Best 120mm fans for performance and quietness?

[XAC]

Hello everyone,

I am about to install a corsair h80i gt into my case and was wondering what would be the best 120mm fans for it. Looking for something that is quiet but still gives has good cooling performance. This is an In Win 901 case so ill need another 120mm fan for intake as well. I've been looking at the corsair sp120 but didn't know if these were good or if there were better options. Thanks

 

[Sneezer]

I assume this isn't for the cooler itself, it has a fan. I'm sure you know that but would hate to have you buy a fan you don't need.

I'm partial to Corsair fans so if you're going with that, there's two directions to go. Those are basically decided by what kind of use they'll get.

Static Pressure fans (SP) are for pushing/pulling air through something. For instance, they're used on radiators but they're intended for pushing/pulling air through some sort of obstruction like a filter, radiator, and sometimes a HD rack.

Airflow Fans (AF or otherwise not indicated) are for moving lots of air. This sounds counter-intuitive but SP fans these days often move as much air as a AF fan, especially in higher end fans like a Corsair fan.

The basic idea is that an AF fan that's impeded won't last as long as an SP fan in the same situation and AF fans tend to push/pull a little more air. SP for obstructed paths. AF for unobstructed paths.

So, long story short, for the intake, if it's not obstructed much, I'd use an AF fan. Same with the fan(s) bringing air out into the room. Any fans pushing through a radiator, HD rack, significant filter, or out the bottom should probably be SP fans.

I personally use the SP140 fans, which is just a 140mm version of the SP120s you mentioned. My case came with 3 Corsair AF fans (2 on front, 1 on rear), my H100i GTX came with what is essentially two SP120 fans, and I put two more SP140 fans on top of the radiator, pulling air out into the room.

Hope that helps narrow things down a bit for you.