Fan round up - Best 140mm and 120mm

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whispercat
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Fan round up - Best 140mm and 120mm

Post by whispercat » Thu Jul 09, 2020 10:33 am

Hardware Scientist just uploaded his 140mm fan review.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv1S9Rh ... ploademail

Winner by a landslide is the Arctic P14


Previous 120mm review:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVPV9omPuyw

Tzupy
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Re: Fan round up - Best 140mm and 120mm

Post by Tzupy » Sat Jul 11, 2020 2:28 pm

This review paints a bit different picture: The Best 120mm/140mm Case Fan Shootout, feat. Arctic, BlackNoise, Noctua, and Scythe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUdsTiRmuuU

whispercat
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Re: Fan round up - Best 140mm and 120mm

Post by whispercat » Sat Jul 11, 2020 10:59 pm

Tzupy wrote:
Sat Jul 11, 2020 2:28 pm
This review paints a bit different picture: The Best 120mm/140mm Case Fan Shootout, feat. Arctic, BlackNoise, Noctua, and Scythe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUdsTiRmuuU
Thanks. That's interesting. TBG uses more data points and holds noise as a fixed variable, which is probably a better way of doing a test. I don't know why he doesn't test dual fans in front though, since a lot of builds are configured that way.

Abula
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Re: Fan round up - Best 140mm and 120mm

Post by Abula » Sat Jul 11, 2020 11:05 pm

Very interesting reviews, although not that similar in terms of who won.

Happy_Park3
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Re: Fan round up - Best 140mm and 120mm

Post by Happy_Park3 » Fri Aug 07, 2020 8:05 am

Using 3600x + Gammax 400.

Next, x4 955 + stock cooler (which I have nicknamed "helicopter" because of it's noise), it's beautiful. I use different office software (Excel, WorkTime, Skype) and did not even hear it work(1st time I was scared). :D

Exel
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Re: Fan round up - Best 140mm and 120mm

Post by Exel » Sun Aug 30, 2020 1:23 am

In the Hardware Scientist test the case fans are tested essentially in free air as they are set up as exhaust fans. That means there's no filter or any other obstruction in front of the fans. The results are thus invalid for an actual case intake fan scenario.

The Silent Wings 3 for instance is horrible as an intake fan against a mesh filter, even though it is nearly silent in free air.

This review by TBG tests the fans against a mesh filter and the results are dramatically different.

Abula
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Re: Fan round up - Best 140mm and 120mm

Post by Abula » Sun Aug 30, 2020 7:44 pm

I wish we could have SPCR did the testing, to many people have different results and preferences.

You can also see the Noctua vs. Arctic, Nidec - Ultimate 120mm Fan Re-match!, which favors noctua, and compares lots of the same fans as TBG tests.

Scythe GentleTyphoons (now marketed as the original OEM Nidecs) were considered one of the best radiator fans on the market by the watercooling community, they perform well behind very restricted high fpi rads, Even SPCR liked them, Fan Roundup #6: Scythe, Noiseblocker, Antec, Nexus, Thermalright
The GT 800 RPM model is extremely quiet, yet provides the best cooling result of all the fans in this roundup at 12 dBA@1m. No other fan provides 24°C temperature rise.

The GT 1450 RPM model is also very quiet for its cooling performance. The 19°C temperature riseat the 20 dBA SPL (at full speed) is comparable to what the big Thermalright 17cm can achieve at the same noise level. No other 120mm fan in this roundup does as well.

The standouts for me are the Noiseblocker M12-S1 and the Scythe Gentle Typhoon 12, for amazingly low noise and excellent cooling performance at those low sound levels.
And noctua practically ninjaed their design, and perfected it on the NF-A12x25, for me... that would be my pick for rads/heatsink and heavily filter intakes.

Exel
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Re: Fan round up - Best 140mm and 120mm

Post by Exel » Sun Aug 30, 2020 10:00 pm

Abula wrote:
Sun Aug 30, 2020 7:44 pm
You can also see the Noctua vs. Arctic, Nidec - Ultimate 120mm Fan Re-match!, which favors noctua, and compares lots of the same fans as TBG tests.
This test has the same flaw as the Hardware Scientist test. They only test the fan noise levels in free air with no mesh filter or any other obstruction in front of them. That makes a huge difference for some fans, like the Silent Wings 3.

I know not all PC cases have dust filters on intakes but I for one would not use a case that doesn't have any. The NZXT case they use is an outlier in that it does have a dust filter but it is not directly in front of the fans.

whispercat
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Re: Fan round up - Best 140mm and 120mm

Post by whispercat » Sun Aug 30, 2020 11:28 pm

I picked up a Noiseblocker fan recently at a big sale. I haven't got around to installing it yet. Reading the reviews on it talking about how it channels the air flow instead of spreading the air flow out made me think about how a good intake fan might differ from a good exhaust fan.

