Choosing the Best 120mm Radiator Fan: Testing Eight Fans with Corsair's H80
by Dustin Sklavos on August 23, 2012 12:01 AM ESTConclusion: Fans Can Matter
So what information are we left with after this roundup? Regarding the Corsair H80 specifically (and presumably the rest of their line), you're probably best off just sticking with the stock fans included with the radiator as they provide a competitive blend of performance and acoustics. Those of you not using the H80 will find yourselves surprisingly well served by Corsair's two dedicated aftermarket radiator fans, as they're both fairly competitive.
.jpg)
While most of the fans we tested did bunch up thermally, they separated a bit more when acoustics were taken into account. The frugal shopper looking for balanced performance from a radiator fan is probably going to want to try and track down the NZXT Performance fan; NewEgg doesn't have it available at the time of this article, but Amazon is selling it for just $6.99. Alternatively, the Nexus Real Silent D12SL-12 is an old standard but still an excellent performer; anecdotally it runs a bit quieter than the NZXT, though you'll pay a bit more for the privilege.
Meanwhile, BitFenix's Spectre Pro proves to be a jack of all trades and master of none. SilverStone's Air Penetrator AP121 is a fine fan but doesn't produce performance consistent with its acoustics. And amusingly enough, CoolerMaster's SickleFlow's grossly exaggerated specifications fall apart in practice as it proves that it's entirely possible to buy a bad radiator fan. I actually nearly burned myself on its plastic housing when I went to remove it.
What may be most disappointing about this lineup, though, is the unfortunate fact that there may be no magic bullet radiator fan that's able to produce stellar thermals with low noise. We can get close, but the reality is that we need to be moving more air at a faster rate to start hitting the limits of the pump and radiator, and that means more noise. If you're comfortable sacrificing a few degrees for a peaceful system, though, NZXT, Corsair, and Nexus all at least seem to have you covered.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
113 Comments
View All Comments
Streetwind - Thursday, August 23, 2012 - link
Yes, as far as I'm aware it's based on the Fan Xpert II software that's bundled with the Panther Point boards; it doesn't work directly from the UEFI.In fact, didn't Anand post a video earlier the year where an ASUS rep came over to you guys show off the fan control software in action?
maximumGPU - Thursday, August 23, 2012 - link
Yes they do, i have 7x Asus board and their fan control software is superb. it'll work with both PWM and non-PWM fans as in my case.It provides a lot of useful information too such as min and max rpm for each fan.
the only thing missing is the ability to create a fan profile that could be linked to temperature other than cpu temp, like motherboard for example.
Their software is what pushed me to chose their mobo instead of competitors.
Iketh - Thursday, August 23, 2012 - link
oh come on, they are not rare at alldanjw - Thursday, August 23, 2012 - link
Yes, I believe that the Z7x's can also voltage control. But PWM usually have a better range then with standard fans, voltage controlled. Also, I believe the Corsair Link controller does voltage control as well.ckevin1 - Thursday, August 23, 2012 - link
I have an Asus P8Z68-V Gen3, and last night I went through the pain of figuring out how to voltage control a 3-pin fan on it. It *can* be done.The CPU and SYS fan headers are PWM only, as I found, but the 4-pin Chassis fan header (near the slots & I/O panel) does support voltage control. Plain old fan XPert that they provide on the download site for my board can control it, and it can also be set up from the BIOS.
piroroadkill - Thursday, August 23, 2012 - link
You say this, but I had an MSI board back in the Pentium III era that had completely independant fan control on all headers.I also had an Abit board with µguru that had completely independant fan header control, for Pentium 4.
I also had an Abit board with µguru that had total control for Socket 775...
Now I have an Asus P8Z68-V Pro, and before I had another 775 Asus board, I've never had worse fan control. The headers are shared, each are a certain type of control.. It's pathetic.
In summary: abit had amazing fan control for many years, Asus is playing catch up, your comment is therefore amusing.
piroroadkill - Thursday, August 23, 2012 - link
Oh, and I wish I could edit, but I can't forget that the ASUS boards also prevent you from dropping the speed below a certain amount, which is awful. I had to fit resistors to my Corsair A70 and THEN fan control it to make it a reasonable noise level. I'd prefer to have the full range of speed available to me.ypsylon - Thursday, August 23, 2012 - link
InstaFAIL. By far most potent fans on the market. They combine supreme performance (120mm - 138.4m3=82CFM @ 1500rpm/26dB) with low noise and great price for performance. Running exclusively only AC Sharks now. Tested many fans, survived only 1 type.For liquid cooling solutions (even for such poor AIO kits) there is easy way to improve cooling a bit. Put spacer (gutted old fan or buy brand new one in shops trading LC things) between radiator and fan(s) on the intake side. That way radiator will be cooled equally on the entire surface. With default setup: fan straight to radiator, center of radiator is warmer than edges, simply because air straight below fan bearing cannot cool and move quickly enough.
Stupido - Thursday, August 23, 2012 - link
The idea of the spacer is an excellent one!Thanks for that!
JerWA - Thursday, August 23, 2012 - link
Any hopes of you guys snagging one of these to add to the test results?Gelid Wing 12 PL, P/N: FN-FW12BPL-18.
http://www.gelidsolutions.com/products/index.php?l...
I'm using 2 as the push in a push/pull H100 setup, and it'd be nice to know if there's a better option and just how they measure up in comparison.