26 120mm Fans Tested and Compared

[Vapor]

EDIT : One thing I forgot to mention is "best cfm to dB ratio within a certian reasonable limit" because when I calculated a few of the #s (from eyeballing it) I saw the 100+ cfm fans doing well over 2cfm per 1dB which is really good but those fans measured as being very loud. Am I right in assuming that too?

dB is logarithmic....ignore CFM/dB ratio. Yes, those fans are very loud. EDIT: also: dB is not loudness, it's intensity. Loudness is subjective.

theres one thing i dont understand tho, out of the papst and the sharkoons, on the radiator tests, how come the papst did so much better then the sharkoon and how come the sharkoon did better on the cpu test over the papst, I had assumed that the sharkoon would have had the higher static air pressure because of the fin design over the papst, but it seems to be reversed?

CFM through a radiator (NOT STATIC PRESSURE!....that's something a little different) is only part of the equation for cooling performance. Airflow dispersion patterns and hub sizes are huge factors. Think about it this way: if you have airflow through only part of a radiator, and you miss any critical parts, the CFM may be high, but the cooling just won't be there. However, dedicating airflow to useless parts of the radiator (on a TTBT, not all parts are equal), can alter the situation as well.

Hub sizes are equal...so airflow dispersion is probably the factor here. Also, look at the data points...CFM v dB is 1V increment (count the dots) and dT v dB is at 12V, 9V, 7V, 5V.....only at 10V and 11V did the ebmpapst noticably beat the Sharkoon.