I tested five seven 120x25mm fans in the Thermalright Silver Soul 135 CPU cooler:
Thermalright TL-C12PRO-G – included with cooler
Noctua A12x25
Arctic P12
Scythe Kaze Flex Black
Scythe Wonder Snail
Be Quiet! Silent Wings Pro 4
Be Quiet! Silent Wings 4 High-Speed
I know others have bent their coolers to wedge in a Phanteks T30, but there is really only space for a 25mm thick fan.
New for this test I purchased a DB sound level meter – measurements have been added to the testing spreadsheet. DB meter was 30cm from the front of the chassis and 19cm high from the desk top.
Chassis fans were removed before testing. I am using my Aorus X570 motherboard as my B550 motherboard is out for service. The X570 chipset fan and the two built in 92mm GPU fans were the only other fans in use.
All fans were tested at 100% PWM.
Fan sound characteristics above 50% PWM were noted:
Thermalright TL-C12PRO-G is an air flow focused fan with considerable air noise but no additional whine or hum.
Noctua A12x25 had a slight whine at 100% PWM with among the lowest temperatures.
Arctic P12 was the quietest fan by a considerable margin with slightly higher teperatures. No whine or other additional noises were noted. Resonances below 50% PWM were not checked.
Scythe Wonder Snail was annoyingly loud at 100% PWM. Several resonance ranges were noted: 72-73% PWM high pitched resonance, 77-80% PWM lower pitched resonance, 82-86% PWM higher pitched resonance returns, at 87% PWM – 2089 RPM the resonance ceases with increasing fan air noise.
Scythe Kaze Flex Black (air flow focused) had less air noise than the Thermalright with a very slight hum at 100% PWM.
With both counter-rotating Scythe fans the chipset fan did not spin up. The chipset fan did not seem to add any appreciable noise when activated.
The Wonder Snail was substantially quieter at the reduced fan speed. Temperatures barely changed.
The two Be Quiet! fans were indistinguishable in sound level or quality from each other. At high speeds there was the sound of air movement but no hard edge to the sound.
I noted the SW Pro 4 to be silent at 40% PWM – 1369 RPM. Both fan are much easier on the ears at RPM exceeding 2000 versus the Wonder Snail.
My initial fan testing on the Thermalright Silver Soul 135 was about determining the maximum cooling performance each fan was able to provide on this cooler. However, after my initial testing of the Scythe Wonder Snail, I felt that fans with higher RPM limits were being treated unfairly as to their noise output when compared in particular, against the Noctua A12x25. The A12x25 has a specified maximum fan speed of 2000 RPM. When mounted on the Silver Soul 135 my sample A12x25 maximum RPM was 2045. I decided going forward that fans with a higher RPM limit will be tested both at 100% PWM as well as at the individual fan’s lower PWM setting that matches the maximum RPM of the A12x25 or other most appropriate fan choice on other coolers. This was a timely decision as I just obtained the Be Quiet! Silent Wings Pro 4 and Silent Wings 4 High-Speed fans both with higher RPM limits and have added them to the testing spreadsheet.
I swapped the column order from the initial spreadsheet of the Scythe fans to place the two different fan speed columns of the Wonder Snail side by side.
The Be Quiet! fans’ build quality is as solid as any fan I have tested and I am pleased with their overall quality. The SW4 High Speed has a maximum RPM specification of 2500 – I noted a maximum RPM of 2454 on my sample, the SW Pro 4 has a maximum RPM specification of 3000 – I noted a maximum RPM of 2743 – within spec but slower than some seeking maximum RPM would want.
As the Be Quiet! fans are new I added some additional information:
SW Pro 4 has a three position switch on the rear of the fan that can be set for maximum speeds of 1600, 2500 and 3000 RPM respectively.
Both fans have fan stop at zero % PWM.
The SW4 High Speed required a minimum of 16% PWM to start at 440 RPM.
The SW Pro 4 in Ultra High Speed mode also started at 16% PWM at 600 RPM.
