Choosing the Best 120mm Radiator Fan: Testing Eight Fans with Corsair's H80
by Dustin Sklavos on August 23, 2012 12:01 AM ESTBitFenix Spectre Pro
The new BitFenix fans are intriguing. BitFenix doesn't really target them for any specific purpose the way Corsair and, to a lesser extent, SilverStone do. At the same time, their fan blade design is unique in that there's a reinforced, bevelled pattern on the individual blades. BitFenix cites this as a measure intended to increase longevity.
| Airflow (in CFM) | Static Pressure (in mm/H2O) | RPM | Rated dBA |
| 56.22 | 1.24 | 1200 | 18.9 |
Judging from the specifications, though, it seems the Spectre Pro is geared more for quiet operation and case airflow than use as a radiator fan. At full bore it's a very quiet fan that produces a healthy amount of airflow, but the static pressure leaves something to be desired. It will be interesting to see if the increased airflow helps balance the low pressure.
Nexus Real Silent Case Fan D12SL-12
I thought it would be interesting to throw this old chestnut into the mix. This Nexus fan comes highly recommended by SilentPC Review for its excellent balance of performance and acoustics. I'd actually been using this as the fan on my Xigmatek Dark Knight for some time before switching to a closed loop cooler, and at full bore it's still pretty much inaudible.
| Airflow (in CFM) | Static Pressure (in mm/H2O) | RPM | Rated dBA |
| 36.87 | 1.2 | 1000 | 18 |
The Nexus isn't that attractive on paper outside of its remarkable efficiency, but anecdotally I found it to be an excellent heatsink fan due to its incredibly low noise as well as its solid performance. Whether or not it will be a solid radiator fan remains to be seen due to its comparatively low airflow and static pressure ratings.
CoolerMaster SickleFlow 120
The CoolerMaster SickleFlow 120 was a last minute entrant; I'd been wandering around Fry's, saw it on the shelf, remembered that it had been mentioned fairly positively on forums when I'd be researching radiator fan performance, and figured I'd snag one and see how well it performed in practice. Opinions seem to be fairly split, with people citing it as having horrible static pressure but other people being extremely happy with it.
| Airflow (in CFM) | Static Pressure (in mm/H2O) | RPM | Rated dBA |
| 69.69 | 2.94 | 2000 | 19 |
If nothing else, the specifications sure are pretty optimistic. For a whopping 1dB more, the SickleFlow theoretically provides almost twice the performance of the Nexus! Just judging by the spec sheet, CoolerMaster's fan should blow the rest of our fans out of contention, but you'll see word of mouth on forums and rated specs aren't always reliable.
NZXT Performance Case Fan 120mm
On the opposite end of the spectrum, we have one of the 120mm NZXT fans that CyberPower PC shipped attached to a 240mm Asetek radiator some time ago. NZXT rates the fan pretty conservatively, but CyberPower still felt like it was a solid enough contender to deploy in a review unit.
| Airflow (in CFM) | Static Pressure (in mm/H2O) | RPM | Rated dBA |
| 47.27 | 0.95 | 1300 | 25.35 |
If the SickleFlow's ratings are overconfident, NZXT's fan seems positively humble by comparison. Of all the fans we're testing it has the lowest rated static pressure, mediocre airflow, and one of the highest noise level ratings. So why deploy it, other than that it's inexpensive? Asetek ships their radiator kits with fans included, why not use one of those? I'll show you.
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ikaboo154 - Thursday, November 15, 2012 - link
According to the graphs, the NZXT is as quiet as the Nexus.The NZXT also cools better than the Nexus.
The conclusions says the Nexus is quieter than the NZXT, yet on the graph they both measure 30dB.
Since, the NZXT is cheaper and cools better than the NEXUS, I'm going to buy the NZXT unless someone can reassure me that the Nexus is quieter.
TLDR: Is the Nexus quieter than the NZXT? If so, is the graph just inaccurate?
Freezer64 - Saturday, February 22, 2014 - link
So this was basically a ploy to market the H80, and boost sales @ Corsair. Maybe next time you run a test like this you'll use fans that people actually use instead of garbage you found @ Fry's. Terrible review, you should be fired!cerealkeller - Wednesday, September 30, 2015 - link
I have been using the Cooler Master Sickle Flow 120mm Fans for years and have been very satisfied with their performance. They run quiet and move a relatively good amount of air for $10 a piece. Based on this review I bought a set of the Corsair SP120s to replace my Cooler Masters on my 240x60mm radiator. I don't know why the hell your Cooler Masters ran 30C higher than the Corsairs because I only saw 2C drop in load temps and 1C drop in idle temps switching to the Corsairs at max RPM. I'm not impressed. I'm glad my temps dropped, but I was hoping for at least 5C. I'm planning to try the Noctua NF-F12 next. It's crazy expensive for a fan, but I would like to see my temps hit below 40C under load, they're at 52C atm with the SP120s. That is with push only, not push pull.