Need recommendations for fans for Corsair H110i GTX

[Tamaskan]

Hey guys,

So I am planning to replace both my current Corsair SP140 fans that came with the cooler. I think one of it is dying because its making some kind of rattling noise when running at around 1100rpm (it goes away if it goes lower or higher than that). I'm not that picky about noise or colour schemes but I am looking for fans that are the least noisy at higher rpm because I tend to run it high to help cool down my oc cpu (<75C is my target, i5-6600k@4.7ghz especially during summer). I am thinking of Corsair's ML140 fans but reviews seem mixed so here I am asking. I heard noctua fans are good too but I don't know which ones I should get. The corsair H110i GTX uses 140mm fans and they are not connected to mobo but corsair instead as I use corsair link to set a custom fan curve.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Here's what happens when you take Noctua fans off a Noctua cooler and replace with Phanteks fans:

At same rpm, temps drop by 6C with the Phanteks fans
With Nocs at 1500 and Phanteks at 1200, Phanteks keep CPU cooler by 3C

http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/phenteks_f140/3.htm

Here's ranking of fans by performance / noise ratio

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

The H110i is the quieter version of the H100i using 140mm fans at lower speeds to quiet things down a bit. In chasing that quietness, it uses 1500 rpm fans as opposed to the h100is 2700 rpm. Corsair needs to use high rpm fans to offset the lower cooling capabilities of the aluminum radiators. We use these 1200 rpm 140mm fans on custom loop builds... the same as from the test above:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835709023

With the aluminum rad, you normally wouldn't want to drop rpm but if these fans can outperform the 1500 rpm Nocs, they should easily be able to outperform the Corsairs.

Keep in mind that in order to work with Corsair Link, you'll need PWM fans I believe on that model.

The 1200 rpm PWM version is the XP
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835709022

The 1500 rpm version is the MP ... given that the 1200 rpm models neat the Noc's 1500 rpm models, these should give you substantially more performance at no increase in speed / noise.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835709036

 

[Tamaskan]

Here's what happens when you take Noctua fans off a Noctua cooler and replace with Phanteks fans:

At same rpm, temps drop by 6C with the Phanteks fans
With Nocs at 1500 and Phanteks at 1200, Phanteks keep CPU cooler by 3C

http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/phenteks_f140/3.htm

Here's ranking of fans by performance / noise ratio

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

The H110i is the quieter version of the H100i using 140mm fans at lower speeds to quiet things down a bit. In chasing that quietness, it uses 1500 rpm fans as opposed to the h100is 2700 rpm. Corsair needs to use high rpm fans to offset the lower cooling capabilities of the aluminum radiators. We use these 1200 rpm 140mm fans on custom loop builds... the same as from the test above:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835709023

With the aluminum rad, you normally wouldn't want to drop rpm but if these fans can outperform the 1500 rpm Nocs, they should easily be able to outperform the Corsairs.

Keep in mind that in order to work with Corsair Link, you'll need PWM fans I believe on that model.

The 1200 rpm PWM version is the XP
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835709022

The 1500 rpm version is the MP ... given that the 1200 rpm models neat the Noc's 1500 rpm models, these should give you substantially more performance at no increase in speed / noise.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835709036

Thanks for the reply! Didn't even consider phanteks before. I'll go with the F140MP because it has higher rpm.

 

[Karadjgne]

While Jack is perfectly correct is claims of Phanteks superiority over the Noctuas in performance, he's been kind enough not to state the most glaringly obvious fact. Those Noctua fans are an eyesore. Now if you want the color, just to show the world you bought more expensive quality fans, be my guest, it's your right, but personally, I much prefer the simpler tastes of the black shroud and white fan of my PH120MP, which happens to match perfectly with the fractal design and nzxt fans also in the case.

 

[Tamaskan]

While Jack is perfectly correct is claims of Phanteks superiority over the Noctuas in performance, he's been kind enough not to state the most glaringly obvious fact. Those Noctua fans are an eyesore. Now if you want the color, just to show the world you bought more expensive quality fans, be my guest, it's your right, but personally, I much prefer the simpler tastes of the black shroud and white fan of my PH120MP, which happens to match perfectly with the fractal design and nzxt fans also in the case.

yeah the noctua's colour scheme doesn't match with most builds. But the reason I did considered it before was because I heard the performance was good and my rad is front mounted so I don't reallysee the fans. Also the other reason I considered the corsair's ML140 was apparently they claim less motor noise with that model(its really expensive though if u go with the "pro" version). But it seems everyone said the phanteks is good so I'm going for that (PH140MP).

 

[JackNaylorPE]

I do expect Nocuas new minimal clearance fan designs to hrow a monkey wrench into the fan rankings... but other than loom at pics and press releases from Computex, that's all we know about them at this point.

 

[Tamaskan]

Well this is a kinda late reply, but when comparing fans on their manufacturer's websites. How reliable are the airflow and static pressure measurements? Especially when comparing from different manufacturers.

I am asking because I realised the fans that came with my AIO (Corsair SP140L) on its specification lists airflow: 104.65CFM, Static pressure: 3.99mm-H2O and noise at 40dB(A) vs the phanteks F140MP that I just bought which is at 68.1CFM, 1.62mm-H2O and 25.3 dB(A). Well I would figure out eventually when it arrives but just curious at this point and I never use the corsair at max anyways because its way too loud(even at around 50% is audible, one of the reason I'm replacing it). I usually set around 65-70% max on my fan curve.

^Those spec measurements are the max/up-to

 

[Karadjgne]

CFM is measurable. It's pretty much a standard measurement, with standardized testing methods. Static pressure isn't. If you figure Company A uses the fan at 90° perpendicular to the tap water, center of the fan level with the liquid which is on glass, Company B could just as easily use their fan with a 10° tilt towards ionized water on acrylic, with the bottom of the fan at liquid level. Going to get vastly squewed results, yet both will have claims of 1.8-4.0mh/h²0.
There's also a huge difference in fan output vectors. Some fans will move a huge amount of air, but it's dispersed over almost 180° out of the back of the fan. With lower SP, this means a bunch of air that really doesn't travel far past the intakes area. Other fans, especially the force focus/directed flow fans, have a dispersal vector of almost 90° perpendicular to the back of the fan. That's a tight cone of air, that combined with higher degree of SP is going to slam into the back of the case, dispersing/redirected by cpu coolers, gpu coolers etc. So while those fans realistically don't move as much air, what air they do move is better used.
For a case fan, a combination of both kinds is absolutely best. You get a good portion of air pushed in a broader cone, but still tight enough to reach where it does the most good.

The Phanteks might not have the highest cfm, best SP, but what they do have is the best combination of both, combined with a tight enough cone to get it there, broad enough to do some good. This is the failing of many lesser fans, they just do a crappy job no matter what the stats claim.

 

[Tamaskan]

Yeah, I thought the spec sheet for SP140L looked a bit inflated considering their normal SP140(without the L) is more around 1.17mm-H2O. Thanks for the explanation though, it was hard to find info about case fans and their method for static pressure measurement.