The quietest 120MM fan?

So my PC case is near-silent. Not quite, done a few mods so it's audible, but not by much.

But I want it as quiet as possible during games, and I currently have a Silent Wings 3 BeQuiet 120MM on top of my 2080Ti radiator - at 80% it's very very very quiet, but at 100% it's exponentially louder and makes a hell of a racket (by comparison).

These are meant to be 16dB at 1200RPM but my monitor says 100% on this is actually about 1350RPM.

Point is at 100% it produces the performance I want, and my temps are good - but I want that performance, at a quieter volume.

tl;dr:

What's the quietest 120MM that would happily be an internal extract on a radiator (push config) and make borderline no noise at 100% speed?

Thanks!

 

Hi there

I would recommend create custom fan curve for fans, this would eliminate noise issue which are you having at max RPM

Yours RTX 2080Ti fan is plugged to motherboard I assume if yes create custom curve for fan

BeQuiet Silent Wings 3 have wonky PWM response on Aquaero which shouldn't be issue if you are controlling fans through the BIOS as BeQuiet does use different pull up resistors than other makers

https://thermalbench.com/2016/09/05/be-quiet-silent-wings-3-120-mm-fan/3/

You can try Noctua A12x25 or Phanteks PH-F120MP fans but still at max RPM they all of them will be bit noisier

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/scythe-kaze-flex-120-rgb/4.html

Usually I'm running my radiator fans at 650-750RPM as max, maybe a bit faster in some rendering at 800-850RPM at which still they're not noisy at all

Noisiest part of my build is Superflower 8pack 2000W PSU fan hahaha but that's okay

You need to keep in mind you are running probably aluminium radiator which have very high FPI and therefore you need to run fans faster than on normal copper or brass radiator to overcome resistance

Hope this helps

Thanks, Jura

 

Helps a little actually, but 'Aquaro'?

 

Hi there

Aquacomputer Aquaero is standalone fan controller, one of the best on market

Please read above Thermalbench.com review on BeQuiet Silent Wings 3 fan, VGS explains a lot there regarding the PWM

BeQuiet Silent Wings 3 have wonky PWM response on some BIOS or rather motherboard as well

dB or CFM measurements of most fans is overrated, I would say false because they're testing the fans in open condition without the any obstruction like radiator or filter etc and same applies for dB measurement, you can rem9ve the fan from case and test it yourself, in open condition like on bench without the obstruction it will be very quiet and you will definitely reach advertised measurements for dB

Try different fans if you are unhappy with these ones, try fan curve etc, they're lots of ways how to cool and make PC quiet there, everyone have different threshold of noise, for someone is unacceptable noise still acceptable

Plus don't forget BeQuiet Silent Wings 3 doesn't have best sealing on radiators, I would have look on fan spacers/shroud like is Phobya, I use same spacers on BeQuiet Silent Wings 3 fans if I use them on builds, similarly I use them on Noiseblocker eLoop fans

Thanks, Jura

 

https://www.corsair.com/us/en/Categ...Levitation-Fans/ml-pro-config/p/CO-9050040-WW I use these myself .... no bearing .. I like them, they are silent but you still hear air moving when using on a raidiator otherwise there silent but I also use a spacer duct so no hotspot in center and cuts down the air moving by raidiator sound when doing higher rpm. But thats me....

 

It's hardly a fortune, so I'm trying this one.

I like the RPM range. Like the look of Jura's Phantek as well, and will go for that as plan B if this isn't up to scratch. But I do like Corsair as a brand.

 

Received it today - running at 50% of full power. for gaming needs, it's exactly what I wanted - only a mild air noise and nothing else. Temps staying nice and low. I've not tried a higher RPM than 1200 yet.

Great recommendation this one, could really feel the quality of the unit when I took it out, thanks SplashDown.

 

Ok 2500RPM kept the temps around 50C but my God it was like a shuttle taking off.

50% is fine!

 

Glad it worked for your needs bud. I like them, I also have 2 140's of the same. I have my 120's on raidiator set at 1000 constant with a upper limit of 2000 but it has to get hot to reach that with Prime full load ect. & top temp is 65 celcius and I have the hotspot duct on them. Gaming I mostly hit like 1,300.

