120mm Fan Testing on an MCR120 Radiator Round 6

[Martinm210]

This thread will serve as my updated 120mm radiator based fan testing work in progress. While fan specs are helpful, like pumps they represent how the fan performs in an artificial open air and unmounted condition without any restriction, mounting vibrations, or undervolting effects. In addition there are many different mathematical methods in which noise levels are calculated (Removal of ambient noise) and measured making the task of comparing fans based on specs alone for a radiator application a best guess. In addition, those testing conditions do not include vibration created noises that exist once a fan is mounted to a radiator. Many fans also exhibit motor ticks or harmonics at some voltage levels other than 12V when using a fan controller. That brings me to the purpose of this test, to test in a more real world like radiator scenario without any adjustments to noise levels and record it for your own review.

This round will focus in testing and comparing 120mm fans on a Swiftech MCR120 radiator using a voltage based fan controller to evaluate a more real world radiator condition on a constant test platform.

First off, a HUGE thanks to the following sponsors. It's been amazing how much support I have received in this so far..a real tribute to the community we have here:

This includes the parts/fans and the sponsors who have donated for this cause as well as some tabular results:
Click to enlarge:


I'll start creating a new post for each new fan including the pictures and the data tables then link them back up in this main post.


MASTER NOISE vs CFM CHART

I'll update this from time to time. Per my reading, it normally takes about 3dbA for most people to perceive a change in noise level...that's about the spread of "Most" of the fans here. But if we're splitting hairs...here is the chart for your viewing pleasure...

Just note this is NOISE LEVEL only. I think this is only half the picture, noise quality is what you get by listening which points out the things like motor tics, and other less that smooth sounds.

ALL FANS ALL LEVELS


NOISE LEVEL BAR CHARTS dbA @ X CFM



NOISE QUALITY (MOTOR TICKS/RESONANCE/SMOOTHNESS)
And last but not least, my completely subjective rating on noise quality. I suggest you listen to the videos to sort this out yourself, I think everyone will have a slightly different opinion on this, but this is what I came up with as a place to start. Noise quality has nothing to do with noise level. I made up my own scoring system by listening for motor type noises and resonance issues. If a fan sounded like very smooth air, it would get high marks. I also marked against resonance issues. If the fan had specific voltage ranges where it resonated, I marked it down. I rated quality in 3 steps and resonance in one field, and averaged them out. I wish there was some sort of scientific way to do this, but this was the best I could do. Again, I suggest rating this with the videos for yourself.

Generally anything with a 7 or better is really good and pretty tight. I just had a slight preference toward fans with slightly lower pitch and or smoother air noises.

Many fans below that were also very good in some areas, but may have had a small motor tick or resonance issue during the test. Resonance is one of those tricky things that may be specific to one test bed. I can only rate what was tested though, it would be impossible to see how the fan behaves in all situations. I'm also typically only testing one sample, and it's very possible the one fan I test was flawed or less that perfect.

Bottom line, there is no replacement for trying out a fan yourself. Before you go buying 20 fans of the same type, I suggest trying out at least one sample for yourself and see how you like it.


AndreaBZ SPREADSHEET LINK

AndreaBZ took the data collected and created an analysis spreadsheet, so anyone that wants to sort the data into different formats can easily do so. To do this, he had to create trendline equations for all the data, so it's going to average out some of the bumps from the actual data points. The great things is you can now sort by CFM or dbA or RPM and click a macro button to automatically sort the results. You can also pick and choose up to 5 fans and compare the charts.

Here is the PM he sent me, thanks for doing this:

Hello Martin!

Fans Spreadsheet update.


http://www.coolingtechnique.com/inde...=84&Itemid=124

Update! With fans from 140 mm

If you want you can also put the link in the post "Testing on a 140mm Fan Radiator HWlabs SR1 Round 7"

Greetings ......