Both fans sit a couple of millimeters higher (with either of the included corner mounts) than some of the other 120mm fans when mounted in the Silver Soul 135 and I do not believe they will fit on this CPU cooler in the Lazer 3D LZX-10 as it has exactly 135mm of cooler height clearance. See my posting on the LZX-10 regarding Silver Soul 135 CPU cooler fan fitment in this case.
Aorus X570 ITX MB; Ryzen 7 4750G; 32 GB Corsair LPX 3200 RAM;
Evga 3060Ti XC Graphics Card – Self Regulated
Thermalright Silver Soul 135 CPU Cooler
Noctua NT-H1 Thermal Paste
CPU-Z Stress Test & Unigine Valley Ultra Settings for 10 minutes
Room Temp 21C;
CPUID HWMonitor Readings:
Thermalright TL-C12PRO-G – included with cooler
Noctua A12x25
Arctic P12
Scythe Kaze Flex Black
Scythe Wonder Snail
Be Quiet! Silent Wings Pro 4
Be Quiet! Silent Wings 4 High-Speed
I know others have bent their coolers to wedge in a Phanteks T30, but there is really only space for a 25mm thick fan.
New for this test I purchased a DB sound level meter – measurements have been added to the testing spreadsheet. DB meter was 30cm from the front of the chassis and 19cm high from the desk top.
Chassis fans were removed before testing. I am using my Aorus X570 motherboard as my B550 motherboard is out for service. The X570 chipset fan and the two built in 92mm GPU fans were the only other fans in use.
All fans were tested at 100% PWM.
Fan sound characteristics above 50% PWM were noted:
Thermalright TL-C12PRO-G is an air flow focused fan with considerable air noise but no additional whine or hum.
Noctua A12x25 had a slight whine at 100% PWM with among the lowest temperatures.
Arctic P12 was the quietest fan by a considerable margin with slightly higher teperatures. No whine or other additional noises were noted. Resonances below 50% PWM were not checked.
Scythe Wonder Snail was annoyingly loud at 100% PWM. Several resonance ranges were noted: 72-73% PWM high pitched resonance, 77-80% PWM lower pitched resonance, 82-86% PWM higher pitched resonance returns, at 87% PWM – 2089 RPM the resonance ceases with increasing fan air noise.
Scythe Kaze Flex Black (air flow focused) had less air noise than the Thermalright with a very slight hum at 100% PWM.
With both counter-rotating Scythe fans the chipset fan did not spin up. The chipset fan did not seem to add any appreciable noise when activated.
The Wonder Snail was substantially quieter at the reduced fan speed. Temperatures barely changed.
The two Be Quiet! fans were indistinguishable in sound level or quality from each other. At high speeds there was the sound of air movement but no hard edge to the sound.
I noted the SW Pro 4 to be silent at 40% PWM – 1369 RPM. Both fan are much easier on the ears at RPM exceeding 2000 versus the Wonder Snail.
My initial fan testing on the Thermalright Silver Soul 135 was about determining the maximum cooling performance each fan was able to provide on this cooler. However, after my initial testing of the Scythe Wonder Snail, I felt that fans with higher RPM limits were being treated unfairly as to their noise output when compared in particular, against the Noctua A12x25. The A12x25 has a specified maximum fan speed of 2000 RPM. When mounted on the Silver Soul 135 my sample A12x25 maximum RPM was 2045. I decided going forward that fans with a higher RPM limit will be tested both at 100% PWM as well as at the individual fan’s lower PWM setting that matches the maximum RPM of the A12x25 or other most appropriate fan choice on other coolers. This was a timely decision as I just obtained the Be Quiet! Silent Wings Pro 4 and Silent Wings 4 High-Speed fans both with higher RPM limits and have added them to the testing spreadsheet.
I swapped the column order from the initial spreadsheet of the Scythe fans to place the two different fan speed columns of the Wonder Snail side by side.
The Be Quiet! fans’ build quality is as solid as any fan I have tested and I am pleased with their overall quality. The SW4 High Speed has a maximum RPM specification of 2500 – I noted a maximum RPM of 2454 on my sample, the SW Pro 4 has a maximum RPM specification of 3000 – I noted a maximum RPM of 2743 – within spec but slower than some seeking maximum RPM would want.
