What is your favorite fan?

[xsuperbgx]

I have been searching for fans for my new build. I have had a hard time finding a comprehensive list of decent fans. These will be used on low fpi rads, but I am going to use filters too. My needs are:

higher static pressure
Long life
PWM
Reasonable price
120 or 140 size

I had been looking at the gentle typhoon, but it seems that the higher speed ones are hard to come by. The best fans that I have found, so far, seem to be cougar fans. They seem to be popular and reviews seem to be good also. They claim a 300,000 hr life, which is about the longest I have seen.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835553006
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835553016

I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts on these and also, if they have any recommendations that I may have missed.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?scase=c_140&pid=366&area=en
http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?scase=&pid=118&area=en

Either of those Silverstone fans should be pretty good.

 

[magellan]

I like my Sanyo Denki 109P1312S101 127mm x 38mm fan.

1.3A
15.6W
3,300RPM
(148CFM)
(0.472inchH2O)
47dBA
350g

It fits perfectly on my Thermalright Archon SB-E, I'd rather have a 140mm x 38mm w/similar specs but haven't been able to find any.

 

[rustylivz]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835132022

bgears b-Blaster 120
120mm
2000 RPM 103 CFM
2 Ball
35 dBA
120 x 120 x 25 mm

 

[bamato]

I've been using the cougar PWMs and LOVE them. Good static pressure and you can't beat the orange

 

[xsuperbgx]

I am not so sure I love the orange.....
I think I linked to the black ones

If I had a gigabyte of board, then I guess they would be Ok.

 

[BruceUSA]

My new fav fan delta 252cfm at 5000rpm pwm. I am running 3 of these bad boys and I like it. I used 2 of them for the heatsink Noctua NH-D14 and 1 for exhaust. I have plan to add 1 more for air instake, place under the blu ray player (NZXT full tower) but I will have to made a bracket for it. I set the fan speed at 2400rpm at idling, as cpu get hotter, so the fan rpm get higher. you can not hear the fan noise from 12 feets away at idling speed.. Note... if you get the NONE PWM version, it will be crazy loud. My cpu is 3930K overclocked at 4.6Ghz never get pass 71c in prime95. before the Delta fan upgrade, the cpu temp would hit 85C+ 91c in prime95. It so hot the cpu throttling down. Now it never throtttling down in prime95.

 

[tungureanu]

nidec ap31 for rads/heatsinks (with PWM mod) and noctua p12 for the case fan (silent at full blast)


AP31:
2.69 A starting current
1.14 A rated
5400 rpm
"jet engine" DB
150 cfm
205 g

 

[xsuperbgx]

nidec ap31 for rads/heatsinks (with PWM mod) and noctua p12 for the case fan (silent at full blast)


AP31:
2.69 A starting current
1.14 A rated
5400 rpm
"jet engine" DB
150 cfm
205 g

That is some that I would like to try, but I cannot find in stock anywhere.

 

[NiHaoMike]

A high end Delta or Nidec with sensorless DSP drive. I have one in my main PC and it works like a charm.

But more importantly, what specs are the machine you plan to use it in?

 

[xsuperbgx]

But more importantly, what specs are the machine you plan to use it in?

I ordered a case so far....
Fractal Design Define XL R2

Will be a 4930k and an undermined mobo, and i already have 7950x4.

 

[NiHaoMike]

Go straight for a high end (5000 RPM or above) 120mm Delta or Nidec with PWM, which will automatically have the sensorless DSP drive you'll want. One will be plenty for just about any machine, plus get a somewhat lower end (3000 RPM or so) fan for your heatsink if it's one that accepts a 120mm fan.

BTW, if you think one of those Deltas seems expensive, it can easily do the work of about 3-4 "cheap" fans.

 

[Pepi93]

I picked up some bitfenix pro 120 and 140 led fans, mainly because I got them for just under $9 when their retail was $20-$22 each.

I'm very happy with them although I feel they might be louder than my old yate loon fans which had a higher db rating and moved less air at a higher rpm...who knows how accurate these cfm/db ratings are anyway.

I'm running the fans well below stock speed and they are doing a great job cooling my system.

 

[NiHaoMike]

How are your temps? What might be enough for a quad core might not be for a 6 core. Actually, I have yet to come across a LED fan that truly performs.

 

[Bobnova]

Every high RPM PWM fan I've tried has still been fairly noisy at low speeds. I've yet to find one that I'd be happy using in my rig on a daily basis.

 

[NiHaoMike]

Use rubber washers to reduce the vibration caused by "cogging". Also, the Deltas are pretty good at slowing down. And since pretty much all modern variable speed fans are sine wave drive, they do not exhibit the buzzing noise common with cheap square wave fans.

 

[bing]

Talking about favorite fans, another related thread -> 120mm Fans collection picture thread

All are 120mm fans only.

For 25mm thickness

All around general purpose, imo which has the best noise/performance to date.

Nidec Servo GentleTyphoon 2150 rpm (a bit beefier brethren from the popular GT1850)

For 38mm thickness

True power horse, used only to test and verify top tier heatsink's performance scalability against various air flows. Not your daily used fan though.

The ears buster G1238B12BBZP, Speed 6300 RPM, Airflow 261 CFM, Static pressure 520 Pa/2.09 InH2O, Noise 67 dB, Current 4.46 A (start @6.1A)

 

[Bobnova]

Trust me I'm aware of vibration reduction methods. This is after all of them, or holding the fan in my hands, or any other method.

 

[bluezero5]

AP-30. Volt modded.

if I cannot include volt mod.. then.. hmm.. AP-16 (sooo mainstream. XD )

 

[Pierre3400]

I have 3x AP15, they are very nice fans, but they can no longer be modded for PWM.