Would a good exhaust fan have different characteristics from an intake fan? I assume it should be good at sucking air out through itself, rather than having good static pressure against a filter or rad?

Exel
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Re: Fan round up - Best 140mm and 120mm

Post by Exel » Sun Aug 30, 2020 11:34 pm

whispercat wrote:
Sun Aug 30, 2020 11:28 pm
I picked up a Noiseblocker fan recently at a big sale. I haven't got around to installing it yet. Reading the reviews on it talking about how it channels the air flow instead of spreading the air flow out made me think about how a good intake fan might differ from a good exhaust fan.

Would a good exhaust fan have different characteristics from an intake fan? I assume it should be good at sucking air out through itself, rather than having good static pressure against a filter or rad?
I'm under the impression that static pressure is also important for pulling air through a filter or obstructed intakes (like on most Fractal cases).

In unobstructed or unfiltered cases a fan with a high airflow but low static pressure, such as the Noctua S12, would do better. They would also make better exhaust fans.

Abula
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Re: Fan round up - Best 140mm and 120mm

Post by Abula » Mon Aug 31, 2020 6:31 am

Exel wrote:
Sun Aug 30, 2020 10:00 pm
Abula wrote:
Sun Aug 30, 2020 7:44 pm
You can also see the Noctua vs. Arctic, Nidec - Ultimate 120mm Fan Re-match!, which favors noctua, and compares lots of the same fans as TBG tests.
This test has the same flaw as the Hardware Scientist test. They only test the fan noise levels in free air with no mesh filter or any other obstruction in front of them. That makes a huge difference for some fans, like the Silent Wings 3.
So how much is considered restricted.... DemiC filter like? or a Metallic mesh is enough? there are no standards on the market for this type of settings, thus the review of TBG is also flawed to some point. Until we get something like SPCR doing test, we will be tied to flaw web/youtube reviews.

whispercat
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Re: Fan round up - Best 140mm and 120mm

Post by whispercat » Mon Aug 31, 2020 5:26 pm

Exel wrote:
Sun Aug 30, 2020 11:34 pm
whispercat wrote:
Sun Aug 30, 2020 11:28 pm
I picked up a Noiseblocker fan recently at a big sale. I haven't got around to installing it yet. Reading the reviews on it talking about how it channels the air flow instead of spreading the air flow out made me think about how a good intake fan might differ from a good exhaust fan.

Would a good exhaust fan have different characteristics from an intake fan? I assume it should be good at sucking air out through itself, rather than having good static pressure against a filter or rad?
I'm under the impression that static pressure is also important for pulling air through a filter or obstructed intakes (like on most Fractal cases).

In unobstructed or unfiltered cases a fan with a high airflow but low static pressure, such as the Noctua S12, would do better. They would also make better exhaust fans.
But wouldn't an exhaust fan need enough static pressure to blow out through the back grill?

Exel
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Re: Fan round up - Best 140mm and 120mm

Post by Exel » Mon Aug 31, 2020 7:26 pm

whispercat wrote:
Mon Aug 31, 2020 5:26 pm
But wouldn't an exhaust fan need enough static pressure to blow out through the back grill?
I guess some, but aren't exhaust grills typically quite open?

Exel
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Re: Fan round up - Best 140mm and 120mm

Post by Exel » Mon Aug 31, 2020 7:32 pm

Abula wrote:
Mon Aug 31, 2020 6:31 am
Exel wrote:
Sun Aug 30, 2020 10:00 pm
Abula wrote:
Sun Aug 30, 2020 7:44 pm
You can also see the Noctua vs. Arctic, Nidec - Ultimate 120mm Fan Re-match!, which favors noctua, and compares lots of the same fans as TBG tests.
This test has the same flaw as the Hardware Scientist test. They only test the fan noise levels in free air with no mesh filter or any other obstruction in front of them. That makes a huge difference for some fans, like the Silent Wings 3.
So how much is considered restricted.... DemiC filter like? or a Metallic mesh is enough? there are no standards on the market for this type of settings, thus the review of TBG is also flawed to some point. Until we get something like SPCR doing test, we will be tied to flaw web/youtube reviews.
You're right that it's hard to test to some sort of a standard where there is none. No test is therefore going to be perfect or representative of all use cases.

That said, I would guess that the most common setup for dust filtration is having the filter sit flush against the fan frame or the fan mount. That's how aftermarket filters are typically installed as well.

