Need your thoughts, Noctua NF-F12 iPPC-3000 vs EK Vardar Furious EVO 120 3000RPM

[TheSLSAMG]

First off, I understand that 3000 RPM fans are going to be loud. But while that may be true, I would only be ramping them up when using my system heavily. Otherwise, I'd be running them at around 1500RPM and lower. I want the higher RPM fans for a few reasons, including the wider range of performance and the increased static pressure (which I need because my case has a restrictive front panel and my radiators are 38mm thick and 20FPI.

 

With that being said, I see that the NF-F12s have a significantly higher static pressure, at 7.63 mm H₂O versus 5.81 mm H₂O for the Vardars. Can I trust these specs as given by the manufacturer, or are they prone to doctoring in the way that NVIDIA vs AMD performance charts from each manufacturer are? Price is of little concern at this point, since I've already come to terms that I'm going to be spending a pretty penny on fans. From what I'm seeing, the iPPC-3000s seem like the obvious choice since they have around the same CFM with higher static pressure, but am I missing something?

 

Essentially, which would you choose, are the specs subject to some level of manufacturer-induced leeway, and am I missing some other important specs? Again, sound isn't too big of a deal to me. My specs are on my profile, this is for the i7/1080 machine.

 

I couldn't figure whether this belongs in Air Cooling or Water Cooling, but since we're talking fans specifically, I put it here. Sorry if it's in the wrong place.

[W-L]

38 minutes ago, TheSLSAMG said:

-SNIP-

You see depreciating performance benefits as you go past a certain RPM for rads and heatsinks so at 3K it may not always be super beneficial. Between those two the Noctua IPPC fan would be better from the specs on paper in terms of pressure and cooling, it's hard to exactly determine between different manufacture's however since the testing methodology is not standardized. 

[WoodenMarker]

Specs should be taken with a grain of salt. Airflow and static pressure specs can generally be used as a guideline whereas the noise reading should be ignored since there's less discrepancy between how the former can be measured.

 

Vardars seem to perform better on low restriction rads like the MCR120QP which has ~16fpi and is 34mm thick. http://thermalbench.com/2015/05/05/ekwb-vardar-ff5-120-fan/3/

 

Gentle Typhoons are similar to but generally better than Vardars so they're not a bad point of comparison to use. http://www.xtremerigs.net/2014/12/03/first-look-testing-ekwb-vardar-fans/2/

GT's and NF-F12's seem to perform similarly on a 30fpi rad. http://www.overclockers.com/pwm-fan-roundup-twenty-four-120-mm-case-fans-tested/

 

It's hard to know for sure which would perform better but my bet would be on the NF-F12. It should be quieter at low rpm though. 

[Mick Naughty]

Id get the 2k version. Have both in 120 and 140mm. Isnt worth the extra noise for no increase in performance.

Also nice to be able to run them slower and not have to hear them all the time.