 

what case you using? it not just about fans and there speeds

my Fractal Desing R5 has 7 Fans it counting CASE (3) CPU (2) GPU (2) they are all runing about 800-900rpm my system is so quite some time I have check to see if the power light is on. CPU dont go past 62c gaming GPU can hit high 60's, but remains silent system is ridiculously quiet I put on par with how silent my ps3 slim is and that is pretty much silent.

 

I know this but he didn't ask me for dba results or cfm, I just let him know what mine were and that they are quiet and how I was running them. He got some and said he liked so whats the prob?

 

I wasnt talking you though, I was talkin to OP, you one taking some sort of issue here

 

I hate fans and cases since it's impossible to know before hand if something is quiet or not, one actually have to test it first to know for sure. In my experience you can't get dead silent performance and exceptional performance since these two things are opposites. One must aim for a good balance between them two and the first thing that helps is getting 140mm fans instead of 120mm fans since they, by nature, move more air and are quieter at the same RPM. Next thing would be the dust filter and how close or far the fans are from it. How the fans sound with different filters is greater than one thinks. Static pressure is also a big factor here but just looking at numbers doesn't help that much since fans behave differently with different radiators.

For example, Corsair LL120 suck at being radiator fans and even more as case fans but look great. Corsair AF140 move a ton of air but would probably not be too great for radiators.

Trial and error seems like the only way here.

 

Running a Corsair H115i when i ran Metro Exodus or Ghost recon BP it would spin up @ 65c get loud , Replaced fans with Corsair LL140 very quiet and stopped spinning up when i run them games system idle's @ 17-18c

 

I am really considering adding more of these to my rig. I have the default nzxt's on my Kraken x72, and replacing with three of these might be worth a shout.

Yeah I stick to about 400rpm for idle use on the GPU then 1200RPM for gaming, aka half speed. Temps top out about 63-69C which is just fine. These shift a tonne of air. Probably the best 120MM fan I've ever used.

 

Indeed, having base quieter components is more important than the case is. But I do have a Fractal R6, which is basically the quietest case around.

My system isn't 100% silent, but none of my fans run idle at higher than 400RPM. The only noise I do get is from 1: the X72 pump at permanent top speed because of how I set it up 2: PSU fan under load.

There is a subsonic hums all PCs have, indeed most electronics have, that you can't tell when it's on, but you can tell when it's off. True silence is unmistakable.

 

More like loved them! Thanks again for the recommendation.

 

Agree, the best we can do is a system you can adjust and manage based on what you're using it for.

For example, in idle I keep the lid on and all I hear, when the PSU fan isn't spinning, is a tiny hum coming from the Kraken. The base is right next to me and I lean to the left when I sit so I hear it purely on distance reasons. When I lift the lid and speed up the GPU fan I get a little more noise but it's the cost of superior cooling for gaming.

I'm happy enough to easily adapt the case for my different uses on the fly.

My two case fans (fractals) are 140MM. My two coolers, however, are built for 120MM fans so that choice was out of my hands. But these Corsairs are outstanding.

It took me about 3 months to build what I wanted. It still isn't perfect, doubt I'll get perfect, but it's as close to it as I think I'll get.

The Corsair 120MM as recommended in here is perfect for me.

 

yah all my fan are the 120/140 fractal fans, I recently cleaned the fans and DH-14 heat sink in my case of dust my system is damn quiet, it has how ever developed hum, which I think is do to me not place the fans back on the bumper pads on heatsink, which cause vibration that make top part ( fan covers) of R5 case to vibrate and cause hum. I have my fans on middle setting for the fan control, if put it to lowest I hear nothing but temps go up more then I like I find 800-1000rpm to be sweet spot quiet enough to not mater and adequate cooling anything lower and temp raise to much. gona have to go back in side and adjust the fans and how there siting once my CTS attack subsides

 

I'm still in the market for a white case and right now I'm waiting for the Phanteks P500A which should be a case with amazing air flow. In the mean time I wish I could try the Lian-Li O11 Dynamic once again but that would require me to buy a new AIO since the Lian-Li doesn't allow any CPU coolers taller than ~160cm which rule out most large ones including the Dark Rock 4 Pro I got.

Right, the Corsair ML120 are indeed praised and I'm sure they are good fans, would definitely try them one day.