Corsair SP120 fans

[Choklitmlk]

I have a question for anyone who is knowledgeable with cooling & fans, specifically Corsair air series SP 120 fans...

NOTE: using on radiators

I'm not sure whether to go for the performance or quiet edition fans, naturally the quiet ones seemed the way to go for the quiet build, but my local supplier has a good deal on the performance fans and I was wondering whether I should go for the quiet edition which will make sense in my system, or should I go for the performance edition to get the extra headroom for overclocking?

I will be running the fans off of a fan controller anyway, so I can under volt them (which these fans can do) to make them quieter.

Do the performance SP fans run well at low voltages?
Is the noise difference between the two editions noticeably different?
Is the performance noticeably different?

Thanks for any help

 

[airdeano]

ok, what radiator are you running?
if you have a high fin per inch layout, it'll be total sacrifice in temperatures for a
slow fan speed.
i'm running the SP120 perf ed on 7volt and they are quiet in my arc midi in
push/pull on a corsair H100. i used quiets and undervolted them as well and gained
too much in temperature. the perfs will undervolt to 5volt, but cranky as hell
on a startup. needs 5.75-6volt to start properly. so be careful on undervolting
fans.. they might not startup on powerup. so now you gotta screw around
with the fan controller.
the SP120 in a dual pack are cheap enough to purchase both and sell what you
don't want... thats what i did and i like my SP120 perfs..

if you don't use a side panel, yes they can be windy for one's taste. but they
don't fall off in temps.
SP120 PE - 2350rpm @ 12volt SP - 3.3mm/h20
SP120 PE - 1375rpm @ 7-volt SP - 1.92mm/h20
SP120 PE - 975rpm @ 5-volt SP - 1.37mm/h2o

SP120 QE - 1450rpm @ 12volt SP - 1.29mm/h20
SP120 QE - 850rpm @ 7volt SP - .75mm/h20
SP120 QE - 600rpm @ 5volt SP - .53mm/h20

noting the difference between the PE vs QE on static pressure.

airdeano

 

[Choklitmlk]

rads are an XSPC EX240mm in push/pull and an XSPC EX360mm in pull
fan controller is a (pwm) NZXT sentry 2

make any differences? they are supposed to be high fin density rads

 

[airdeano]

yeah, the EX series on 20fpi+ needs some speed to keep the performance level
up. personally, i'd go the PE and undervolt 7volt on a molex and forgo the fan
controller. ive got recon and LX and sythe and hate all of them.. more spagetti
to fiddle with.
another option to look at would be the swiftech helix 120. they drive real well
from a fan controller. and they have an optional PWM 120 as well. the base is
1800rpm with a pretty stout static (2.25mm/h2o) and pert near quite.
i was using the helix 120 PWM on my HL Blace ICe GTX rads. but switched to
HL SR1 rads.. was going alphacool, but cant stand the M3 rad screws.

airdeano

 

[Choklitmlk]

any examples of the 7v molex adapters?

 

[airdeano]

i unpinned the 12volt ground and moved it to the red socket of the fan molex
to fan header and now you have 7volts.

i wouldn't run more than 8 fans on a 7volt molex run..

airdeano

 

[Choklitmlk]

oh cool, found some pictures showing this easy mod =) thanks

What I'll probably do is mod the connectors out of the fan controller down to 7v and then run the fans at 100%, this should reduce noise whilst still allowing me to use the temperature sensor on the fan controller =)

 

[CPMFW]

get the performence edition fans and use the fanspeed reducers

 

[MrPibbles]

What voltage do you want to run them at? These charts (LinusTechTips made them) show the Airflow and DB ( http://imgur.com/a/kT55Y ) The tests were done on a resistance similar to a H100