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Need all votes for the BEST 120mm Fan for a Black Ice Pro RAD

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jivetrky

Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2005
Location
Lake Village, IN 46349
Need ppls opinions on the BEST 120mm fan to use with a Black Ice Pro II (or 1 I guess should be the same)

I know the BIP's are supposed to due a good job with a lower flow fan, does it HURT to have a high flow fan?

Please post what you think is the best fan to use. Here's a few points I'd love to see:
  1. specific with make and especially models (as I'm sure panaflo will make the recommendations and there are like 50 different models of those suckers!)
  2. 2 pin, 3 pin, or 4 pin power
  3. PWM capable?
  4. a link to where to buy them
  5. good performance to noise ratio?
  6. Do they undervolt well? As in get quiet but still perform.


Thanks everyone!
 
What are you going for? If you're looking for quiet, the Yate Loons are good fans. The D12SL-12 is about the quietest fan you'll find.

The D12SM-12 is a higher RPM version. At the same speed, they're as quiet as the SL fans, but they give you both a higher top end and bottom end. I have some of these, and they undervolt very well. The only PWM I've ever hooked one up to was on my DFI mobo. I suspect that the pulse waveform is fairly soft, because even though these fans start very reliably at 5V, they won't always start with a 30% pulse. With a square pulse, I'd think they'd start lower than that. With this PWM, they buzz slightly, but I've read that with a hard PWM, the buzz is fairly loud.
 
Well I'm looking for performance mainly (as I want to OC my newcoming Opteron 165 or 170 to it's max) But I don't want anything earsplitting as this is in the livingroom next to the TV.

Well I guess if the fans don't do PWM very well, I HAVE been considering getting this:
Vantec NXP-301 Fan/CCFL Controller from Newegg and it's only $13! Reviews show it to be decent.
 
Whats that one delta with 220 CFM? LOL, thatd be your best bet for the highest performance ever, ill sell you some 1000 CFM blowers if you REALLY want some crazy air flow, but i think they might damage the rad...


no but really, theres a three bladed Delta rated at 144 CFM, thats one of the most common high performance ones, theres also the Panaflo Ultra High Speed fan at 114 CFM, I have the panaflos, theyre on sale at www.sidewindercomputers.com
 
you dont want high speed fans for the pro. you want lower speed with more blades. the pressure maintinance and sound resonance is easyer on ears at low speeds
 
personnally i hate recomending fans because of all the components it is the most subjective part in your cooling.

i personnaly would go with the D12SL-12 orange ones
 
Orange_YL_D12SL12_1.jpg
 
Where's that review I just saw? Can't find it now. A hardware site compared like 20 of the top 120mm fans and IIRC a Sythe S-Flex (or whatever it's called) had the best noise/performance ratio.
 
Madshrimps fan roundup.

I highly recommend the fans Thor suggested. I cant believe those would actually perform as water cooling fans but I gotta go with the man with the experience. They are usually used by silent enthusiasts and, by the looks of it, Thor is one of them.
 
I have both the yate loon D12SL-12 and Scythe S-Flex SFF21F fans. The scythe fans are as quiet as the yate loons, but they put out noticeably more air. 28db for 63cfm is an excellent noise/performance ratio, and they don't have any mechanical noise to speak of. I recommend the Scythe fans.
 
damarble said:
That would be the one.


All I can suggest is choose a fan that's even quieter than you think you need. My computer is in no way loud, but I wish it was completely silent. The more you listen to fan noise the more annoying it is.

Oh I know that one....When I first got my SilenX fans...they are very quiet, until you put the on a radiator. off the RAD they are very quiet and throw a lot of wind, but on the RAD they become quite noisy and seem to throw more air backward then through the RAD.
I get good temps, so they do OK, but it's just amazing to me how much more noisy they get on the RAD.

That Scythe fan looks quite nice. It's louder than the Nexus fan but it pushes twice the air of it also.

I remember seeing something about BIP's and it saying "they work well with lower CFm fans, so if you have a 60 CFM fan, it'll do great" to me 60CFM is NOT low CFM. I dunno.


