Find the article with test info here: www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/3161-noctua-nf-a20-200mm-fan-review-vs-cooler-masterfan-mf200r You might also like our Noctua fan quality investigation: ruclips.net/video/pvCok2t3qRg/видео.html
DEEPCOOl RF120 RGB they have a pretty competitive price point but no idea how good they are, there's little to no good reviews on them compare to other fans.
Great Video Steve, I can't wait to see the fan round Up. I am sorry for posting this Twice, I just really want to see this from you, as you have the BEST TESTING Methodology that I have seen from any Video Outlet, and you Rival the few Writteen Outlets, and NO ONE Has done the Thorough Testing that you would do, on this specific Fan. I know that this will not be the most popular pick because not many people use them, but because of their performance specs and the 1 trusted review that exists for them online, I have a case half full of Cooler Master JETFLO 120MM Fans. These fans CLAIM to move 95CFM with a static Pressure of 2.72mm/h2O at 100 Percent speed (2000Rpm) and claim to only be 36dB. While I have no way of testing the Static Pressure and Air Flow Claim, I do know through my own testing, that it is a LOT LOUDER then 36dB. Can You PLEASE Test this Claim for me, I know I will probably be the only one asking, but with Cooler Master Claiming those specs, they would appear to be some of the best balanced fans (Static Pressure and Air Flow) on the Market, and I would really like to see what your tests reveal. Also I would Love to see some tests done on Corsairs ML120 Fans, since these are what I am slowly replacing the JetFlo Fans with due to them being Quieter and having even better Static Pressure Specs, but again would love to see if the Manufacturers Specs Align with what you find. It Would Be AWESOME IF YOU COULD DO THESE 2! Thank You Steve! Cooler Master JetFlo 120MM Corsair ML120 120MM
It would be a blowout. If Noctua had Corsair's style sense and In-Win's Daisychaining, while maintaining their performance, nobody would use anything other than Noctua. Makes me wonder why they haven't done it yet.
They have black/grey fans, and have for awhile. They sold themselves as a premium brand for so long, yet their quality isn't that much better anymore. They used to have premium parts, materials, and designs to go with their price, but everyone else caught up.
I actually like their colour scheme. However, I think people exaggerate a bit how much of an effect it would have on sales. For sure they could attract more casual buyers if they looked the way trends suggest, but Noctua have their audience. People who look for best air performance will usually buy Noctua regardless.
Ahhh, man. I had a HAF 932 back in 2010-2011. Was super badass-feeling, but sounded like a jet and I didn't have hardware that *needed* it at the time.
Would love to see the Cooler Master Megaflow 200mm included in your reviews, as it is a budget option for the 200mm size. Love your no-nonsense channel, please keep it up!
I bought the PWM version of this 200mm noctua back in July for my Corsair 250D and it's dead silent. It's amazing, comes with a free different dongles like a splitter, and the whole thing runs dead silent. Love this fan.
Good to see that 200mm fans are coming back. I have a pair of 200mm NZXT gen1 fans. They are starting to wobble years later(they go in my H630). They are super quiet otherwise, and move a ton of air at like 700 to 800 rpm.
Look at that big brown beautiful bastard! I've got 3x Noctua IPPC 3000RPM, never going back. And the D-15 is a godsend! Edit: Speaking of 140mm 3000RPM IndustrialPPC's it'd be neat to see those, and the 1500RPM Redux 140mm in there as well!
Fan suggestions Higher end - Noctis NF F12 and NF A14, Corsair Maglev variety 120/140, SilentWings 3 120/140 Common - Corsair SP 120 and AF120/140. Coolermaster Sickle-flow. Enermax TB silence and Cluster advance. Basic - One of the cheap cooler master or Rosewill fans you can get for like $15 for a 3/4 pack.
Be Quiet shadow wings and silent wings 2 are both more silent than the silent wings 3 which I returned because they made a humming noise even at like 500rpm
Interesting, I have never heard of that! Thanks for sharing. Wonder if that is a common issue. The SW 3 have great reviews where I have looked. Not all fan buyers are as particular as others though!
Love to see how the Noiseblocker eLoop PWMs hold up against more modern offerings. I love the concept of the continuous looped blade and the theory that they bleed less air pressure from the side of the fan chassis, but do they??
By what I have seen, they slightly beat out the Noctua offerings, but it is rather hard to get them over here in Murica land. Hopefully Steve will pick some up and review them
Just an FYI for those who might be interested. I have an 820 case and have had four Bitfenix Spectre Pro 200 mm fans running continuously for five years with no problems - two are horizontal exhaust (top) and two are vertical filtered intake (front and side) mounted. Do be aware that 200 mm mounting is non-standard, so I had to mod the case to make these work. As the man says they move a lot of air for little noise.
All 4 of my 6 years old NF-F12 still working. That's 1 year pass the warranty. MIND BLOW! Edit: Getting the new chromax NF-F12 with Phanteks RGB Halos fan frame = PERFECTION.
woild you mind also testing some alim (15mm) fans in your roundup please? always wanted to know the difference compared to normal fans. also, are you testing with or without resistance(radiator) in your roundup?
Well, nice to see that the Noctua fan quality has held up over time. It was clearly the better fan. Hope the rest of their line does as well. Their fans were one of the reasons their air coolers had better numbers for such a long time.
gazzola41 it depends on what your use case is. 3*120mm would provide more more vertical air flow space than a single 200mm, all depends on what area you need cooled and what kind of noise you are after.
Another point why 200mm fans went away was the power efficiency shift. Where the average PSU wattage for a decent gaming pc was 650-800W a few years ago, it is now about 500W. Extreme case cooling is simply not necessary or marketable anymore when you cut wattage by 25%.
Im curious... how many amps does a 200mm fan need? Cause back then I could imagine that a lot of motherboard headers would not have been able to provide enough power. Today there are a lot more boards that have headers meant for water pumps which could definitely provide enough power.
