Bought Noctua Chromax NF-A14 to replace H115i AIO fans. Mistake? (they have lower static pressure)

[moodlover]

Hello friends,

I am looking to replace the default loud/clattery fans of the H115i cooler and after reading around I purchased the new Noctua Chromax NF-A14 fans thinking it would be better performance for less noise. I haven't tested them yet but looking at the specs AFTER they arrived (my mistake), I realized the Chromax NF-A14 only have a static pressure of 2.0 while the default Corsair SP140 have SP of 3.99. Yikes, thats double!

Facepalm

Should I return the Chromax while they're unopened and exchange for the *industrial* version of NF-A14 called the iPPC 2000RPM instead? Really what put me off from those fans was hearing the motor is really loud and listening to some audio recordings on YouTube. The other fans I'm looking into are the Corsair ML140 PRO's which have 3.0 static pressure (somehow lower than the default fans yet consensus is that they're better so thats confusing)

I just want the same cooling as the default fans without all the extra noise. Input appreciated, thanks!

 

[UsandThem]

The Corsair SP140 fans have static pressure rating of 1.17

http://www.corsair.com/en-us/air-series-sp140-led-green-high-static-pressure-140mm-fan

The Noctua ones are 2.08

https://noctua.at/en/nf-a14-pwm-chromax-black-swap/specification

The ones that come with the H115i are actually SP140L, and while having more static pressure, are noticeably louder.

So, if you want quieter, the Noctua NF-A14 PWM fans are still solid performers and quieter, and will work great with radiators. However, if you want the higher static pressure rating like your original Corsair fans, then the industrial fans are a good choice as well, just not as quiet.

So it depends on what balance of quiet/performance you are after.

 

[moodlover]

The ones that come with the H115i are actually SP140L, and while having more static pressure, are noticeably louder.

So, if you want quieter, the Noctua NF-A14 PWM fans are still solid performers and quieter, and will work great with radiators. However, if you want the higher static pressure rating like your original Corsair fans, then the industrial fans are a good choice as well, just not as quiet.

So it depends on what balance of quiet/performance you are after.

Thanks for the clarification, yes I meant to say the H115i has SP140L fans with 3.99 static pressure.

My apologies I think my post was confusing. What I should've asked is, if I want to keep my 8700K at a healthy temp at 5GHz, would these quieter Chromax NF-A14s do the job? Or would the 50% static pressure drop be a huge problem?

Would be great to find performance close to the SP140L in a much higher quality / quieter fan. Thanks!

 

[UsandThem]

My apologies I think my post was confusing. What I should've asked is, if I want to keep my 8700K at a healthy temp at 5GHz, would these quieter Chromax NF-A14s do the job? Or would the 50% static pressure drop be a huge problem?

The Corsair SP140L are rated at 40dB at 2000 RPM.

The Noctua NF-A14 PWM are rated at 24.6dB at 1500 RPM.

The Noctua NF-A14 IndustrialPPC-2000 are rated at 31.5dB at 2000 RPM.

The question is what do your current Corsair fans run at now? Do you have to run them at high RPMs to keep temperatures where you want them, or do you run them at lower RPMs? You say they are noisy, so I assume you are running them at least a 50%.

A big high pressure drop will affect performance for sure, and the Noctua non-industrial fans might have to spin at a higher RPM to maintain temperatures. The higher the SP, the better they perform on radiators.

If you Google "h115i noctua NF A14", there are a ton of threads and videos to look at where people already replaced those fans with the regular Noctua fans and their Industrial lineup. That way you can determine what will work for you, seeing what worked/didn't work for their projects.

 

[moodlover]

Ill throw another curveball into this. Bitwit on YouTube tested LL140 (1.5 static pressure) vs SP140L (3.99 static pressure) in this video (clicking will jump to the results). Results were:

SP140L: 77 degrees for CPU
LL140: 67 degrees CPU!!!

How in the world is that possible when the SP is that much lower?

 

[UsandThem]

Ill throw another curveball into this. Bitwit on YouTube tested LL140 (1.5 static pressure) vs SP140L (3.99 static pressure) in this video (clicking will jump to the results). Results were:

SP140L: 77 degrees for CPU
LL140: 67 degrees CPU!!!

How in the world is that possible when the SP is that much lower?

There's other things to fan design besides high static pressure. Remember that Noctua equips its coolers, which always score near the top of their respective category, with their retail fans. Their heatsinks have dense fins as well, so they design them to work well, while being quieter than many competitors.

 

[XavierMace]

Ill throw another curveball into this. Bitwit on YouTube tested LL140 (1.5 static pressure) vs SP140L (3.99 static pressure) in this video (clicking will jump to the results). Results were:

SP140L: 77 degrees for CPU
LL140: 67 degrees CPU!!!

How in the world is that possible when the SP is that much lower?

Because it's a bad test. 15 minutes isn't enough time for the liquid to reach peak temps.

Edit: I run the iPPC Industrials on all of mine.

 

[moodlover]

Because it's a bad test. 15 minutes isn't enough time for the liquid to reach peak temps.

Edit: I run the iPPC Industrials on all of mine.

Well if the stress program he was running was 15 mins on both tests then shouldn't the liquid result in the same temperature each time? All he did was swap out the fans

iPPC was the way I was going to go but I didn't want a loud system. Hows your noise levels when gaming or putting load on the CPU? I hope I do not overheat my CPU by going with the quieter noctuas

 

[XavierMace]

It takes more than 15 minutes for the liquid in a larger AIO to heat up to peak temps, normally closer to an hour under normal loads. For him to get that big of a deviation in that short of a test, there's some other factor.

Regarding the noise levels, you're going to have to mess with your fan profiles. I have the fans set to stay at 50% until the liquid hits 35c. It's a pretty steady curve after that, hitting 100% at 60c which is the danger temp for the pump. I wouldn't call it silent at normal loads, but it's quiet enough that I can't hear it over the ambient noise. That's with the case sitting right at my hip.