Thermochill PA 120.3 - Are these fans strong enough?

**GeoffP** · 03-31-2007, 01:49 PM

Quick question, would the CFM from these fans (Noctua NF-S12-1200 - 120mm Fan, 47cfm, 17 dBA) be sufficient to adequately cool a Thermochill PA120.3

CPU & 2 x GPU in loop.

Or, do you think I would need higher CFM fans? I will be using a fan controller.

Installing into U2-UFO 1203.

I don't want to have to rip the Noctua fans out if they are underpowered.

**serialk11r** · 03-31-2007, 02:06 PM

Noctua fans have low pressure, so you should use them as case fans, as they are not too effective on radiators or heatsinks.
Try sharkoon or something.

**SiGfever** · 03-31-2007, 02:42 PM

http://www.petrastechshop.com/12yalod1cafa1.html

**Chas_The_Man** · 03-31-2007, 02:55 PM

Noctua fans are Extra low pressure. They barely pull air through a grill. I sold all of mine. The one I thought of keeping made a funny slight clicking noise too.

**GeoffP** · 03-31-2007, 03:21 PM

Does it matter if the fan is 25mm or 38mm deep. This is in regard to will either depth fan fit the Thermochill PA 120.3 shroud correctly.

**GeoffP** · 03-31-2007, 03:32 PM

Originally Posted by Chas_The_Man

Noctua fans are Extra low pressure. They barely pull air through a grill. I sold all of mine.

I can confirm that the flow of air from the Noctua (NF-S12-1200 - 120mm Fan, 47cfm, 17 dBA) does in fact seem to be very low. I can put my hand up against the fan and you don't feel that much air being pushed out.

Have to say that fans specifications seem to be a bit of a black art to understand. Everyone quotes figures to support their fan (of-course).

I might go for a higher CFM fan and use the rheobus to fine tune it.

I am definitely going to buy something from an Australian supplier as the o/s shipping charges are killing me.

I was looking at the Scythe S-FLEX 120mm Fan SFF21F as it is available over here (hooray for something) and it is expensive at $29.95 each but I only want 3 for the rad. Will use my Noc's for the case fans as I can easily change them out later.

**Mekrel** · 03-31-2007, 03:42 PM

I must have had fault s-flex's? Had two of them and there was more motor noise there than the yate loons I use now?

**ranker** · 03-31-2007, 03:44 PM

Originally Posted by mcoffey

I love mine, never have a rig without them, really strong and quiet. I spin then around 1000rpm and they just whisper. keeps my temps great idle and under load.

andyc

I agree. I use scythe sff12f for all of my internal fans. They're whisper quiet and don't make any sort of weird mechanical noises at any speed controlled by my sunbeam rheobus.

I use Coolermaster LED fans for all of my external facing fan slots in my UFO. Not as quiet/powerful as the Scythe fans, but they still get the job done on my radiators with little noise.

**GeoffP** · 03-31-2007, 03:47 PM

Just ordered 3 x 120mm Scythe SFF21F S-FLEX™ Case Fans.

I was a bit worried about the noc's on my rad. Feel a bit better now.

**Mekrel** · 03-31-2007, 03:51 PM

Sunbeam Rheobus, just seems weird two of them were like it :/

**pk0r** · 03-31-2007, 06:29 PM

I am running the 1200RPM Noctuas on my PA120.3 as well and am little bothered by the repeated claims of them having a low air pressure which would result in a diminished performance as this always comes down to the base of comparison.
I have tested mine against Lian Li/ADDA fans and Papst FGLLs in combination with my PA rad (3 fan setup, all fans sucking cold air & mounted w/ shroud and gaskets) and the Noctua came out best of these by ~1-2°. Keep in mind the FGLL has scored very well in Radical_53's testing (in combination with a PA120.3 as well) and were only 0.2K behind the test winner from Yate Loon.