Ideally every case fan test would have the fans tested both directly against a dust filter and pulling through a mesh filter behind and air gap. Those two seem to be the most common mid-range and high-end case types on the market.

whispercat
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Re: Fan round up - Best 140mm and 120mm

Post by whispercat » Tue Sep 01, 2020 9:30 am

Exel wrote:
Mon Aug 31, 2020 7:26 pm
whispercat wrote:
Mon Aug 31, 2020 5:26 pm
But wouldn't an exhaust fan need enough static pressure to blow out through the back grill?
I guess some, but aren't exhaust grills typically quite open?
Some are, some aren't. A grill type would be more open than say a honeycomb type. Still, I would imagine some fans would be better than others at pushing air through it. The question is what kind of fan?

Exel
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Re: Fan round up - Best 140mm and 120mm

Post by Exel » Tue Sep 01, 2020 8:54 pm

whispercat wrote:
Tue Sep 01, 2020 9:30 am
Exel wrote:
Mon Aug 31, 2020 7:26 pm
whispercat wrote:
Mon Aug 31, 2020 5:26 pm
But wouldn't an exhaust fan need enough static pressure to blow out through the back grill?
I guess some, but aren't exhaust grills typically quite open?
Some are, some aren't. A grill type would be more open than say a honeycomb type. Still, I would imagine some fans would be better than others at pushing air through it. The question is what kind of fan?
The obstructions are in most cases minimal compated to intakes or radiators, so a high-airflow fan would be best in a typical setup.

Olle P
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Re: Fan round up - Best 140mm and 120mm

Post by Olle P » Tue Sep 01, 2020 11:56 pm

whispercat wrote:
Sun Aug 30, 2020 11:28 pm
Would a good exhaust fan have different characteristics from an intake fan?
Yes, but exactly what characteristics you want from the exhaust fan depends on the total setup.
* If the exhaust fan is to provide all airflow, with no intake fans present, then it should be (relatively) high flow.
* If you have intake fans and want overpressure then the exhaust fan must be very low flow, as it's operating at a negative pressure gradient and should only direct some (not all) airflow away from other openings in the case.

whispercat
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Re: Fan round up - Best 140mm and 120mm

Post by whispercat » Fri Sep 04, 2020 3:21 pm

Olle P wrote:
Tue Sep 01, 2020 11:56 pm
whispercat wrote:
Sun Aug 30, 2020 11:28 pm
Would a good exhaust fan have different characteristics from an intake fan?
Yes, but exactly what characteristics you want from the exhaust fan depends on the total setup.
* If the exhaust fan is to provide all airflow, with no intake fans present, then it should be (relatively) high flow.
* If you have intake fans and want overpressure then the exhaust fan must be very low flow, as it's operating at a negative pressure gradient and should only direct some (not all) airflow away from other openings in the case.
Thanks, what do you mean by "overpressure"?

Exel
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Re: Fan round up - Best 140mm and 120mm

Post by Exel » Sun Sep 06, 2020 11:35 pm

whispercat wrote:
Fri Sep 04, 2020 3:21 pm
Olle P wrote:
Tue Sep 01, 2020 11:56 pm
whispercat wrote:
Sun Aug 30, 2020 11:28 pm
Would a good exhaust fan have different characteristics from an intake fan?
Yes, but exactly what characteristics you want from the exhaust fan depends on the total setup.
* If the exhaust fan is to provide all airflow, with no intake fans present, then it should be (relatively) high flow.
* If you have intake fans and want overpressure then the exhaust fan must be very low flow, as it's operating at a negative pressure gradient and should only direct some (not all) airflow away from other openings in the case.
Thanks, what do you mean by "overpressure"?
He means positive pressure, where there's more intake to the case than exhaust. That creates a higher-than-ambient pressure inside the case, which prevents air (and dust) from getting in from anywhere else but through the intake fans (and their filters).

Conversely if you have more exhaust than intake you will have a negative pressure inside the case, which sucks in air (and dust) from all around the case from every small hole there is.

Olle P
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Re: Fan round up - Best 140mm and 120mm

Post by Olle P » Tue Sep 08, 2020 3:43 am

Exel wrote:
Sun Sep 06, 2020 11:35 pm
He means positive pressure, where there's more intake to the case than exhaust. ...
Conversely if you have more exhaust than intake you will have a negative pressure inside the case, ...
Correct, but one must add the words "actual active" to "intake/exhaust to make it meaningful.
If there's no intake fan there will be a lower pressure inside the case than outside.
With three moderate intake fans and a single weak exhaust fan the net result might very well also be an underpressure if the intakes are blocked in any way (by for example a dust filter and/or less than full size intake holes).

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