I've been following this thread and I consult Martin's work often for objective info. Like the others, the info on 140mm fans is sparce, probably due to the newness of radiators using that size.
Definitely agree here, I honestly wish someone would pickup where he left off and give objective reviews of 140+mm in similar fashion. Only reason I say that is it looks like the last time he gave it up seems to be for good
I was able and lucky enough to snag at a great price a new Watercool MO RA3 - 420 Pro. The purchase included the fan shroud and pedestal feet. I really thought about sinking the $$$ into a Caselabs case but I decided to focus on the MO RA3 and couple it with my internal RX 360 rad. This forced me to make a quick look around at buying 9 140 mm fans (not a cheap proposition). The easy but expensive way was to buy Noiseblockers or Noctuas but I kept digging and found that XSPC sells a 140mm Xirilian fan designed for radiators. Max rpms is 1350. I saw pictures of it and after getting a super price at Sidewinder computers ($7.95 per fan) I decided to roll the dice and buy 9.
I can agree with you on the prices of Noiseblockers and Noctua, in your case would have cost you a fortune and not even given you a push/pull lol. Although, I am not familiar with the XSPC fans of any flavor outside of what you have stated. The reason I enjoy the Noctua 140mm Industrial is the fact that by spec they have static pressure, 2000-3000RPM, and a 6-year warranty. If I purchase a minimum of of 7(4-Push/pull ,2 push and 1 exhaust) I'm looking at between $180-210 for the fans alone. However I look at it like this, If I but these fans I will not need to replace them for at least 6 years(outside of RMA and new builds). Breaking down that grossly outrageous number to per year:
$210/6 = $35 and per fan per year:
$35/6 = $5.84
$5.84 per year really isn't too bad over the lifetime of a product. I also figure if I am going to watercool, why not do the "best I can the first time" versus buying a fan I am not convinced will serve my needs?
Truthfully the 140mm XSPC fans have been fine. I've had them for @ 2 months without a problem. If I was running 18 fans on the MO-RA3. for ease of simplicity I would probably buy 140mm fans running at @800 rpms without a fan controller.
Out of curiosity do you happen to know the FPI on that? I cant seem to find any info on that except for the 120mm version. Actually I kinda laugh those are basically a car radiator with smaller tubing. Also my intention with fan purchases has always been scalability. Fast RPM for Overclocking and tweaking, slow for everyday. Im not going to care if the fans were 2000-5000 RPM when I'm messing with things providing they do the job exceedingly well.
I would like to thank you for your insight however, as I know once everything catches up and processors gradually generate more and more heat(mostly GPU's) 140mm will become more standard than they have been in the past. Who knows I may end up picking up the reigns following in Martins footsteps?
that caselabs 'll work
It damn well better! lol if not I will make it work. Seems kinda weird though that it completely takes up a 5.25" bay.
