26 120mm Fans Tested and Compared

[Vapor]

Well fan controllers have both vdrop and vdroop...vdrop is constant regardless of the number of fans (i.e., the '12V' setting only at 10.5-11.4V with no fan, depending on the controller), but then you add in vdroop (dependent on load) and you can go down to ~10.3-10.85V with very high loads. Depending on the fans and the controller, putting three fans on one channel could be very high load, causing a low run voltage, which reduces performance more than if you just had one fan.

However....all three fans would still run at the same voltage, therefore perform similarly.

[yonton228]

So basically I have 2 under performing fans or 1 fan that is just performing a bit better than the other 2. BTW, I am running 3 Yate Loon D12SH-12 in series to a Sunbeam rheobus controller. I finally have my water loop ready to go so now I can start to test some of my spare fans and get the best ones for the job.




-yonton228/timmy

[wgoldfarb]

Vapor:

Wow. I mean... well... what i want to say is... well... wow. Great post and incredible analysis!

I was waiting for the results of your second round of tests, but I decided to "delurk" and ask you a question in the meantime.

I have a stable overclocked E6600 cooled with an Ultima 90 and a 120mm Tricool fan running at "medium" (which I believe is around 7.5V). I have 2 case fans (120mm Tricools, both running at low, around 5V). My temps are 43C at idle, and 57C when under 100% TAT load. I know I could get lower temps by increasing my fan speeds, but I prefer to sacrifice a few degrees so I can run a more silent system.

My rig is in a very quiet room, and I find the Tricools are "less than silent" My PSU is a very quiet Corsair, so the main sources of noise are, by far, the three Tricools. What I would like to do is to get fans that will produce the same airflow I now have, at the lowest possible noise level. So, I need to:

1) find out what CFM is produced by the Tricools when running at "low" in open air (for the 2 case fans), and at "medium" with restricted flow (CPU fan).

2) Find out which fan is the quietest at each of these two CFM levels.

Before finding your post I had been "flying blind". The little info I had suggested that I need a Scythe S-Flex SFF21F for the CPU and run it at 9V, and two Nexus D12SL-12 for the case, and run them at 7V. I am very eager to see the results of your second round of testing to see if these are good choices or not. What do you think? Or is there a "quieter" way to get these CFM levels?

I would even consider raising my temps a little -- sacrificing a few CFM in either the case fans or the CPU -- if it means I could get an even more silent system.

I know you must be back in school by now, so if answering this will be too much work don't worry about it -- I will (eagerly!) wait for you to post your results. If you have a few minutes, though, any insight will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

Edit: I now have my CPU fan also on low -- my load temps only increased about 2 degrees, so they are still under 60C at 100% TAT load. So, maybe I can get away with using a CPU fan with a lower CFM than the SFF21F

[Flak]

Anyone have any input on these:
Kingwin F012BB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811999965


I bought a bunch of them when newegg was running a special many months ago but haven't exactly gotten around to using them.

[Polizei]

Anyone know how well Delta's undervolt?

Specifically the AFB1212SHE? Sidewinder has them for $11.95 on sale, I was going to pick up one or two of them for that price (once they come back in stock) and put them on my Sunbeam rheobus.

[Flak]

Were the "newest" graphs ever posted? Still trying to find the "best" 120x25 and 120x38 for pressure&cfm/noise.

[disruptfam]

please test the new scythe ultra kaze fan's there's 2000rpm 32dba 87cfm version and a 3000rpm version

cheers mate

[Ar3s]

Anyone know how well Delta's undervolt?

Specifically the AFB1212SHE? Sidewinder has them for $11.95 on sale, I was going to pick up one or two of them for that price (once they come back in stock) and put them on my Sunbeam rheobus.

Deltas undervolt really well.

[jukkis83]

Hi, Im a newbie to xtremesystems. I'd like first to thank Vapor and others in
this thread for awesome input.


Then to the issue at hand. I live in Finland and not all of these fans are available here. Im thinking of buying a new case and watercooling set. I need some fans that would be cheap and work on many applications as case fans, radiator fans etc. 120mm. Silence is criteria #1, after that comes airflow and then price but I rather not pay 20euros for a fan, not matter how good it is

Availability:

Adda: 120 x 120 x 25 AD1212DF-A73GLLF about 15e

Aerocool: Silver Lighting 120mm l
1000RPM/61.17CFM/19.5db about 12e

Antec: Tricool series about 20e !

Cooltek
120 x 120 x 25mm 1000rpm, 15db/A, 38.3 cfm less then 8e

Nanoxia: Series about 15e

Nexus: D12SL-12, 120x120x25, 1000 RPM, 23 dB about 20e

Noctua: NF-S12-800 and NF-S12-1200 about 18e

Noiseblocker: Series about 20e

Papst: Series over 20e

Scythe: Series S-FLEX about 18e

Sharkoon: Silent Eagle about 15e

Silverstone: All the ty models.

