Which fan to pair with Thermalright Ultra 120?

mits · Post by **mits** » Fri Feb 16, 2007 4:09 am

Hi all,
after having read the various threads about the possible problems that one might have by placing a Ninja RevB on an Asus P5 Deluxe, i finally decided to go with the Thermalright ultra 120. It will be used to cool a C2D E6600, i know that it might be overkill, but i believe that having the ultra 120 i will be able to use a more quiet 12cm fan. So, having in mind the results from the recent review of 120mm fans, which fan would you suggest from the following list (list of availability in my area)?
1. Scythe S-flex SFF21D (800 rpm)
2. Nexus
3. Noctua NF-S12 (both versions of 800 and 1200 rpm)

Thank you in advance.

ryboto · Post by **ryboto** » Fri Feb 16, 2007 4:38 am

I use an Sflex-E, which has a 12v speed of 1200rpm. It's running at 780 on my Ultra-120 on an overclocked Opteron 170. Cpu Idles at 32C, don't know if load temps help you, because the fan ramps up to 900-1000 rpm when it hits 45C, which just happens to be the average load temp for the CPU. I should mention, that load temp is 10C better than my zalman 9500 with a fan spinning 900-1300rpm at idle/load, respectively.

mits · Post by **mits** » Fri Feb 16, 2007 1:19 pm

Thanks ryboto,
so i think it would be wise to go for the Noctua NF-S12 @1200 rpm and control it with fanmate2. Ryboto, i see in your signature that tou have an ATI X1950 with a VF900; although the question is off topic, are you satisfied from the vf9000 on the X1950 tempwise and noisewise?

J. Sparrow · Post by **J. Sparrow** » Fri Feb 16, 2007 3:00 pm

It has been argued that the blade design of the Noctua is not very efficient for heatsink mounting (low static pressure); yet Noctua mounts those fans on their coolers...

I have tested the Ultra-120 with an Aerocool Turbine, which is said to be close to the Nexus, and with a Scythe SFF21F. The Turbine at full speed is rather quiet but I had better cooling performance with the Scythe spinning at the same speed, and I would say there is little or none difference in terms of noise.

It's not absolutely quiet, there are other noise source masking out the CPU fan under 1000 rpm, so it doesn't make any difference TO ME

YMMV

vizzle · Post by **vizzle** » Fri Feb 16, 2007 4:28 pm

I've been pondering over the same question for the past 2 weeks....

1. Nexus - the problem with this is that its a closed cornered fan, so you'd have to do a mod with this fan in order to mount it on the Ultra-120. Other than this drawback, its a great fan. I wish these Nexus's were made with open corners, or Thermalright would offer fan clips for closed corner fans for the Ultra-120 (like they do for the XP-120).

2. Noctua's - they seem to be great fans as evidenced by SPCR's review, but I've also read in the forums that some people experience weird whining noises from some of these fans. However, these could just be production errors, and most other fans might be just fine.

3. Scythe - these seem like possible winners when compared to the other two above, but I don't know if they are that much greater.

One other question I've been debating is the 800 RPM vs. 1200 RPM fan speed for these fans. The reason being, I feel like an 800 RPM fan could run at full speed and be pretty quiet, while a 1200 RPM has the flexibility of being undervolted or run at full speed, but at full speed they may be a bit on the noisier side.

So I'm in the same boat as you, just trying to figure out which fan will deliver the best cooling without compromising the noise factor.

ryboto · Post by **ryboto** » Fri Feb 16, 2007 7:26 pm

mits wrote:Thanks ryboto,
so i think it would be wise to go for the Noctua NF-S12 @1200 rpm and control it with fanmate2. Ryboto, i see in your signature that tou have an ATI X1950 with a VF900; although the question is off topic, are you satisfied from the vf9000 on the X1950 tempwise and noisewise?

I'm using a vf900 modded with a low speed panaflo, which is in series with a 50ohm resistor(one that came with an acoustifan). I have it plugged into a motherboard fan header, and it's set to a static 900rpm. The card idles at 40-45C, load 55-59C. I'm completely comfortable with these temperatures, as they don't really affect the system, and it's within the thermal extremes for the card. I want to try going passive with an HR-03, if I get some bday money. I've heard of people cooling x1950xt's with the HR-03 passive, with very little airflow near the card. Otherwise, I'm completely satisfied with the vf900, I just have a very low noise floor, and every fan I've tried on it has seemed obtrusive, so I just want to get rid of the fan all together.

vizzle
I was in the same boat as you, I knew 800rpm would be quiet enough, but what if I need just a bit more speed for high-load situations. The S-Flex E is what I opted for. Encoding is the only time I ever hear the fans ramp up, but it isn't a disruptive sound, it's more of a wooshing. At ~780rpm which is the slowest my motherboard can get them, they're under the noise floor in my room. Keep in mind, my motherboard only undervolts to 8v. The could go much lower given the right hardware, I just prefer to let the motherboard do the work.

Felger Carbon · Post by **Felger Carbon** » Fri Feb 16, 2007 11:23 pm

J. Sparrow wrote:It has been argued that the blade design of the Noctua is not very efficient for heatsink mounting (low static pressure); yet Noctua mounts those fans on their coolers...

The NH-U12 has only 38 cooling fins IIRC, so the cooler itself may not require high pressure. The remainder of the entire PC case, however...

The U12s have failed to excite the buying public with their performance, considering their size and price. I wonder what the problem is? The Ultra-120 and Ninja both seem to outdo it with both lots more and lots fewer cooling fins! Is a puzzlement.

J. Sparrow · Post by **J. Sparrow** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 6:25 am

In this comparative test, the U12 was tested with another fan (Papst F2GML which should be similar to the SFF21F) and the results were not bad at all.

The Scythe S-Flex is a good performer anyway, the best 120 mm fan I've come through (in my limited experience), and costs 25% less than the Noctua

(the Noctua comes with rubber mountings, though)

mits · Post by **mits** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 6:56 am

Thanks everybody for the info.

[ryboto]
Thanks for the info on the VF900 and X1950Pro. I'm thinking on buying a X1950Pro and i was wondering which aftermarket cooler could cool it quietly.

[J. Sparrow, vizzle]
Yes, i would like to go gor an 800rpm fan, but the summer in my country is quite hot and i would like to have the extra air pressure that can be provided by an 1200rpm fan (since i do quite a lot of video encoding). The problem is that i can not find an s-flex e version here. If my memory serves me well i believe that the Nexus at 12V is around 1150rpm and since it's not so difficult to open the closed corners it is very good candidate.

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 7:06 am

Hello,

If the Ultra-120 is mounted so that the fan points towards the back of the case, then the GlobalWin NCB 120mm fan would be another good choice. It has broad blades, and it has ceramic bearings that should last a long time -- and it is very quiet; ~1300RPM at 12v.

nici · Post by **nici** » Sat Feb 17, 2007 7:10 am

After i've bought an Ultra-120 and thrown the Ninja Rev.B into a volcano with a a stick of dynamite tied to it, i can try it with different fans.

I have a feeling the NMB-MAT(Panaflo) 9-blade will be the best, but i also have the S-Flex, Nexus and Noctua to try.