Rajesh, he's saying if your components are not that hot (which can be extrapolated from watts consumed), there's less chance you'll spend $20, $30, or $40 on new fans--and instead just use that for a better motherboard or RGB lights or maybe a pre-overclocked GPU.
Maybe also explain the differences between a static pressure and an airflow optimized fan for example when you guys will be doing the round up? I have an idea of how to recognize those types of fans but still, I think it would be pretty neat in the round up to go through that briefly.
Gamers Nexus The last bit about the h500p fan wobbling at 12:12. We tech watchers find it funny though. I almost bought the case until you revealed the shitty air flow so I am grateful.
I wouldn't call an objective observation "$#@%!ing" on a product though. All he did was point out the fact that their chassis was modded before someone went out on a rampage about how "Gamers Nexus' data shows better performance." Discussing how testing is done is pretty standard when reporting laboratory experiments and GN always emphasizes how their tests were conducted; meaning that anyone should be able to replicate the test environment and see results for themselves. =\
Would love to see an old school vs new school showdown, like a HAF X or HAF 932 vs something like the Meshify C or some other modern case with some new 200mm fans in it.
I want to see the Cooler Master Sickle Flow fans tested. I've been using them for years, they're cheap and I'd like to see how they hold up in a proper test.
Please case fan manufacturers, bring back BIG FANS!!!! It's a MUST for us AUDIO/VIDEO WORKSTATION PRODUCERS/CREATORS! The reason? We run our computers at full load for 15hrs a day trying to squeeze every last bit of computing power out of it! When it gets hot, that lowers our ability to work on 1 project one day, vs that same project that worked on that day because it was cooler in the room, vs the next summer day it's 90 degrees and not as cool overall! So now my project can't even load because my huge maxed out computer is too slow because it's not being cooled enough!
I built a full tower cooler master cosmos with noctua fans. It's TOTALLY silent. 0 db. Pretty much because of a mobo capacitor failure so it hasn't run in 5+ years. I love noctua. I love how they resist the "sexyification" of their products. When my beast ran, it was quiet enough to hear the lint building up against the filter screens.
Gerg C haha yeah I'm sure it was more than 0 DB. But yes, very good fans. Once you have a beast of a computer that runs full load and doesn't even whisper, it's great! I think the turd Brown is sexy 😉
It will be interesting to see if there is a big difference between fans for airflow and air pressure. Like the masterfan air flow, air pressure and air balance from CM
How about testing Fractal's Venturi Fans? It would be especially interesting to see the difference between the normal HP-14 and PWM models because they push out different amounts of air and different noise levels, but have different static pressure ratings.
Thanks a lot for giving us a chance into suggesting some fans, and really looking forward to your roundup, here are my top picks, Noctua NF-A14, NF-F12, NF-S12A (and if you can redux line NF-P14S and NF-S12B) BeQuiet SilentWing 3 120mm PWM BL066 /Silentwing3 140mm PWM BL067 Scythe GlideStream 120mm PWM SY1225HB12MS-RKP (same as most scythe cpu coolers) Scythe Gentle Typhoon AP15 120mm 1850rpm (in case you still have one) DarkSide Gentle Typhoon DS1225C12B5ZPA-65 120mm 1850rpm PWM (AP15 clone but on PWM) Fractal Design Venturi HF-14 / Venturi HP-14 PWM / GP12 PWM Phanteks PH-F120MP_BK_PWM / PH-F120XP_BK PWM / PH-F140MP_BBK_PWM / PH-F140XP_BK PWM If you were to find some time or a second video, 140 into 120 frames all are mostly used on CPU tower cooler Thermalright TY147A (most cpu coolers form the come with them, Macho, ElGrandMacho, TrueSpirit, SilverArrow) Thermalright TY143 (probably the highest rpm fan of this type of frame mount, 2500rpms but drops down to 600, so good range, bad looks). Noctua NF-A15 1500rpm PWM (comes with NH-U14 annd NH-D15) Noctua NF-P14R Redux PWM (and old good performer to see how it measures to the above)
I have a Phanteks Enthoo Pro and it came with a 200 mm fan at the front and there's even space for a 200 mm fan at the top (!) and I am loving it - it really moves a lot of air, as an intake, to compensate for three exhaust fans on the radiator on top. I am really looking forward to seeing more of these becoming available.
This discussion was an excellent reminder of the need for good manufacturing for longevity and durability. Now that the 200mm fans are becoming less popular again, I need to choose so it will last.
Please test the Corsair Light Loop fans! They look dope AF but I've always wondered how they actually stack up performance-wise. Thanks a lot for all the videos and reviews!!
A Cooler Master Rep told me a few weeks ago that the 200mm RGB fans will become available for standalone purchase, although they didn't have a timeframe yet. Since there's so few 200mm fans on the market right now, it would have been cool if a couple of the other players were compared like the Thermaltake Luna and BitFenix Spectre Pro. I'm looking at replacing the front intake on my Corsair 600T (love that case). As for suggestions for smaller fans to compare, Corsair SP120 (currently have one), Thermaltake Riing, Aigo Halo LED (both of which I plan to get soon), and Silent Wings 3. I'd also love to see how the top performers in your upcoming comparison do against stock AIO cooler fans.
Nice to see some new 200 mm fans. I currently own full tower Ravcore case that has 3 200 mm fans, and I recently went with old Cooler Master 200 mm fans. They do wobble a bit, but you can put them on rubber pins to account for that. I use them because of much higher static pressure and air flow than Phanteks and Thermaltake Pure fans that I own (and obviously Ravcore ones, which push almost no air) Also I got them for like 7$ each. It would be nice to see more of these, especially ones with high static pressure, since it's hard to push air through filters and today's cases with blocked front etc.
