Quietest 120mm Radiator Fan

[bounti]

Hello forum! I'm planning on choosing 3 120mm silent fans for use on a low fpi and low rpm radiator in pull.

Ideally, I'd prefer fans that would go down to 400 rpm, but unfortunately I can't seem to find silent and well-built fans that can do this other than the ugly Noctuas.

Two potential options are 120mm noise blocker fans:

Noiseblocker BlackSilentPro PK-PS PWM 120mm fan
http://www.blacknoise.com/en/products/i ... _Pro_120mm

Noiseblocker Multiframe M12-PS PWM 120mm fan
http://www.blacknoise.com/en/products/i ... ries_120mm

I chose these because they seem to have the best feedback in terms of tone and quietness of operation. I would also like to have PWM functionality to keep them at low RPM with software. Unfortunately, they only go down to 600rpm. Out of these two however, which is better suited for my intended function? Or, do you have any suggestions for quiet fans that do indeed go down to 400rpm and tie noiseblockers in quality + quietness.

I'd appreciate any feedback, thanks!

[Abula]

Welcome to SPCR!!!!

Both links of your fans redirect to 403 error.

One thing worth mentioning about the Noiseblockers, even though they are superb fans in terms of quality, they are not that great on PWM in terms of control, the fans PWM design is meant to reach their lowest at 0% PWM, here is an example on the Blackpro PLPS ran on an Asus Maximus VI Gene on FanXpert2 on a PWM header (CPU_FAN).



SPCR did review the M12-P on the Fan Roundup #6: Scythe, Noiseblocker, Antec, Nexus, Thermalright,

The M12-P differs from the S1 and S2 models in being a PWM fan and having a much higher top speed. Again, the overall noise quality is similar, although, of course, it is much louder at the >1800 RPM top speed, louder than even the huge Thermalright TY170 fan by 6 dBA. At this speed, it managed to improve on the TY170's cooling by one degree. Reducing fan speed naturally reduced noise, but it did not reach "SPCR quiet" levels till the 1100 RPM point, where it matched the cooling performance of the Nexus 120 and bettered the noise by a decibel. Below that level, it posted slightly poorer numbers than its non-PWM brethren. Despite the specified 1000~2000 RPM range, FanXpert 2 had no trouble starting and running this fan at 700 RPM.

While the M12-P is a quiet fan when its speed is reduced, its noise level is not quite the equal of the non-PWM variants. Althought it might be useful in a high power rig that scales down well at lower or idle power, the relatively high noise higher RPMs makes it less interesting to SPCR audiences.

There is a lower speed version of this PWM fan, called M12-PS, with a speed range of 600~1600 RPM and SPL of 7~23 dBA. This would be much more useful for SPCR readers. NB will be tapped for samples for the next fan roundup.

Now if you dont mind 650 rpms or so as your minium, then go for the M12-PLPS, but get a motherboard that can dip on PWM to 0%, AsRock is the only one that i seen that can on pure bios (and has 2 true pwm fan headers), else Asus on FanXpert2 will also allow it, but asus motherboards only come with one true pwm fan header (CPU_FAN), so you wont be able to use a PWM pump or at least control them seperatly.

As an alternative, a very high regarded fan for overclockers and watercooling for years have been the Scythe Gentle Typhoon AP15, sadly Scythe decided to terminate the nidec production of the fans, so they are very hard to get atm. SCPR did review two versions of it, on the Fan Roundup #6: Scythe, Noiseblocker, Antec, Nexus, Thermalright, and according to the review the AP12 was pretty good, also sold out almost everywhere, but an available version is the Scythe Gentle Typhoon 120mm x 25mm Fan - 1150 RPM (D1225C12B3AP-13), the range of operation should be pretty solid, i'll leave you a couple of FanXpert2 runs on CHA_FAN (Voltage controlled) on two Gentle typhoons, i expect the above to be in between.





Now if you want to remain with PWM fans, be sure to crosscheck your motherboard has two true PWM fan headers (MSI and AsRock do in most models, Asus only has one), thats if you going with PWM pump. I would probably consider also Noctua NF-F12 PWM Fan, sadly i dont own one to show you their graph, but i expect it would be very similar to the NF-S12A PWM.



