Some 120mm Fan Reviews: Vardar, Slip Stream, Gentle Typhoon

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Ashun
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Some 120mm Fan Reviews: Vardar, Slip Stream, Gentle Typhoon

Post by Ashun » Fri Nov 20, 2015 5:41 pm

I recently went to a full water cooling loop, and my biggest fear, as a quiet computing enthusiast, was the pump noise. It turned out that the pump (EK-XRES DDC), when properly decoupled and run at a reasonable RPM, wasn't an issue at all. The problem ended up being the fans.

The EK kit came with three Vardar F3-120 fans, and it was immediately obvious they were lousy. So lousy, in fact, that I felt compelled to get some sort of measurement to verify what I was hearing. No reviews had mentioned the awful sound, but I suspect most of the youtubers aren't SPCR members. So I made a post over at the overclock.net EK forum:

http://www.overclock.net/t/1546649/prod ... t_24582516

The post is long and thorough, but here's a quick look at the Vardar F3-120 at 650 RPM:

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Awful!

Sorry, no way to resize images with BBCode. There'll be lots of images.

In a quest to find suitable fans for the radiators, I've spent much too much money. But I'll be taking a look at two fans in particular: the Scythe Slip Stream 120DB (1200 rpm) and the Nidec Gentle Typhoon AP-52 (1450 rpm).

First, the methodology: the fans are placed on a foam pad and are controlled by an Asus Z87-Pro. Measurements are taken 6" from a Behringer ECM8000 measurement microphone. I don't have an SPL meter, so there are no absolute measurements, but you can compare relative sound levels. I also don't have an anechoic chamber, but I've made every effort to keep the noise floor as low as possible. The measurements were taken late at night with no planes flying overhead!

Ambient noise levels:

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Scythe Slip Stream 120DB

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I purchased several of these fans before Lawrence Lee posted his review on the main page, and I've been mostly impressed by them. The reason I went with the ball bearing versions is that I'm completely sick of hearing fans clicking; I'm starting to amass a large collection of sleeve bearing case and other assorted fans, and the trait they all share is that infernal clicking. The 120DB's sound is dominated by a bearable amount wind noise up to about 800 RPM, but it has a few tonal spikes at certain RPMs that are irritating. The fan seems to move a ton of air, even through a 40mm radiator and case grill, so the air turbulence seems appropriate. The Gentle Typhoon, in contrast, has an eerily low amount of turbulence noise. But it has other problems, which we'll get to later.

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To get an idea about the relative sound levels, look at the RMS value at the bottom of the charts. The Slip Stream is extremely well balanced and is perfectly acceptable up to about 750. At 750, that tone at 440 Hz is really distracting. Past 800 RPM, the sound is mostly turbulence with a little bit more tonality, but it's too much noise for quiet computing.

Here's the 120DB at full speed:

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Nidec Gentle Typhoon AP-52

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As I mentioned previously, the Gentle Typhoon has so little air turbulence noise, even at 1450 RPM, that it's astonishing. No wonder it wins in every single simple CFM/dBA chart. But there is a lot going on with the motor: it's scratchy, occasionally ticky, just as toney as the Slip Stream, and it pulsates oddly. It also has a bit more mechanical vibration as compared to the DB120, so you need to be careful mounting it. This is more difficult with 6-32 UNC threaded radiators, which don't fit typical silicone grommets.

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And finally at full speed:

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Notice that at 1450 RPM, the Gentle Typhoon is 4 dB "quieter" than the Slip Stream is at 1250. If I could get four or five meters away from my PC, I'd take the Nidecs, but at $20 each, they're more expensive than the Scythes and sound worse at RPMs below 800.

Right now the Slip Stream is the best option I've found given my constraints, but I'm always looking for something better. I tried some Noiseblocker NB-BlackSilentPro PL-1s, which were quiet except for the insane amount of clicking. The Corsair SP120 Quiet edition fans I have sound OK-ish below 600 RPM, worse at higher RPMs, but they're no good mounted horizontally.

