I've been using my XIGMATEK Dark Knight II S11283v for over 5 years now with great results. This is the older version, without the ceramic coating. It came with a single fan that is now beginning to creek. I'm taking this as a sign that its time to invest in a replacement fan.
I think the specs for the stock fan are:
1000-2200 RPM
89.45 CFM
30.1 dBA (Max.)
I'm currently running my 2500k at 4.6GHz at around 65°c at max. I'm wondering if I'm going to see the same kind of cooling performance from something like a Corsair SP120 Quiet or High Performance Edition. I'm mainly looking at these for the aesthetics, but I'd also like to get something thats not so loud as the current fan makes twice the noise of any of the others in my case. Would either of these be any good though?
Either way, does anyone have any suggestions otherwise? I'd preffer something black. If it HAS to have LEDs I'd also preffer blue to match the rest of my case. Otherwise, I'm just looking for something that is going to perform without sounding like a loose tire or jet engine.
Yeah tbhe Corsair fans are indeed great, they are silent and have a long lifespan. Something else worth to take a look at for high performance and quietness are the phanteks fans, and then i mean the more expensive line. They dont have a usually preffered color scheme but they are really great in terms of performance.
Yeah I can;t seem to find any of the high end Phantek heatsink fans on their own. I see case fins but I don't think thats right.
But yeah they are kinda blah. Speaking of blah... I've heard Noctua fans are unparalleled but god are they uggie. I know its shallow, but I don't want to be reminded of that one time I ordered from the taco truck everytime I glance over at my case.
Yeah, the three top performing static pressure fans right now seem to be the Corsair SP120 Performance, Noctua NF-F12, and Scythe Gentle Typhoon. They all have very similar performance (Noctua comes out on top, followed by the Corsair, and then the Scythe), but the Corsair Performance edition is a bit louder than the other two. You could always get the Quiet version, but it's not going to perform as well.
I have four Corsair SP120 Performance fans in my rig going at full blast all the time. They are a little loud, but they're not unbearable. Not to mention that you'll only be using one instead of four, so it should be significantly quieter than what I'm used to hearing. If you don't want to deal with the extra noise and you don't want the eye sore that Noctua fans create, then I would suggest getting an 1850 RPM version of the Gentle Typhoon.
I have SP120 quiet editions and an EVO 212. They're giving me 70C on my 930 @ 4ghz, compare that to something closer to 80C when i was using a single CM stock fan. They rock is my point, the quiet editions are also whisper quiet (and are cheaper than noctuas ^^)
That is true, but the Performance Editions have almost three times the static pressure, which will give you even better temperatures. Not to mention that you could always run them with a fan controller (there is a sweet spot RPM between the quite edition RPMs and the performance edition RPMs according to the reviews I've read).
I think I'm deffinitely going with the Corsair High Performance option. Do you guys know if the voltage regulater it comes with will be good enough or is there something else you'd recommend?
The voltage regulator might be good enough, but I would personally much rather have a fan controller. You can customize your speed to noise ratio a lot better that way.
I ran two Corsair sp120 high performance in a push pull config on my heatsink. I just replaced them with Swiftech Helix 120s. Quieter, way cheaper, same temps as the corsairs.