Which 120mm fan for my ThermalRight Ultra 120 Extreme?

2bb1 · Post by **2bb1** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 6:02 am

Hey, which fan would you recommend me for my ThermalRight Ultra 120 Extreme?

It has to have high performance and still an OK low sound level.

Thanks,
Torbjorn.

thejamppa · Post by **thejamppa** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 7:10 am

Scythe S-flex E-model 1200 Rpm with Fanmate 2
120mm NCB fan with Fanmate 2

I think those two are best suited, although Yate-Loons are not bad either. Noise Blocker BlackSilent X2 would be good too. Some say Scythe MineBea 1100 rpm fan is very quiet too.

pixel · Post by **pixel** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 7:57 am

I have yet to install such a cooling system myself, but from what I have read I agree that the Scythe S-FLEX E is a good choice.

2bb1 · Post by **2bb1** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 11:32 am

Thanks for answers so far

Scythe Scythe S-FLEX 1600 - 120mm Fan, 28dB
Scythe Scythe S-FLEX 1200 - 120mm Fan, 20.1dB

Will the 1600 rpm fan do a better job than the 1200? Or will the sound level increase to an unbearable level?

"E-level", is that a special type or what? Hmm..

And also: Is the Noctua NF-S12-1200 a very good fan as well?

kaange · Post by **kaange** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 5:54 pm

If your m/b has PWM control of the CPU fan (4pin), I'd get an Artic Cooling 120mm PWM fan (normal cage). They can operate down to 400rpm and ramp up to 1500rpm if the bios will allow for temp control of the CPU fan.

pixel · Post by **pixel** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 1:02 am

Hello,

The "E" is just a naming thing - The "D" is the slowest at 800 rpm, the "E" is the "middle" at 1200, and the "F" is the fastest at 1600 rpm.

I have the opinion that the 1600 might be necessary only for heavy overclocks etc. and for other purposes the 1200 might be fine. But I have no first-hand experience, as I have written - only what I have read on the Internet.

Lt_Dan · Post by **Lt_Dan** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 6:18 pm

i believe that the fan that comes with the Scythe ninja is similar to the s-flex 1200RPM.
at full speed you can hear it (although it's not loud) at 600rpm it's pretty much silent - if you don't put your ear to the case.

also, i wanted to know how's the S-flex 1200 compared to the Scythe Minebea NMB Silent 1100 rpm.
Thanks.

cyberspyder · Post by **cyberspyder** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 7:09 pm

Use two different fans...that's what I do. Run my dual 100+ CFM San Aces for OCing sessions, and my 43CFM YLs for regular activity

tehfire · Post by **tehfire** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 10:10 pm

Lt_Dan wrote:also, i wanted to know how's the S-flex 1200 compared to the Scythe Minebea NMB Silent 1100 rpm.
Thanks.

The S-flex fans use Fluid-Dynamic Bearings and the Minebea use ball bearings. FDB should be quieter.

I'm using a 92mm Minebea on my Thermalright XP-90 right now with a fanmate2 and it's below my ambient.

Lt_Dan · Post by **Lt_Dan** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 1:47 am

so why did you choose the Minebea ?

i heared it has a PWM wire...

tehfire · Post by **tehfire** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 7:12 am

Used minebea because the s-flex only comes in 120mm sizes. The fan I needed was 92mm.

ryboto · Post by **ryboto** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 7:52 am

I'm going to give a vote to the newcomer, the Enermax Marathon. It's a 1000rpm fan, and it uses a mag-lev type bearing. Installed in two systems so far, and they're very quiet. More so than my S-Flex's I fear. It's always how it goes, the systems I build for friends/family always benefit more than mine from my own experience.

krille · Post by **krille** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 1:29 pm

What about Noctua NF-S12-1200 and Noctua NF-S12-800?

They're a bit cheaper than the Scythe S-Flex where I live. Are the Noctua fans just as good? Do they have FDB?

Does it matter if you pick the 1200 or 800 model? The fan controller I'm about to get (Abit IP35 Pro

) will only allow me to alter the fan voltages in the 8v-12v range. For this application, would the 800 model be better?

At what RPM does a 1200 model @ 8v spin? Will it be silent? Because I'm worried 800 RPM won't be enough at full load.

Lt_Dan · Post by **Lt_Dan** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 2:13 pm

as i see from your planned system - it will be noisy - 1 raptor + 2 HDD + 8800GTX fan, and hot for the same reasons.
your planned case will be good to deal with both these problems (then any other cases) but will not solve them.
the 1200 is versatile - it will work between 600rpm to 1200 and you can balance silence and temp very nicely.

for myself, i can't get the Noctua here.

krille · Post by **krille** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 2:23 pm

Lt_Dan wrote:as i see from your planned system - it will be noisy - 1 raptor + 2 HDD + 8800GTX fan, and hot for the same reasons.
your planned case will be good to deal with both these problems (then any other cases) but will not solve them.
the 1200 is versatile - it will work between 600rpm to 1200 and you can balance silence and temp very nicely.

for myself, i can't get the Noctua here.

So 1200 RPM @ 8v = 600 RPM? Sounds good to me.

And yes, it will be noisy. :'( But, it's not built from scratch. I ended up in this noisy mess long ago, it's hard to break the circle. ("OMG my GFX is getting old, need to sell it while I can still get at least some $$$ for it. What to buy? Oh, what to replace it with? WOW 88GTX looks fine and dandy. Yeeeehaaa!!")

