120mm / 140mm High End Fan Segment Advice

[#22]

I will try first with one front Noiseblocker e-Loop B12-PS, and if it works well (without manufacturing defects, and up to the specs), I will add another as the internal between the two towers.
I also have two Arctic P14 PWM PST, one of which has quite strong rattling once I put my ear next to it.

So, Arctic BioniX P12 (in my ex Arctic Freezer 34 eSports DUO) is rated at around 24.4 dB.
Noiseblocker e-Loop B12-PS is rated at 21 dB.
Thermalright TL-K12 stock is rated at 27 dB.

I am slowly improving my build, because when I load the CPU and GPU, the noise levels become too loud and annoying.

Why you even bother to replace orignal fan on your Phantom Spirit? TR used to have top performing fans and EVO's reviews only confirm it. I would be hardly surprised if B12 weren't worse than them performance wise. Not counting showing some anomalies being likely to show when using heatsink and fan not designed to work together.

 

[AsRock]

I have them perma capped at 500 cause they get obnoxious after that. It's not that they are just loud, they have a very annoying sound profile

Mine seem to be good until about 12-1300RPM then you start to hear them in my Torrent. How ever they get the job done if need be and i am not all that sensitive over fan noise.

All depends on what you need and the case your actually using is going make a big difference and placement of said case too. Like my systems on a HiFi rack 5 feet away were some might have it right next to them.

But why i got them is due to the fitting flexibility all so speed and performance as i all so don't use a air conditioner either not even when the room temps are up in the 30c. A Air con can make a hell of a difference on what you can get away with.

Any 1200RPM fan is not not enough some times, my 6950XT has never got over 82c even on the hotspot.

Never mind different sounds that fan can make too, yours the V2 or V1's ?.

 

[ARF]

Why you even bother to replace orignal fan on your Phantom Spirit? TR used to have top performing fans and EVO's reviews only confirm it.

Top performing?
1. I hate their looks.
2. They are extremely noisy.
3. We will see.

They really resemble those old turbines for graphics cards which become noisy like a jet that takes off the near airport.

 

[AleXXX666]

Idk why people still recommend the AF-14. It’s fine I guess if you want 3000rpm, but why not just get a delta or similar? The AF-14 was just a decent fan when it came out more than a decade ago. Thermalright, bequiet, and probably even thermaltake (as much as it pains me) have surpassed them since, at least at sane noise levels.

How much cooling do you want? It looks like you’re running pretty low power components — do you really need 2000rpm+ fans?

I'd recommend only Noctua or BeQuiet, but not other for performance.

 

[#22]

Top performing?
1. I hate their looks.
2. They are extremely noisy.
3. We will see.

They really resemble those old turbines for graphics cards which become noisy like a jet that takes off the near airport.

Yeah, top performing. I don't know how long you are into hardware or just cooling, but Thermalright is this brand which had simply the best performing coolers for most of the time. Man can value competitors more like e.g. I appreciate more Noctua, but man needs to admit that. And coolers are about fans, not some heatsink voodoo which mostly determines wattage capacity.

With looks no point to discuss, but with noise hard to advise without knowing what you mean. Evo has stupid fast fans, but that's to tame with fan curve. Know that usually running cooler faster than 2/3 of it's maximum speed shaves negligible <5C. About "we will see", B2 are mediocre performers today. Like any topend 10-years old fan. They may be at best like old Noctuas - high priced mediocre performance defending with reliability and pleasant acoustics.

 

[ARF]

Why you even bother to replace orignal fan on your Phantom Spirit? TR used to have top performing fans and EVO's reviews only confirm it. I would be hardly surprised if B12 weren't worse than them performance wise. Not counting showing some anomalies being likely to show when using heatsink and fan not designed to work together.

Yeah, top performing. I don't know how long you are into hardware or just cooling, but Thermalright is this brand which had simply the best performing coolers for most of the time. Man can value competitors more like e.g. I appreciate more Noctua, but man needs to admit that.

I actually still have the Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme Black Edition, which was my first DIY cooler. It was sold as a heatsink only with all 120 mm fans usable with it.
So, it means that the heatsink itself will have no compatibility problems of any kind, especially with so high-end innovative fan like the Noiseblocker e-Loop B12-PS.

And coolers are about fans, not some heatsink voodoo which mostly determines wattage capacity.

I don't think so. I think coolers are about heat pipes and fins stack, while the fans are either quiet or noisy. I prefer the quiet ones.

With looks no point to discuss, but with noise hard to advise without knowing what you mean. Evo has stupid fast fans, but that's to tame with fan curve. Know that usually running cooler faster than 2/3 of it's maximum speed shaves negligible <5C. About "we will see", B2 are mediocre performers today. Like any topend 10-years old fan. They may be at best like old Noctuas - high priced mediocre performance defending with reliability and pleasant acoustics.

We will see. I will share feedback once I am ready with my new improved setup.

 

[#22]

I actually still have the Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme Black Edition, which was my first DIY cooler. It was sold as a heatsink only with all 120 mm fans usable with it.
So, it means that the heatsink itself will have no compatibility problems of any kind, especially with so high-end innovative fan like the Noiseblocker e-Loop B12-PS.

