- Joined
- Nov 1, 2001
- Location
- New Iberia, LA
OK, I've been seeing numerous threads that are asking which fan would be best for running on my TRUE or other heatsinks that use a 120mm fan and you have some proponents saying that the Yate Loons are best, others swearing by the Scythe S-Flex or Slipstreams and yet others stating that the Noctua fans are best. Seeing that nobody else has done this that I know of, I decided it was about time for me to do some testing. So this morning I placed an order from jab-Tech for some fans to complete the testing (out of my pocket, mind you, no freebies).
What I plan to do is to test the following fans that I have just ordered or already have on hand. I ordered models that I feel should be close enough in cfm and noise to reduce that variable in my testing as much as possible. I plan to test them on a crunching system I have that will have a TR U-120 (not extreme), since it will be easy to just swap out the fans without disturbing the heatsink mount due to the way the U-120 clips the fans in place.
The fans I will be testing are:
(I already own)
Panaflo 120x38mm Ultra Quiet FBA12G12L1BX by NMB-MAT - rated at 68.9 CFM @ 1700 RPM, 30 dBA, 2.16w
Delta EFB1212LE 120x38mm Triple Blade Low Speed - rated at 75.93 CFM @ 2000 RPM, 34.0 dBA, 1.92 watts
I bought these fans about 6 months ago for another project (see sig) and I will take them off my main rig to test them against the other fans chosen.
(ordered from Jab-Tech)
Noctua NF-P12-1300 120mm Fan - rated at 54.3 CFM @ 1300 RPM, 19.8 dB(A), 1.08 Watts
YATE LOON 120mm Case Fan - D12SM-12 - rated at 70.5 CFM @ 1650 RPM, 33 Db, 3.6 Watts max
Scythe S-Flex Fan - SFF21F - rated at 63.7CFM @ 1600 RPM, 28dBA, 2.4 Watts max
Scythe KAZE-JYUNI "SLIP STREAM" 120mm Case Fan - SY1225SL12M - rated at 68.54CFM @ 1200 RPM, 24.00 dBA, 3.12 Watts max
I chose these fans because their manufacturer's cfm ratings were about as close together as I could get to the Panaflo and Delta fans. I feel that the fans I ordered, which are 25mm thick fans, are going to be at a disadvantage against the Panaflo and Delta, since they are 38mm thick fans, but that is just a subjective feeling I have right now and have no actual proof yet. Also, I find that Panasonic and Delta both to be very believable in their sound and CFM ratings, whereas I have trouble believing some of these others. While I don't have a dB meter, I will listen to the fans when powered up in free air and also when mounted on the heatsink and give you my subjective impressions of the noise (or lack of). If possible, I also will try to record a few seconds of each fan running.
For testing, this will be done in the case I have this motherboard in already and will be set in the same place in my room for all tests. The room is kept at a pretty constant temp with a digitally controlled window unit. It's not as good as a controlled environment room, but, it's the best I can do, so it will have to do. I'm still on a rig in the Gulf of Mexico until late next week, so that will be when I start the testing. First, I will have to mount the U-120 and let the Ceramique cure for a few days to settle it in and then the testing will begin.
So stay tuned in about 1 1/2 weeks and I will have some concrete numbers to put up here on the relative strengths and weaknesses of these fans.
What I plan to do is to test the following fans that I have just ordered or already have on hand. I ordered models that I feel should be close enough in cfm and noise to reduce that variable in my testing as much as possible. I plan to test them on a crunching system I have that will have a TR U-120 (not extreme), since it will be easy to just swap out the fans without disturbing the heatsink mount due to the way the U-120 clips the fans in place.
The fans I will be testing are:
(I already own)
Panaflo 120x38mm Ultra Quiet FBA12G12L1BX by NMB-MAT - rated at 68.9 CFM @ 1700 RPM, 30 dBA, 2.16w
Delta EFB1212LE 120x38mm Triple Blade Low Speed - rated at 75.93 CFM @ 2000 RPM, 34.0 dBA, 1.92 watts
I bought these fans about 6 months ago for another project (see sig) and I will take them off my main rig to test them against the other fans chosen.
(ordered from Jab-Tech)
Noctua NF-P12-1300 120mm Fan - rated at 54.3 CFM @ 1300 RPM, 19.8 dB(A), 1.08 Watts
YATE LOON 120mm Case Fan - D12SM-12 - rated at 70.5 CFM @ 1650 RPM, 33 Db, 3.6 Watts max
Scythe S-Flex Fan - SFF21F - rated at 63.7CFM @ 1600 RPM, 28dBA, 2.4 Watts max
Scythe KAZE-JYUNI "SLIP STREAM" 120mm Case Fan - SY1225SL12M - rated at 68.54CFM @ 1200 RPM, 24.00 dBA, 3.12 Watts max
I chose these fans because their manufacturer's cfm ratings were about as close together as I could get to the Panaflo and Delta fans. I feel that the fans I ordered, which are 25mm thick fans, are going to be at a disadvantage against the Panaflo and Delta, since they are 38mm thick fans, but that is just a subjective feeling I have right now and have no actual proof yet. Also, I find that Panasonic and Delta both to be very believable in their sound and CFM ratings, whereas I have trouble believing some of these others. While I don't have a dB meter, I will listen to the fans when powered up in free air and also when mounted on the heatsink and give you my subjective impressions of the noise (or lack of). If possible, I also will try to record a few seconds of each fan running.
For testing, this will be done in the case I have this motherboard in already and will be set in the same place in my room for all tests. The room is kept at a pretty constant temp with a digitally controlled window unit. It's not as good as a controlled environment room, but, it's the best I can do, so it will have to do. I'm still on a rig in the Gulf of Mexico until late next week, so that will be when I start the testing. First, I will have to mount the U-120 and let the Ceramique cure for a few days to settle it in and then the testing will begin.
So stay tuned in about 1 1/2 weeks and I will have some concrete numbers to put up here on the relative strengths and weaknesses of these fans.