120mm WC fan choice?

C

CustomModAddict

Limp Gawd
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Sep 2, 2010
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So getting ready to finish up the design for my next build, which is going to be a scratch build. But I am putting in two Black Ice SR-1 360 radiators, and looks like I am down to two fans.

1. Enermax Magma Twister 120mm $16.95

2. Cooler Master Sickle Flow 120mm $10.99

3. Spire 120mm $8.99


My question, is it really any better to go with the more expensive $16.95 fan? Or would the lesser fans be just as good? Granted with the Spire I am willing to add the LED's and paint the blades red. The way it looks from here, the Cooler Master for $10.99 is probably the better choice. Just thought I would bounce this off a few of you and see what you thought.
 
Gentle Typhoons for Performance.
Yates for Cost.

Thats pretty much it as far as radiator fans go. Of course theres 38mm fans that push a ton of air but are extroidinarily noisy.
 
Cat1yst said:
Gentle Typhoons for Performance.
Yates for Cost.

Thats pretty much it as far as radiator fans go. Of course theres 38mm fans that push a ton of air but are extroidinarily noisy.
Click to expand...

This sums it up pretty well. I went with yates since three yates costs about the same as 1 GT. The performance difference is almost negligible, and the yates I have are still quiet after one year in a horizontal position (supposedly makes sleeve bearings loud).

I don't doubt that the GT is a superior fan, I simply believe the gain isn't worth the cost.
 
You can get those Cooler Master R4 fans (the sickle one) for maybe $5-10 at Amazon (prices tend to fluctuate, but cheaper than at frozencpu), and if you have prime, it's free two day shipping. Or you can buy enough for free super saver shipping.

I personally like the R4 fans, they're not that bright, but bright enough that their presence is known. If you're looking for a fan that will light things up though, the R4 is not for you. They are relatively quiet at full speed, but I would still look into getting a fan controller for them.
 
I believe you can get a 4-pack of the R4s for $18 shipped from NewEgg. Yates from jab-tech might even be cheaper when ordered in the right quantity.
 
4pack of R4 are $11.60

anyway, I vote GTs for performance, Yates for cost as said above
 
I was running Enermax Magma's on my SR-1's. They're EXCELLENT low speed fans. Top speed at 13v is ~1700RPM. Min speed at 5v is about ~900RPM.

Their noise profile is VERY nice. And at 900RPM you won't even be able to hear them at all.

Definitely a good choice for silent watercooling on SR-1 Rads.
 
The 4-pack R4's are low speed fans (like 1200 RPM). The R4 he mentioned is a high speed fan, 1800-2000 RPM I believe.
 
Zoson said:
I was running Enermax Magma's on my SR-1's. They're EXCELLENT low speed fans. Top speed at 13v is ~1700RPM. Min speed at 5v is about ~900RPM.

Their noise profile is VERY nice. And at 900RPM you won't even be able to hear them at all.

Definitely a good choice for silent water cooling on SR-1 Rads.
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Thats what I was shooting for was low noise, doesn't have to be completely silent but quiet, since I plan on using the SR-1 rads, I want to find the sweet spot for cooling performance versus decibels.

And I can paint and even install my own LED's if necessary. I will check out the others people mentioned. But if anyone knows of other fans I should be looking at let me know. Thanks all
 
CustomModAddict said:
Thats what I was shooting for was low noise, doesn't have to be completely silent but quiet, since I plan on using the SR-1 rads, I want to find the sweet spot for cooling performance versus decibels.

And I can paint and even install my own LED's if necessary. I will check out the others people mentioned. But if anyone knows of other fans I should be looking at let me know. Thanks all
Click to expand...
Enermax has led fans with the same blades and impellers at lower speeds.
check out their site.
 
I might also look at the Aerocool Silver Lightning and Shark, but those are a bit more on the expensive side. Cooler Master also has one high-end fan design, I believe it's called the Excalibur, and they just released another. Not sure how well those stack up though.
 
Yeah it's basically GT or Yates, depending on your budget (but if you're watercooling you've already blown the budget ;p).
 
Actually, you should go with the 2150 RPM Gentle Typhoon group buy that's going on right now. Best bang for the buck in my opinion at the moment.
 
hello forum,I'm in the middle of putting a pc together.I based it all around an Intel dx58so2 1366 motherboard and found that the three fan headers on the MB are four pin.would anyone be able to tell me where I can find three 120mm four pin "NOT MOLEX" (blue led if possible) fans.Thanks.
 
Gentle Typhoon Group Buy

yazz4210: You are looking for what is called a PWM fan. Just look up PWM 120 fan on Newegg, I'm not sure what good PWM fans there are. Most of the good fans are your standard 3 pin fans, although I think there are some PWM Gentle Typhoon variants.
 
Tsumi said:
Gentle Typhoon Group Buy

yazz4210: You are looking for what is called a PWM fan. Just look up PWM 120 fan on Newegg, I'm not sure what good PWM fans there are. Most of the good fans are your standard 3 pin fans, although I think there are some PWM Gentle Typhoon variants.
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PWM allows the system to control the fan speed by turning it on and off many times a second. This is simpler to implement than varying the voltage in many small steps.
 
samuraimoose said:
What about the Cooler Master Excalibur. A bit expensive tho :eek:
And its a pwm, But no LED
Click to expand...

Yeah I've heard good things about those in terms of performance.

I needed to buy a few parts over the weekend and couldn't find a single site that sells "real" Yates (please don't start...), white CCFLs, DD Fat Boy fittings, and a proper fillport. I settled with SVC.com that has all but "real" Yates and went with some Coolink SWiF2 fans. They are relatively inexpensive, have sleeved cables, and have 11 blades compared to the usual 7 or 9. A couple unofficial reviews I read state that they are very quiet yet offer very good performance. I guess I'll find out for myself soon enough!
 
CustomModAddict said:
So getting ready to finish up the design for my next build, which is going to be a scratch build. But I am putting in two Black Ice SR-1 360 radiators, and looks like I am down to two fans.

1. Enermax Magma Twister 120mm $16.95

2. Cooler Master Sickle Flow 120mm $10.99

3. Spire 120mm $8.99


My question, is it really any better to go with the more expensive $16.95 fan? Or would the lesser fans be just as good? Granted with the Spire I am willing to add the LED's and paint the blades red. The way it looks from here, the Cooler Master for $10.99 is probably the better choice. Just thought I would bounce this off a few of you and see what you thought.
Click to expand...

Hands down, Gentle Typhoons.
 
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