Which fan would be better to use with the Kraken X61? Bitfenix, or Noctua?

[Punkster217]

As the title says, should I use the Bitfenix Spectre Pro PWM 140mm fan or the Noctua NF-A14 Industrial PPC-2000 RPM 140mm fan on the NZXT Kraken X61?

 

[Ecky]

I'm not familiar with the Bitfenix, but Noctua has a reputation for great fans. I'm extremely picky about my fans, and I have owned several Noctua models over the years and have been extremely satisfied.

For what it's worth, I don't think the NZXT Kraken X61 is a good choice. You can get essentially the same performance from a Noctua D14 or D15 for almost $80 less (after fans, because the Noctua heatsinks already come with good fans), with less noise and no chance of leaks or pump failure.

 

[ahnilated]

The Noctua fans are wonderful. I have them exclusively in both of my computers. You can barely hear them running. Yes, they cost a bit more but I feel they are well worth it.

 

[Karadjgne]

Phanteks PH-F140HP would be a better choice. Perform as good as, if not better than the Noctua fans and are considerably cheaper. I have an x61 and honestly don't have an issue with the stock fans, mine are extremely quiet and do a pretty damned good job.

 

[Punkster217]

Phanteks PH-F140HP would be a better choice. Perform as good as, if not better than the Noctua fans and are considerably cheaper. I have an x61 and honestly don't have an issue with the stock fans, mine are extremely quiet and do a pretty damned good job.

The Phanteks fans don't seem bad, but I don't think they're better than the industrial Noctua fans, the Noctuas have a much better static pressure rating, but another question for you, how is the X61? Has it made any weird grinding sounds? Because I've seen videos of people recording a grinding sound coming from the CPU pump

 

[Karadjgne]

Church mouse makes more noise than my x61. The Asetek designed pumps (the round ones) are about the best there is. It's always possible to get a bum unit, it happens, I had an older Noctua s12a that had a wierd buzzing from the motor, nobody is infallible.
And the Phanteks are about the best there is.
Don't be caught up in static pressure vrs cfm debate. None of these single size radiators have enough fins per inch (fpi) to really be affected by lack of sp. High cfm fans do the same job. In the double thick rads like used by the h80i, sp plays a slightly more important role, but still not enough. Air just needs to go through the fins, that's all. What really makes or breaks a good radiator fan is the angle of broadcast. Many high c fans spread the air upto @160° which is a huge cone. That air creates huge amounts of chaos right in front of the fins, and most doesn't go through. Take a Noctua nf-f12, which is a force flow almost 90° cone and the vast majority of that air is going through the fins, not circulating on the outside. Very good rad fan. The nf-p12 has less sp, but higher cfm and not quite the centered cone, so still pushes most of the air through. I have a Phanteks F12M and on my h55 it does the exact same as the Noctua nf-f12. To my eyes. Biggest difference is one is ugly brown/tan the other is black/white and I payed $20 for the Noctua and $12 for the Phanteks.

The Scythe Gentle Typhoons are also excellent rad fans, less sp than the Noctuas, more cfm, but are also a force flow design. As are the Cougar fans, but they have more bearibg/noise issues when horizontal.

 

[Punkster217]

Church mouse makes more noise than my x61. The Asetek designed pumps (the round ones) are about the best there is. It's always possible to get a bum unit, it happens, I had an older Noctua s12a that had a wierd buzzing from the motor, nobody is infallible.
And the Phanteks are about the best there is.
Don't be caught up in static pressure vrs cfm debate. None of these single size radiators have enough fins per inch (fpi) to really be affected by lack of sp. High cfm fans do the same job. In the double thick rads like used by the h80i, sp plays a slightly more important role, but still not enough. Air just needs to go through the fins, that's all. What really makes or breaks a good radiator fan is the angle of broadcast. Many high c fans spread the air upto @160° which is a huge cone. That air creates huge amounts of chaos right in front of the fins, and most doesn't go through. Take a Noctua nf-f12, which is a force flow almost 90° cone and the vast majority of that air is going through the fins, not circulating on the outside. Very good rad fan. The nf-p12 has less sp, but higher cfm and not quite the centered cone, so still pushes most of the air through. I have a Phanteks F12M and on my h55 it does the exact same as the Noctua nf-f12. To my eyes. Biggest difference is one is ugly brown/tan the other is black/white and I payed $20 for the Noctua and $12 for the Phanteks.

The Scythe Gentle Typhoons are also excellent rad fans, less sp than the Noctuas, more cfm, but are also a force flow design. As are the Cougar fans, but they have more bearibg/noise issues when horizontal.

But are you looking at the exact Noctuas I'm talking about? It's these http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA9PV3Y64440

 

[Karadjgne]

They are all the same. The standard/Redux Noctua nf-p12 is the exact same as the industrial version. Only difference is the speeds (rpm) the motor is capable of. The A14 is no different. The blades themselves are identical, the only difference being the standatd/Redux A14 is 1500 rpm, the industrial series is either 2000rpm or 3000rpm. Higher rpm will create higher cfm but at the cost of noise.