If you dont like Noctuas color scheme, I would probably give a hard look into Asus motherboard with FanXpert2 and Scythe gentle typhoons, and use a PWM pump on the CPU_FAN and the Gentle Typhoons on CHA_FAN headers 1,2,3, if you need more just use a splitter for them. Else accept noctua color scheme and go for AsRock motherboard with two true PWM fan headers and the ability to drop the fans to very low PWM % (MSI is also a good option just not as tweakable on bios on pure fan control, but its solid). If you still want to go with Noiseblockers, accepting their 650rpm restriction, be sure to get a motherboard that can drop to 0% (Asus with FanXpert2 can but only 1 true PWM fan header, and AsRock, to what i seen can go to 0% on pure bios), else you will end up with the limitations on the bios that are commonly 20 to 40% ending with the Noiseblockers spining around 1000rpms as their minimum, so be careful choosing the motherboard.

Another fans that i have liked on the past are Scythe Slipstreams, now discontinued and replaced with the Glidestreams. Personally i see these fans more for case fans than for heatsinks or rads, but Scythe usually includes this fans on their Mugen heatsinks, so might work out fine, you can check in the SPCR Scythe Mugen 4 CPU Cooler: Scythe Strikes Back, there are two versions that i have seen, but only one i seen on retail, Scythe Glide Stream 120mm x 25mm PWM Fan - 300 ~ 1900 RPM (SY1225HB12SH-P).

Btw how what rads and pump are you planning on?

[bounti]

Wow, that's a ton of useful information! Interesting that the Noiseblockers have that restriction when they're going for quiet fans. I am starting to consider the Noctuas since they do offer low RPMs with PWM control. The GTs really do shine but I've been unable to find them at an affordable price unfortunately. What do you think about the Noiseblockers 140mm PK-PS? I believe they do drop to 400 rpm.

I'll be using an Asrock Extreme 6/ac motherboard, so that allows me to use its bios features; however, wouldn't SpeedFan be better for PWM control? I'll be cooling a XT45 360mm radiator and a UT60 280mm radiator while using a Koolance PMP-450 pump.

Thanks for your help man!

[Abula]

What do you think about the Noiseblockers 140mm PK-PS? I believe they do drop to 400 rpm.

I own 2 pk3 in a cooler master sf19, and a pk1 on my server, all have been working great, the pk-ps is a fan that I don't own and been trying to buy one, just haven't yet, but I would asume is similar to the other noiseblockers in terms of design, tonally they should be good, but I also expect the 400rpm to be reachable on 0% pwm, so you would need a mobo that can drop as low! like asrocks, or asus with fanxpert2, but ATM I'm on msi and the least I can drop fans on pure bios on pwm is 12.5%, which should take them to 600rpms or so, so it's not thet attractive compare to noctua a ATM, but those were the fans I was planning on using if the noctua a didn't work out, I'm still planning on getting one more out of curiosity but haven't yet.

I'll be using an Asrock Extreme 6/ac motherboard, so that allows me to use its bios features; however, wouldn't SpeedFan be better for PWM?

there is no better or worst just the way you prefer, personally I like a more minimalist approach into having a bios that can control the fans without needing extra software, but this is not to say that FanXpert or speedfan are bad solutions, I haven't had very good experiences with speedfan, but I blame me and that some sensors didn't had support yet, that said this is the main reason I persue FanXpert, and later the pure bios setup, again this is something that you have to decide while planning your setup, there is no right or wrong, just personal preferences.

I'll be cooling a XT45 360mm radiator and a UT60 280mm radiator while using a Koolance PMP-450 pump.

ut60 was one that I was considering when I was trying to go into water, but I never could convince myself into going through, I had my doubts into how good this low Fpi rads can work under extrely low rpms. If you manage to build it, please share your thoughts on temps and noise on sub 400rpms.

[bounti]

Yeah I've heard great things about the UT60 when used with low RPM fans. Based on feedback, I'd say it's your best radiator option when you're going for quietness and performance. I will test my own setup once I setup the UT60 and XT45. I'm probably going to invest in some Noctuas: 3 x NF-F12s for the UT60, 2 x NF-A14 for the XT45, and 1 x NF-A14 as exhaust. I'm planning on using Speedfan because I heard that it's more in depth and detailed than motherboard control (although I have no personal experience with either). Does the program detect the temperature of my cpu through my MB and adjust the fans accordingly?