In my personal experience, having a large case side fan spin at all times, even at low RPM, prolongs the life of any motherboard with a couple of years. It's a huge boon!
ive found that since i have my motherboard and its not long , intel changed 5 of them if numbers are correct , z97 here x399 is the new king isnt it , no side panel cooling tho i even have some thermo-acoustic isolation on the side panels , and my discs are hanging on rubber . Guess its not good for them but silence man , absolute silence , Noctua has a part in it as well cant say they dont
Hey Steve, can you try Corsair maglev fans (ML120/140) Vs Noctua Focussed Flow of the same size? Also, can you test for static pressure and how it affects performance for mesh Vs solid front panels (with adequate side vents)?
Kostas Bezaitis no that's not the reason, you can have mounting for 120/140 and 200mm. The reason 200mm went away was because the style of cases changed alot from the big beefmeisters like the CoolerMaster HAF series used to be, they became more showpiece cases with nice sleek designs that just didn't have room to accommodate 200mm fans.
I'm actually looking at buying some fans right now, specifically exhaust fans. Would love to know if Corsairs AF140's are worth the extra £5 each over the AF120's, or if I should just get more SP120's (which I currently have in push / pull on a rad in the front). [My current exhaust's are 2 no-name 140's that came with an old case some years ago and are dying if anyone is wondering.]
I have both of those fans the af 120s and the 140s. The 140s run way slower than the 120s but they do push more air than the 120s and are slightly quieter. I did get a 140 that wobbles but it doesn't make any more noise than than the other. hopefully they'll run these through their tests.
The reason to get Noctua fans over other fans is the 6 year warranty and excellent quality control. SP120s only have a two year warranty and some companies like CoolerMaster actually expect you to pay shipping when sending a $9 fan in for RMA lmao.
+Brian Crowe Acolyte sorry but the absolutely HORRIBLE look of those fans turn me off of them. Yes they have the best warranty and tend to work well but I'm building with function and FORM in mind. I'm not an RGB guy either but tan and brown is going back to the 80s.
@USMCRiptide Look at their new Noctua Chromax line of fans, you can customize the colors on them or something. Idk if they're the exact same fans though.
Definitely want to see some testing of the expensive Corsair fans LL, ML fans. Really hope for some testing of the Noctua Sterrox fans whenever they are released but the wait is killing me.
I'd like to see cryorig fans put to the test. I know they are mostly CPU coolers but they have really good performance for a decent price on most all of their product line it seems
I run all Noctua fans at 100% speed, and they are essentially silent. Have never had a Noctua fan fail, and they're running over 10 years at 100% speed.
I would love to see basically corsairs entire 120 lineup tested (SP/HD/LL/ML). Really glad you are getting into more fan testing since this is the only source with such thoroughness and transparency. I know its a pain but someones gotta do it (and you'll do it right).
1st gen nzxt phantom full tower with the original 200mm fans and last time i turned on that pc, about 3 years ago, still worked fine. Was my daily driver for almost 4 years
A more complete roundup of 200mm fans would be nice. When I looked into 200mm fans a few years ago for my NZXT case, I found nothing except the one already included in the case, but it seems there are now several options on the market from BitFenix, Phanteks, Aerocool, NZXT, Thermaltake, Noctua etc. ranging from roughly 10€ to 30€. Yes, Noctua is probably the best option out there if you're trying to be as silent as possible while keeping airflow, but it would be interesting to see if there's a cheaper alternative that can keep up to some degree.
@9:00 ish I think the Noise per % of power is the most useful of these charts, as Power% is the one thing the user can actually control and understand how it relates to their system setup.
My fan suggestion, which might be a bit silly, is the Corsair LL140. For a while now as I'm trying to finalize a future build I've been more back and forth on case + radiator options than anything. If the LL's are pretty decent I would go for a push or push/pull front or top radiator setup in a more visible case but if they are a bit behind other, cheaper options then I will simply have them as top/rear exhaust in more closed off case. Thank you for you content! As a fairly new PC builder your thorough videos and articles are very useful. :D
The silverstone fortress FT01 had the Dual 180mm fans ned so did the ft02. The raven ft03 carried on that legacy. The FT02 was an immensely awesome case :) The massive amount of airflow from bottom intake fans coupled with the 90 degree inverted layout made for a very silent and stylish High airflow case, without meshifying everrything. And the orientation prevents gpu sacking. So much win over the FT02 that made it secondat to none in the day.
I waited for ages, to fit a Noctua NF-A20 since I saw them at computex, to replace the fans in my 600t, needed a bit of modification to fit, the noctua is slightly thicker, but after that, its been running since they came out can say mine have still not had an issue. Noctua is amazing.
FAN TEST: I would very much like to see both static pressure and flow tests of the Corsair ML series in both 120 and 140 size. For me the cost is not much of an issue as these are incredibly cheap in Norway (equal to $18, compared to a average of $25 for other fans). I'm considering these as intake fans for my Cooler Master Mastercase Maker 5, as I both need a high airflow (Only two intake fans) and static pressure because of the front panel...
I bought 2 80mm, 2 140mm and 1 120mm Noctua fans about 5 years ago when I built my system and LOVE those fans. They were pricey and at the time there were no competitor. Now there's a ton of competition and "better" looking options as well, but since they haven't failed me yet, It would be difficult to sway me to another brand.
this might not be one of the more popular fans, but in terms of price per listed specs, they seem godly. Cougar CFD series CF-D12HB-g (for 12cm) and CF-D14HB-g (for 14cm)
i would like to see comparisons of fans that come in 120mm and 140mm variations (no big design changes something like arctic f12 vs f14) because i haven't seen or tested any 140mm fan that is really better than their 120mm counterpart, typically they seem the same in the spec sheet, with the price favouring the smaller fan. I really like your reviews, keep up the great work.
I'd like to see be quiet's Silent Wings 3 tested! These fans aren't particularly popular but they make really good air coolers with the same fans on them. The fans seem pretty good and I want to see them tested because they are also advertised to be really silent.
