Cooling Thermalright Ultra 120 - What fan?

After a long time since I built my PC, I have decided to scrap the stock cooler for the Ultra 120, although the stock is pretty good imo, have my CPU at 2.8Ghz at a really nice temp.

Majority of the reviews I read with this cooler, they normally have the the Scythe S-Flex fan with it, but is this really the best fan out there? It's been out a long time.

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=533394

So my question is, what "is" the best fan i.e. a lot of air, but to not sound like a jet engine.

Cheers,

Maj

 

i also wanting to know the same question.

but with an added requirement: the fan needs to be compatible with the 4-pin CPU cooler socket on any P35 motherboard. otherwise my Abit ip35 Pro will simply have the fan stuck at 100% duty cycle

 

s-flex 1200 and the thermalright, is the best quiet combination out there!
1600 is slightly audible, but fine if your not used to silence,
you shouldent need over a 1200 for up 2 3ghz on a quad for example with low-mid temps

 

Alright.

Just thought I'd state also I have a fan controller, I could just buy the 1600 and lower it to 1200 for normal usage I guess?

Another thing I need to buy, a 3 to 4 pin converter...

 

Scythe S-Flex or Noctua are good choices. Both are awesome

 

yep perfect combination,

but you shouldent need that kind of airflow on your rig. make sue your case exhaust fan is up to the task, or you will be recirculating that hot air

 

Yeah my care has damn good air flow.

Well I want to OC my CPU to 3.4ghz + that's all.

 

Well I'm going to order a different fan now, as it's a lot more powerful.

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=615591

 

So is this new fan any good?

 

Not the best as far as i can see

 

^^What he said.

It's rated for 17.5 dbA at 900 RPM and 40.7CFM, and almost 40 dbA at 2600 RPM/106.3 CFM. Since these are manufacturer specs, they should be taken with a grain of salt [SilenX...], and if you compare these to real-world test results, Noctua and Scythe fans are far superior at low speeds, with the Noctua NF-S12-1200 providing 61 CFM/25 dbA [rated 48 CFM/17 dbA] and the Scythe S-Flex SFF-21E doing 51 CFM/23 dbA [rated 39 CFM/16 dbA]. On an Ultra 120, I wouldn't use the Noctua NF-S12 fans because of low pressure, but they have a new fan coming out [NF-P12] that has high impedance, 1300 RPM and more airflow than the NF-S12-1200. If you can wait for those, I would recommend them, as Noctua makes the best noise/airflow fans. For high airflow, Deltas and Scythe Ultra Kaze fans are the way to go due to their airflow and static pressure.

None of these come with 4-pin connectors afaik, but adapters should be readily available.

 

I'm thinking of getting 3 of the Scythe S-FLEX fans 800RPM for my 120.3 rad, would that provide good enough cooling do you rekon?

 

Well, My mate tested it against his 1600 Scythe, and it's just a bit better.

 

...and just a lot louder . Higher RPM/airflow will usually give you better cooling but at the cost of noise - it depends on what you value more, your temperatures or your ears. Personally, I prefer my ears


Oh, and just out of curiosity, are you using the regular Ultra-120 or the Ultra-120 eXtreme?

 

why can't you control the fan speed via your motherboard? so i think it always makes sense to buy the highest RPM fan and let the motherboard to do its job

 

I have no idea, but I'll see if it's possible.

Shen - Of course it's going to be louder, it's 2600RPM Max. The Scythe is 1600RPM max, that a 1000rpm difference, lol.

The card is sent with a controller that goes into the back on the PC (I like it a lot actually), so I could turn it down to the same as the Scythes. Oh and I tested it earlier and it wasn't that loud imo on high, and that was with the case side off.

http://www.overclockersonline.net/index.php?page=articles&num=1291&pnum=3

 

Personally I found that a YS-Tech 120x38mm fan was great, if you have a fan controller. At low voltage its pretty quiet, and you still get a decent amount of air shifted - great for day to day. Also you can shift it up a gear if you need to, like when youre benching or something, which of course you cant if you have a quieter fan run at full voltage all the time. At full whack it is quite loud (but not anything like as abusive like a delta), but it shifts a TON of air.

 

Some stats below, are these any good?

Stock Idle 2600RPM- 20c
Stock Idle Around 1600RPM - 22c

 

I'd recommend the 1200's and a fan controller (or Zalman Fan Mates - you should be able to get away with 2 Fan Mates and one 3pin splitter).

 

i got the thermalright ultra 120 extreme with the S-Flex 1600 and it runs awesome, no noise with my e6750 running at 3Ghz and great temps too!