This cooler is one of their classics, your nice memories, but B12 was highend innovative fan ten years ago and today is mediocre. I even have for you quite nice comparison showing where they are today confronted with many recent top performers:

I don't think so. I think coolers are about heat pipes and fins stack, while the fans are either quiet or noisy. I prefer the quiet ones.

Heatpipes and fin stacks, simply put the heatsink, determine how many Watts cooler can handle. Fans are about efficiency - how much they can cool with given noise level.

We will see. I will share feedback once I am ready with my new improved setup.

Fine, in the end it's about you liking new fans more than previous

 

[ARF]

This cooler is one of their classics, your nice memories, but B12 was highend innovative fan ten years ago and today is mediocre. I even have for you quite nice comparison showing where they are today confronted with many recent top performers:

Extremely weird test, there you have very weird airflow resistance which makes all fans sound like crap.
But yeah, 10 years later there is nothing better than the Noiseblocker e-Loop B12-PS.
And before you point Phantecs, that has compatibility issues - 30 mm is a no go, and it's ugly as hell.

 

[tabascosauz]

Extremely weird test, there you have very weird airflow resistance which makes all fans sound like crap.
But yeah, 10 years later there is nothing better than the Noiseblocker e-Loop B12-PS.
And before you point Phantecs, that has compatibility issues - 30 mm is a no go, and it's ugly as hell.

Sounds like you already made up your mind long ago that NB eLoop is the greatest fan in existence and anyone else's test or opinion is garbage

Why didn't you just say that to start? Enjoy your outdated fans, I guess.

Going up against resistance is what realistic testing of fans are all about these days. Anyone can make a fan that pushes air on an open bench.

 

[ARF]

Going up against resistance is what realistic testing of fans are all about these days. Anyone can make a fan that pushes air on an open bench.

It's unrealistic, and contains some strong background noise. I don't even understand what the noise from the fan is, and what the noise from the microphone's quality is...

Sounds like you already made up your mind long ago that NB eLoop is the greatest fan in existence and anyone else's test or opinion is garbage

That's very possible to be true, because I haven't seen a single objective opinion. The fan is not old, there is nothing better for CPU cooler usage.
There are GPU fans which have similar improvements...

 

[#22]

Extremely weird test, there you have very weird airflow resistance which makes all fans sound like crap.
But yeah, 10 years later there is nothing better than the Noiseblocker e-Loop B12-PS.
And before you point Phantecs, that has compatibility issues - 30 mm is a no go, and it's ugly as hell.

The test doesn't come from Long Win (probably you don't even know what it is), but is pretty good: detailed and it shows crucial audio samples. I look forward for your test

 

[harm9963]

I have 9 Noctua A14 iPPC , 7 Arctic p14 , I use ASUS fan app control .View attachment 356187View attachment 356194View attachment 356194View attachment 356194View attachment 356187View attachment 356187

I have 10 Noctua A14 iPPC , not 9 , and two Arctic P14 Max in the basement.

 

[ARF]

The test doesn't come from Long Win (probably you don't even know what it is), but is pretty good: detailed and it shows crucial audio samples. I look forward for your test

I have just done a BIOS update, the fans span at 100%, the TL-K12 was extremely noisy, but the BN NB eLoop B12-PS is considerably better.
I will buy a second BN NB eLoop B12-PS, completely getting rid of the factory TRL PS 120 EVO fans. Don't need them, at all.

 

[#22]

I have just done a BIOS update, the fans span at 100%, the TL-K12 was extremely noisy, but the BN NB eLoop B12-PS is considerably better.
I will buy a second BN NB eLoop B12-PS, completely getting rid of the factory TRL PS 120 EVO fans. Don't need them, at all.

Thanks for coming back to thread TL-K12 are way faster fans, so no surprise they are louder when running 100%. Now I checked and then Thermalright runs ~2150 rpm compared to Blacknoise maxing out with only 1500 rpm. The maximum noise of the fan will be as high as you set it's fan curve (if your mobo doesn't force anything in this regard). Maybe plug them alone in two CPU_Fan headers and compare when running 1500 rpm or whatever the same speeds. Btw many people complain about fans on TR coolers and end up swapping them what doesn't make much sense, but I don't know if it's because fans being in fact shitty, annoying or it's lack of understanding things like fan curves or fan ramp up/down timings.

 

[ARF]

Thanks for coming back to thread

The delivery is extremely slow. There is a single retailer in the country that imports the Blacknoise fans.

TL-K12 are way faster fans, so no surprise they are louder when running 100%. Now I checked and then Thermalright runs ~2150 rpm compared to Blacknoise maxing out with only 1500 rpm. The maximum noise of the fan will be as high as you set it's fan curve (if your mobo doesn't force anything in this regard). Maybe plug them alone in two CPU_Fan headers and compare when running 1500 rpm or whatever the same speeds.

I will do it. I have enough places on the board for fans.

Btw many people complain about fans on TR coolers and end up swapping them what doesn't make much sense, but I don't know if it's because fans being in fact shitty, annoying or it's lack of understanding things like fan curves or fan ramp up/down timings.