If anyone has some recommendations for a fan that doesn't click, can be mounted in any orientation, is well balanced, and has a smooth sound profile, please let me know! I'm also curious if anyone has figured out a way to decouple a fan from a radiator. Even well balanced fans will resonate with the radiator's chassis, and fan decouplers weren't made to fit through the smaller 6-32 threaded holes. Those 120 mm square gaskets increase the width of the fans, so they no longer fit back-to-back-to-back on a radiator. I've resorted to attaching the fans with sticky-back Velcro tape, but that leave gaps along all four sides.

Any suggestions?



11/29/2015 Addendum:

Fractal Design Venturi HP-12 PWM

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Contrary to my initial reports, the HP-12 does click, and it clicks through all RPMs. The clicking is not as severe as most sleeve bearing fans, and definitely not as bad as the BlackSilentPro samples I had, but I can hear it out to about 60 or 70 cm.

Despite that, the Venturi sounds subjectively pretty good. The graphs below look a little rough, and at low RPMs, the Slip Streams sound better with the added benefit of no clicking, but the HP-12 sounds better than it measures; it's free of strong single tones until about 800 RPM. And because the corners are fully rubber, they won't resonate with a case panel or radiator, which means I don't have to attach the fans with Blu-Tack!

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This is SPCR, so no need for the full speed graph. At 1800 RPM, it's loud.
Last edited by Ashun on Sun Nov 29, 2015 6:23 am, edited 1 time in total.

baii
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Re: Some 120mm Fan Reviews: Vardar, Slip Stream, Gentle Typh

Post by baii » Sat Nov 21, 2015 8:26 am

Great stuff, I just start building my first desktop pc and hit the similar delimma.

Right now I have some gt1450 dc version, with a weak light weighted case, using steel screw will develop a hum due to vibration at low rpm, I think the hum go away at higher rpm. So I go bought some nylon screw and washers and not tighten it so much, help a bit but it is still there. The frequency of that sound change when I touch my case. Add to that, I put a piece of foam under the case, well, helped the extra bit.

One thing that stop me from chasing other fan is the fact I need need to consider cooling potential as I am cramping everything in a small case with 120 aio rads. And I don't have a unlimited budget(actually pretty small, where s the fun with unlimited budget anyways)

If they really annoy me at the end, I will just turn them off when idle. :) god bless dc fan. Underload, they will be drown out by the circuit noise on the gpu, which I don't know if I should be sad of happy about, (went though 5-6 r9 290s, all of them have it, some does better)

I was digging some fan thread for a few days, and some mentioned the scythe s-flex for low bearing noise? Also the san ace 9s series, but these cool less than the gt.

The fan from my x31 aio also have little to bearing noise(per spcr review), but it doesn't go below 800 rpm which is annoying, and the cooling is rather underwhelming.

Tldr, balance of idle and Underload noise is a pita, using a huge case help, but I may as well build with a small case and stuff it into a noise blocking/dampening chamber.

quest_for_silence
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Re: Some 120mm Fan Reviews: Vardar, Slip Stream, Gentle Typh

Post by quest_for_silence » Sun Nov 22, 2015 12:03 pm

Ashun wrote:If anyone has some recommendations

First of all, thanks for sharing.
Said that, basically I've no recommendation because Slipstream clicking to me isn't that terrible (from not-existent to light), and I had no clicking from my Noiseblocker PL1 (I mean, we have too much different references).

Ashun wrote:I'm also curious if anyone has figured out a way to decouple a fan from a radiator.

What about something like Blu Tack?

Ashun wrote:Any suggestions?
Among ball-bearing fans you may give a look to the Prolimatech Sleek Vortex 12: I have the 140mm version and, judging by the CPU temps, it's pretty impressive for a slim fan, with reference to performance (pressure, airflow: it basically matches the Noctua P14) with a less than average bearing noise (for a ball bearing fan), so I guess it could be a good candidate.