DETAILED INDIVIDUAL RESULTS LINKS - INCLUDES NOTES, CHARTS, & VIDEOS

Aero Cool Case Fan

Antec TriCool LED Fan

Arctic Cooling F12

Cooler Master Blade Master PWM

Cooler Master Excalibur

Cooler Master R4 C2R

Coolink SWiF2 1201

Corsair H50 Fan

Delta AFB1212VHE 38mm

Enermax Magma

Gelid Silent 12

Gentle Typhoon AP-13 Old Batch?

Gentle Typhoon AP-14 New Batch

Gentle Typhoon AP-15 New Batch Sample A & Sample B

Nexus Real Silent D12SL-12

Noctua P12

Noctua NF-S12B

Noise Blocker M12-S3HS

Noise Blocker PL-2

NZXT Case Fan

Panaflo NMB-MAT FBA12G12U Ultra High Speed 38mm Fan

PAPST Type 4112 N/2H

Rosewill Black Case Fan Medium Speed

Sanyo Denki San Ace 25mm 9S1212M401 Medium Speed

Sanyo Denki San Ace 25mm 9S1212H4011 High Speed 2500RPM

Sanyo Denki San Ace 9G1212M101 38mm

Sanyo Denki San Ace 9G1212H101 38mm

Sanyo Denki San Ace 109R1212H1011 38mm

Scythe Slip Stream High Speed

Scythe S-Flex F

Scythe Ultra Kaze 2000

Scythe Ultra Kaze 3000

Scythe Kama-Flex H

Thermalright FDB-12-2000

Triebwerk TK-122 Mid Speed Fan

Yate Loon D12SL-12D 38mm

Yate Loon D12SL-12 Curved Blade Black From P.T.S

Yate Loon D12SM12 Curved Black from PTS

Yate Loon D12SM-12 From PPCS

Yate Loon D12SM-12 Curved Black From SWC

Zalman ZM-F3

Zalman ZM-SF3


CONCLUSION SO FAR

I think from a noise level only perspective...most fans (90%) perform pretty much the same per CFM level. Supposedly it takes 3dbA for most humans to barely perceive a noise level change, and that's about the spread I have found for most fans with a few exceptions. I'll list out some of my favorites below:

The Scythe Gentle Typhoon Series - 1000-1800 Medium Speed is dominating in CFM/dbA ratio. At $15-20 it's not the cheapest, but a real amazing fan on a radiator.

The Delta AFB1212VHE - 1800+ High Speed is dominating the 38mm fan category in CFM/dbA ratios. At $17 at SWC, it's not a low cost fan, but very reasonable compared to other industrial grade 38mm fans of similar performance levels. The downside of Deltas is they are high speed fans and generally don't even like turning down to lower speeds (not that I would recommend doing that with a 38mm fan much anyway). They do really well at high speeds 2000+ RPM, but definitely a high minimum noise level.

And some other favorites:

Yate Loon D12SL-12 and D12SM-12 from PTS or SWC are my pick for budget fan. They do pretty much the same as every other fan below 1000RPMs at a fraction of the price of around $6 and do very well at all voltages.

Arctic Cooling F12 is my pick for lower speed PWM and semi budget fan. This fan gives you awesome PWM capabilities, a better bearing, and better looks than yates and can be bought for under $10. This fan also does really well at all voltages.

Scythe Kama Flex H or Zalman ZM-F3 are also pretty good all around fans at good prices.

The TFC Triebwerk TK-122 is one for those that are not happy with the ordinary fan looks. While this fan is not at all a low cost fan, it is very different than most fans and actually performs pretty well at higher speeds and produces a touch more CFM than the GT15 if you're not overly concerned with dBA levels. Just make sure you have all 55mm worth of width available...this fan is a MONSTA!..I like it for it's features and unique looks.

I would still highly recommend visiting and listening carefully to the videos. This is the only way to pick up on the fan characteristics that the noise meter simply misses.