I'd like to see 120mm Corsair SPRGB Fans in the wind tunnel test. I have 6 of them in my system and I would love to know how quiet I can make them whilst still letting my 570x breath :). Having problems running Fallout 4 on my RX480, and I have a hunch that it's temperature related. Thanks, Steve and the GN Team.
that wobble, with associated noise, SHOULD translate to early wearing on the bearings. the noise is an indicator of mechanical abrasion. less noise means less friction, which means less cyclical contact, which means less wear on the bearings.
Great testing as always ! Really a joy to watch your content as a scientifically orientated person. I would like to see the new NF a12x15 and the classic NF F12, NF S12 and the noiseblocker eloop. First and last are kinda a priority.
Cryorig QF and XT (XF) series - EK Vardar F4 or F5 - CM Masterfans - Phanteks MP or Xseries (including the 200mm one) - obviously noctua redux , AF series - Bitfenix produces some 200mm fans - Thermaltake 200mm - Zalman...(?) The 200mm are obviously suggestions for future comparisons :)
It would be nice to see some comparisons to other 200mm fans already on the market. One I can think of is the ThermalFake Puer 20 200mm. It is the stock fan in the core V1 case.
Hey GN I'd love if you could do the case fan test that youtube is missing - to really get to know which fans are good at what. I'm sure you're better at designing experiments than I am - but I'm guessing a number of the popular fans (Noctua NF-F12, Silent Wings 3, eLoops, Corsair ML, Corsair LL, some generic stock case fan (or several), to name a few). Across typical case types - so e.g. meshify + S340 + 570x + a case with open front. Then showing results for mix/max RPM sound level - sound level at e.g. 1000 RPM, sound level at given temp - temp at given sound level. I know it's a very long and thorough test to run - but I think it's a video that really is missing - and I promise I will like every future video you make if you just do that on :)
Please test the NF-S12B Redux 700. It's most quiet fan in Noctua's lineup. Even better would be a silent PC build guide with good case, fan, and heatsink combinations. HTPC enthusiasts would love it!
I used to have the Coolermaster HAF932 case back in the day, I replaced the front & side fans with 230mm "BitFenix Spectre PRO" fans, the 200mm+ fan craze was popular back then.
A fan you should look at : Corsair's LL series fans. They are the evolution of the "form over function" trend, possibly affecting something that Corsair has done reasonably well in the past with their older fans. The LL fans are smaller in diameter to accommodate the thick rings that light up. I suspect the smaller diameter fans will have much less performance than say, the ML series fans.
![[DOKKAN BATTLE] Worldwide Campaign Announcement Video Part 2!](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/JpT5Voak6WA/mqdefault.jpg)
Find the article with test info here: www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/3161-noctua-nf-a20-200mm-fan-review-vs-cooler-masterfan-mf200r
You might also like our Noctua fan quality investigation: ruclips.net/video/pvCok2t3qRg/видео.html
you should test those new inwin fans to see if they are any good, would be nice to see a review on their rgb capabilities as well.
DEEPCOOl RF120 RGB they have a pretty competitive price point but no idea how good they are, there's little to no good reviews on them compare to other fans.
Great Video Steve, I can't wait to see the fan round Up. I am sorry for posting this Twice, I just really want to see this from you, as you have the BEST TESTING Methodology that I have seen from any Video Outlet, and you Rival the few Writteen Outlets, and NO ONE Has done the Thorough Testing that you would do, on this specific Fan.
I know that this will not be the most popular pick because not many people use them, but because of their performance specs and the 1 trusted review that exists for them online, I have a case half full of Cooler Master JETFLO 120MM Fans. These fans CLAIM to move 95CFM with a static Pressure of 2.72mm/h2O at 100 Percent speed (2000Rpm) and claim to only be 36dB. While I have no way of testing the Static Pressure and Air Flow Claim, I do know through my own testing, that it is a LOT LOUDER then 36dB. Can You PLEASE Test this Claim for me, I know I will probably be the only one asking, but with Cooler Master Claiming those specs, they would appear to be some of the best balanced fans (Static Pressure and Air Flow) on the Market, and I would really like to see what your tests reveal.
Also I would Love to see some tests done on Corsairs ML120 Fans, since these are what I am slowly replacing the JetFlo Fans with due to them being Quieter and having even better Static Pressure Specs, but again would love to see if the Manufacturers Specs Align with what you find. It Would Be AWESOME IF YOU COULD DO THESE 2! Thank You Steve!
Cooler Master JetFlo 120MM
Corsair ML120 120MM
Had to compare it to bike wheels ahahahha wonder why ^^
Please look at the property 3000rpm 120mm noctuas
Makes you wonder. How many more fans would Noctua sell if they come in colors other than prosthetic limb?
It would be a blowout. If Noctua had Corsair's style sense and In-Win's Daisychaining, while maintaining their performance, nobody would use anything other than Noctua. Makes me wonder why they haven't done it yet.
Prosthetic limb lmao. This comment is sorely underrated.
They have black/grey fans, and have for awhile. They sold themselves as a premium brand for so long, yet their quality isn't that much better anymore. They used to have premium parts, materials, and designs to go with their price, but everyone else caught up.
@@thertsgamer3066 in-win daisychaining?
I actually like their colour scheme. However, I think people exaggerate a bit how much of an effect it would have on sales. For sure they could attract more casual buyers if they looked the way trends suggest, but Noctua have their audience. People who look for best air performance will usually buy Noctua regardless.
I am a big fan
Are you a 220 mm Fan or 2 140 mm fan..lol
ufster81 “grow your fan in only three days!”
@ThatWasEpic made a video based on this exact pun 2 months ago. Check it out :)
Thats cool
Sure
Thats not a fan, thats a gravitational balancing engine o.o
Amusing how the camera shutter interaction with the 200MM fans in the B-roll makes it look like it's spinning backwards! :)
Ever seen that effect while filming from inside a prop driven airplane? The blades appear to continuously bend and break.
That was sick 👌
My big 200mm RGB fans have the same effect in real life it looks neat
that's um... a certain visual effect i can't quite remember the name of but car wheels look the same at a certain rpm
Stroboscopic effect I believe.