Among FDB fans, you might give a look to the new Deepcool TF and GF series: I think they're currently not available in Europe but you may order them directly from Deepcool just dropping them an e-mail, in case. Another option is the Fractal Design Venturi HP-12 PWM, with high build quality and high performance though it starts rotating at 400rpm.

All those fans have a sturdy construction, a conveniently low starting rotational speed, and an air pressure suitable to fit high impendance surfaces like heatsinks/radiators.

Then there are more common fans, like the Scythe Grand Flex and Enermax Twister Pressure, you can more easily read about on the web.

Hope this helps.

Ashun
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Re: Some 120mm Fan Reviews: Vardar, Slip Stream, Gentle Typh

Post by Ashun » Mon Nov 23, 2015 4:22 pm

I had no idea something like Blu-Tack existed.

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Thanks!

I also ordered two Fractal Venturi HP-12s. When they come in, I'll post an update.

lodestar
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Re: Some 120mm Fan Reviews: Vardar, Slip Stream, Gentle Typh

Post by lodestar » Tue Nov 24, 2015 9:13 am

I would strongly recommend that you do not use Blu-Tack on hot surfaces such as PC radiators. If I can refer you to the safety data sheet issued by the manufacturers of this product "...high temperatures create: Toxic gases/vapours/fumes of: Carbon dioxide (CO2). Carbon monoxide (CO)...". You can't see, taste or smell either of these gases. The main issue is Carbon Monoxide (CO) which can cause adverse health effects in concentrations in the air as low as 35 ppm (0.0035%).

If the issue is that your fan gaskets increase the width of the fans, so they no longer fit back-to-back-to-back on a radiator can I suggest that you trim one of the sides of the gasket using either a craft knife or if they are sharp enough even domestic scissors will do.

quest_for_silence
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Re: Some 120mm Fan Reviews: Vardar, Slip Stream, Gentle Typh

Post by quest_for_silence » Tue Nov 24, 2015 11:00 am

lodestar wrote:I would strongly recommend that you do not use Blu-Tack on hot surfaces such as PC radiators. If I can refer you to the safety data sheet issued by the manufacturers of this product "...high temperatures create: Toxic gases/vapours/fumes of: Carbon dioxide (CO2). Carbon monoxide (CO)...".

I would strongly recommend you do not spread FUD: Bostik actually rate Blu Tack for up to +100°C usage, advicing it will loose some adhesive prowess over +70°C due to softening.

lodestar
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Re: Some 120mm Fan Reviews: Vardar, Slip Stream, Gentle Typh

Post by lodestar » Tue Nov 24, 2015 11:36 am

It's not FUD to point out that Blu-Tack is potentially hazardous if exposed to heat. I can't see anything from Bostik that suggests that it should be used permanently on any hot object, in fact they say "...store away from heat...". Personally I wouldn't use Blu-Tack inside a PC for any purpose nor would I suggest that anyone else does so.

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Re: Some 120mm Fan Reviews: Vardar, Slip Stream, Gentle Typh

Post by quest_for_silence » Tue Nov 24, 2015 1:40 pm

lodestar wrote:It's not FUD to point out that Blu-Tack is potentially hazardous if exposed to heat.

If that were true: but that's just a groundless interpretation of generic words and concepts, that you pull out of a hat (or, if you rather, a bullshit).

Last but not least, do you also know how much hot can be an actively cooled watercooling radiator? Please take note that this question is somewhat rethorical.

