I have had a couple fans in my rig die over the past few months and was looking at the Corsair SP 120's. I noticed that they come in two flavors, High performance and Quiet. I was wondering if anybody has any experience with these fans and can help me decide if I should do High Performance all the way through or only use High Performance SP 120's on my 360 Rad and go with the Quiet SP 120's in the rest of the case. I am most interested in the noise levels of both of these fans because my computer sits right next to me at my desk. Thanks in advance.
I personally dont like the performance fans because of the noise but they perform okay even if they are loud. Your computer temps really is the main factor and how your going to use them is very important. So more info, please. Is it a rad or case fans? What? I like cougars for case fans. Cheap solid fan but prefer a highend on my cpu coolers.
I was thinking of definitely using high performance ones on my radiator but wasn't sure if I should use the high performance ones as case fans. 2 in the front, 2 in the side, one in the back.
The high performance ones are loud! Sitting at idle, they're close to silent, but once they speed up I want to punch my case. Despite that, I love them, they work really well. I would recommend you go with HP on your rad and quiet ones elsewhere, that's how my case is set up and I'm pretty happy.
The High Performance and Quiet are actually the same fans. That is to say, the actual design is the same. The difference is the RPM. Quiet fans have their RPM capped lower than the HPs, which reduces the noise level under load, but also means they push less air. You can simply use a speed control system (fan controller or a program) to get the same quiet results from the HPs by capping their RPM.
Corsair actually recommend their "Air" series fans for case ventilation, and the Air are also quieter - just don't use them on the rad.
I'll just do my "fanboy" bit now and tell you to buy Noctuas, because they will give you the airflow you need and remain quiet. However, they're expensive, so feel free to ignore that completely and go with the Corsairs which are good fans and will do the job.