Ahhh, man. I had a HAF 932 back in 2010-2011. Was super badass-feeling, but sounded like a jet and I didn't have hardware that *needed* it at the time.
If you didn't have hardware that needed the cooling, you could have definitely lowered the RPM to the point where it _didn't_ sound like a jet.
the more i hear about thermal grizzly conductonaut taking 20 degrees off of coffee lake, while skylake graphs are in the background, the crazier i get
Would love to see the Cooler Master Megaflow 200mm included in your reviews, as it is a budget option for the 200mm size. Love your no-nonsense channel, please keep it up!
I bought the PWM version of this 200mm noctua back in July for my Corsair 250D and it's dead silent. It's amazing, comes with a free different dongles like a splitter, and the whole thing runs dead silent. Love this fan.
But how are the thermals? Does it keep your pc cool?
Good to see that 200mm fans are coming back. I have a pair of 200mm NZXT gen1 fans. They are starting to wobble years later(they go in my H630). They are super quiet otherwise, and move a ton of air at like 700 to 800 rpm.
Look at that big brown beautiful bastard! I've got 3x Noctua IPPC 3000RPM, never going back. And the D-15 is a godsend! Edit: Speaking of 140mm 3000RPM IndustrialPPC's it'd be neat to see those, and the 1500RPM Redux 140mm in there as well!
Big Brown Beautiful Bastard indeed.
Stadium ARTs I got myself 4 of them as an early Christmas present, they are amazing
Also now available in Mainstream Black with the Chromax-Line :P
Jan-Christopher Estelmann I got the black and brown industrial fans and bought the white corner replacements, they look really nice
I got myself the AF14 IPPC 2000 PWMs and black replacement corners. Hoping they're silent enough now that the normal chromax ones are out :P
Can you test the 200mm vs 2x 120mm ? For at least the Coolermaster storm trooper it's the choice between 200mm or 2x 120mm.
Fan suggestions
Higher end - Noctis NF F12 and NF A14, Corsair Maglev variety 120/140, SilentWings 3 120/140
Common - Corsair SP 120 and AF120/140. Coolermaster Sickle-flow.
Enermax TB silence and Cluster advance.
Basic - One of the cheap cooler master or Rosewill fans you can get for like $15 for a 3/4 pack.
Also, NZXT Aer. Almost forgot about those. Haven’t personally heard of someone buying them separately though
Yes!!
Be Quiet shadow wings and silent wings 2 are both more silent than the silent wings 3 which I returned because they made a humming noise even at like 500rpm
Interesting, I have never heard of that! Thanks for sharing. Wonder if that is a common issue. The SW 3 have great reviews where I have looked. Not all fan buyers are as particular as others though!
Arctic F12... Nothing beats it for the price...
Love to see how the Noiseblocker eLoop PWMs hold up against more modern offerings. I love the concept of the continuous looped blade and the theory that they bleed less air pressure from the side of the fan chassis, but do they??
Would really like the see them tested as well
By what I have seen, they slightly beat out the Noctua offerings, but it is rather hard to get them over here in Murica land. Hopefully Steve will pick some up and review them
Apparently the non pwm eloops are better in terms of noise profile
Heard the same over at SilentPCreview
Well, I heard they have no static pressure and you can mount them only one way (dont fit many cases). They are not very universal.
You guys do some amazing work. Y'all put so much more work into your videos than everyone else and it shows, keep it up
Just an FYI for those who might be interested. I have an 820 case and have had four Bitfenix Spectre Pro 200 mm fans running continuously for five years with no problems - two are horizontal exhaust (top) and two are vertical filtered intake (front and side) mounted. Do be aware that 200 mm mounting is non-standard, so I had to mod the case to make these work. As the man says they move a lot of air for little noise.
i'm still rocking my HAF 932 in 2019
All 4 of my 6 years old NF-F12 still working. That's 1 year pass the warranty. MIND BLOW!
Edit: Getting the new chromax NF-F12 with Phanteks RGB Halos fan frame = PERFECTION.
woild you mind also testing some alim (15mm) fans in your roundup please? always wanted to know the difference compared to normal fans.
also, are you testing with or without resistance(radiator) in your roundup?
Well, nice to see that the Noctua fan quality has held up over time. It was clearly the better fan. Hope the rest of their line does as well. Their fans were one of the reasons their air coolers had better numbers for such a long time.
It would be interesting to know if it's better 1 200 fan intake, vs 2 140 mm vs 3 120mm fans...
gazzola41 it depends on what your use case is. 3*120mm would provide more more vertical air flow space than a single 200mm, all depends on what area you need cooled and what kind of noise you are after.
A fan roundup with GN quality metrics coming? I am SOOOO much more excited than I think your average consumer should be
Another point why 200mm fans went away was the power efficiency shift.
Where the average PSU wattage for a decent gaming pc was 650-800W a few years ago, it is now about 500W.
Extreme case cooling is simply not necessary or marketable anymore when you cut wattage by 25%.
Kaleopan i hear ya, but I'm sure fans are much less than 1 watt.
Im curious... how many amps does a 200mm fan need? Cause back then I could imagine that a lot of motherboard headers would not have been able to provide enough power.
Today there are a lot more boards that have headers meant for water pumps which could definitely provide enough power.
Rajesh, he's saying if your components are not that hot (which can be extrapolated from watts consumed), there's less chance you'll spend $20, $30, or $40 on new fans--and instead just use that for a better motherboard or RGB lights or maybe a pre-overclocked GPU.
Sypran the NF-A20 runs under 5-12V at 0.08A about 0.98W. That's not an issue for motherboards. Their 120mm NF-F12 runs at 12V and 0.05A about 0.6W.
Maybe also explain the differences between a static pressure and an airflow optimized fan for example when you guys will be doing the round up? I have an idea of how to recognize those types of fans but still, I think it would be pretty neat in the round up to go through that briefly.
Steve couldn't resist shitting on the h500p again. It was justified though I suppose.