Copyright
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Re: Some 120mm Fan Reviews: Vardar, Slip Stream, Gentle Typh

Post by Copyright » Thu Nov 26, 2015 6:22 am

Buddy me and you are in the same boat.. to many ppl doing fan reviews have no idea what silence really is. I also just went water cooling but I am still waiting on my GPU block. Until then I am cooling my CPU. I did the D5 PWM pump/res "XRES" from EK.. holy crap it's silent.. at 50% I have to touch the pump to feel some sort of vibe to make sure it's on lol. I am truly impressed. I also used some isolators off my nexus drive isolator kit I had. I put those on the bracket that holds the pump for more isolation. Pump is silent.. my Noctua Redux 140mm fans on the front rad and rear of case are amazing.. 250rpm when not under load and temps are great. Loud underload but I am also an overclocker. I have some free fractal case fans on the 240mm rad that click liek crazy so I am in the market for some GOOD silent 120mm fans with good static pressure as well. I think slipstreams don't have much static pressure? Here is my build in progress.. ignore the long tube off the cpu to pump.. just some slack for me to play with when the GPU block arrives. I am really curious what fans you end up with.. I was trying to find a white 120mm that will do the job now I have given up and just want a fan that doesn't make noise.. If Noctua had a black NF-F12 I would already have it on there.

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lodestar
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Re: Some 120mm Fan Reviews: Vardar, Slip Stream, Gentle Typh

Post by lodestar » Thu Nov 26, 2015 7:07 am

Copyright wrote:If Noctua had a black NF-F12 I would already have it on there.
They do, it's the Noctua NF-F12 IndustrialPPC 2000RPM PWM 120mm. Speed range is 450 to 2000 rpm. Should idle in the 450 to 550 rpm range. Not cheap at around £20 in the UK but if it must be black... It is a good price on Amazon.com at the moment..
Last edited by lodestar on Thu Nov 26, 2015 7:10 am, edited 1 time in total.

Copyright
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Re: Some 120mm Fan Reviews: Vardar, Slip Stream, Gentle Typh

Post by Copyright » Thu Nov 26, 2015 7:09 am

lodestar wrote:
Copyright wrote:If Noctua had a black NF-F12 I would already have it on there.
They do, it's the Noctua NF-F12 IndustrialPPC 2000RPM PWM 120mm. Speed range is 450 to 2000 rpm. Should idle in the 450 to 550 rpm range. Not cheap at around £20 in the UK but if it must be black...
I have heard this industrial version has motor noise.. any truth to this?

Anyone know how good these are?

http://www.amazon.com/Phanteks-Pressure ... eks+F120MP

lodestar
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Re: Some 120mm Fan Reviews: Vardar, Slip Stream, Gentle Typh

Post by lodestar » Thu Nov 26, 2015 7:23 am

Copyright wrote:I have heard this industrial version has motor noise.. any truth to this?
The 3-pin version runs at 800 rpm at 5V and 1200 rpm at 7V so yes noise could be an issue. The PWM version is somewhat quieter, running as it does from 450 rpm at 20% duty cycle.

Copyright
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Re: Some 120mm Fan Reviews: Vardar, Slip Stream, Gentle Typh

Post by Copyright » Thu Nov 26, 2015 7:25 am

lodestar wrote:
Copyright wrote:I have heard this industrial version has motor noise.. any truth to this?
The 3-pin version runs at 800 rpm at 5V and 1200 rpm at 7V so yes noise could be an issue. The PWM version is somewhat quieter, running as it does from 450 rpm at 20% duty cycle.
I have full PWM control with my board so speed control is no problem.. if the motor is quiet when being controlled by PWM that is my only concern. The ugly brown vibration mounts are just horrible. I love noctua but they need to get it together on colors. I am curious to see what the OP comes up with for his solution.

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Re: Some 120mm Fan Reviews: Vardar, Slip Stream, Gentle Typh

Post by edh » Thu Nov 26, 2015 7:44 am

Copyright wrote:If Noctua had a black NF-F12 I would already have it on there.
Spraypaint maybe? A think layer of paint shouldn't do anything bad to a fans noise or cooling potential I wouldn't think.

Copyright
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Re: Some 120mm Fan Reviews: Vardar, Slip Stream, Gentle Typh

Post by Copyright » Thu Nov 26, 2015 7:46 am

I ended up with the phanteks.. newegg is running a killer deal right now. I got two shipped to my house for 25$.. one noctua would cost me that or more.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835709037

there is a 20% code that can be used.

