Are Cougar Fans Good?

[Punkster217]

So I'm thinking of buying the new NZXT Noctis 450 case and I was thinking of getting some Cougar Dual X fans. Maybe 3 120mm for intake, and 3 140mm for exhaust. Do you guys think these fans will do a good job?

 

[Karadjgne]

Yep. Good fans, very quiet, even at max speed and also flow a decent amount of air. Not a problem.

 

[Archaic59]

So I'm thinking of buying the new NZXT Noctis 450 case and I was thinking of getting some Cougar Dual X fans. Maybe 3 120mm for intake, and 3 140mm for exhaust. Do you guys think these fans will do a good job?

Great fans. I have a couple. If you intend to use a bunch I recommend a fan controller. Keep fans below 1000 rpm to minimize noise levels. Rule of thumb: bigger fans at lower rpm's will move air and remain quiet.

 

[Darkbreeze]

They're ok, but you can get better fans for the same price or a couple of bucks more. I ran a set of those in a budget build recently and they were much louder than expected. I won't be buying them again just to save three to five bucks.

Do you have your heart set on a particular fan color, or is performance and noise levels a larger concern?

 

[Punkster217]

So I'm thinking of buying the new NZXT Noctis 450 case and I was thinking of getting some Cougar Dual X fans. Maybe 3 120mm for intake, and 3 140mm for exhaust. Do you guys think these fans will do a good job?

Great fans. I have a couple. If you intend to use a bunch I recommend a fan controller. Keep fans below 1000 rpm to minimize noise levels. Rule of thumb: bigger fans at lower rpm's will move air and remain quiet.

The NZXT Noctis 450 can either have 3 120mm or 2 140mm in the front for intake. Which way would you do it?

 

[Darkbreeze]

Yep. Good fans, very quiet, even at max speed and also flow a decent amount of air. Not a problem.

Eh, gotta disagree with you there. The ones I used in a recent build were noticeably louder than the Noctua's I replaced them with after the owner decided he wasn't happy with them. Might have just been the case but the rig was audibly quieter with a different fan.

Overall I've had good success with Cougar fans in the past, as budget options, but those were disappointing IMO.

 

[Punkster217]

They're ok, but you can get better fans for the same price or a couple of bucks more. I ran a set of those in a budget build recently and they were much louder than expected. I won't be buying them again just to save three to five bucks.

Do you have your heart set on a particular fan color, or is performance and noise levels a larger concern?

Sorry, accidentally chose your post as the best answer lol, but i was looking for a fan with blue led's but also has good performance. I'm not too crazy about keeping an extremely quiet PC

 

[Archaic59]

So I'm thinking of buying the new NZXT Noctis 450 case and I was thinking of getting some Cougar Dual X fans. Maybe 3 120mm for intake, and 3 140mm for exhaust. Do you guys think these fans will do a good job?

Great fans. I have a couple. If you intend to use a bunch I recommend a fan controller. Keep fans below 1000 rpm to minimize noise levels. Rule of thumb: bigger fans at lower rpm's will move air and remain quiet.

The NZXT Noctis 450 can either have 3 120mm or 2 140mm in the front for intake. Which way would you do it?

I'd use a pair of 140's.

 

[Darkbreeze]

If you want max airflow and static pressure, then use three 120's for intake. If you want to still have pretty good intake flow but significantly quieter, then go with dual 140's. I've got dual 140's on the front of my Storm Enforcer and it's really quiet but has terrific temps. The case itself is a factor as well.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I unselected it. You can reselect one of mine later. Nah, just kidding.

 

[Punkster217]

If you want max airflow and static pressure, then use three 120's for intake. If you want to still have pretty good intake flow but significantly quieter, then go with dual 140's. I've got dual 140's on the front of my Storm Enforcer and it's really quiet but has terrific temps. The case itself is a factor as well.

Alright check this out, my rig would consist of
Case- NZXT Noctis 450
CPU- AMD FX-8370
Motherboard- ASUS Crosshair V Formula Z
RAM- Ripjaws X 16gb
GPU- EVGA GTX 980

You think the cougar fans would be good to cool this? If not, which fans would you choose?

 

[Darkbreeze]

Performance does not = LED fan. Every quality fan I know of lacks LED's, while most every LED fan is lower quality. Seems they have to put LED's on them to attract buyers who are only out for looks and not concerned with quality. Just my thoughts on that.

