In need of best case fan recommendations

[Chupacabra69]

Just bought a Jonsbo U4 case.
http://www.jonsbo.com/en/products_42_8.html

Have been googling but pretty confused by the case fan options. Normally don't have to make this choice because fans are included. Still not 100% on Static Pressure vs. high air flow fans. As I understand it, Static Pressure is for when you don't have a free flowing internal area. I think that might apply to this case? Even so, I don't know which are good ones. I've been Googling and see people talking about this fan or that one but there hasn't really seemed to be anything authoritative or definitive to me. Just opinion based, with limited (not full) testing (the articles always admit they weren't able to test one or another situation, kind of partially invalidating themselves). Perhaps someone knows of some good resources or "bible"? The only Tom's Hardware article I found is dated from 2011, and won't have review on modern hardware.

The Jonsbo has 4 spots for 120MM's, rear of case near CPU, the bottom, and the 2 front ones.
For sure the 2 front facing ones will be intake. For sure the rear one by the CPU fan should be an outtake. I'm using a Cryorig H7 as my CPU radiator and fan.

Two questions:

1. What are some good case fans to consider for my situation, and why are they good?
2. Should the bottom fan be an outtake or intake? (I'm leaning toward intake but that leaves only one outtake fan)


Thanks

 

[asoroka]

Front Fans should be intake
Rear fans should be exhaust (out).

In al honesty any 120mm fan will be good enough. Look at things like noise as your determining feature.

I personally would recommend Noctua fans.

On on the front and one at the top rear near the CPU.

Noctua 120mm NF-P12 PWM Fan

also consider a Noctua NH-D15 for your CPU, very quiet.

 

[azaran]

Quick note on picking up a NH-D15. Make sure it'll work with your RAM and case limitations. Case has a 170mm limit on CPU coolers, so make sure any RAM you use with the NH-D15 doesn't require the front fan be moved up by more than 5mm. The Nh-D15S doesn't run in to this problem with any RAM under 65mm tall as it doesn't have an outside fan. Tho in truth you can just not use the outside fan on the NH-D15 and get the same result.

I have the NH-D15 and I love it, but you always want to double check your numbers with this beast of a cooler.

 

[Chupacabra69]

I have a Cryorig H7 (145mm clearance) I'm using in this case. The case may be moved around and don't want a giant heat sink ripping off the PCB.

Really interested in original question of case fans though. Have seen one suggestion. There are some suggestions from a thread in the beginning of the year.
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3624877/case-fans.html

Really not sure why those fans are double the cost of the suggested fans here. Not sure how to determine what makes a good case fan worth buying over another. There don't seem to be many reviews on this subject which do full testing, and are recent.

In any case, still really interested in hearing recommendations for case fans and why they are better then other alternatives out there for my application.

Thanks

 

[azaran]

Sorry, we got off topic with the cooler discussion. I just try and chime in on it when people recommend the NH-D15 because of the headache mine caused me when building and planning for a rebuild in the future.

As for your actual questions.

1. What are some good case fans to consider for my situation, and why are they good?

- In all the reading I've done on it, once you get past the theory and do practical application of SP vs AF fans, the results all seem to be pretty vague. This of course WILDLY varies depending on your case and equipment, so there isn't really a definitive word on it as everyone is going to have a different real world use case. But in general if there is a difference, it seems to be within a 3°C range. Now if the price difference is minimal, cool go for whichever works best. But if it's a $10 per fan difference, and you're not hyper tuning your system, it's not worth it.

That being said, and for the sake of actually answering something, since your case has such a restrictive intake I'd go with SP for the intake and either SP or AF for the exhaust. Might just be easier to do SP for everything since the airflow for the exhaust isn't going to matter as much. Look for something with a low dbA in either fan just to keep your relative noise level down. But keep in mind higher airflow, higher RPM and higher dbA tend to go hand in hand in hand. So you'll need to find a balance that works for you. Also keep in mind the length of your GPU, as it will cut in to one of your front panel fans if it's at max length. As for brands, it mostly comes down to preference. I love Noctua fans, and they're generally regarded as one of the best in the field. Noctua has a page showing the differences of their SP, AF and Hybrid fans here
https://noctua.at/en/nf-a12x25-performance-comparison-to-nf-f12-and-nf-s12a

For SP models:
NF-P12 Reux model (1700 RPM or 1300RPM) runs about $14 each. The Redux line is the stripped down model, so none of the normal bundling of adapters and such BUT same level of quality. It's also a gray color.
NF-F12 This runs about $20. This is the classic beige and brown monstrosity that Noctua fans love and everyone else hates.
NF-F12 Chromax which runs about $23 each. Black fan with replaceable colored sound dampeners.
NF-F12 Industrial which runs about $23-25 each. Black fan with brown sound dampeners. These are more hardcore fans with a higher RPM (2000RPM and 3000RPM) , CFM rating and dust/water proofing protection. They make an IP67 model but I don't think you need to worry about that with a normal desktop.

For AF models
NF-S12B Redux. Runs $14 and comes in 700RPM and 1200RPM
NF-S12A Runs $20.
NF-S12A Chrommax. Runs $23

For Hybrid fan models:
NF-A12x15 Runs $20 and comes in classic beige and brown. This is an all arounder, providing balanced higher pressure and airflow. It's a good general choice if you just want one fan model for the whole build.

For another brand, I'd look at Corsair. They thankfully have a much easier naming convention to figure out their models. SP for SP, and ML for hybrids. They also have an LL series for their new RGB system. I think they used to have an AF series but I'm not seeing it anywhere. Their fans tend to run in the $25 range, but they're all black with some models using colored rings for some flair or you can go full LED if thats what you like. These on paper have a higher RPM and thus a higher dbA. Just something to keep in mind if noise is a factor.

For SP models
Air Series SP120 CO-9050011-WW $20-24 CO-9050013-WW $24-25
Air Series SP120 CO-9050014-WW $28 Twin pack. This would be the best value.

For ML models
ML120 Pro CO-9050040-WW $24-25 Black frame on Black blades
ML120 CO-9050039-WW $28-35 Black frame with White blades


Now for question two.
2. Should the bottom fan be an outtake or intake?
I'd go with intake. You can read up on positive vs negative pressure but in truth, unless you're dealing with a sealed case you're never going to see the numbers people like to quote. Every case is different so again, there's no definitive word just generalizations. That said, with your case, with its restrictive front panel, I'd said throwing the fan in as intakes would be a good plan.