Zalman: ZM-F3 about 8e.

Now Im leaning towards Zalman ZM-F3 because of the price and Vapor's comment on that. Any new info about these and are they good for all applications? Any other suggestions? Cant find Yate Loons easily from anywhere. Info on Nanoxia series? http://www.nanoxia.com/?go=fx12&cat=products&lng=de

Thank you in advance.

[~aoe~]

I'm currently using Zalman ZM-F3's (red led) and they are noisy at 12v, but can be significantly undervolted and still push a lot of air.

If you're looking for Yate Loon's (also a good choice), you can try Petra's Tech Shop - they ship internationally and shipping costs are not excessive. I bought most of my wc components from them, and I live in Spain.

[Ar3s]

wow the noctua are cheaper than the s-flex f fans... thats amazing news.. finland hmm.

Zalman ZM-F3 cause of that price. They provide the unvolting wire so it shouldn't be that bad. The Scythe S-flex F would be my 3rd choice. The Sharkoons are 2nd.

[jukkis83]

Zalman it seems to be then. How much noise do they generate at 5v-7v ?
S-flex and Noctuas are priced the same at 18e it seems. My bad.

[TouGe]

I still haven't finished reading this thread, freaking ~500 posts already, but will eventually get through it all.
I just wanted to say thanks to Vapor for all the info. Up until a week ago I never considered Sharkoon fans and now I own three Golfball 2000's and I am very pleased with their performance.

[Ar3s]

my fans..

[myerz635]

Man, those 21 pages are a lot of info to digest lol....first off, thanks vapor for all your hard work i never realized there was a such a big difference between fans!....i cant even imagine how many hours you put into testing all those fans My question is, what fan would be the best for my mcr320 rad?....im currently using 3 YL D12SM-12 but i dont think they are really cutting it as far as cfm goes. I especially want to change them now that i read your tests and see that they only push about 55 CFM...I just ordered this external fan controller http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811999167
so i can control my rad fans (if you look at my sig link you will see why i need an external fan controller) I was going to switch to the YL D12SH since they are so cheap but now after reading all these posts i am seriously considering the San Ace. Im looking for something that will be fairly quiet on 5-7v and have that extra headroom for when im gaming, while still pushing quite a bit of air for when im watching movies etc. Thanks again for all your testing and info man, you have helped tons of people make informed purchases!

[kinghong1970]

my fans..

is it me or Japanese packaging reminds me of hentaii... maybe it's Ar3s' avatar... maybe i should just shut up...

[Flak]

Panaflo M1J best fan (pressure&cfm/noise) for less then $6?

[cegras]

I have a question about Yate Loon fans. It seems that the general consensus is that sleeve bearings in a non-vertical position = bad.

However, I notice some PSU OEM's use YL DS12H fans in a horizontal position to cool their power supplies.

Don't sleeve bearings make bad noises and such in this kind of mounting position?

[TiMi]

Hi there.
I have a question/request for you Vapor.
Why don't you use the Noiseblocker Ultrasilent in your round 2?
It seems they are very good fans, at least in other forums/sites they talk about them...
What is your opinion about that?
I want to buy 2 fans 120mm for in&out and 2 80mm for in&out, to install in my NZXT Lexa, and i'm thinking about buying those Noiseblocker, the model SX1 (120mm) and S1(80mm). The specs in their site are better than any other i've seen, in terms of cfm/noise, being my limit for the noise item, about 20db.
SX1- 1200rpm 38cfm 17db
S1- 1500rpm 22cfm 11db
S2- 2000rpm 29cfm 19db
What do you say!?
Cheers

[cantankerous]

Question. It has been awhile since I checked this forum for updates but is there any new 120mm fans in the market that are NOT sleeve based but either 1800rpm-2100rpm and 25mm thick that are recommended? High RPM is a must due to restrictions on my case where the fans are to be placed.

[CERO]

dont think there is anything new I have seen comes by, but if u looking at that range of rpm, I think a Sharkoon 2000rpm or Zalman 1800rpm are good, like Vapor mentioned, and Scythe S-Flex F-series are great, and not much difference between with those 2 in performance

[cantankerous]

Thanks. I have the Zalman 1800rpm but it is sleeve based, as is the Sharkoon so cannot be oriented on its back for 24/7 use. I need something ball/fluid bearing based.

[L'enFer]

Has anybody seen tests of the Scythe Ultra Kaze fans?

[CERO]

Thanks. I have the Zalman 1800rpm but it is sleeve based, as is the Sharkoon so cannot be oriented on its back for 24/7 use. I need something ball/fluid bearing based.

The Scythe-S-FLex F? it should performan nearly the same as the zalman and sharkoon.

[Ar3s]

Thanks. I have the Zalman 1800rpm but it is sleeve based, as is the Sharkoon so cannot be oriented on its back for 24/7 use. I need something ball/fluid bearing based.

check the new noctua NF-P12 fans i see them available in canada.