I am putting together a system and am researching the various components I want to use (I usually spend about a month looking before I buy).

I am going to go with an Antec Sonata III case with a 500W Earthwatts PSU.

I will have an E8400 processor, which I am aiming at OCing to 4.0 GHz. I will use the Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme heat sink. I will be using an 8800 GTS 512MB video card.

My question is this:

Will I get adequate cooling with 3 Noctua NF-S12-800's at 800 RPM (one intake, one exhaust, one on the thermalright)? They Push 41 CFM at ~20 dBA. The other option is to use Scythe S-Flex fans (SFF21E) at 1200 RPM pushing 51 CFM at 23 dBA. I don't really want to go much louder than this, but if the consensus is that even the 1200 RMP Scythe isn't enough, I might go with something faster on the HS and keep the lower RPM fans in the case.

What do you guys think?

While the Noctua fans are quiet and nice, don't use it for cpu coolers like the Thermalright. The major problem with this fan is that it has very low static pressure, making it a bad choice for cpu coolers that require air to be forces through the slits.

While I usually recommend the Yat loon fans with a fan controller, if you want silence, try this new fan from Noctua: http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show [...] =12&lng=en

For your case fans, the NF-S12 does fine.

what about Zaward golf fans, do they have good static pressure?
ive got a 92mm on my HR-03GT & idle temps never go over 35 degrees

Thanks for the advice Evilonigiri! NCIX sells the 1300 RPM model, which I think I will purchase, after I read a bit more of course. I hadn't thought of pressure and air resistance in the cooler. Very good call!

It depends on how the fan looks like. Gimme a pic and I can estimate.

heres a shot of the 120mm

in black

Very straight...low angle...wide spacing...

Judging from experience, it's average for static pressure. However, a high rpm can cover up for it. This fan is more for a case than a cooler.

EDIT: That is, a cooler that has thin slots like the TRUE. For the HR-03GT, it's fine.

92mm works a treat on my HR-03GT,
would really like LED if possible
the 120mm zaward is 1200rpm, 48.5cfm, 17dba
same wide spacing as s-flex

See how the sflex fans are curved? That simple design gives better static pressure.

Of course there are many different fan designs to compensate this and that, so it's a bit hard to tell just by looking.

all i can do is try it, if its crap, it'll be fine for my case.
will let you know if they're any good
EDIT: looks like i posted wrong pics, this is from quietPC.com

Sure, need to expand on my ever growing knowledge to boring things like fans.

Oh yeah that should give a better static pressure than the previous one.

oops

evil, what do you think of these

Looks pretty decent to me. There's 9 fins, so it makes it a bit noisier than the conventional 7 fins, but it's only 1400 rpm.

The way it's curved gives it more pressure, but the angle isn't as low, so it's hard to say how the pressure is. I'd expect it to be around avg. or better for static pressure.

Problem with led fans are that they use brittle plastic. Those material usually makes the fans noisier.