Wibla · Post by **Wibla** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 3:51 pm

I have a nexus 120mm fan on mine, and it works fine. I tried a noctua, but temps where higher - the noctua has problems with backpressure from heatsinks etc.

tehfire · Post by **tehfire** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 3:53 pm

I wouldn't recommend the Noctua fans. There are a few threads about them making howling sounds when having to push (or pull?) air past backpressure. I think it's because of the unusual blades. Maybe in a Scythe Ninja where the fins are so far spaced, but the Thermalright has relatively tight fin spacing.

So the abit can actually change the amount of voltage being sent to the fans? The last time I used MB fan control was about 5 yrs ago (man...can't believe it was that long ago) on Intel boards. At the time, the way they modulated their speeds was just by sending pulses of 12v. The slower they wanted the fan to spin, the longer it would wait for the pulses to be sent. The problem was it would make the fans make a ticking sound. Ever since then I've kept with Fanmates and wiring.

cyberspyder · Post by **cyberspyder** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 4:19 pm

Yate Loons are fine...the extreme is more efficient than the regular 120, and besides, you can't have high performance without sacrificing noise levels.

Brendan

Lt_Dan · Post by **Lt_Dan** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 10:44 pm

that is true.
by solving, i didn't mean just to get different components, but to find a way to cool them with out making to much noise.
the case helps.
the 800 will be too low for his system.
as it seems he isn't looking for silence at all, so you can get the 1600 which will cool better.

krille · Post by **krille** » Thu Aug 09, 2007 3:45 am

I guess I'll go with 1200 S-FLEXes6 then. I guess you could always attach an additional Zalman Fanmate V2 to reduce the 1200 fans' default speeds (at mobo out 12v) to 1000 or 800 or something. Correct?

Lt_Dan wrote:as it seems he isn't looking for silence at all, so you can get the 1600 which will cool better.

If you're talking about me, I should have you smited for saying this. If not, then my apologies.

Lt_Dan · Post by **Lt_Dan** » Thu Aug 09, 2007 4:36 am

i indeed was referring to you ("yes, it will be noisy").
- what is the problem?
it seems surprising that in one hand your looking to quiet your computer and on the other hand you don;t mind it being noisy, all the discussion was kinda pointless.
also, i use a fan mate 2 to devolt it between 600-1200 (as i mentioned before).

ryboto · Post by **ryboto** » Thu Aug 09, 2007 6:10 am

krille wrote:So 1200 RPM @ 8v = 600 RPM? Sounds good to me.

And yes, it will be noisy.

This is wrong, I have 1200rpm Scythes in an Abit board using 8v to two of them. They spin ~840rpm, and it's definitely not noisy.

here2rock · Post by **here2rock** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 6:07 am

kaange wrote:If your m/b has PWM control of the CPU fan (4pin), I'd get an Artic Cooling 120mm PWM fan (normal cage). They can operate down to 400rpm and ramp up to 1500rpm if the bios will allow for temp control of the CPU fan.

I am thinking of installing a Scythe S-FLEX 120mm Fan SFF21F. This fan operates at 1600rpm to move 63.7CFM at 28.0dBA. I am using a Asus P5K Wi-Fi Delux motherboard. Can you control the speed in mother board bios? Can it make it run at optimal speeds rather than a fixed speed of 1600rpm.

Sorry I am really new to all this cooling business!

Lt_Dan · Post by **Lt_Dan** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 7:30 am

you might be able to find info about your mobo' in: speedfan.com

barbz · Post by **barbz** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 12:54 pm

I just bought the same heat sink and got the scythe sflex 1200rpm model.

Its close to silent when running at 12v - its not worth the hassle of finding a fan controller to slow it down.

Paul

here2rock · Post by **here2rock** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 3:48 pm

I have a Antec P182 case, which has three TriCool 120mm fans. Should I just get one of those, which can run at three different speeds. Are they any good?

here2rock · Post by **here2rock** » Sun Aug 12, 2007 8:07 am

Anyone?

Hramm · Post by **Hramm** » Sun Aug 12, 2007 3:38 pm

They are good, but not very good.
I had one with a Antec Solo, and replaced it with a Arctic Cooling 12L sensitively quieter.

2bb1 · Post by **2bb1** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 5:03 pm

Hello - again!

I got the Thermalright, and here is the fan-options i have:

-Mist 120mm 50-104 m/3 (19-31 dB): Link
-Enermax UC-12FAB 120mm
-Nexus 120mm Real Silent
-Noctua NF-S12-1200, 120mm

Which will be the best buy?

Decent sound level and also good cooling.

ryboto · Post by **ryboto** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 5:18 pm

2bb1 wrote:Hello - again!

I got the Thermalright, and here is the fan-options i have:

-Enermax UC-12FAB 120mm
-Nexus 120mm Real Silent
-Noctua NF-S12-1200, 120mm

Which will be the best buy? Decent sound level and also good cooling.

The enermax will be the cheapest. As for sound level, I've never owned a nexus or noctua, but I've seen the Enermax in action, and it's just as quiet, if not more so than an S-Flex.

Which 120mm fan for my ThermalRight Ultra 120 Extreme?

Which 120mm fan for my ThermalRight Ultra 120 Extreme?

Noctua?