Ashun
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Re: Some 120mm Fan Reviews: Vardar, Slip Stream, Gentle Typh

Post by Ashun » Thu Nov 26, 2015 8:12 am

lodestar, If I die from carbon monoxide poisoning, I'll let you know :)

A quick update:

The Fractal Venturi HP-12 PWMs came in, and they seem to be what I've been looking for. No audible clicking! The corners are full rubber, so I don't have to resort to Blu-Tack to mount them, and I also can't hear or feel any energy transfer to the radiator. My Z87 PRO doesn't actually do PWM control on the fan headers (except for the CPU fan), so I have to control them with voltage, but Fan Xpert says 250-1670 RPM.

At max RPM, the HP-12s are obviously loud and a bit higher pitch than the Slip Streams, but they don't seem to have any of the pure tones that the Scythes have. That means I can run them up to 800 RPM, whereas the 440 Hz tone starts getting annoying on the Scythes at 680+.

Thanks quest_for_silence for that recommendation.

Right now with family around for Thanksgiving, there's too much ambient noise for me to take measurements, so I'll update the first post once things quiet down a bit. I'm about to order a few more of these Venturis.

Copyright, hope you get the water block soon. Trying to quiet my 780 Lightning's stupid fans was the reason I went water cooling to begin with. That was before fans could go off at idle, and that middle yellow 80mm fan ran constantly at 1350 RPM. My Thermaltake V51 case came with three fans, and I have a bunch of Corsair sleeve bearing fans from previous cases, but like your Fractal case fans, they're all super clicky. That, plus the Vardars being just awful, set me off on this quest for quiet fans.

For my components:
780 Lightning at 1320 MHz, 1.230V.
4670k at 4.7 GHz, 1.340 V.

Last night I was running Skyrim with sparse-grid super-sampling and a bunch of mods, with the Venturis and Slip Streams at 700 RPM, and GPU temps stayed at about 55 C.

Oh, one more thing for people with Asus Z87 boards. You can actually install AI Suite from the newest z170 boards, and it'll work just fine.

Copyright
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Re: Some 120mm Fan Reviews: Vardar, Slip Stream, Gentle Typh

Post by Copyright » Thu Nov 26, 2015 10:36 am

I'm so scared to try the Fractal case fans after having the ones that came with the case click so badly. I got hte phanteks on the way that have high static pressure but won't run as slow as most out there.. it says 500rpm minimum which isn't bad and probably slow enough not to bother me.

blitzhex
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Re: Some 120mm Fan Reviews: Vardar, Slip Stream, Gentle Typh

Post by blitzhex » Wed Dec 02, 2015 4:04 am

Check out these Akasa Apache Black (fn058) in your testing, they can also be found re-branded under the Rosewill Hyperborea name and could be found for cheap. I'm trying to look for them in local stores right now.

Here's how they sound https://youtu.be/0KL8Et8vk8o?t=25m9s compared to GT ap-15s, noctua nf-f12s, nf-p12s, silverstone ap121s and sp120 QEs. The mic is placed on the ram on the other side of the rad. The fans are running at max rpm, but the video does a great job at displaying the fans' noise profiles, which they retain through the 1200-1400 rpm range to my testing.
I personally like to use my fans at 1200-1400 rpm as they perform better on high fpi rads at that range and the slight sound of air is soothing to me, though some fans bearing noise and characteristics are amplified when put on a radiator, as is apparent in the video, with ap-15s and noctua fans being particularly high pitched, which is a complete deal breaker.

Currently I've tried ap-15s and sp120qe on my radiators and the moment you put a fan on a rad in pull, it all goes downhill with weird resonance and vibrations. With fans in push they are a bit quieter though. I've yet to try blu-tack, but I've tried all sorts of rubber washers for spacing and reducing vibrations, which haven't done much.
What's surprising to me about the video is that there's no pulsating or bearing noise coming from the akasa fn058s in pull and they perform similarly on that radiator at 1300rpm to the ap-15s at 1800rpm. I would certainly appreciate a slight low whooshing of air than the pulsating high and low pitched sounds my ap-15s and sp120QEs make respectively, in pull or push+pull @ 1200rpm.

