Can I swap my case fans for h100i fans?

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guymarshall

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Jan 25, 2015
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I am really bored, so I was wondering if I could swap my Be Quiet Pure Wings 2 case fans for my corsair sp 120 radiator fans? Will they perform well doing opposite jobs?
 
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MarkW
No. Case fans are designed to function with little to no resistance. Putting one out a radiator is going to severely restrict the cooling.

You need fans specifically designed to function with a cooling block or a radiator. Those are intended to blow air through something.

If you want some more info, go to Noctua's website, and do some reading. If nothing else, you will learn a few things about fans. These guys are the experts when it comes to fans. I have now replaced all my case and cooler fans with their Industrial fans, which are black, unlike their normal tan and brown versions. These things are amazingly quiet, and they blow huge amounts of air. And they all come with 6 year warranties...
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MarkW

MarkW

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Dec 7, 2009
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No. Case fans are designed to function with little to no resistance. Putting one out a radiator is going to severely restrict the cooling.

You need fans specifically designed to function with a cooling block or a radiator. Those are intended to blow air through something.

If you want some more info, go to Noctua's website, and do some reading. If nothing else, you will learn a few things about fans. These guys are the experts when it comes to fans. I have now replaced all my case and cooler fans with their Industrial fans, which are black, unlike their normal tan and brown versions. These things are amazingly quiet, and they blow huge amounts of air. And they all come with 6 year warranties.
http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=produkte&lng=en
 
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galeener

galeener

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Apr 9, 2010
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of the 3 listed on their product page none look to be a high static pressure fan. Can you slow the fans down with the corsair link software or are they 3 pin fans?
And no not just any 120mm fan will work the way it is supposed to to push or pull air through a radiator.
You could swap them out yes but that would possibly degrade the cooling performance of the h100i
 
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galeener

galeener

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You could search for a fan controller and some four pin high static pressure pwm fans that you like the look of and go that way.
I have the bos from a corsair sp120 here it list the dba at 35 so you would want to find a 4 pin pwm fan set that way you can adjust the speed to what ever you like.
 
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galeener

galeener

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No it sounds like the fans from the h100i are 3pin and will just run at the set speed. you could get a resistor and put in line for it to slow them down but im not sure what size resistor you would need and then you would have to solder them to the cables.
 
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nukemaster

nukemaster

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Nov 23, 2004
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Try to plug the SP120L fans(corsair stock) into your motherboard for control. It cost nothing to try.

Just a heads up to all. 3 pin fans can be controlled for speed just fine(as long as your board supports voltage control), they just need voltage control instead of a PWM signal(more wasteful on some cases, but it works and has been done for years.).

I am surprised the Link software could not get the fans speeds down, I do not remember that much of an issue with the H80i(same pump/brains/fans with a different radiator). I did swap them for 1 AP15 and an NF P14 later.

If you wish to do the resistor thing, you are looking at something in the 20-50ohm area maybe(try to use at least a 1/2 watt or larger if you can. 1/4 does work as long as the fan is not too power hungry). The resistor works by eating extra voltage and turning it into heat. The means the fan sees a lower voltage and runs slower.

You can even try to quiet fans and see how it works for you. Corsair link may not be able to control those fans because they it can ONLY handle PWM fans. Keep a close eye on the temperatures because 1000rpm silent fans may not perform how you want them to.

Now some food for though about SP vs AF type fans.

This is a pressure optimized fan(NF P12)
287kjuh.jpg


This is the air flow optimized(NF S12)
105npeo.jpg


This test was done with a LQ310(thin radiator all in one) bolted to my video card. In my case the temperatures did not move much, even my slowest fans.

No harm in trying different things
 
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