I am building a near silent PC running an Dark Rock Pro 3 cooler. I want to fill the 3 front and the rear slot of my Define S case with some good quiet fans to achieve some strong positive pressure to avoid dust. I want to run all those fans at about 30% to keep the PC as silent as possible. I am not looking for the most quiet fans out there (it is easy to have a silent fan that does not move air), but for those which noise/performance ratio is the best.
At the moment I have the two GP-14 fans that came with the case, they are pretty quiet at 33%. My question is:
• Will there be a audible difference if I change this two GP-14 for something high-end or should I just buy 2 more of them to fit the design (I do not like to have different fans on the front) ?
I think the best noise/performance 140mm fans are (price in my country):
Be Quiet! Pure Wings 2 $11
Fractal Design Dynamic GP-14 $16
Be Quiet! Silent Wings 2 $23
Noctua NF-A14 $24
But I am not sure which of them should I choose. I do not want to overpay for something that is only a slightly better than my GP-14 case fans. What would you buy in my situation?
I was looking for some up to date fan comparison but almost every chart is different. Can you recommend me a good chart with the most popular quiet fans?
Best 140mm quiet fans x4
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee
Re: Best 140mm quiet fans x4
Welcome to SPCR trzasku,
I'm going to recommend you spend some time reading the following SPCR reviews,
First 140 mm Fan Roundup: Noctua, Phanteks, Xigmatek]First 140 mm Fan Roundup: Noctua, Phanteks, Xigmatek
Second 140 mm Fan Roundup: Antec, bequiet!, Corsair, Scythe
From the first roundup you can drag the Phanteks PH-F140HP/TS and from the second you can drag the Antec TwoCool 140, both are good fans that can cool decently and are not that loud. That said, i still prefer quieter fans like Antec True Quiet 140 or Noctua NF-P14s 900rpm REDUX, but they might not move enough air for your desired cooling, so i would probably give a try to the two above.
I'm going to recommend you spend some time reading the following SPCR reviews,
First 140 mm Fan Roundup: Noctua, Phanteks, Xigmatek]First 140 mm Fan Roundup: Noctua, Phanteks, Xigmatek
Second 140 mm Fan Roundup: Antec, bequiet!, Corsair, Scythe
From the first roundup you can drag the Phanteks PH-F140HP/TS and from the second you can drag the Antec TwoCool 140, both are good fans that can cool decently and are not that loud. That said, i still prefer quieter fans like Antec True Quiet 140 or Noctua NF-P14s 900rpm REDUX, but they might not move enough air for your desired cooling, so i would probably give a try to the two above.
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Re: Best 140mm quiet fans x4
trzasku wrote:I want to run all those fans at about 30%
30% of what? Different fans = different speeds = different noise level = different cooling prowess.
trzasku wrote:• Will there be a audible difference if I change this two GP-14 for something high-end or should I just buy 2 more of them to fit the design (I do not like to have different fans on the front) ?
Supposing you were running those stock fans at around 500rpm (I dunno), very unlikely an high end fan may outperform your GP-14 at that speed, cooling-wise (at least, the way you're looking for).
Said that, please take note that bottom intake/top exhaust are also stressful mounting points for a sleeve bearing fan like the GP-14 (they will shorten the fan lifetime: by how much, who knows, YMMV), and often filling them is not that important.
trzasku wrote:What would you buy in my situation?
If I were you, probably just one GP-14.
trzasku wrote:I was looking for some up to date fan comparison but almost every chart is different. Can you recommend me a good chart with the most popular quiet fans?
No, sorry, I can't: moreover, if you find something interesting, please take care to share.
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Re: Best 140mm quiet fans x4
I don't know what your GP-14s sound like, but I'm very pleased with the four Noctua NF-A14 PWMs in my system: I only hear them during the spin-up when I turn my system on and when I push the limits in games.
They have a comparatively low starting voltage as well, which makes them excellent candidates for semi-passive cooling.
They have a comparatively low starting voltage as well, which makes them excellent candidates for semi-passive cooling.
Re: Best 140mm quiet fans x4
I will freely admit that I am biased in favour of Noctua fans. I have been using them basically since they came out on the market.trzasku wrote:I am building a near silent PC running an Dark Rock Pro 3 cooler. I want to fill the 3 front and the rear slot of my Define S case with some good quiet fans to achieve some strong positive pressure to avoid dust. I want to run all those fans at about 30% to keep the PC as silent as possible. I am not looking for the most quiet fans out there (it is easy to have a silent fan that does not move air), but for those which noise/performance ratio is the best.
At the moment I have the two GP-14 fans that came with the case, they are pretty quiet at 33%. My question is:
• Will there be a audible difference if I change this two GP-14 for something high-end or should I just buy 2 more of them to fit the design (I do not like to have different fans on the front) ?
I think the best noise/performance 140mm fans are (price in my country):
Be Quiet! Pure Wings 2 $11
Fractal Design Dynamic GP-14 $16
Be Quiet! Silent Wings 2 $23
Noctua NF-A14 $24
But I am not sure which of them should I choose. I do not want to overpay for something that is only a slightly better than my GP-14 case fans. What would you buy in my situation?
I was looking for some up to date fan comparison but almost every chart is different. Can you recommend me a good chart with the most popular quiet fans?
The NF-A14 is the only PWM fan in the list.
Noctua fans have a very deserved reputation for durability and reliability. They start off quiet and stay that way for years. Noctua gives a six year warranty on the fans.
Re: Best 140mm quiet fans x4
Thank you all and especially in Luca for the great answers! I have 3 front fan slots so I can buy 2 more without having to mount them on the bottom or top