MYTH - You can have it all, High Speed 38mm fans and smooth low speed using a fan controller--WRONG!!
I'm calling BS on this, I have yet to find a good strong 38mm fan that works acceptably good at low speeds. I've even made the mistake of trying medium speed panaflos back in my earlier days. I figured, what the heck, I may need a little more fan power, so I'll just plan on turning them down a bit with my fan controller. Well, after forking over the $$ for 6 new panaflo medium speed fans, I was sorely dissapointed when I undervolted. Sure they have great power, but they were also very ticky at low volts. This problem seems to be common to pretty much all 38mm thickness fans with the large fan hub and also to some extent with most higher speed 25mm fans. You simply can not have it all.

You can have a kick ass high speed fans with really crappy low speed sound quality or you can have a kick ass low speed fans with really good low speed sound quality, you simply can not have both.

Here is one of my first watercooling setups many years ago, and this was before doing any sort of fan testing. I took the advise of my fellow forum members and bought 6 medium speed panaflos to replace my yate loon D12SL12s. I've had many people say they can't hear the ticking that I complain about and that's fine, but I sure did. It was enough clicking noise to make me go back to 25mm fans. I'm very much convinced that each fan and each fan motor is ideally ran at or near 12V. There are a few fans that undervolt and operate in all ranges fairly well, but I have yet to find a 38mm fan that does so to a level I would be happy with. My recommendation (and I feel very passionately about this), buy a fan that runs nearly at 12V to a sound level you're willing to put up with at all times.

FAN CONTROLLER + HIGH SPEED FANS = GOOD HIGH SPEED FAN + REALLY CRAPPY LOW SPEED FAN
And a picture of my old system:



If you are picky about noise quality, don't make the same mistake I did. High speed fans have no business running at 1000RPMs. That's not all that unlike trying to mow a putting green with a brush hog...

Cheers!
Martin

[Martinm210]

Reserved for Test Rig Notes

Anemometer
MASTECH 407123
Measures air speed in Feet per Minute at back of port. This is a Hot Wire anemometer of industrial grade and ultra sensitive to the lowest of air movement, down to 40 feet per minute. Best of all, it's completely silent, so there is no noise or reaction to the fans that are typical of vane type anemometers.



Sound Meter
AMERICAN RECORDER TECHNOLOGY SPL-8810
Nothing too fancy here, but this one does measure in A-weighted dBA and checked out very accurately to my Zoom H1 plus YMEC software comparison. This is much more representative than my old unweighted Mastech results.

FLOW CHAMBER
Home built from 8" ID x 21" Long Heavy Duty PVC. The sole purpose of this chamber is to ensure silent mounting and controlled air flow measurements. It includes Egg Crate insulation to deaden any air movement sounds within, a Flow Spreader inside made from 34ea 1" x 4" long tubes, and a 3.66" ID outlet port to measure velocities that can later be converted to accurate air flow CFM numbers. The chamber does add some restriction, but it makes a big difference in controlling measurements more accurately.


RADIATOR
Swiftech MCR120 QP for the low density radiator test scenario:


Additional Meters
Cen Tech meters measure Amperage and Voltage. Watts can be calcuated by multiplying amps x volts. Scythe Kaze Master is for approximate RPM only, good to about 50RPM +-. Mastech meter is measuring Hz on the RPM wire for a much more accurate RPM number RPM = Hz x 30.

AUDIO RECORDING
Zoom H1 set to manual mode 100, Low Cut On, Recorder is set 12" from Fan Hub to Microphone Tip.

VIDEO RECORDING
Canon T2I with Tokina 12-24 Lens

VIDEO/AUDIO COMBINING & RENDERING
Sony Vegas
Leave all level set to default, combine audio from video and Zoom via finger snap.
Output to HD video .wmv 8MBS before uploading to YT.

VOLTAGE CONTROL and PSU
The power is supplied via a Mastech 0-5Amp 0-30V variable testing power supply.

