Build Advice Can fans be both silent and nice to look at?

[gekosauras]

I’m nearing the end of my pc build and now I’m going into the aesthetics side of things. My previous build was just to do the job and have no experience with asthetics
I have asked a friend to help aswell but he mentioned it’s hard finding silent, good looking and effective cooling fan builds.
Any suggestions on what fans or case would fit the bill. I’m currently looking at lian li cases.
would be quite pleased if I could get a black glass with a heavy colour undertone red/black orange/black. I understand it might not fit the fourm but I’m trying 😀
https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/J6gjPF
Any fan recommendations are welcome
-case is not what is being used
-cpu fan is going to be black if it comes in black

 

[Dj0gany]

I have 4xCM MF120 HALO , as you can see in my profile pic.
Besides them I have 2x200mm CM fans mounted on the front and 3 gpu fans all packed up into CM H500P Mesh.
Without touching the fan curves of all my fans, they are more than silent when set on auto, but since I like to play around with my PC, I used FanControl to manually set the fan curve on each one of them.
Currently they are set to %60 fan curve on most of them, and they are not loud at all, keep in mind that the PC is 20cm from my right ear, since its sitting on the table, and most of the time I cant hear the fans at all.
Cant tell you 100% but I think I paid like around 80Eur for 4xMF120's, 60eur for 2x200mm CM, and the case was like 110Eur, so yeah around 250Eur for all of it, which is not that much for high quality components.
You can find even cheaper fans than mine, but I think playing with the fan curve plays a bigger role in this.

EDIT: BTW I have A LOT of RGB customization options for my CM fans using their MasterPlus fan software, truly haven't regretted a thing since buying them, im not even mention their cooling capacity, its chilling in there xD.
->

View: https://youtu.be/uDPKVKBMQU8?si=PaY2eJSDiIlktvUl

 

[Phaaze88]

Can fans be both silent and nice to look at? Yes. You just gotta play around with the fan curves, as a set curve that is acceptable to one person, may be annoying to another. After all, we don't share the same (in)sensitivities to fan acoustics.
Whether cheap, expensive, or in between, if you turn down the rpm, it'll quiet down.
Probably the only 'quiet' fan in operation is one crippled with a low max rpm, but then it never has any real 'UMPH' behind it... these kinds of fans would be best on open air cases where there is as little air restriction as possible.


Listed fan specs can't be completely relied on, because:
-they're recorded in zero air resistance environments at 100% rpm, which most don't run them that fast, because they're generally too audible(within reasonable distance from PC).

-the dBA rating is recorded at a set distance in testing, which may not match the distance you are from the PC.

I have asked a friend to help aswell but he mentioned it’s hard finding silent, good looking and effective cooling fan builds.

You usually can't go wrong with some of the most expensive ones... ~but:
-Bigger is generally better: 140mm is kinda that happy medium.
-If you want some RGBleds, fan models with LEDs built into the blades and/or the inner ring have SLIGHTLY worse performance and acoustics than their non-LED variants(if they exist), or variants that just have LEDs in the outer frame.
-'Good looking' is subjective, so I can't say anything about that.

 

[geofelt]

The fans used on the noctua NH-D15 G2 are the latest version and are very good.
https://noctua.at/en/noctua-introduces-nf-a14x25-g2-next-gen-140mm-fans
But, at this time, it appears to come only in the traditional noctua beige.
If, instead, you could use the NH-D15 Chromax black:
https://noctua.at/en/nh-d15-chromax-black

I am a big fan of Lian Li quality.
For efficiency and quiet, look for a case with larger than 140mm front intakes.
The lian li lancool 216rx uses 160mm fans.
https://www.newegg.com/black-lian-li-lancool-atx-mid-tower/p/2AM-000Z-000A8

The I think the fans themselves are black, hidden behind a black screen mesh.
I am sure you can disable the RGB effects.

More conventional O11 mini also looks good:
https://www.newegg.com/p/2AM-000Z-00080

 

[LordVile]

Depends on your preference really. I like be quiet fans for example, though I’m currently not using them because my AIO came with three and noctua redux are just too good of a deal to pass up

 

[gekosauras]

Depends on your preference really. I like be quiet fans for example, though I’m currently not using them because my AIO came with three and noctua redux are just too good of a deal to pass up

Can fans be both silent and nice to look at? Yes. You just gotta play around with the fan curves, as a set curve that is acceptable to one person, may be annoying to another. After all, we don't share the same (in)sensitivities to fan acoustics.
Whether cheap, expensive, or in between, if you turn down the rpm, it'll quiet down.
Probably the only 'quiet' fan in operation is one crippled with a low max rpm, but then it never has any real 'UMPH' behind it... these kinds of fans would be best on open air cases where there is as little air restriction as possible.


Listed fan specs can't be completely relied on, because:
-they're recorded in zero air resistance environments at 100% rpm, which most don't run them that fast, because they're generally too audible(within reasonable distance from PC).

-the dBA rating is recorded at a set distance in testing, which may not match the distance you are from the PC.



You usually can't go wrong with some of the most expensive ones... ~but:
-Bigger is generally better: 140mm is kinda that happy medium.
-If you want some RGBleds, fan models with LEDs built into the blades and/or the inner ring have SLIGHTLY worse performance and acoustics than their non-LED variants(if they exist), or variants that just have LEDs in the outer frame.
-'Good looking' is subjective, so I can't say anything about that.

OK so
i have found some nice looking 140mm REVERSE BLADE ARGB
do i use them on one side and normal fans on the other.

 

[Lafong]

OK so
i have found some nice looking 140mm REVERSE BLADE ARGB
do i use them on one side and normal fans on the other.

You will have to experiment with whatever fans you have when assembling. You can't accurately predict temps or noise levels beforehand.

I wouldn't try to be tricky or exotic with a fan setup. Simple should work.

Generally....you want airflow from front to back and from lower to higher.

5 fans may not cool better than 3 or 4. Experiment.

"Average" fans spinning at 800 rpm will likely be quieter than "quiet" fans spinning at 1500. Experiment.

You can solve a lot of "too loud" issues by simply deciding to reduce fan speed and accept temps of X plus 10 rather than X. I have no idea if you can do that. Maybe temps terrify you.

You'll have to compromise between temps and noise somewhere. Everybody does. You'll also have to decide how much looks matters to you. Ugly and expensive but quiet. Beautiful, but noisy or expensive. Cheap and decent looking, but hot. None of it known with accuracy beforehand.

 

[Phaaze88]

i have found some nice looking 140mm REVERSE BLADE ARGB

Those kinds of fans have a specific use: concealing the 'less appealing' side of the fan for side panel intakes, and power supply shroud(also intake) installations. If the case you settle on doesn't fit that criteria, just opt for the normal version of the fan you're looking at.

Normally, a fan is like the following:

Reverse blades function... well, the reverse of the above.

 

[geofelt]

@geckosauras:
You are overthinking this.
On your case, the fans will be behind a black mesh screen and be all but invisible so long as you do not use the RGB lighting.
The case comes with fans. At the very least, try the supplied fans.
If you later want to change them out for some reason, that is a simple change, even for an already built pc.