I think the TL-K12 is noisier than normal at all RPM settings, except the fan stop mode.

 

[#22]

The delivery is extremely slow. There is a single retailer in the country that imports the Blacknoise fans.

I will do it. I have enough places on the board for fans.

I think the TL-K12 is noisier than normal at all RPM settings, except the fan stop mode.

In Poland it's not bad, multiple stores have them, but some for even like ~50% inflated prices, so hard to say if it's not the thing with some having old stocks, situtation being more like low demand than good availability. Especially given that ones selling them for cheaper sell them for the price they used to years ago, so not including quite drastic inflation in recent years. On the other hand things keeping hard old prices is quite typical for cooling products.

Wit TL being noisier, the question is performance with similar noise. E.g. I upgraded case fans to ones much noisier on the same speed, but cooling better with similar volume. Not counting imo more important details like quieter minumum speed, quieter motor and just more pleasant sound signature.

 

[ARF]

In Poland it's not bad, multiple stores have them,

Yup, Poland is a bigger and more advanced economy.

but some for even like ~50% inflated prices, so hard to say if it's not the thing with some having old stocks, situtation being more like low demand than good availability. Especially given that ones selling them for cheaper sell them for the price they used to years ago, so not including quite drastic inflation in recent years. On the other hand things keeping hard old prices is quite typical for cooling products.

I guess the goo old scalping.

Wit TL being noisier, the question is performance with similar noise. E.g. I upgraded case fans to ones much noisier on the same speed, but cooling better with similar volume. Not counting imo more important details like quieter minumum speed, quieter motor and just more pleasant sound signature.

The Blacknoise NB eLoop with white blades is impressive. The white on this fan makes the "white" on my other Arctic P140 fans look like dirty grey...

Difference is:

Despite that in the beginning, these Arctics looked very white to me...

 

[ARF]

Blacknoise NB eLoop B12-PS in action - over Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 EVO with Arctic P14 PWM PST in the background.

 

[P4-630]

My Noctua NH-U12A with Be Quiet! Pro 4 fans

SILENT WINGS PRO 4 | 120mm PWM silent high-end Fans from be quiet!

LEGENDARY SILENCE, EPIC PERFORMANCE AND FEATURES

www.bequiet.com

 

[freeagent]

Thermalrights lower end fans are pretty cheap, but they work pretty well for the price. V2 and V3 are the ones you want

Uhoh angry face..

Well then good luck in your ventures

 

[Double-Click]

I've I always had good luck with Noiseblocker Black Silent Pros.
Have used them as case fans and and for rads very quiet, reliable and effective.

The Noctua NF-A12s are really, nice though / built like tanks, took them off my U12A to use with the PA-120.
If you cap them to 1700rpm though they are nice and quiet (they get a little too loud for my taste at full-bore)

 

[nomdeplume]

I'm fairly sure this discussion will center on T30 and iPCC.

My recent adventure with a cheap used Corsair 140mm running at 2400 rpm might've pushed me into iPPC. Doing a bit of research I keep coming up with people stating they replaced this as a stock fan shipped with one of their AIO with Noctua iPPC that were considerably quieter even pushing more air.

 

[ARF]

I've I always had good luck with Noiseblocker Black Silent Pros.
Have used them as case fans and and for rads very quiet, reliable and effective.

I've managed to decrease the noise levels of my system drastically. Now it's virtually silent.
The Blacknoise NB eLoop B12-PS produces extremely high quality noise, it's like only the wind made by the ring blade produces noise, and it's comfortable for my ears.

Of course, I put the second stock Thermalright fan on the towers in low-RPM operation, and that helps.

Maybe next is to put 3 more Blacknoise NB eLoop B12-PS in my case, to be BN NB only

 

[Waldorf]

old (design) doesnt have to be bad per se.
when is started using JL for audio, it usually took other (more common) brands like kicker/kenwood etc at least 10y to reach the same level (SQ at high vol levels),
but they still couldnt beat them.

@nomdeplume
once your cooling system isnt soaking up anymore heat, there wont be any difference on room temps over longer periods, unless you want to trade for higher system temps,
and throttling fans will only delay, not prevent it (room getting hot).

@ARF
i used NB fans (all series) for years, as they were the only ones doing really silent fans, incl smaller sizes, or offered things like throttling rpm without turning off.

but having used Arctic coolers/fans for builds i did for others (budget), i wont waste my money anymore on others like Noctua/Corsair etc., as i dont see them being 3-4x "better",
when comparing cost (my 140 fans are 10-15$), colors or not having to use adapters (noctua), as well as that i can get them will ball bearing (CO units), in all flavors (pwm and DC),
and with 6-10y warranty, not really worried about fails.
so now, 11 fans for rad/case are ~130$, and why i dont mind spending more on quality/better perfing things, im not gonna waste the amount of money for my prev cpu on just fans,
especially since my rig is still inaudible sitting on the desk at 2ft distance, on low loads like surfing/streaming, without sacrificing perf.

 

[harm9963]

I have 10 Noctua A14 iPPC , not 9 , and two Arctic P14 Max in the basement.