Question Best 140mm fans

anvoice

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Jan 12, 2018
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I'm leaning towards a full-tower system with a custom liquid cooling loop for a new build and am currently eyeing dual 30mm-thick 420mm radiators with 140mm fans all-around. Research points towards Arctic P14 fans being extremely well-performing, good with radiators, silent, and cheap. Apparently, it beats the Noctua NF-A14s as both a rad and case fan despite being cheaper. Is there anything better today? And am I correct in assuming I'm better off with all radiator fans in push-pull, amounting to 13 total (one for back exhaust)?

Bonus question: the 7000D Airflow case I'm considering has space for 4 more side-mounted 120mm fans. Is it a good idea to add those fans? Thanks!
Edit: Just realized that as I may exceed number of fan controllers on the motherboard, I'll need to use the case controller/daisy chain the fans or both. Any preferred way of doing that? I know the Arctics have a power-sharing version which allows for daisy chaining, maybe useful here.
 
Solution
As far as which fans to use, keep in mind that every cooling environment is different. Also I feel like if you're comparing Noctua with any other brand's better offerings, there's no real practical difference. Just get whatever fits your budget.

If you don't mind having the fans being under the same fan curve, then you can typically daisy chain up to about 3. Otherwise you'll have to find yourself a dedicated fan controller thing. Not a hub, since that just sends the same PWM signal to the fans connected to it.
As far as which fans to use, keep in mind that every cooling environment is different. Also I feel like if you're comparing Noctua with any other brand's better offerings, there's no real practical difference. Just get whatever fits your budget.

If you don't mind having the fans being under the same fan curve, then you can typically daisy chain up to about 3. Otherwise you'll have to find yourself a dedicated fan controller thing. Not a hub, since that just sends the same PWM signal to the fans connected to it.
 
Solution

anvoice

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Jan 12, 2018
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As far as which fans to use, keep in mind that every cooling environment is different. Also I feel like if you're comparing Noctua with any other brand's better offerings, there's no real practical difference. Just get whatever fits your budget.
I'm mostly worried about acoustics. My current NF-A14s are acceptably quiet under normal operation, but I've not tried other brands recently.

Daisy-chaining more than 3 won't really be necessary, plus assuming 2 rads and one exhaust seems like I'll only want 3 curves anyway, unless I get the extra side fans.
 
I'm mostly worried about acoustics. My current NF-A14s are acceptably quiet under normal operation, but I've not tried other brands recently.
If we went by the marketed specifications:

Arctic P14Noctua AF-14
Max RPM17001500
Airflow72.8CFM82.46 CFM
Noise @ max RPM35.8 dBA24.6 dBA
Static Pressure2.40 mm H2O2.08 mm H2O

Keep in mind that the Arctic P14 is a static pressure fan, so comparing the two isn't really apples to apples.
 

anvoice

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Jan 12, 2018
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Keep in mind that the Arctic P14 is a static pressure fan, so comparing the two isn't really apples to apples.
Useful, but it's hard to say from just that which one will be louder when pushing the same amount of air. I've seen some youtube reviews that suggest (with data of course) that the Arctic outperforms the Noctua as both a case and rad fan. I think I'll go with the Arctics since they're essentially 3 or so times cheaper, easily daisy-chained with the power-sharing version, and almost certainly superior for radiator applications.