Matt Keenan How is this doing that? Aside from being used as a test vessel, this content has nothing to do with that case.
Gamers Nexus The last bit about the h500p fan wobbling at 12:12. We tech watchers find it funny though. I almost bought the case until you revealed the shitty air flow so I am grateful.
I wouldn't call an objective observation "$#@%!ing" on a product though. All he did was point out the fact that their chassis was modded before someone went out on a rampage about how "Gamers Nexus' data shows better performance."
Discussing how testing is done is pretty standard when reporting laboratory experiments and GN always emphasizes how their tests were conducted; meaning that anyone should be able to replicate the test environment and see results for themselves. =\
you can see the noctua fan wobbling around too, wonder why that didnt get the same attention as the cm fans
Would love to see an old school vs new school showdown, like a HAF X or HAF 932 vs something like the Meshify C or some other modern case with some new 200mm fans in it.
I want to see the Cooler Master Sickle Flow fans tested. I've been using them for years, they're cheap and I'd like to see how they hold up in a proper test.
Please case fan manufacturers, bring back BIG FANS!!!! It's a MUST for us AUDIO/VIDEO WORKSTATION PRODUCERS/CREATORS! The reason? We run our computers at full load for 15hrs a day trying to squeeze every last bit of computing power out of it! When it gets hot, that lowers our ability to work on 1 project one day, vs that same project that worked on that day because it was cooler in the room, vs the next summer day it's 90 degrees and not as cool overall! So now my project can't even load because my huge maxed out computer is too slow because it's not being cooled enough!
I built a full tower cooler master cosmos with noctua fans. It's TOTALLY silent. 0 db.
Pretty much because of a mobo capacitor failure so it hasn't run in 5+ years. I love noctua. I love how they resist the "sexyification" of their products. When my beast ran, it was quiet enough to hear the lint building up against the filter screens.
Gerg C haha yeah I'm sure it was more than 0 DB. But yes, very good fans. Once you have a beast of a computer that runs full load and doesn't even whisper, it's great! I think the turd Brown is sexy 😉
0Db when it's turned off I guess
It will be interesting to see if there is a big difference between fans for airflow and air pressure. Like the masterfan air flow, air pressure and air balance from CM
I do quite like the noctua colour scheme. Not because it's noctua... there are better fans... i just like it, it grew on me
How about testing Fractal's Venturi Fans? It would be especially interesting to see the difference between the normal HP-14 and PWM models because they push out different amounts of air and different noise levels, but have different static pressure ratings.
Nice video, for the upcoming video you can, if you want, test corsair's LL 120/140mm fan and noctua NF-F12 and NF-A14
Thanks a lot for giving us a chance into suggesting some fans, and really looking forward to your roundup, here are my top picks,
Noctua NF-A14, NF-F12, NF-S12A (and if you can redux line NF-P14S and NF-S12B)
BeQuiet SilentWing 3 120mm PWM BL066 /Silentwing3 140mm PWM BL067
Scythe GlideStream 120mm PWM SY1225HB12MS-RKP (same as most scythe cpu coolers)
Scythe Gentle Typhoon AP15 120mm 1850rpm (in case you still have one)
DarkSide Gentle Typhoon DS1225C12B5ZPA-65 120mm 1850rpm PWM (AP15 clone but on PWM)
Fractal Design Venturi HF-14 / Venturi HP-14 PWM / GP12 PWM
Phanteks PH-F120MP_BK_PWM / PH-F120XP_BK PWM / PH-F140MP_BBK_PWM / PH-F140XP_BK PWM
If you were to find some time or a second video, 140 into 120 frames all are mostly used on CPU tower cooler
Thermalright TY147A (most cpu coolers form the come with them, Macho, ElGrandMacho, TrueSpirit, SilverArrow)
Thermalright TY143 (probably the highest rpm fan of this type of frame mount, 2500rpms but drops down to 600, so good range, bad looks).
Noctua NF-A15 1500rpm PWM (comes with NH-U14 annd NH-D15)
Noctua NF-P14R Redux PWM (and old good performer to see how it measures to the above)
Gentel Typhoon 2150rpm and the pwm version . So many people still say that it is the best fan .
I have a Phanteks Enthoo Pro and it came with a 200 mm fan at the front and there's even space for a 200 mm fan at the top (!) and I am loving it - it really moves a lot of air, as an intake, to compensate for three exhaust fans on the radiator on top. I am really looking forward to seeing more of these becoming available.
Hell yeah, I'm still running a HAF-X
i'm still running a HAF-X now. I'm actually looking to replace the fans :P
This discussion was an excellent reminder of the need for good manufacturing for longevity and durability. Now that the 200mm fans are becoming less popular again, I need to choose so it will last.
Nidec Servo Gentle Typhoons (2200rpm pwm), Darkside's Gentle Typhoons, Noiseblocker eloops, and EK vardars
Please test the Corsair Light Loop fans! They look dope AF but I've always wondered how they actually stack up performance-wise. Thanks a lot for all the videos and reviews!!
the new Corsair LL RGB fans
Would like to see tests of the Corsair ML140 dual bundle (cheapo plain model) compared to the nearly twice as expensive Pro/LED maglev models.
Is the fan really wobbling or is the sticker in the middle of the fan just off-centered?
Looked like the sticker to me.
if a sticker is slightly off center it looks wobbly
The fan is actually wobbling. You can see it at the ring on the outside of the fan, but it is not visible in this video.
A Cooler Master Rep told me a few weeks ago that the 200mm RGB fans will become available for standalone purchase, although they didn't have a timeframe yet.
Since there's so few 200mm fans on the market right now, it would have been cool if a couple of the other players were compared like the Thermaltake Luna and BitFenix Spectre Pro. I'm looking at replacing the front intake on my Corsair 600T (love that case).
As for suggestions for smaller fans to compare, Corsair SP120 (currently have one), Thermaltake Riing, Aigo Halo LED (both of which I plan to get soon), and Silent Wings 3. I'd also love to see how the top performers in your upcoming comparison do against stock AIO cooler fans.
