What are the best choices available when it comes to 140mm fans?

My little Lian Li A05NB gets too hot, so I'm going to order the top panel with 140mm fan opening, but don't know which fan to go for. The 120mm fans in the case will probably be Nexus real silent case fans.

thanks!

Can you remove the top panel from a Lian Li A05NB?

Where do you go to get one with the 140MM fan opening?

In the USA, you can get one here: http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/ ... s_id=27186

Lian Li have a 14cm (140mm) fan, with or without LEDs, at 900 and 1200 speeds. In the UK my local hardware store has them http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Lian-Li-CF-1409B-14cm-900rpm-Fan-Black-No-LED and http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Lian-Li-CF-1412B-14cm-1200rpm-Fan-Black-No-LED at very reasonable prices. If I wanted a slower fan straight out of the box, with the option to maybe drop speed even lower I would consider this http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Fractal-Design-140mm-600-RPM-Silent-Series-Cooling-Fan-inc-Rubber-Fan-Mounts.

they say the Fractal fan is 9db(a)? I just don't buy that... but it might fit the bill, it should be reasonably quiet.

The Lian Li fans in my case are poor imo, so i won't be buying one of those.

Any more options out there?

There are a number of 140mm fans which use 120mm hole spacing, some include the convertor strips to mount on a 140mm aperture. An example is the Noctua http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Noctua-NF-P14-FLX-Vortex-Control-120-140mm-Quiet-Case-Fan. I think this is a lot of money for a fan, and it does not look as if it will drop much below 750 rpm.

Noctua ship this fan with some of their CPU coolers, the SPCR review of the NH-D14 includes some data on this fan http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1020-page5.html.

yeah that fans seems to not perform as good as the 120mm - it was the one holding back the 120mm fan.

Seems there is no disputed king(s) in the 140mm space that is tried and tested, shame

YL has 140mm 100 RPM variant for Sleeve and Ballbearings. I have used 140mm YL for 2 years horizontally despite its sleeve bearing version no problem.

I have just ordered 3pc of Slip stream 140mm 500rpm, I'm hoping it also is dead silent as my slip 120mm 800rpm@550rpm.

I have recieved my scythe 140mm slipstream.

what is worrying is the fact that these have MUCH worse specifications when it comes to db and airflow compared to the 120mm scythe slipstream.

I have not myself yet tested these.

let us know how it goes. I'll be picking up a 140mm fan soon and still none the wiser on which one to go for!

So far i think i'm going to go for the Yate Loon

I got one of the new generation Scythe 500 rpm 140mm fans.
Scythe Kaze Maru 140 x 25mm Case Fan - 500RPM Low Speed (SY1425SL12L)

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Specs for it are:
SM1425SL12SL; 500 rpm; 9.6 dB; 27.2 CFM; 20000hrs; 0.08A

There is also a 1200 rpm version
SM1425SL12M; RPM: 1200; 23.2 dBA; 65.20 CFM


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Old generation 140mm specs are:
SY1425SL12L; 500rpm; 10.80dBA; 29.39CFM; 131g / 4.23oz; 30,000 hours

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120mm Slipstreams are:
SY1225SL12SL; 500 rpm; 7.50; dBA; 24.50 CFM; DC12V; 0.07 A
SY1225SL12L; 800 rpm; 10.70 dBA; 40.17CFM; DC12V; 0.10 A
SY1225SL12M; 1,200 rpm; 24.00 dBA; 68.54CFM; DC12V; 0.26 A

They all have 30,000 hours MTBF and weigh 115g

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Seems like the differences are not any greater than the probable error of measurement. Though the shorter MTBF is interesting. Maybe its worth stocking up on some of the older generation 140mm.

The hubs on the new generation Scythe 140mm fans seem to be smaller. That would make them better for CPU heatsink use. Given the business Scythe is in, that is probably a sensible tradeoff.

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Noiseblocker has a nice 800 rpm 140mm. I forget what the starting voltage is, but they usually have low starting voltages so you can slow them down further. They seem to have long MTBFs.

Oh heck I will just go look it up.

NB-BlackSilentFan XK1; 800 rpm; 11 dB/A;
Operating Voltage : 5-13,8 V
Start Voltage : <5 Volt (elsewhere they say 4.5v)
Static Pressure : 0,370 mm-H2O
Airflow max. m /h : 60 m3/h
Acoustical Noise (dB/A) : 12 dB/A
MTBF (25°C) : 80 000 Std

I would expect that it can downvolt lower than the Noctua 140mm.

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Noctua's 140mm is pricy but has a long MTBF. It's not clear how well that translates to a horizontal position though. Here is its advertised specs:

Rotational Speed (+/- 10%) 1200 RPM
Rotational Speed with L.N.A. (+/- 10%) 900 RPM
Rotational Speed with U.L.N.A. (+/- 10%) 750 RPM
Airflow 110,3 m³/h
Airflow with L.N.A. 83,7 m³/h
Airflow with U.L.N.A. 71,2 m³/h
Acoustical Noise 19,6 dB(A)
Acoustical Noise with L.N.A. 13,2 dB(A)
Acoustical Noise with U.L.N.A. 10,1 dB(A)
Static Pressure 1,29 mm H2O
Static Pressure with L.N.A. 0,77 mm H2O
Static Pressure with U.L.N.A. 0,53 mm H2O
Input Power 1,2 W
Input Current 0,1 A
Voltage Range 12 V
MTBF > 150.000 h

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Despite the fancy Austrian/German MTBFs of Noiseblocker and Noctua, I don't think any 140mm fan has good old fashioned bearings. In fact I son't think even the Scythe S-Flex models use real bearings... they are some kind of fancy Sony designed sleeve bearings. Is that correct? Can anyone weigh in on that?