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Re: Some 120mm Fan Reviews: Vardar, Slip Stream, Gentle Typh

Post by quest_for_silence » Wed Dec 02, 2015 5:59 am

blitzhex wrote:the 1200-1400 rpm range to my testing

But that's not quiet (go figure silent).

Ashun
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Re: Some 120mm Fan Reviews: Vardar, Slip Stream, Gentle Typh

Post by Ashun » Wed Dec 02, 2015 7:42 pm

The first post has been updated with the results for the Fractal Design HP-12.

blitzhex, I'd like to see more results at low RPMs from that Akasa fan before I'd purchase several to test. As seen from the measurements I've taken, a fan can sound OK at max RPM because the wind turbulence masks weird bearing noises, clicks, and other tones.

And of course, everyone will have a different threshold for noise. Even 800 RPM is too high on any fan for me.

baii
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Re: Some 120mm Fan Reviews: Vardar, Slip Stream, Gentle Typh

Post by baii » Wed Dec 02, 2015 9:59 pm

So I recently decided just go air to avoid added source of noise from pump/water w.e.

As I said before, mounting the gt can be a pita, it hums indefinitely depending what it is touching, I tried to use one as my PSU fan and once mounted , ouch.
So, previously I bought some fan gaskets (black, real flexible one) for my gentle typhoons. Here is the funny part, as a quick test, I put 1 GT on a gasket on a vga cooler heatsink, hummmmmmmmm. I remove the gasket, nothing, just wind sound. what...?

For slipstream, my pwm one click rather bad, my dc 800rpm is better. I have the 800rpm in my psu now and I don't think the click can be heard.

CoolingTechnique record audio of every fan they test from off to full rpm and put it on youtube maybe you can check some recording out.

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Re: Some 120mm Fan Reviews: Vardar, Slip Stream, Gentle Typh

Post by DanceMan » Thu Dec 03, 2015 3:56 pm

Spraypaint maybe? A think layer of paint shouldn't do anything bad to a fans noise or cooling potential I wouldn't think.
Vinyl Dye. At least that's what the spray can was labelled at Canadian Tire. It's intended for spraying vinyl or leather, and unlike regular paint that coats on top, this product soaks in. I used it to "paint" the front plastic bezel of a computer case and it worked. Regular paint would flake off plastic; this absorbs into the plastic.

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Re: Some 120mm Fan Reviews: Vardar, Slip Stream, Gentle Typh

Post by lodestar » Fri Dec 04, 2015 3:03 am

Copyright wrote:If Noctua had a black NF-F12 I would already have it on there.
Well, they do. It is a limited edition Linus Tech Tips edition where the fan is black and it is a standard NF-F12, not one of the Industrial editions. NCIXUS.com has stock at the time of writing. There should also be stock in Canada. Supplies should be available from at least some sources in Europe, and one source in Australia.

Image

There is also a Linus Tech Tips edition of the Noctua NF-A14 140mm fan.

Image

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Re: Some 120mm Fan Reviews: Vardar, Slip Stream, Gentle Typh

Post by lodestar » Fri Dec 04, 2015 5:28 am

The orange anti-vibration mounts might be an issue. However in the last couple of days Noctua have announced their new Chromax range of NAV-SAVP1 anti-vibration mounts and NAV-SAV2 soft rubber mounts that are available in red, blue, green, yellow, black and white. This is the page for the Chromax NAV-SAVP1.black.

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Re: Some 120mm Fan Reviews: Vardar, Slip Stream, Gentle Typh

Post by NeilBlanchard » Fri Dec 04, 2015 5:58 am

The first fan will probably not be quiet, with so many straight struts. They are only slight bent, and the small notches probably don't help much, either.