Corsair AF120 vs SP120 or AF140 vs SP140 would be interesting
Nice to see some new 200 mm fans.
I currently own full tower Ravcore case that has 3 200 mm fans, and I recently went with old Cooler Master 200 mm fans.
They do wobble a bit, but you can put them on rubber pins to account for that.
I use them because of much higher static pressure and air flow than Phanteks and Thermaltake Pure fans that I own (and obviously Ravcore ones, which push almost no air)
Also I got them for like 7$ each.
It would be nice to see more of these, especially ones with high static pressure, since it's hard to push air through filters and today's cases with blocked front etc.
In my personal experience, having a large case side fan spin at all times, even at low RPM, prolongs the life of any motherboard with a couple of years. It's a huge boon!
I've found having a solid side panel with no fan prolongs the life of a motherboard by at least 19 years.
ive found that since i have my motherboard and its not long , intel changed 5 of them if numbers are correct , z97 here x399 is the new king isnt it , no side panel cooling tho i even have some thermo-acoustic isolation on the side panels , and my discs are hanging on rubber . Guess its not good for them but silence man , absolute silence , Noctua has a part in it as well cant say they dont
i love watching that big noctua fan spin, VERY smooth and nonjittery
Hey Steve, can you try Corsair maglev fans (ML120/140) Vs Noctua Focussed Flow of the same size? Also, can you test for static pressure and how it affects performance for mesh Vs solid front panels (with adequate side vents)?
Rob Payne yes please Steve. Mag Lev sounds fancy, but they are like double the cost here in Australia
Still using HAFX and it is amazing. Replaced all the stock ones with leds and they are doing great!
The reason 200mm died is because every case has to support liquid cooling mounting.
Kostas Bezaitis no that's not the reason, you can have mounting for 120/140 and 200mm. The reason 200mm went away was because the style of cases changed alot from the big beefmeisters like the CoolerMaster HAF series used to be, they became more showpiece cases with nice sleek designs that just didn't have room to accommodate 200mm fans.
The 200mm Master Fan is up for sale in Australia now for $29au - which is pretty cheap compared to 120/140mm RGB fans.
I'm actually looking at buying some fans right now, specifically exhaust fans. Would love to know if Corsairs AF140's are worth the extra £5 each over the AF120's, or if I should just get more SP120's (which I currently have in push / pull on a rad in the front).
[My current exhaust's are 2 no-name 140's that came with an old case some years ago and are dying if anyone is wondering.]
I have both of those fans the af 120s and the 140s. The 140s run way slower than the 120s but they do push more air than the 120s and are slightly quieter. I did get a 140 that wobbles but it doesn't make any more noise than than the other. hopefully they'll run these through their tests.
I second the Corsair fans. I'd like to see LED vs Non-LED performance as well.
The reason to get Noctua fans over other fans is the 6 year warranty and excellent quality control. SP120s only have a two year warranty and some companies like CoolerMaster actually expect you to pay shipping when sending a $9 fan in for RMA lmao.
+Brian Crowe Acolyte sorry but the absolutely HORRIBLE look of those fans turn me off of them. Yes they have the best warranty and tend to work well but I'm building with function and FORM in mind. I'm not an RGB guy either but tan and brown is going back to the 80s.
@USMCRiptide Look at their new Noctua Chromax line of fans, you can customize the colors on them or something. Idk if they're the exact same fans though.
Definitely want to see some testing of the expensive Corsair fans LL, ML fans.
Really hope for some testing of the Noctua Sterrox fans whenever they are released but the wait is killing me.
Noctua vs mag lev
For the comparisons, i'd like to see the Thermaltake RIING RGB fans, Corsair ML fans, and Asiahorse PWM MIRAGE fans.
haf-ass-500p? j/k
I'd like to see cryorig fans put to the test. I know they are mostly CPU coolers but they have really good performance for a decent price on most all of their product line it seems
Phanteks did it before with the Enthoo series. Maybe check your facts?
I run all Noctua fans at 100% speed, and they are essentially silent. Have never had a Noctua fan fail, and they're running over 10 years at 100% speed.
Corsair ml120 pro.
Another idea would be to see a test of some typical stock case fans against premium fans. Kind of like which case has the best stock case fans.
Please test the temperatures on these H500 mesh cases for two 200mm and three 120mm on the front. Thank you.
1:20 "before we get into the review" did anyone else think steve was gonna hit us with another sponsor spot?!
I would love to see basically corsairs entire 120 lineup tested (SP/HD/LL/ML). Really glad you are getting into more fan testing since this is the only source with such thoroughness and transparency. I know its a pain but someones gotta do it (and you'll do it right).
steve when benchmarking cases you should add one where you switch all the fans to noctua ones, that would be very useful for many people.
- bequiet silent wings 3- Noiseblocker NB eLoop
both have 120 & 140mm versions
Great to see 200mm fans coming back...Silence is fucking golden!
1st gen nzxt phantom full tower with the original 200mm fans and last time i turned on that pc, about 3 years ago, still worked fine. Was my daily driver for almost 4 years
Using so many Noctua fans since black & grey version came out they were the best thing i invested
A more complete roundup of 200mm fans would be nice. When I looked into 200mm fans a few years ago for my NZXT case, I found nothing except the one already included in the case, but it seems there are now several options on the market from BitFenix, Phanteks, Aerocool, NZXT, Thermaltake, Noctua etc. ranging from roughly 10€ to 30€.
Yes, Noctua is probably the best option out there if you're trying to be as silent as possible while keeping airflow, but it would be interesting to see if there's a cheaper alternative that can keep up to some degree.
Hope you can test the Corsair mag lev fans in the wind tunnel, really looking forward to that content piece.
@9:00 ish I think the Noise per % of power is the most useful of these charts, as Power% is the one thing the user can actually control and understand how it relates to their system setup.
