Help choosing good quiet 120mm case fan

alonbl

Member
Apr 25, 2013
61
0
66
Where I live there's a limited market so help me choose between these fans:

12.37$ Scythe GlideStream 12cm Fan 1200RPM:
24.5 dBA
1200 RPM
66.5 CFM
Sleeve Bearing

14$ Scythe Kama Flow 2 120mm Fan 1400 RPM
27.6 dB
1400RPM
47.50 CFM
Fluid Dynamic Bearing

12.37$ ARCTIC F12 1350RPM:
22.5 DB
1350 RPM
74 CFM
Fluid Dynamic Bearing

16.5$ ZALMAN ZM-F3 FDB (the most expansive):
18 ~ 23dBA ± 10%
1,000 ~ 1,500rpm ± 10%
25 ~ 61 CFM
FDB (Fluid Dynamic Bearing)

12.37$ Antec TriCool 120mm
25 / 28 / 30 dBA
1200 / 1600 / 2000 RPM
39 / 56 / 79 CFM
double ball-bearing

i'm leaning towards the Scythe Kama Flow because it got good review at:
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/120mm-fan-roundup-1_21.html#sect0

What do you think?
 
Last edited:

lehtv

Elite Member
Dec 8, 2010
11,897
74
91
Do you have a fan controller? Almost any fan can be made quiet with a fan controller or a fan voltage cable, provided the fan's bearing doesn't react to a change in RPM (some can develop rattling or clicking if used at the wrong RPM)

It'd help to know what the fans cost.

The Zalman fan has variable RPM so it's probably a 4-pin PWM fan. Does your motherboard even support PWM case fans?

However I would go with Scythe GlideStream or Arctic F12, whichever is cheaper.
 
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alonbl

Member
Apr 25, 2013
61
0
66
I'm using Zalman Fanmate 2 at the moment because my fans are noisy and old NZXT.
I have added costs.
the zalman has 3pin Molex header with 5v Resistor cable
 
Last edited:

Cerb

Elite Member
Aug 26, 2000
17,484
33
86
Does your motherboard have 4-pin headers? If so, the PWM variant of the AC fan is a good option, letting you plug it in, set fan settings in your BIOS, and go on about your day (or fiddle with it, or use Speedfan, or the mobo's own utilities...). But, with 3-pin headers, and already having Fanmates, the Scythe will be excellent.

The most excellent would be Scythe Gentle Typhoon 800 RPM, but I haven't seen any for sale at decent prices in months, now, in the U.S. :(.

The Silverstone Air Penetrators are great case intake fans (and radiator fans, for that matter), working well against restrictive items in their way, but otherwise kind of lackluster. The standard AP-121 model is also specified for 5V start, so while not PWM, would work fine with a Fanmate.