I have an x61. It's cooling a i7-3770k sitting at 4.6GHz. Under a prime95 small fft full 8 thread 100% load, my cpu only sees 63°C. That's with stock nzxt fans. The fan curve is capped at idle for 400rpm and 900rpm at full load. At maximum speed of 1000rpm I can get an extra 1°C cooler but I never run the fans that high. The highest gaming load on my cpu is 53% and my gtx970 goes to 99% meaning at the @600rpm, the x61 cannot be heard at all over the Asus Gpu fans. If I used the 3000rpm industrial Noctuas, under p95 I'd be looking at @ 3-4° cooler for a huge cost in noise, so honestly not even close to being worth it. Those fans would still be running at @600rpm and getting the exact same temps when gaming. The industrial series are good for only 1 thing. Servers. Where noise isn't an issue, but demands of the 158 cfm outweigh the demands of the much quieter @50cfm nzxt.

 

[Punkster217]

They are all the same. The standard/Redux Noctua nf-p12 is the exact same as the industrial version. Only difference is the speeds (rpm) the motor is capable of. The A14 is no different. The blades themselves are identical, the only difference being the standatd/Redux A14 is 1500 rpm, the industrial series is either 2000rpm or 3000rpm. Higher rpm will create higher cfm but at the cost of noise.

I have an x61. It's cooling a i7-3770k sitting at 4.6GHz. Under a prime95 small fft full 8 thread 100% load, my cpu only sees 63°C. That's with stock nzxt fans. The fan curve is capped at idle for 400rpm and 900rpm at full load. At maximum speed of 1000rpm I can get an extra 1°C cooler but I never run the fans that high. The highest gaming load on my cpu is 53% and my gtx970 goes to 99% meaning at the @600rpm, the x61 cannot be heard at all over the Asus Gpu fans. If I used the 3000rpm industrial Noctuas, under p95 I'd be looking at @ 3-4° cooler for a huge cost in noise, so honestly not even close to being worth it. Those fans would still be running at @600rpm and getting the exact same temps when gaming. The industrial series are good for only 1 thing. Servers. Where noise isn't an issue, but demands of the 158 cfm outweigh the demands of the much quieter @50cfm nzxt.

You my good sir have convinced me, I'll be getting the Phanteks fans

 

[Punkster217]

They are all the same. The standard/Redux Noctua nf-p12 is the exact same as the industrial version. Only difference is the speeds (rpm) the motor is capable of. The A14 is no different. The blades themselves are identical, the only difference being the standatd/Redux A14 is 1500 rpm, the industrial series is either 2000rpm or 3000rpm. Higher rpm will create higher cfm but at the cost of noise.

I have an x61. It's cooling a i7-3770k sitting at 4.6GHz. Under a prime95 small fft full 8 thread 100% load, my cpu only sees 63°C. That's with stock nzxt fans. The fan curve is capped at idle for 400rpm and 900rpm at full load. At maximum speed of 1000rpm I can get an extra 1°C cooler but I never run the fans that high. The highest gaming load on my cpu is 53% and my gtx970 goes to 99% meaning at the @600rpm, the x61 cannot be heard at all over the Asus Gpu fans. If I used the 3000rpm industrial Noctuas, under p95 I'd be looking at @ 3-4° cooler for a huge cost in noise, so honestly not even close to being worth it. Those fans would still be running at @600rpm and getting the exact same temps when gaming. The industrial series are good for only 1 thing. Servers. Where noise isn't an issue, but demands of the 158 cfm outweigh the demands of the much quieter @50cfm nzxt.

Oh, would you think that those Noctuas would be good as intake fans just at low rpm? Or should I also get the Phanteks as intake fans?

 

[Karadjgne]

It has everything to do with the rate of absorption. Air traveling across the area of a financial will only absorb so much heat. It makes no difference if you throw 3x as much air at it (50cfm vrs 150cfm) there's only going to be the same amount of heat transfer. Now that only works if there is enough cfm of course. Basically, if the cpu needs to transfer 150w of heat, and 50cfm is enough to do that, 150cfm is only going to absorb 150w of heat too. Also, its physically impossible for any non chemical (this means air or aio or even full custom loop) cooler to cool a cpu below ambient temperature. A nzxt Kraken x61 is capable of cooling a cpu down to about 6°C above ambient. At best. Throwing 3000rpm fans on it at absolute best could further that to @ 1°C above ambient and that would require a perfect case airflow where the case temp is the exact same as ambient temp. Impossible situation. Ram, hdds, gpu will see to that.

 

[Karadjgne]

You'll never need 2000rpm fans, never mind 3000rpm. The highest my case fans ever get is @700rpm. Personally I'd use the standard/Redux Noctuas or better yet, the Phanteks S series for case fans. Higher cfm, lower rpm, lower noise.