My fan suggestion, which might be a bit silly, is the Corsair LL140. For a while now as I'm trying to finalize a future build I've been more back and forth on case + radiator options than anything. If the LL's are pretty decent I would go for a push or push/pull front or top radiator setup in a more visible case but if they are a bit behind other, cheaper options then I will simply have them as top/rear exhaust in more closed off case.
Thank you for you content! As a fairly new PC builder your thorough videos and articles are very useful. :D
The silverstone fortress FT01 had the Dual 180mm fans ned so did the ft02. The raven ft03 carried on that legacy. The FT02 was an immensely awesome case :)
The massive amount of airflow from bottom intake fans coupled with the 90 degree inverted layout made for a very silent and stylish High airflow case, without meshifying everrything. And the orientation prevents gpu sacking. So much win over the FT02 that made it secondat to none in the day.
Noctua's new A-series fans, specifically, the 120x25mm model (if you have it yet). This is the one that's supposed to replace the NF-F12.
I waited for ages, to fit a Noctua NF-A20 since I saw them at computex, to replace the fans in my 600t, needed a bit of modification to fit, the noctua is slightly thicker, but after that, its been running since they came out can say mine have still not had an issue. Noctua is amazing.
Noctua industrial vs plain, BQ Silent Wing (any gen), FD Venturi (HF & HP) please. Great Video!! Looking forward to more.
FAN TEST: I would very much like to see both static pressure and flow tests of the Corsair ML series in both 120 and 140 size. For me the cost is not much of an issue as these are incredibly cheap in Norway (equal to $18, compared to a average of $25 for other fans).
I'm considering these as intake fans for my Cooler Master Mastercase Maker 5, as I both need a high airflow (Only two intake fans) and static pressure because of the front panel...
I was so excited for this when I saw your comment yesterday that this was coming up
I bought 2 80mm, 2 140mm and 1 120mm Noctua fans about 5 years ago when I built my system and LOVE those fans. They were pricey and at the time there were no competitor. Now there's a ton of competition and "better" looking options as well, but since they haven't failed me yet, It would be difficult to sway me to another brand.
this might not be one of the more popular fans, but in terms of price per listed specs, they seem godly. Cougar CFD series CF-D12HB-g (for 12cm) and CF-D14HB-g (for 14cm)
i would like to see comparisons of fans that come in 120mm and 140mm variations (no big design changes something like arctic f12 vs f14) because i haven't seen or tested any 140mm fan that is really better than their 120mm counterpart, typically they seem the same in the spec sheet, with the price favouring the smaller fan.
I really like your reviews, keep up the great work.
I'd like to see be quiet's Silent Wings 3 tested! These fans aren't particularly popular but they make really good air coolers with the same fans on them. The fans seem pretty good and I want to see them tested because they are also advertised to be really silent.
These Brown Noctua Colors are sooo Elegant and something so unique
If mainstream wooden PC cases were a thing, i would very much get the Noctua color scheme.
Would be nice to see a performance test of fan on radiator for Watercooling ! As always your job and informations are excellent. Keep the good job !
I'd like to see 120mm Corsair SPRGB Fans in the wind tunnel test. I have 6 of them in my system and I would love to know how quiet I can make them whilst still letting my 570x breath :). Having problems running Fallout 4 on my RX480, and I have a hunch that it's temperature related. Thanks, Steve and the GN Team.
that wobble, with associated noise, SHOULD translate to early wearing on the bearings.
the noise is an indicator of mechanical abrasion. less noise means less friction, which means less cyclical contact, which means less wear on the bearings.
Great testing as always ! Really a joy to watch your content as a scientifically orientated person. I would like to see the new NF a12x15 and the classic NF F12, NF S12 and the noiseblocker eloop. First and last are kinda a priority.
Fan suggestion: i would like to see a 120mm delta fan just blow up all your graphs as a point of comparison
My old ThermalTake V71 had 3 200mm fans stock, added another 200mm into the spare top slot.
Cryorig QF and XT (XF) series - EK Vardar F4 or F5 - CM Masterfans - Phanteks MP or Xseries (including the 200mm one) - obviously noctua redux , AF series - Bitfenix produces some 200mm fans - Thermaltake 200mm - Zalman...(?)
The 200mm are obviously suggestions for future comparisons :)
It would be nice to see some comparisons to other 200mm fans already on the market. One I can think of is the ThermalFake Puer 20 200mm. It is the stock fan in the core V1 case.
I'd love to see something like $5 fan vs $20 fan (something like an Arctic F12 vs an NF-F12)
Theres plenty of comparrison vids around for things like that
Hey GN
I'd love if you could do the case fan test that youtube is missing - to really get to know which fans are good at what.
I'm sure you're better at designing experiments than I am - but I'm guessing a number of the popular fans (Noctua NF-F12, Silent Wings 3, eLoops, Corsair ML, Corsair LL, some generic stock case fan (or several), to name a few). Across typical case types - so e.g. meshify + S340 + 570x + a case with open front. Then showing results for mix/max RPM sound level - sound level at e.g. 1000 RPM, sound level at given temp - temp at given sound level.
I know it's a very long and thorough test to run - but I think it's a video that really is missing - and I promise I will like every future video you make if you just do that on :)
Please test the NF-S12B Redux 700. It's most quiet fan in Noctua's lineup. Even better would be a silent PC build guide with good case, fan, and heatsink combinations. HTPC enthusiasts would love it!
I used to have the Coolermaster HAF932 case back in the day, I replaced the front & side fans with 230mm "BitFenix Spectre PRO" fans, the 200mm+ fan craze was popular back then.
I'd like to see the EK Vardar 120mm 2200 RPM and 140mm 2000 RPM fans tested.
A fan you should look at : Corsair's LL series fans. They are the evolution of the "form over function" trend, possibly affecting something that Corsair has done reasonably well in the past with their older fans. The LL fans are smaller in diameter to accommodate the thick rings that light up. I suspect the smaller diameter fans will have much less performance than say, the ML series fans.