120 mm Fan for Noctua NHU12

[Raviolissimo]

http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=1923&page=4

the Noctua does the best - 17.5 degrees C, 125 watt load ~ .14 degrees C per watt.

the measure perf. of the Zalman 9500 is way down (or up, in terms of thermal resistance) from the .12 they claim in their spec.

so ... what fan do i use with this beast ?

http://www.xoxide.com/noctua-nh-u12-cooler.html

has anyone had a bad experience with this cooler ?

my expectation is near-mirror finish and F-L-A-T flat.

err ... maybe i should re-phrase that - what fan do i use for maximum cooling ? a good, fair value not over-priced 120 mm x 35, or maybe x 25 but probably x 35, fan ? well, or 2 fans, attached to the heat-sink.

 

[Bluefinger]

The Zalman is very good (despite what Wusy says, he knows his stuff, I just don't know why he has something against the CNPS9500), but the Noctua heatsink is better, purely because it has a much bigger surface area and has more heatpipes than the Zalman HSF.

SilenX fans are very good and quiet, but are very expensive. Go for something along the lines of Antec, Panaflo, Thermaltake or Scythe fans. They tend to be very good for CFM/noise ratio, and are cheaper too.

 

[chuckshissle]

Im with wusy on the FM121 120mm fan as I have used it for my HSF (Thermatake Big Typhoon) before my water cooling. It works really good and blows really hard.

Link.

http://www.silverstonetek.com/products-fm121.htm

Here's mine:

 

[Grimmy]

Zalman 9500 doesn't even belong in the same category as the Noctua NHU12 or the Scythe Ninja Plus.

Currently the ultimate CFM/noise 120mm fan is Silverstone FM121. Found at NewEgg for $13 the last time I saw it. Comes with its own fan controller.

Wow, That is allot of CFM (110).

I had some thoughts of replacing the 120mm fan on my 7700CU Zalman. I've read that the fan does approx 32CFM @ 2000 rpm max.

I've counted the fins that the 120mm fan (7 fins).

That Silverstone has 9 fins and spins 2400 rpm max. Just wonder if any has done a mod on this particular 7700 Zalman to replace the 120mm fan to see how the CFM helps on cooling?

Just trying to determine if it is worth a shot.

 

[Grimmy]

That's one of the few reasons why people choose Thermalright SI-120 over Zalman 7700Cu back then other than the issue of weight
HSF performance using the same CFM fan is the same, but the inability to replace or use ultimate CFM/noise fan is the downfall of ALL Zalman HSFs.

Modification to the fan leads to destruction of it.

Ummm.. I know you seem to have a problem with Zalman products and then link it to the people who buy them.

When one is willing to pay more for less, that's more than idiotic.

And I guess, it seems like I am one of them.

Fan CFM on the other hand does make sense that any HS would do better. That is why I was asking if anyone has tested it on a Zalman 7700.

I'm quite aware that modification to the FM121 would lead to some kind of distruction. My case doesn't even use a 120mm fan, so mounting it is quite useless.

The only fan that is 120mm is on my Zalman, which I just wonder if anyone had done a mod on it. Seeing it does do 110 CFM makes me wonder if this would be suitable replacement.

I'm only seeking to improve the product I brought for my PC, which is still doing pretty well.

 

[Raviolissimo]

thanks everyone for the replies.

yeah, that Silverstone looks like a good choice.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811999344#DetailSpecs