]

Corsair AF120's are good, I have four and they provide more than sufficient cooling.

Thermaltake riings look sick too, both of these options come with different colours.

[fully1208]

10 minutes ago, Zangashtu said:

Corsair AF120's are good, I have four and they provide more than sufficient cooling.

Thermaltake riings look sick too, both of these options come with different colours.

Thanks I will have a look at both of these

[iiNNeX]

Silent as possible and good performance, look no further than Noiseblocker, Noctua or most recently the Silent Wings 3 by BeQuiet!.

 

Corsair's fans are cheaply made and they are not quiet unless you want worst cooling. Thermaltake Riings fans are basically just a normal fan with an LED ring around it, nothing special.

 

Noiseblocker BlackSilentPro series are the all black variant from NB, you also have the Noiseblocker Eloops (look cool as hell and are even quieter but a tad pricier).

 

From Noctua you are looking at he NF-A14 for 140mm variants or the NF-F12 PWM. They come in different speed variants as well as PWM. They are black with brown silicone edges but you can buy different colour edges easily off ebay and the likes to improve your look.

 

SilentWings 3 I cant comment on too much as I have not used them but they came on my Dark Base Pro 900 case and from the brief few minutes I had them running they feel really high quality, are very silent and pushed a good amount of air even on their lowest setting.

 

Hope this helps.

[fully1208]

2 minutes ago, iiNNeX said:

Silent as possible and good performance, look no further than Noiseblocker, Noctua or most recently the Silent Wings 3 by BeQuiet!.

 

Corsair's fans are cheaply made and they are not quiet unless you want worst cooling. Thermaltake Riings fans are basically just a normal fan with an LED ring around it, nothing special.

 

Noiseblocker BlackSilentPro series are the all black variant from NB, you also have the Noiseblocker Eloops (look cool as hell and are even quieter but a tad pricier).

 

From Noctua you are looking at he NF-A14 for 140mm variants or the NF-F12 PWM. They come in different speed variants as well as PWM. They are black with brown silicone edges but you can buy different colour edges easily off ebay and the likes to improve your look.

 

SilentWings 3 I cant comment on too much as I have not used them but they came on my Dark Base Pro 900 case and from the brief few minutes I had them running they feel really high quality, are very silent and pushed a good amount of air even on their lowest setting.

 

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the input good to know about the Corsair problems! I was actually just looking at the SilentWings3 as I have the be quiet! dark rock 3 cpu cooler and that came with a SilentWings fan, but I will definitely have a look in to the Noiseblocker and Noctua fans as well.

[WoodenMarker]

5 hours ago, iiNNeX said:

Corsair's fans are cheaply made and they are not quiet unless you want worst cooling.

That's too broad of a generalization that's just not true. Corsair fans are mostly mediocre but they have some good fans like their ringed Quiet Editions. 

5 hours ago, fully1208 said:

Thanks for the input good to know about the Corsair problems! I was actually just looking at the SilentWings3 as I have the be quiet! dark rock 3 cpu cooler and that came with a SilentWings fan, but I will definitely have a look in to the Noiseblocker and Noctua fans as well.

If you can, get a pair of 140mm SW3's for front intake. 

If you're sensitive to the cost of the fans, it would help to link us to where you're shopping and tell us your budget.

[fully1208]

I appreciate the input from you guys I didn't think anyone would really care what fans I picked but this is really helping me out.

[fully1208]

On 9/2/2016 at 6:17 PM, WoodenMarker said:

That's too broad of a generalization that's just not true. Corsair fans are mostly mediocre but they have some good fans like their ringed Quiet Editions.

For Corsair I was looking at the AF120 or AF140 Quiet Edition fans.

 

On 9/2/2016 at 6:17 PM, WoodenMarker said:

If you can, get a pair of 140mm SW3's for front intake. 

If you're sensitive to the cost of the fans, it would help to link us to where you're shopping and tell us your budget.

 

My bad I forgot to say that I am in the UK and that I don't really have a budget for these just as long as they are too crazily priced per fan.

 

Also I'm not really bothered where I purchase the fans at the end of the day as long as they work its all good.

[SirSanches]

Already been said, but corsair's AF and SP fans are a very good pick 
Noctua NF-F12 are really good but are a bit more costly. You can get them in black but you have to pay more over having their standard colour. I think they also have quieter versions of the initial fans for a bit more if you're looking to have a silent computer.
CM Blade masters are pretty good too if you don't want to spend too much.
Also if you want some extra spicy mods, you can get fan grills from this website:
http://mnpctech.com/pc-computer-cooling-fans-grills-custom/
 

[WoodenMarker]

9 hours ago, fully1208 said:

For Corsair I was looking at the AF120 or AF140 Quiet Edition fans.

My bad I forgot to say that I am in the UK and that I don't really have a budget for these just as long as they are too crazily priced per fan.

Also I'm not really bothered where I purchase the fans at the end of the day as long as they work its all good.

AF120/140 QE's are probably the best fans Corsair has aside from their new ML fans I have yet to pass judgement on. 

If budget isn't really a problem, go for SW3's:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/QUIET-BL067-SILENT-WINGS-140MM/dp/B01JMEMAE8

https://www.amazon.co.uk/QUIET-BL064-SILENT-WINGS-120MM/dp/B01JMEQPBW/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1473186171&sr=1-2&keywords=silent+wings+3+120mm

 

[fully1208]

16 hours ago, WoodenMarker said:

AF120/140 QE's are probably the best fans Corsair has aside from their new ML fans I have yet to pass judgement on. 

If budget isn't really a problem, go for SW3's:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/QUIET-BL067-SILENT-WINGS-140MM/dp/B01JMEMAE8

https://www.amazon.co.uk/QUIET-BL064-SILENT-WINGS-120MM/dp/B01JMEQPBW/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1473186171&sr=1-2&keywords=silent+wings+3+120mm

 

Thanks for the help and the links!

 

I think I'm going to go for 3x140mm and 1x120mm SW3's, the only thing now is I'm a bit unsure about what push / pull config to go with. I was thinking

 

Push - 2 x 140mm at the front of the case

Pull - 1 x 140mm at the top of the case + 1 x 120mm at the rear of the case

 

My thinking is that this should create a bit of a positive pressure in the case to help reduce the amount of dust that will accumulate in there, but then again as warm air rises would this config be ok? Or would I be better having the top and rear as the push fans so I wont be drawing the hot air down through my case?

 

I may be over thinking this and it wont make much of a difference but again I'm new to this whole custom building thing so any help / guidance would be greatly welcome.

[WoodenMarker]

5 hours ago, fully1208 said:

I think I'm going to go for 3x140mm and 1x120mm SW3's, the only thing now is I'm a bit unsure about what push / pull config to go with. I was thinking

 

Push - 2 x 140mm at the front of the case

Pull - 1 x 140mm at the top of the case + 1 x 120mm at the rear of the case

 

My thinking is that this should create a bit of a positive pressure in the case to help reduce the amount of dust that will accumulate in there, but then again as warm air rises would this config be ok? Or would I be better having the top and rear as the push fans so I wont be drawing the hot air down through my case?

Push/pull usually refers to fans pushing or pulling through rads or heatsinks. Most people refer to case fans as intakes or exhausts. 

What you have in mind sounds good.