There are a few exceptions, these might be a good choice:

http://www.phanteks.com/PH-F140SP.html

That's a relatively high end rig, and deserves a better fan. The Cougars will cool it, that's not an issue, but they'll probably be louder than some other fans and will definitely be less likely to last as long. Budget=works ok but lacks features, one of which is longevity.

 

[Karadjgne]

@darkbreeze.

Lol, duh. There are very few fans that will out-perform Noctuas when it comes to levels of quietness, so of course they have a good chance of being quieter. However, the Cougars did move more air, so that becomes the tradeoff, which is usually the case.

It all comes down to priorities, or at least what OP considers more important, more air/noise or less air/noise, which the Cougars can match by dropping the max rpm to @900 or so.

 

[Darkbreeze]

3 120mm cougar fans @ medium to high speed= I must wear headphones. Heh. JK, kinda. They were noticeably louder at both idle and full speed. But if budget is a factor, then I'd have to agree with you that they're ok. Cougar and BitFenix both make decent budget fans but honestly


I'd rather spend five bucks more for fans that are quieter, move comparable air and most importantly, have high quality bearings that will likely have twice the lifespan, regardless of how many hours they say they have on paper. I've replaced Cougar PWM fans that were supposedly 300,000 hour fans that were just installed two years ago, so although they might be "specified" to last that long when tested in a lab, I tend to go with what I know is a higher quality bearing. Besides, to determine that fact they'd need to run the fan for 34 years, which I know damn well is impossible to have done.


Their "estimations" leave much to be desired when there is 8675.81 hours in a year and multiplied comes to 34 years of testing. Lab testing rarely equates to the dust, hair, grease and other contaminants in real world use that most rigs see in the average users home. Spend five more bucks per fan and get a quality product if you want them to last and keep their performance. Cheap fans tend to work well at first but lose integrity as time goes on.


I've got test fans from Cooler master, Corsair, Cougar, Bit Fenix and Aerocool that were all pretty satisfactory at first, but after many hours of running in test configurations in and out of various machines, are not nearly as quiet, nor as fast, as they were when new.


Conversely, I can't actually say I've ever had to replace a Thermalright, Noctua or Phanteks fan that I've installed. Yet.

Of course, now that I've said that, all five in my machine will probably die tomorrow. Eh, maybe not. The only fan in my case I worry about is the 200mm CM Megaflow, which is hitting the road soon anyhow when I change cases.

 

[Punkster217]

3 120mm cougar fans @ medium to high speed= I must wear headphones. Heh. JK, kinda. They were noticeably louder at both idle and full speed. But if budget is a factor, then I'd have to agree with you that they're ok. Cougar and BitFenix both make decent budget fans but honestly


I'd rather spend five bucks more for fans that are quieter, move comparable air and most importantly, have high quality bearings that will likely have twice the lifespan, regardless of how many hours they say they have on paper. I've replaced Cougar PWM fans that were supposedly 300,000 hour fans that were just installed two years ago, so although they might be "specified" to last that long when tested in a lab, I tend to go with what I know is a higher quality bearing. Besides, to determine that fact they'd need to run the fan for 34 years, which I know damn well is impossible to have done.


Their "estimations" leave much to be desired when there is 8675.81 hours in a year and multiplied comes to 34 years of testing. Lab testing rarely equates to the dust, hair, grease and other contaminants in real world use that most rigs see in the average users home. Spend five more bucks per fan and get a quality product if you want them to last and keep their performance. Cheap fans tend to work well at first but lose integrity as time goes on.


I've got test fans from Cooler master, Corsair, Cougar, Bit Fenix and Aerocool that were all pretty satisfactory at first, but after many hours of running in test configurations in and out of various machines, are not nearly as quiet, nor as fast, as they were when new.


Conversely, I can't actually say I've ever had to replace a Thermalright, Noctua or Phanteks fan that I've installed. Yet.

Of course, now that I've said that, all five in my machine will probably die tomorrow. Eh, maybe not. The only fan in my case I worry about is the 200mm CM Megaflow, which is hitting the road soon anyhow when I change cases.

Crap, I did it again lol (fail) but would you say the Phantek fans are much better than the Cougars?

