The other day I did an upgrade on my H100i, from the standard SP120 fans that came with it to some SP120 Quiet edition fans, hoping that they would be quieter and perform about the same as far as temperatures. Today while playing Skyrim, however, I noticed they make the same amount of actual noise as the standard fans, only it's a different type of noise. While the old one's had a whirring noise, these have a slightly more subtle noise that, off the top of my head, kind of sound like what happens when you put clothing or something over the heating vents in a house. Hopefully that analogy was recognizable.
The only difference in my case between before and now is these fans, and I was previously using them as pull/intakes and now I'm using these new ones as pull/exhausts. Maybe I'm doing something wrong but it seems that the old standard SP120s are quieter than these new fans?
Well all fans make noise when they ramp up, some are more quiet than others. I dont know much aout the SP120's but when I bought new fans for my case and compared just pure specs I saw that the NF-F12's where quieter than the SP120 quiet edt and moved more air than the performance edition, I don't know how they did that, but I can vouch for noctua fans. I think since you basically replaced the fans with almost the same that is the reason for the lack of noise reduction that you are exeperiencing. you could also try the new fans in the setup with your radiator that you used with your old fans and see if the noise is still the same. but I think alot of people who replace their stock fans when buying the H100i buy Noctua's, they might be more expensive but they are the best.
I personally have the SP120 performance edition. They are pretty much silent for me upto 7v after this you can hear something and at max they are loud.
Using fan controller and temp sensors I have mine at around 5v normally, they still move air well trhough my Rad. highest I have them go is 8v or something.
In the end it depends on the speed you are running them at.
Can I ask what fan controller you're using currently? Right now the two fans in question are plugged directly into the H100i, but Corsair Link to my knowledge doesn't have any kind of voltage control.
That actually makes a ton of sense, I guess I was just hoping for a huge difference between the two. While I do like Noctua, I still can't see it in me to accept them due to the color scheme/price. I know in the end performance beats aesthetics, but nonetheless the SP120 fans look better(imo). The Blue/White/Black color scheme I have will clash with the terracotta(?) coloring Noctua clings onto. However I may end up going that route due to the performance/silence that I am so desperately wanting.
There's little difference between fans. I don't think you will notice much difference in switching the Corsair SPs to an alternative.
You're better off using a fan utility or controller. I just use Fan Xpert 2 (ASUS motherboard utility). It made a noticeable improvement in acoustic performance with all if my fans. The fans are mostly inaudible now.
I'm uncertain, but you might have to forgo the Link software. There could be alternatives, but I am unfamiliar with AIO units. Simply plug the fans on the H100i directly into the CPU fan headers and try and control them that way. It should resolve the issue, but it's probably not your preferred configuration.