**Sparky** · 03-31-2007, 06:59 PM

Originally Posted by Mekrel

I must have had fault s-flex's? Had two of them and there was more motor noise there than the yate loons I use now?

I think some of the S-flex's are good, but a few particular models had problems. Maybe it was Vapor who mentioned that, in his fan roundup sticky in the aircooling section. Check it out.

**IanY** · 03-31-2007, 07:15 PM

Hehehe.. 4412 FGML

**serialk11r** · 03-31-2007, 07:19 PM

Originally Posted by IanY

Hehehe.. 4412 FMGL

I'm surprised, no one saw Vapor's review?????? IanY's favorite fan, is what you should buy

**IanY** · 03-31-2007, 07:52 PM

Its not popular... so let's keep it that way... so that I can dominate all available stock !!

Ya.. Scythe S-Flex very excellent very good

Yate Loons.. the best... FTW!!

**serialk11r** · 03-31-2007, 08:21 PM

Originally Posted by IanY

Its not popular... so let's keep it that way... so that I can dominate all available stock !!

Ya.. Scythe S-Flex very excellent very good

Yate Loons.. the best... FTW!!

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAA
You ppl really need to visit the aircooling section, and actually see for yourself which fans are better and which fans are worse.

**Lancelot** · 03-31-2007, 10:24 PM

Why would we need to visit the air cooled section. For the most part we all have a great deal of experience and many have found the Yate Loons to work very well. I have personally used 10 different fan brands and I prefer the Yate Loon based on performance and noise....thanks, but I don't need to go backwards and visit the air cooled section.

**SiGfever** · 04-01-2007, 05:28 AM

I like and own some Scythe fans but they have a definite noise to them unlike my Yate's. I use them in one of my servers since I do not care about its noise.

But to each his (or her) own.

**skate2snow** · 04-01-2007, 06:39 AM

I like these... Quite high CFM and quite low noise... http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...re=THERMALTAKE

**IanY** · 04-01-2007, 07:12 AM

ZOMFG Bbq Sauce !

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=136954

**Mekrel** · 04-01-2007, 09:44 AM

Originally Posted by SiGfever

I like and own some Scythe fans but they have a definite noise to them unlike my Yate's. I use them in one of my servers since I do not care about its noise.

But to each his (or her) own.

I knew it wasn't just me, they deffo do have some motor noise compared to a yate. I've ran them side by side.

**ranker** · 04-01-2007, 12:06 PM

Originally Posted by SiGfever

I like and own some Scythe fans but they have a definite noise to them unlike my Yate's. I use them in one of my servers since I do not care about its noise.

But to each his (or her) own.

And I have some Yates that sound like Thunderblades. Every company has its defects. You might have one just like how I have one.

**serialk11r** · 04-01-2007, 12:14 PM

let me save you guys from hell http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=137832
Take a careful look at the chart and you guys will soon figure out that the fans people banished from the forums are actually better than yates, scythe, etc. Big thanks to our favorite super mod, VAPOR!!!!
Sorry IanY, there's gonna be a lot of people fighting over your fans

**Ricbus** · 04-01-2007, 01:41 PM

I have 3x noctua 1200 on my pa120.3 and are very pleased with them. I havent tried any other fans though. My temps are 31c idle on my 7800gt (overclocked) and 27c idle on my amd x2 2ghz (overclocked to 2.5). Good enough for me, and they are silent.

If you undervolt to 7v, its almost impossible to hear them.

**spider_d** · 04-01-2007, 03:13 PM

Ricbus,

Are you using them in a push or pull configuration? Have you tested both ways?

I have 3 Noctua's coming in tomorrow and 3 Papst 4112 fans on order. Considering the papst should be pushing over 10 CFM per fan more, at the same dB, than the noctua's through the rad, i'm interested in testing the papst's against the noctua's.

Do you notice a temperature difference between higher and lower volts on the Noctua's?

Much appreciated,
Dan

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