 

[JackNaylorPE]

See the rankings here:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1345-page7.html

The top 20

Phanteks PH-F140HP/TS [SP]
Noctua NF-A14 FLX
Noctua NF-A15 PWM
Noiseblocker B12-2
Noctua NF-P14 FLX
Scythe Gentle Typhoon 120-12
Noiseblocker M12-S1
Corsair AF120 Quiet
Corsair AF120 Performance
Thermalright TR-TY150
Scythe Gentle Typhoon 120-14
Xigmatek XAF-F1453
Nexus Real Silent
Xigmatek XLF-F1453
Noiseblocker B12-PS
Corsair SP120 Quiet
be quiet! Silent Wings 2
Noiseblocker M12-S2
Antec TrueQuiet 120
Noiseblocker M12-P

Here's a comparison of the Noctua and Phanteks
http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/phenteks_f140/3.htm

The Phanteks are $12 for the 140s and $11 w/ 20% off w/ promo code PHANTEKS20150502
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835709023
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835709032&cm_re=F120SP-_-35-709-032-_-Product

The Noctuas are $30ish

The Cougar Vortex run $15 - $21

 

[JackNaylorPE]

I've replaced Cougar PWM fans that were supposedly 300,000 hour fans that were just installed two years ago, so although they might be "specified" to last that long when tested in a lab, I tend to go with what I know is a higher quality bearing. Besides, to determine that fact they'd need to run the fan for 34 years, which I know damn well is impossible to have done.


Their "estimations" leave much to be desired when there is 8675.81 hours in a year and multiplied comes to 34 years of testing. Lab testing rarely equates to the dust, hair, grease and other contaminants in real world use that most rigs see in the average users home. Spend five more bucks per fan and get a quality product if you want them to last and keep their performance. Cheap fans tend to work well at first but lose integrity as time goes on.

These are in no way intended to imply that fan will last 34 years..... what it means if if you take 1,000 fans and run them for 300 hours, one will fail.... and so on

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mean_time_between_failures

With the 5 year warranty, you can feel pretty safe that at least you won't have to buy another fan during the life of your system. I have 15 fans in one box running 19 months 24/7 (207,936 hours)

 

[Karadjgne]

Without a doubt. The Phanteks are extremely good fans, better quality all round.

 

[Punkster217]

So if I go with the Phanteks, should I go with 2 140mm in the front? Or 3 120mm?

 

[JackNaylorPE]

I much prefer 140s .... if you keep them below 850 rpm, you won't know your system is on.

 

[Karadjgne]

Hah! Someone mentioned Phanteks fans and here comes Jack. I've come to believe that the PE in his name really stands for 'Phanteks Enthusiast', but to be honest about it, I've not seen anyone with his level of knowledge about them.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I've replaced Cougar PWM fans that were supposedly 300,000 hour fans that were just installed two years ago, so although they might be "specified" to last that long when tested in a lab, I tend to go with what I know is a higher quality bearing. Besides, to determine that fact they'd need to run the fan for 34 years, which I know damn well is impossible to have done.


Their "estimations" leave much to be desired when there is 8675.81 hours in a year and multiplied comes to 34 years of testing. Lab testing rarely equates to the dust, hair, grease and other contaminants in real world use that most rigs see in the average users home. Spend five more bucks per fan and get a quality product if you want them to last and keep their performance. Cheap fans tend to work well at first but lose integrity as time goes on.

These are in no way intended to imply that fan will last 34 years..... what it means if if you take 1,000 fans and run them for 300 hours, one will fail.... and so on

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mean_time_between_failures

With the 5 year warranty, you can feel pretty safe that at least you won't have to buy another fan during the life of your system. I have 15 fans in one box running 19 months 24/7 (207,936 hours)

What brands do you run, at least, mostly?

 

[JackNaylorPE]

I have an Enthoo Pro (5 fans ... will be 7 when cooler arrives), an Enthoo Luxe (9 fans) and Enthoo Primo (15 fans). I have had a lotta back and forth with Phanteks TS (Brian) via the OCN forum "Enthoo Owner's Club" thread and via e-mail. One was noisy, they sent replacements. Also have 5 hubs.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I much prefer 140s .... if you keep them below 850 rpm, you won't know your system is on.

That's what I'm saying. Same thing with my Noctua's. Unless I'm really hammering the system, I sometimes have to check to see that they're still running.

 

[Darkbreeze]

These are in no way intended to imply that fan will last 34 years..... what it means if if you take 1,000 fans and run them for 300 hours, one will fail.... and so on

Yes, but IMO that's an incredibly stupid testing methodology. Even the cheapest fans on the market will generally last much longer than that. It's terribly misleading to the average user. I'd much prefer to know how many in any given set were still running between 2000 and 4000 hours, which is how many hours you'd be running them if you ran them 8 hours a day, five days a week, for between 1 and 2 years. Most failures on budget fans I've encountered have happened during that timeframe, if not sooner for some even lower quality models.