Techrs! Ok so I've recently been doing a bit of reasonably heavyweight OCing on a i7 920. Pump a few extra volts through these chips and they get hawwwwt. I have a Antec Kuhler 620 (a sexed up Corsair H50). Previously I used my favourite ever fan - the Akasa Apache, but with the 920 its just not enough to keep it cool. The Apaches are absolutely silent and PWM controlled and shift 51CFM, but I'd like it if they cut through rad fins a little better. In any case, I'm in the market for some new fans. They need to be as silent as possible at low speed, but still move a lot of air through a rad when push comes to shove What would you recommend? As an aside, I have a spare Akasa Apache going if anyone would like to swap?
+1 I have two 1450rpm Typhoon's on my H50, I tried 2 x 1850's but there wasn't a significant difference over the 1450's. Sent from my HTC Desire S
Gentle Typhoons are THE best quiet fans for rads and heatsinks; I know you love the Apache but it's crap... 30CFM at best; the 50CFM spec is an outright lie because that's what the 1850RPM Gentle Typhoon produces when measured in a controlled environment with an anemometer. Incidentally I have a special PWM server fan going spare since changing my graphics card - Delta AFC1212DE (150 CFM) - and it will perform better than any 120x120x25case fan. It's a big and very powerful fan (38mm deep) but the PWM does 0-4000rpm, and up to about 1500rpm it's almost silent. I have my other one on my CPU cooler. I'll swap that for your Apache if you like? Trust me, you will never look back. You WILL have to connect the +12v and GND directly to your PSU though as this fan draws about 1 amp at full throttle (1.6 amps startup current).
Maybe "crap" is a little harsh... their performance is average, not AMAZING like Akasa claims; it's marketing BS. They'd be absolutely fine as case fans, but as rad/heatsink fans they fail, hence the Servo/Delta recommendation.
Sorry to jump in but I'm looking for a decent fan for my h-50, I assume I can improve on the fan it is supplied with. What do you think of the Noctua NF-P14 FLX?
Noctua are good fans by all means but grossly overpriced IMO which is why I never touch them. But if you are prepared to pay for it, get it - it's a very nice fan. The best rad/heatsink fans are ones with high static pressure, which is why the Noctuas and GTs are so popular, and why big fans like Deltas destroy the competition (crazy static pressure).
What are deltas and where do you get them? Are they loud? The reason I suggested the Noctua is because it is crazy quiet for the pressure it delivers, helped by the fact its a 140 on 120 fittings of course.
Oh I totally misread your post, I skimmed it and saw NF-P12... my bad!!! The P14 FLX is a perfect example of Noctua's overpriced fan lineup - pretty average, and very expensive! A MUCH better fan than the P14 FLX is Thermalright's TY-140 (also 120mm fittings) and part of the reason it's so good is the price: it's dang cheap, roughly half the price of the P14 FLX. I have two of them in the roof of my case and they are amazing; and best of all, they are PWM fans so they are perfect for the PWM CPU fan motherboard header. Delta is a long standing component manufacturer which specialises in fans and blowers; their stuff is extremely high quality and mostly used in servers and sometimes in Dell computers. You're best getting Delta fans on ebay because they are very expensive if you buy them new (in excess of £20 per fan) but they all use ball bearings (not the ubiquitous and cheap sleeve bearings or fluid dynamic bearings found on case fans) and have great longevity. My avatar is a Delta fan (you can tell I love them lol).
But these have to be wired up from the PSU you say? Not sure I want to void my warranty quite yet. Looking at that TY-140, it looks very good and as you say, it's much cheaper. Shame scan are out of stock. Looks like I might get one of these. EDIT: Also, which is better, a GT or this TY-140?
The only reason Deltas shouldn't be connected to the motherboard is because of the high amperage - it's too high for these fan headers, but the PSU will handle it very easily. For an H50 a GT (or two in push/pull) would be better than the TY-140
The problem with the Gentle Typhoon 1450 and 1850 is they have a whine that you might find annoying. I know I've mentioned this before but I think they've changed something about them compared to the ones manufactured a couple of years ago. I have a lot of the older 1450s and a few of the older 1850s and the whine on the newer ones is a lot more noticeable and intrusive compared to them. However some people still think they're silent so a lot depends on your tolerance. The older ones would cope with lower voltage very well and tended just to have one speed where they have resonance/whine but the newer ones have this at most speeds. The fans are still very good but if that whine annoys you you can't ignore it. I've decided that when I have to replace my fans I'll be using the Noiseblocker PL2s. They're a bit louder, not quite as effective but have a more pleasing sound.
Hey guys, thanks for all the responses. Lenny, had a look at those Deltas, but they won't fit the screws on my Kuhler 620 so are a no go unfortunately. I'm going to check out the GT 1450RPM and see what thats like. By the way, the stock cooler that comes with the the Antec Kuhler H20 is atrocious! It moves a lot of air, but I just can't live with the noise.
@ Parge, that's a pity - never mind. I'm sure you'll be happy with the AP-14 because they are quite a big step up from the Apache. @ Huge, no probelmo The AP-14s (1450rpm) are the happy medium of Gentle Typhoons: not too fast, not too slow. If it were me I'd get the AP-15s for best performance, but as Big Elf says you might find that the noise they make gets on your nerves (it doesn't bother me). I had a 3000rpm GT earlier this year which was really quiet up to about 2000rpm, but I replaced it with my Delta which is just out of this world (it did require soldering and, um, making an entire PWM fan controller from scratch, but worth all the effort IMO)