As the Be Quiet! fans are new I added some additional information:
SW Pro 4 has a three position switch on the rear of the fan that can be set for maximum speeds of 1600, 2500 and 3000 RPM respectively.
Both fans have fan stop at zero % PWM.
The SW4 High Speed required a minimum of 16% PWM to start at 440 RPM.
The SW Pro 4 in Ultra High Speed mode also started at 16% PWM at 600 RPM.
Both fans sit a couple of millimeters higher (with either of the included corner mounts) than some of the other 120mm fans when mounted in the Silver Soul 135 and I do not believe they will fit on this CPU cooler in the Lazer 3D LZX-10 as it has exactly 135mm of cooler height clearance. See my posting on the LZX-10 regarding Silver Soul 135 CPU cooler fan fitment in this case.
Aorus X570 ITX MB; Ryzen 7 4750G; 32 GB Corsair LPX 3200 RAM;
Evga 3060Ti XC Graphics Card – Self Regulated
Thermalright Silver Soul 135 CPU Cooler
Noctua NT-H1 Thermal Paste
CPU-Z Stress Test & Unigine Valley Ultra Settings for 10 minutes
Room Temp 21C;
CPUID HWMonitor Readings:
CPU Cooler Fan 120mm | TL-C12Pro-G 25mm | Noctua A12x25 | Arctic P12 | Scythe Kaze Flex Black | Scythe Wonder Snail | Scythe Wonder Snail 84% | BQ! Silent Wings 4 HS | BQ! Silent Wings 4 HS 80% | BQ! Silent Wings Pro 4 | BQ! Silent Wings Pro 4 68% |
TZ 10 Temp Sensor Max | 16.8 | 16.8 | 16.8 | 16.8 | 16.8 | 16.8 | 16.8 | 16.8 | 16.8 | 16.8 |
PC 10 Temp Sensor Max | 16.8 | 16.8 | 16.8 | 16.8 | 16.8 | 16.8 | 16.8 | 16.8 | 16.8 | 16.8 |
System 1 Max | 49 | 48 | 51 | 47 | 46 | 46 | 49 | 49 | 49 | 49 |
CPU Max | 70 | 68 | 71 | 68 | 68 | 68 | 68 | 70 | 69 | 69 |
PCIEX16 Max | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 |
VRM Max | 44 | 44 | 47 | 44 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 46 | 44 | 45 |
CPU Fan Max RPM | 1901 | 2045 | 1790 | 1642 | 2327 | 84% 2070 | 2454 | 80% 2076 | 2743 | 68% 2057 |
Chipset Fan Max RPM | 3590 | 3924 | 4470 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4166 | 4299 | 4192 | 4192 |
CPU Pkg Max Temp | 70.3 | 68.5 | 71 | 68.4 | 68.8 | 68.8 | 68.8 | 70.5 | 69 | 69.9 |
CPU Pkg Max Wattage | 74.74 | 73.69 | 73.62 | 73.32 | 74.1 | 74.28 | 73.81 | 74.07 | 74.95 | 73.99 |
NVMe Top 980 Pro Temp | 52 | 51 | 56 | 47 | 43 | 45 | 54 | 55 | 53 | 55 |
GPU Max Temp | 62.8 | 61.5 | 62.3 | 61.4 | 61.6 | 61.6 | 62.1 | 62 | 62.6 | 62.3 |
GPU Hot Spot Max Temp | 73.8 | 72.5 | 73.5 | 72.8 | 73 | 72.7 | 73.4 | 73.3 | 73.9 | 74.1 |
GPU Max Wattage | 172.81 | 168.96 | 172.81 | 172.85 | 169.41% | 169.22 | 168.9 | 169.53 | 175.15 | 173.85 |
GPU Fan Max RPM | 66% 1771 1780 | 65% 1707 1705 | 67% 1764 1759 | 65% 1720 1719 | 66% 1723 1725 | 65% 1717 1721 | 66% 1763 1756 | 66% 1741 1748 | 66% 1768 1768 | 66% 1749 1752 |
DBA Sound Level | 49.1 | 44.7 | 42.7 | 46.7 | 51 | 45 | 49.5 | 45.3 | 51.7 | 44.3 |
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