Corsair H100i with Noctua PWM Fans?

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Eggz

Eggz

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Last night, I just got and installed the H100i into my new Corsair 350D case. Everything was great until . . . the noise got me in trouble with th'misses. She was pissed at how loud it was (computer in living room). So now I'm looking into the Noctua NF-S12A PWM 120mm Case Fans.

I don't mind going up a few degrees on the temperature because the H100i with the stock fans is a full 25-30 C cooler than my previous All-in-One liquid cooler. Adding a few doesn't concern me at all.

The primary consideration is noise. Are there better PWM fans for this purpose? My research leads me to believe there isn't, but I want to check with Tom's people (i.e. YOU).

The Noctua fans lack asthetic apeal, but that's a secondary concern. Is there a fan as quiet and functional as the NF-S12A but as pretty as the Corsair Air Series SP120 (CO-9050014-WW) 120mm PWM High Performance Edition High Static Pressure Fan (Twin Pack)? I'd use the red ring to make it nice, but they don't seem to be as good as the Noctuas for my purpose.

Thoughts?
 
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nukemaster

nukemaster

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I would NOT use S fans(they are for air flow and not static pressure) when you can use P or F instead.

Most people get the NF F12 PWM(when they want Noctua) for that cooler.

First, I would install Corsair link and turn down the fan speed with a custom curve or try the quiet/low setting.

It may take some tweaking to find the balance between cooling and noise, but I am sure at least for the time being the stock fans may be adjusted low enough to not be too bothersome.
 
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maddogfargo

maddogfargo

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I have the Corsair SP120's on a custom fan curve. Great static pressure and quiet with the custom curve. The H100i is 100% adjustable so you can even try a custom curve or quiet mode with the stock fans.

The Noctuas are great fans, but even with those you may want to tweak your fan curve a little to keep it really quiet.
 
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Eggz

Eggz

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I believe the "S12A" was the only 120mm PWM fan by Noctua on NewEgg. What's the "F" you mention, and how's it different? Is it like the Static Pressure version from Corsair (i.e. for radiators)? What about the "P?"
 
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Eggz

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I'll see what Corsair link can do. Poked around with it last night, and I couldn't find the fan curve settings anywhere obvious. Based on reviews, it seems like people across the board find the stock fans annoying, or at least louder than the fans I'm considering.
 
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nukemaster

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I would shop around for fans, but here are the F12's on newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608026

Noctua has the P12(Pressure) and S12's(air flow) way back when, but have since introduces some PWM fans and the new F12 with a focused air flow frame.

This is deigned to help with more restricted coolers/rads.

This website has a image of the fan control setup in Link. I use my board to control fans because the ones I have are not PWM so can not grab you screen capture at this moment.
http://www.custompcreview.com/revie...cooler-master-noctua-phanteks-zalman/17117/2/
 
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Eggz

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nukemaster

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The S12's will still work, They are just not "designed" for that use. I do not know much worse they would be, My guess would be 2-4 degrees top unless you are pushing the system very hard.

The only test with S12's I did was on my LQ310(basic Asetek unit) that is installed on a video card. The S12's did not keep up with the P12's but it was closer than I would have guessed.

A side note on the S12's. I have the older version and was going to use them on a cpu cooler just because I had some to spare. They do make more noise(pulling air) than the P12 does. This may not be an issue for push configurations and these all in one coolers have a space for a reason.

The PWM version of the NF-A14 has a higher top speed but more importantly can be speed controlled by 4 pin fan headers.

It is important to know that many boards are starting to get away from 3 pin fan control(I think PWM is more simple to implement for motherboard makers). If your board has 3 pin control, you can use either fan, but if it only controls PWM fans the NF-A14 FLX would run at the same(you can set 3 speeds with use of no adapter, LNA or ULNA.) speed all the time.
 
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Eggz

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So you think I should just try them? The main goal is silence anyway, so maybe I'll see what happens. The S fans I ordered seem to be the quietest, and there were positive reviews on NewEgg about using them with the H100i. I'll just see if my load temperatures stay in the 50s or low 60s, which will still be much better than my previous cooler. My guess is that there will be a noticeable cooling difference, though, based on the fan blades' width and angle. You can see that the F fan will push more air, and the S fans are meant to woft it softly across a longer distance. We'll see.

As for the 140mm, I think the NF-A14 PWM will on average be quieter than the NF-A14 FLX, despite the fact that the NF-A14 PWM's specifications lists a higher max noise level in dBA. The minimum rotational speed of the NF-A14 PWM is 300 rpm on a PWM plug, and the NF-A14 FLX will always spin at more than 1,000 rpm. The fan blades look the same on both fans, so that to me says they'll have the same noise at the same speed (assuming you can't hear the motors). Because the NF-A14 PWM can spin slower most of the time, I think it will be quieter most of the time; especially if I plug it into my CPU fan header. My motherboard's fan profile is pretty conservative. The question remaining is whether the NF-A14 PWM will intake cool air as well as the NF-A14 FLX.
 
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Eggz

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120mm Fans: So, I just installed the Noctua NF-S12A PWM fans on the H100i. There is absolutely no performance difference. After running Prime 95 for 90 minutes (i7-3930k @ 4.2 Ghz), the temperature ceiling remained at 60c. That was the same temperature ceiling with the stock fans.

The only difference was that the fans are completely inaudible from where I sit. Compared to the jet turbine sound the stock fans made, this is a huge improvement. I think I'll just stick with them and avoid the restocking fee. Perhaps a more aggressive overclock could prove to show a slight difference, my current heat output falls below this set up's ability to dissipate heat (i.e. H100i with 2 Noctua NF-S12A PWM fans).

140mm Fan: Given that I can't hear the current intake, and the temperatures seems fine, I will likely leave it in there. I think I got caught up with the potential of Noctua, but the fact remains that the H100i's noise was the only issue.

Pump Noise: The only thing I hear now is a faint pump noise (at least I think it's the pump). It's high-pitched but very low in volume. I actually stopped all of my fans for a few seconds to test. The noise persisted. Then I stopped the fans on my graphics cards. Still the noise. I knew it couldn't have been the SSD. Finally, I put my ear to the HDD. No that. My PSU's fan wasn't even spinning, so it wasn't that either. The only thing left was the pump, as I suspected. The noise isn't not that bad, but if you have any tips for silencing it, I'd love to hear them.
 
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nukemaster

nukemaster

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The pump may make some sound. I have not heard anything from my H80i pump, but that LQ 310 is LOUD(sounds like an old hard drive, undervolting it reduces it).

You can check the pump noise by disconnecting it while the system is idle for a short time. It does not heat up that fast under no load(they system should NOT be under load when checking this.).

The H100i pump is not speed adjustable as far as I know.
 
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