Fan control was using a Scythe Kaze Master (KM02-BK-3.5) 3.5" drive bay controller. I just modified it by attaching a large 4" wheel for more precise control.

I typically fed the controller an extra volt or so to ensure I had the full 12V capability after voltage drop and each fan is fed from 4V to 12V in one volt increments. If the fan will not start at 4V it is skipped until the nearest volt is enough. Voltage is measured close to the fan plug to minimize voltage droop and get a more accurate voltage supplied at the plug measurement. Amperage or current is measured by splicing the power line near the plug and running it to the amperage meter.

I'll be experimenting with PWM controll options later, but since a majority of the fans are 3 pin and setup for voltage control, that's my preferred method for testing and what is used unless otherwise noted.

[Martinm210]

Yate Loon D12SM12

VIDEO LINK:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJggilRjx9k

I use these fans. They have been known for their low cost and good sound qualities in the past, but we'll see how they stack up to the latest fans. Overall still a good fan at an exceptional price. I hear a little bit of motor grind and the blades are a bit more choppy than higher blade number types...but still a very admirable performance/price ratio.

[MagisD]

Whoooooooot more results for me to pour over.

Great job martin.

Sent from my X10a using Tapatalk

[Martinm210]

Just getting started, but I should have some new stuff to compare against soon.

I got a couple snuck in this week and will do more over the weekend.

[Martinm210]

Zalman ZM-F3

Sponsored by Hondacity

VIDEO LINK:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu1oGRnE54U

This is another well respected fan. Vapor pointed this fan out in his earlier work, I'm finding it to edge out the yate similarly. These are being replaced by a newer model, but you can still find them at very good sub $10 prices. They are very similar to the yate except a step up in that they use a large fan hub/motor also come with sleeved wires, rubber case mount nipples and a resistor for 7V operation. These produce a bit more flow per CFM, have a larger RPM range, and very slightly better noise level/CFM ratio. In general a yate SM of higher quality and performance, although it's pretty close on the noise front. 3db is considered barely perceptible, so it's about the same in that context.

Overall another very good fan. This is the sort of charting I plan to do. I'll keep using the yate as a baseline comparison since it's fairly well known...

[Martinm210]

Cooler Master Excalibur

Sponsored by Shazza

This fan is unique with a hexogonal perforated metal frame and sword like 9 bladed fan blade. It also comes sleeved and has a neat motor/cage frame that's sharp. It also has a really wide RPM range going well over 2300 RPM and clear down to 450RPM and generally didn't exhibit any odd or annoying harmonics or much motor noise at all.

But...noise level was very high (wind like noise) compared to the yate loon.

VIDEO LINK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kREQunQ-blc

[the finisher]

Great work, as usual.

Can't wait to add samples too this

Very interested in some 140mm fan testing as well, I'm always hunting good 140's.

[Alexandr0s]

Thanks for yet another great test Martin .

[Manicdan]

when your all done (like next year), you should post results compared to sponcer, see if theres any hidden agendas, lol

seriously great work here. you convinced me to get a GT15, glad i did

also do you have a fan thats used by the corsair H50?

[SpuTnicK]

@Martin
Congrats on a new rad, finally

[Martinm210]

Great work, as usual.

Can't wait to add samples too this

Very interested in some 140mm fan testing as well, I'm always hunting good 140's.

Thanks for sponsoring I'm with you, I think 140mm rads are the direction we'll all be going sooner or later. Haven't tested a 140 yet, but I plan to soon..

Thanks for yet another great test Martin .

Thanks! It's been fun. I actually don't care much about changing fans out myself, but I felt like fans is one of those few areas where there hasn't been enough radiator based testing and one that makes a pretty big difference. I also really have no clue what to expect when mounting up a fan and that's also why I like it....never know what I'm going to find next..

when your all done (like next year), you should post results compared to sponcer, see if theres any hidden agendas, lol

seriously great work here. you convinced me to get a GT15, glad i did

also do you have a fan thats used by the corsair H50?