A minor thought on the second fan (which is very typical) is that if the wires were moved to lee side of the strut and removing the small hook - might make a slight improvement to the noise level.

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Re: Some 120mm Fan Reviews: Vardar, Slip Stream, Gentle Typh

Post by Copyright » Fri Dec 04, 2015 6:02 am

Well I am personally still on the hunt.. what sucks is a I need a black and white or all white fan to go with my theme and that is as important to me as the noise when you spend as much as I have spent to make sure things match. What I can tell you is Phanteks PH-F120MP fans that I got are horrible. At 500 rpm the motor noise can be heard a good 2 or 3ft away and that is just to much. As soon as they start to ramp up they remind me of the crap fans that come with the H100i coolers.. it's a low pitch kinda whine. One of them all of a sudden had a scrubbing noise I could hear at my desk. I tapped the center of the fan and it seemed to go away. It really sucks because they look nice and they feel like they are built VERY well. They could have been a great fan but they are not what I would call SPCR grade by any means. I got such a good deal on them I will keep them for someone else's build since most don't care about that kind of noise like I do.


EDIT: Just found the SPCR review of these fans I had never seen before and they said they were awful too.. dang I wish I had seen this before.
Last edited by Copyright on Fri Dec 04, 2015 11:40 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Some 120mm Fan Reviews: Vardar, Slip Stream, Gentle Typh

Post by Copyright » Fri Dec 04, 2015 6:17 am

Anyone know anything about these fans? I have actually tried something like these in the past but not a PWM fan.. they had a nice sound and barely any motor noise. They would match my build perfectly and have decent static pressure at full speed. Going to pick these up today.

http://www.frys.com/product/7885499?sit ... IN_RSLT_PG


EDIT: apparently guys using these as top exhaust are having issues.. back to the drawing board.. how hard can it be to find a black/white fan for top exhaust through a radiator that is quiet!


I might give these a try.. I know they are not good for radiators but I think anything that puts some air through the radiator will help.

http://www.amazon.com/Bearing-Cooling-N ... B00KF7PPY4

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Re: Some 120mm Fan Reviews: Vardar, Slip Stream, Gentle Typh

Post by quest_for_silence » Sat Dec 05, 2015 12:33 am

NeilBlanchard wrote:The first fan will probably not be quiet, with so many straight struts. They are only slight bent, and the small notches probably don't help much, either.

A minor thought on the second fan (which is very typical) is that if the wires were moved to lee side of the strut and removing the small hook - might make a slight improvement to the noise level.

Both fans has already been tested by SPCR (they are not noisy, but they also didn't shine).

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Re: Some 120mm Fan Reviews: Vardar, Slip Stream, Gentle Typh

Post by quest_for_silence » Sat Dec 05, 2015 12:38 am

Copyright wrote:Anyone know anything about these fans? I have actually tried something like these in the past but not a PWM fan.. they had a nice sound and barely any motor noise. They would match my build perfectly and have decent static pressure at full speed. Going to pick these up today.

http://www.frys.com/product/7885499?sit ... IN_RSLT_PG


EDIT: apparently guys using these as top exhaust are having issues.. back to the drawing board.. how hard can it be to find a black/white fan for top exhaust through a radiator that is quiet!


I might give these a try.. I know they are not good for radiators but I think anything that puts some air through the radiator will help.

http://www.amazon.com/Bearing-Cooling-N ... B00KF7PPY4
I've both, I don't recommend them, the latter particularly is not grey but more... greenish, and IME it showed a noticeable dull hum when used as exhaust.
What about a PWM Gentle Typhoon?

Copyright
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Re: Some 120mm Fan Reviews: Vardar, Slip Stream, Gentle Typh

Post by Copyright » Sun Dec 06, 2015 9:08 am

How is the motor noise on the GT PWM? I run my fans about 400 rpm for light load and I don't mind things ramping up some when gaming since I have either the speakers turned up or headphones on. I really wanted to find a white and black fan or all white fan but it's looking like this might be impossible.

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