By old-fashioned bearings do you mean ball bearing fans?

As I understand it, the S-Flex fans use a fluid dynamic bearing (I think you're correct that they come from Sony) that is different to a sleeve bearing and does not suffer from being mounted horizontally (which sleeve bearings apparently do). I don't think they come in 140mm sizes though.

The Noctua fans use an 'SSO' bearing which I think is somewhat similar to the FDB bearing. Apparently they also don't suffer from horizontal mounting.

I think the Kaze Maru fans still use a sleeve bearing and therefore might have a lower lifespan or become noisier in time after being horizontally mounted, like the Yate Loon fan.

You could just go for one of the sleeve bearing fans and plan on replacing it if it gets noisy instead of buying the Noctua now.

Have you had chance to test these yet?

I am looking for a couple of 140mm fans to replace the standard Coolermaster fans in my case - they are low noise, but don't seem to move much air compared to my S-Flex E 120mms.

I currently only use slipstream 120mm in my PC.

I would later on have to just start the PSU and one fan and compare.
the fact that the specs are worse is not a good sign, seems as I might have bought this fans in vain.

btw is it dangerous to connect the fan to PSU through a 5.5v resistor or 7v resistor?

I know that to the motherboard the resistors can be connected but not sure about PSU.

Is there any good way to measure airflow?

usually use my hand.

How did the 140mm blowhole work? How did it affect your temps?

Why not aim both the other fans inward and let the air vent out the top right past the video card?

Maybe you don't even need a 140mm. You don't know until you try.

Yes all the others use fluid dynamics to reduce the load on the shaft. But it is still a sleeve bearing.

No. You have to rely on benchmarks to start.

The benchmarks only take you so far. Then, the only thing that counts is experimenting with temps in your case.

Your own results are more important than any bench mark. If the noise goes down and/or the temps go down - you are doing something right. If they go up, you are doing something wrong.

I can't comment on the others, but I have three 140mm Fractal Designs on the rad and you CAN'T hear them at 12v! No joke, just did a test run yesterday, nothing in the box except 3 140mm fractals and one 120mm s-flex on the hard drive cage. The s-flex was the only thing you could hear, and it is reasonably quiet.

The fractals spin at 600rpm and may actually be 9dba for all I know. I would simply call them noiseless, unlike any previous fan I had these cannot be heard even with the case open.

Interesting on the 140mm Fractal Designs.

I have switched to watercooling, with 2 S-Flexs running at 630rpm on my rad in the case (using a resorator with an extra rad).

I have had to use three other S-Flexs to keep the other components cool though, they are all mounted as exhaust fans also at 630rpm at the back and top of the case, using the rad fans as intake.

How fast is your S-Flex running when it is noisier than the Fractals?

It's just the top two mounts in my case are able to take 120/140, so a couple of dead-silent 140s would be good Not that the S-Flexs are far off dead silent at 630, I just would like as silent as is possible!

I have the one s-flex on default, I just did a test run to check if my psu and fan controller are working. Fan controller is 6 years old and was never used, psu was bought second hand on ebay, so I had my doubts about both. I have no idea what the default for the s-flex is but it's a LOT noisier than the fractals.

At 600rpm I figure pretty much anything will be quiet, probably even the deltas lol!

I think they spin at 1200rpm at default. With the fractals there's no noise at all, nothing. You have to check that the fans are spinning. And there's a nice amount of airflow coming from them, I could feel it coming through the rad quite well. 36cfm each for no noise is pretty decent, I doubt you'll get that from a 120mm fan at 600rpm.

I'm hearing good things about Fractal fans...

140mm spot has been empty for a long time. There's the Scythe 140mm with 120mm bracket. It might be great, but not if you have 140mm holes!

The best 140mm fans available are the Noiseblocker PK (not XK) ones. There just isn't anything better than that around.

Mounted on top of my Define R3, the Fractals do indeed exhibit a fairly annoying ticking/ brushing sound.

I purchased four of them when I got the case, and IIRC, all of them had that issue.

Personal experience: use horizontally only when mounted internally (ie. bottom intake).

You have to be sure that what appear to be fan noises are actually coming from the fans. Do you get the same if you take a fan out of the system and run it direct from a power source?

I have a 140mm Fractal Design mounted horizontally as an exhaust fan, and it is absolutely silent. Running at 600 rpm helps, and even at this speed it blows about the same amount of air as a 120mm running at 1000 rpm.

Lodestar: Yup, have tried running them outside of the case, in hand.

I got mine from NCIX, whose picture indicates the 11-bladed version. In-store (and what I received, as well) is the 7-bladed one.

Cause of concern? Are you 11-bladed?

I'm away from that particular PC for the next five days - I will check it but I suspect it will have 7 blades. All the reviews featuring this fan that I have seen show a 7 bladed fan.

Alpenföhn Wing Booster might be interesting FAN for horizontal mouted

I just got an Antec Three Hundred for a new comp so I might have to try this Fractal Designs if I can find them for the top fan. I'll let you know if I do.

I saw the suggestion to maybe just leave off the top fan. That makes me wonder about airflow though with the other rear exhaust fan right there on the back (PSUs on bottom so other vent is at the top back), maybe it will partially suck in the air from the top vent. You might be better off closing off the top vent if you're not using it. Anyway, I'm not as ambitious as I used to be so I won't be doing a smoke test or anything so I think I'll just try to find a good 140mm fan.

I'm sure it's been pointed out before but it would be good to get some other sizes in the Recommended Fans section as bigger fans are becoming a lot more mainstream.