That's why I created the list, so I could remember who sponsored me...my memory has never been very good..

No I don't, can you even buy the corsair fans anywhere/ It would be good to have one for comparison, there are quite a few folks that have upgraded fans on the H50/70s and other kits, they would probably benefit having one of those tests as a comparison.

@Martin
Congrats on a new rad, finally

Thanks to Gabe from Swiftech for sponsoring it... My old RS was getting a little rough around the edges from being tossed around in various parts bins...it was time for a new one and the MCR is wider and should be lower in restriction too.

[Vapor]

Got all my fans to send out now....there's a few surprises in there

Should go out tomorrow or more likely Monday (gameday in town tomorrow).

[Martinm210]

Got all my fans to send out now....there's a few surprises in there

Should go out tomorrow or more likely Monday (gameday in town tomorrow).

Awesome...thanks!!

Mystery fans... I like that

I plan to get the rest of the in hand newcomers recorded tonight along with as many of the retested fans as I can get done. Time to start brewing some coffee

[skinnee]

Time to start brewing some coffee

That is the only way I can actually stay awake and get some testing done.

[Church]

skinnee: just move on to testing while sleepwalking

[kinghong1970]

Martinm210, thank you again for all your efforts.

it is always with much gratitude and pure enjoyment that i read your tests and data for the benefit of the community.
and this pretty much goes for all those who, out of varying reasons, be it passion or otherwise, takes the time to provide these valuable information to this community.

again, thank you.

btw, love that tokina 12-24, eh? that lens seems to love the skies...

[Martinm210]

That is the only way I can actually stay awake and get some testing done.

Yeah, I drink way too much...can't seem to get going in the morning without it. Got about a dozen or so tests recorded last night, now if I can just get my main PC to behave and render the videos and extract the data. For some reason my old Q6600 started having stability issues when rendering.

If it behaves, I should get a few new fan results out over the weekend.

Martinm210, thank you again for all your efforts.

it is always with much gratitude and pure enjoyment that i read your tests and data for the benefit of the community.
and this pretty much goes for all those who, out of varying reasons, be it passion or otherwise, takes the time to provide these valuable information to this community.

again, thank you.

btw, love that tokina 12-24, eh? that lens seems to love the skies...

Thanks!

Hope it's all helpful. Yes, I do like the Tokina, by far my favorite lens, although that 50 1.2L would be a lot of fun I'm sure, I've been really fortunate to collect what I have: Tokina 12-24, Sigma 20mm 1.8, Canon 35mm F2, Canon 50 F1.4, Canon 80 F1.8, Sigma 50-500. I probably use the Tokina 80% of the time, and the Canon 35 19% of the time, and the other the last 1%.

I had a 17-40F4L (my only L), but sold it off after finding out I liked the 12-24 range so much better.

Anyhow...should see some additional results over the weekend.

[Martinm210]

Disregard, I figured out what was going on. I wasn't looking closely enough and mixed up the SL for the SM.. I think my test data may actually be ok..

[antiacid]

Yeah, I drink way too much...can't seem to get going in the morning without it. Got about a dozen or so tests recorded last night, now if I can just get my main PC to behave and render the videos and extract the data. For some reason my old Q6600 started having stability issues when rendering.

Isn't it fun how stuff works as long as it's not really needed, but the opposite isn't usually true?

Anyway, you should get off coffee completely. Drugs are bad, mmmmkay? :P

Out of curiosity, what's your take on FPI vs Noise? I was considering swapping out some mcr320 I have but then I figured I'd wait for your test results before selecting a new fan/rad combo

Currently I'm running gt 1850rpm on 2x mcr320 per loops (overkill, why not) and I figured since I can get away with no fans at all during browsing/office work, I maybe should move to a sub 1000rpm setup (16 fans do make some noise). As you know, the gt squeal when undervolting, so there's that annoying me...

