Can someone recommend a 120mm LED fan that's high output w/o being too loud...

[srcstc]

Not looking for it to be a "Quiet Fan" but would prefer it to not sound like a 747. Thanks in advance. Basically looking for a good compromise between performance and noise.


Rich

 

[Bluefront]

This may do it for you. It is a Yate Loon sleeve bearing, medium speed, reputed to be one of the quietest 120s available.....maxes about 1800 rpms.

 

[fbrdphreak]

It doesn't list RPM, dB, or CFM. Any other info?

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I'm sure the Yate Loon is a great fan. If I HAD to have LED, I'd be inclined to get a ThermalTake Blue LED 120mm.

I won't even post the link here -- you can find the fan at SVC, zipzoomfly, newegg, and frozenCPU.

It top-ends at about 2,800 rpm. Only because I've compared its performance with several other fans in conjunction with the noise and cooling capabilities, I'm pretty darn sure that it meets its own assertion of a top throughput of about 94 CFM. There is some motor-whine between 2,200 and 2,800 rpm, but it is not that terribly noisy -- that is, even if the fan is deployed on the CPU and you "blow-hole" duct the side case-panel, you can live with the top-end noise. You may be able to "delete" the whine with some teflon grease on the bearing.

It has a sleeve bearing, and only a 50,000 hour MTBF. That is still not too bad for a CPU fan, and about par for case-fan deployment.

If you can live without the LED lights, and if you need the fan for a CPU cooler on something like a ThermalRight XP-120, take a look at a Delta triple-blade 120mm that top-ends at 3,700 rpm with a 142 CFM throughput. It's 38mm thick, but very quiet in a closed case up to 3,000 rpm.

I could tell you about ten or twenty other fans, but these are my pick of the day, with one of them meeting your LED requirement. At least with the TT Blue, there's about four ways you can control the fan speed, either using the fan's own circuitry and thermal sensor provided, the PWM capabilities on your mobo, or a front-panel controller.

 

[Idleuser]

get the thermaltake 120mm found at svc for 7 dollar. You should note that the static pressure isn't alt hat great so if you were to put it on a radiator it wouldn't make the best fan out there.

 

[Tiamat]

Evercool aluminum 120mm fan. This guy paired with a fan controller can give you anything from very nice airflow for medium loud (~38db) @ 12V to decent airflow for decently quiet (~26db) @ 4.5V.