I'm gonna sell my 4 Silenx Fans (yeah $100 spent) and maybe try 3 of those Scythe fans. I wish I could afford to get 2 of the Nexus fans and compare them...but I don't think that'll happen right now. Unless there's anyone with 2 sitting around that'll let em go cheap, or loan them to me to compare.

Why is it that picking a fan is the hardest part of building a system? At least it seems that way to me.
 
voigts said:
I have both the yate loon D12SL-12 and Scythe S-Flex SFF21F fans. The scythe fans are as quiet as the yate loons, but they put out noticeably more air. 28db for 63cfm is an excellent noise/performance ratio, and they don't have any mechanical noise to speak of. I recommend the Scythe fans.


Jumped in there while I was typing and stuff :) Great, I'm glad you dropped this info.... I will go with the Scythe's

Thanks a bunch!
 
jivetrky said:
Need ppls opinions on the BEST 120mm fan to use with a Black Ice Pro II (or 1 I guess should be the same)
[*]2 pin, 3 pin, or 4 pin power
[*]PWM capable?
[*]a link to where to buy them
[*]good performance to noise ratio?
[*]Do they undervolt well? As in get quiet but still perform.
[/list] Thanks everyone!

2 pin, three pin...doesn't matter
PWM hums
Sidewinder or Google
That's WAY to personal of a choice
The Undervolting issue is: will they start up at the undervolt that makes them as quiet as you are looking for?

The best "performance" solution is to use high CFM fan(s) and make them livable by using some sort of undervolting for the times when you want quiet. Watch out for the wattage rating of some of the higher output fans, there isn't enough power in the fan outputs on MOBO's to run them and they will even tax a mediocre power supply! A separate PSU and 30 watt variable resistors become necessary with "ultimate performance" setups.

For a good discussion, see How to choose the best fan
 
billb said:
The best "performance" solution is to use high CFM fan(s) and make them livable by using some sort of undervolting for the times when you want quiet. Watch out for the wattage rating of some of the higher output fans, there isn't enough power in the fan outputs on MOBO's to run them and they will even tax a mediocre power supply! A separate PSU and 30 watt variable resistors become necessary with "ultimate performance" setups.

1. The only problem with undervolting some fans is that they can be prone to making a mechanical clicking noise. For example I once tried the 3 blade Deltas only to find that when undervolted they made a bunch of mechanical noise.

2. If fans tax a power supply, you need to get a new PS. I think that highest I have seen are the 3 blade Deltas and they only pull like 1amp/10w ea or so at 12v. It is true that MB fan power plugs are limited, but that is seldom going to be a problem.
 
The Undervolting issue is: will they start up at the undervolt that makes them as quiet as you are looking for?
i know the yate loons have no issues at all and can start up at 5-6 volts . that is why i chose them. i never played with the scyths because it would cost way to much for shipping when i wanted them
 
Well, I'll try the Scythes and if they aren't for me then you might see them in the classifieds!

Seems newegg will be the best place for me to buy them. I'm going to get 3 of the F's and a Vantec controller (NXP-301) with 3 day shipping for $73.19

Vantec NXP-301 Fan/CCFL controller - only $12.99+ship
Scythe S-Flex SFF21F - $14.99+ship

That controller seems decent, plus it comes with a CCFL inverter and 2 bright 12" CCFLs

Now I have to sell my SilenX' so I can pay for this stuff....anyone? :) Check out those classifieds!
 
voigts said:
I have both the yate loon D12SL-12 and Scythe S-Flex SFF21F fans. The scythe fans are as quiet as the yate loons, but they put out noticeably more air. 28db for 63cfm is an excellent noise/performance ratio, and they don't have any mechanical noise to speak of. I recommend the Scythe fans.
Three questions:

1) I know your power supply didn't come with a warning sticker about hearing protection, but did you compare the Scythes and Yate Loons in a very quiet room or with your old D5 running?

2) Did you ever compare their performance on a rad?

3) How many volts do your Scythes need to start reliably?
 
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