[Martinm210]

Isn't it fun how stuff works as long as it's not really needed, but the opposite isn't usually true?

Anyway, you should get off coffee completely. Drugs are bad, mmmmkay? :P

Out of curiosity, what's your take on FPI vs Noise? I was considering swapping out some mcr320 I have but then I figured I'd wait for your test results before selecting a new fan/rad combo

Currently I'm running gt 1850rpm on 2x mcr320 per loops (overkill, why not) and I figured since I can get away with no fans at all during browsing/office work, I maybe should move to a sub 1000rpm setup (16 fans do make some noise). As you know, the gt squeal when undervolting, so there's that annoying me...

Actually, I've been drinking Lipton Tea lately, antioxidants are good for you right...

I'm not sure, but I've been thinking about ordering a GTX120 to maybe do some work in that area. While I wouldn't be able to compare CFM/noise, I could compare RPM/Noise between the two. I've heard people say more dense radiators create more noise, but I'm not sure myself.

I'll be doing some lower RPM GTs here in not too long to so you can get a feel on the lower models.

In general I think it's always good to pick a fan that runs 12V at the RPM you want, there almost always seems to be some negatives with undervolting with some fans doing better than others.

But as far as FPI, I'm not sure. I think there is more to the # of fan blades than there is FPI, but I haven't tested it..yet.

[Martinm210]

OK, now that I found the right fan...this new testing batch checks in just fine, better than I expected.

Such a relief I don't have to start over again...

Anyhow, I have about a dozen new fans tested with this batch last night and I'll start processing.

[[XC] Oj101]

I'm looking forward to seeing the GT

[Martinm210]

Yate Loon D12SL12-D 38mm

Special thanks to Shazza for sponsoring this fan

Since I've always had yates myself and like to undervolt them under 1000RPM, I was really curious to see how this 38mm variety did. It is slightly more expensive and sports that typical larger size hub that most 38mm fans have, but very different blades than that of the normal yate 25mm thickness series.

The fan did pretty well, but it was not better than the 25mm varieties. In addition to the below noise level, I noticed some motor ticking present at higher volts that you don't get with the 25mm version. On average it produced about 1dbA more than the SM 25mm baseline fan for the same performance level. And what about CFM per RPM you might ask?...worse. Perhaps the larger hub is to blame for that. In general, fairly close to the 25mm yates, but more motor tick and more noise level. Also much lower top end so less ability to increase if needed with a fan controller. I'd suggest sticking with the 25mm SL or SM version..

Video Link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxe3XHG0zOU

I good value in the context of 38mm fan costs, but in general I would prefer the 25mm D12SL12 over this 38mm version.

[Martinm210]

Scythe Ultra Kaze 2000

Yet another fan sponsored by Shazza

I've used the UK3 in previous radiator testing and alway thought they were a great value fan for high speeds, but they had a tendency to tick when undervolted....so I wanted to try the UK2. The good news is the fan is much better with the ticking problem I think is more apparent in the UK3.

In general I thought it has a bit more motor whine than 25mm fans at similar performance levels, but slightly less wind/blade type noise.

It actually performed fairly similarly to the yate medium speed 25mm fan with the exception of a few bad voltage spikes. It seemed to resonate at around 5V, 8V, and 10V with about a 1-3dbA spike over the normal trend with the biggest spike at 8V.

As far as CFM/RPM it does very well, a bit better than the yate 25mm fans. The fan is also more electrically efficient drawing about .5 watts less than the 25mm yate medium.

Overall a pretty good value fan for higher speeds, but if you plan to run lower than about 1700RPM, you'd be better off with a 25mm fan. If you do undervolt, you may want to tune off of those resonating points.I also thought the motor sound was a bit whiny in general at lower volts.

VIDEO LINK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=My2Y3cTnlsM