Cooling Best low/no motor noise 140 fan

What 140mm fan will you advice/choose for filtered frontal intake?

  • Noiseblocker NB e-loop 140mm

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Be Quiet Silent Wings 3 140mm

    Votes: 2 100.0%
  • Others

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    2

MarcParis

Spatial Philosopher
Original poster
Apr 1, 2016
3,616
2,705
Hi all,

I would like to equip my recent NANO² setup with better suited 140mm frontal intake fan.
However, till now, I was really disappointed by 140 fans I've tried :
  • Corsair AF 140 Quiet edition : Max rpm : 1150rpm, 67.8cfm. Motor noise really painful when rpm are running up...
  • Fractal Design HF14: max rpm 1200rpm, 118CFM : even worse than corsair motor noise
So, currently, I'm looking in better quality 140mm fans.
Target is to get 60CFM/100m3h at minimal noise level.

Here are the fans I've already identified :
  • Noise blocker NB e-loop 140mm :

  • I'm hesitating between :
    • B14-2 @900rpm , 109m3h, 16.9db
    • B14-3 @1400rpm , 178m3h, 28,7db
    • B14-PS PWM @1200rpm, 142m3h, 24db
    • I'm always scared of PWM as additionnal electronics usually make the fan louder
    • I'm also noticing that higher rpm fans are not at ease to spin at low rpm silently
    • Anyway this fan looks great...i truly like the style, and noiseblocker has very good quality reputation
    • also note thickness of this fan : 29mm

  • Be Quiet Silent Wings 3 140mm
  • 6-pole fan motor is BIG + for smoother operation
  • 1000rpm, 101m3h, 15,5db, less air pressure/flow than noiseblocker but quieter.
  • Strangely PWM and DC version are completely identical...that's weird, makes me suspicious about pwm version
  • I like globally fan design. My only blocking point is this sticker in middle on it..:)

No noctua. PPC are way too powerful/noisy, standard are ugly and redux are redux..:)

What will be your choice or advice?

Thank you for your advice/support
 

robbee

King of Cable Management
n3rdware
Bronze Supporter
Sep 24, 2016
855
1,335
With a nano being the loudest component by far in your case, I'm not sure if you're gonna hear a lot of difference between those. The 3 fans you've mentioned are amongst the highest tier fans I've personally come across. I've settled for Noctua, as I percieved them as the quietest on low RPM. The PWM versions can go as low as 300 RPM while still moving a respectable amount of air.
 

MarcParis

Spatial Philosopher
Original poster
Apr 1, 2016
3,616
2,705
thank you for your feedback.

In fact, R9 Nano is still a temporary solution normally...except if AMD is releasing a short/mini ITX RX485 with 95W before Christmas..:)
 

MarcParis

Spatial Philosopher
Original poster
Apr 1, 2016
3,616
2,705
Ahah, i prefer black, red or white color...not too much brown..but i must admit that noctua fans are really good
 

Kmpkt

Innovation through Miniaturization
KMPKT
Feb 1, 2016
3,382
5,935
I really don't get why Noctua continue to offer their classic colour scheme as the broad default. It's probably the worst colour combo they could think of paired with the fact that it doesn't compliment ANY hardware EVER. I understand wanting to separate themselves from the crowd with their aesthetic, but they're really going about it the wrong way. Every time I see one of their fans I think of this suit:

 

MarcParis

Spatial Philosopher
Original poster
Apr 1, 2016
3,616
2,705
@Josh insistance, I've studied Noctua 140 fan.
My sum up is simple, one really good review is thermalbench test 140mm
  • Redux version : higher noise especially at higher rpm, and less airflow..so no way
  • NF-A14 FLX : really silent, good compromise on performance/noise. Second on performance (behind Vardar F1-140) but the most silent (equal with silent wings 2)
That's really interesting...and I need to give more thought on this fan NF-A14 FLX
 

blubblob

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Jul 26, 2016
104
127
You probably know, but you have to be really careful interpreting fan comparison tests. There will be a considerable difference in fan performance and noise level depending on if they work directly against a thick restrictive volume (like the radiator in the thermalbench test) or are freely moving air (just impeded by a filter mesh in front of them like in your NANO²).

I have a bunch of Noctua NF-P14s Redux-1200 PWM fans running alongside Noctua NF-A15 PWM fans.
At first the system was indeed noticeable louder while running the Redux Versions at higher RPMs, until i realized the issue was with the fans resonating with the case and added neoprene washers. Now there is no noticeable difference between the Redux and the A15 fans (at least to my ears - and I get annoyed by a fridge running two walls over).
The rubber decouplers are mainly what makes the "normal" Noctua fans superior to the Redux line from an acoustical standpoint. Once you have jury rigged those yourself they are great low noise fans.
 

MarcParis

Spatial Philosopher
Original poster
Apr 1, 2016
3,616
2,705
I see what you mean. However in thermalbench you have both test, with and without radiator..:)
I already own an old s12 fan( equal to today redux s12) and i totally agreed with thermalbench that redux/legacy fans have have disurbing motor noise at high rpm..:)

I was also impressed with new s12 fan, as case fan..:)