[quest_for_silence]

Does the program detect the temperature of my cpu through my MB and adjust the fans accordingly?

http://www.silentpcreview.com/SpeedFan (I strongly recommend you to carefully crosscheck on SPCR forum that the mobo you'll choose has support for its sensors on SpeedFan, even if usually several Intel Extreme-series, ASUS, ASRock and MSI boards have it)

[bounti]

I was unable to find a conclusive answer, do you know if the 4pin CPU_Fan and 4pin Chassis Fan connectors on the Asrock Extreme6/ac motherboard both work with speed fan and 2x Swiftech 8-Way pam splitter?

[Abula]

I'm probably going to invest in some Noctuas: 3 x NF-F12s for the UT60, 2 x NF-A14 for the XT45, and 1 x NF-A14 as exhaust. I'm planning on using Speedfan because I heard that it's more in depth and detailed than motherboard control (although I have no personal experience with either). Does the program detect the temperature of my cpu through my MB and adjust the fans accordingly?

The good thing is you are choosing a motherboard that has at least 2 pwm fan headers (i believe its CPU_FAN and SYS_FAN1), so you will be able to control the pump with one and the fans with others, not all noctuas are the same in terms of range, but they are similar so i dont think you will have much trouble determining which % is needed to have both run at their minimum rpms, but this is just with testing. Do remember you will need a PWM splitter to run all 6 fans, my recommendation is Swiftech 8-Way PWM Cable Splitter - SATA Power (8W-PWM-SPL-ST), the great thing about it is that it draws power from the sata/molex connector and only uses the PWM signal and rpm signal from the motherboard header, so you can run as many as you want there, but do remember find out independently which is the lowest PWM for NF-F12 and for the NF-A14, and connect to the the real 4pin (the one that really sends back the info to the motherboard) the one that run higher, so you ensure that all fans will spin.

On the speedfan i cant help you much, but quest gave you a good link, and there are lots of other forum members that can help you more than I. But the great thing is with the Asrock you can test the bios first and see how it works out for your, and if didn't like it you can go into Speedfan later on. Although from what i have seen the AsRock Bios is very complete in terms of control, it has like mini fanxpert2 inside, with 5 different breaking points (MSI only gives me one), so in essence you can plan your graphs on pure bios with the CPU temperature, but i dont own one to say for sure, just from what i have seen.

I was unable to find a conclusive answer, do you know if the 4pin CPU_Fan and 4pin Chassis Fan connectors on the Asrock Extreme6/ac motherboard both work with speed fan and 2x Swiftech 8-Way pam splitter?

It should, but not all chassis fans are PWM just one will be, IIRC is the SYS_FAN1 (but do crosscheck this as i dont own it). Now my question is why would you want to run two splitters? i would run the pump on one (CPU_FAN) and all the fans with the swiftech splitter on the other (SYS_FAN1).

[bounti]

The pump I'll be using is a Koolance PMP-450, it allows me to vary the speed with a switch on the actual pump. That means both PWM headers are free to use (the specifications say there are two 4pin PWM headers, CPU_Fan and CHA_Fan although I am unsure if the CHA_Fan PWM header works like the CPU_Fan "real" PWM header does). I'm thinking about using two splitters so I can control the 3 x NF-A14s on the exhaust and 280mm radiator separately from the 3 x NF-F12s on the 360mm. What do you think? I'll be sure to try the Asrock fan control before deciding on using speed fan. Thanks for the help.

[Abula]

Sounds good, although i would think with noctua fans running lets say sub 400rpms, the noisiest items you might end up are the hdds and most likely the pump, research some into what is the most quiet pump in the market, back then when i was trying to enter water i remember some people recommended me Swiftech MCP655-PWM-DRIVE 12v Water Pump - PWM Enabled (Full Version), but i decided against going water later on so.... i dont have first hand experience to comment, but if you know the koolance is the right one for your setup go for it.

[bounti]

Thanks for the advice. I'm going with a 512gb Samsung SSD to prevent any HDD noise. The PMP-450 pump is just another version of the MCP655 pump. It doesn't give me PWM control but does allows me to change the speed from a variable switch. Here is a martinsliquidlab review of the pump if you ever decide to go with water-cooling, he noted it to be particularly quiet:

http://martinsliquidlab.org/2011/04/03/ ... ario-pump/

The only thing left on my mind is whether the CHA_Fan PWM header on the extreme6 supports full PWM control + temperature scaling as does the CPU_Fan header. If this is the case, then I'd have no problem going with 2 swiftech splitters. If not, then I'd have to settle with 1 for all my fans.