What's your pick for the best/quietest case fans of all sizes?

[Sean_actually]

BitFenix Spectre 120mm 1000RPM Fan

By far the lowest RPM and lowest air flow of all the fans in my possession. It's quiet, but it has an obvious tick. The frame construction feels cheap as well. I would not recommend this fan to anyone at any price.



Scythe SY1225SL12LM 120mm 1300RPM Fan

Scythe Slipstreams are very popular and with good reason. This fan has a very low frequency hum and seems fairly quiet to me. It moves quite a bit of air in an unrestricted environment as well. I hear a slight tick when it initially spun up but it sounds like it only occurs at the lowest possible RPM. Construction quality is average or above average. This fan used to sell for <$10, but its popularity has pushed it closer to $13-15. I think that makes it an okay value.



Yate Loon D12SL-12 120mm 1300RPM Fan from (Jab-Tech - 709)

This is a sample of one of the infamous 'bad' Yate Loons that were floating around most of the global resellers a couple of years ago. The Yate Loons you can buy today should all be of consistent quality, unlike this sample. It moves an okay amount of air for a 1300RPM fan, but less than the Slipstream. The Slipstream is technically louder, but the Yate Loon has a horrendous tick. It feels light and brittle in my hand like the BitFenix Spectre. 'Good' Yate Loons are ~$4 at specialty online computer shops...Would I recommend them? Probably. Would I recommend this 'bad' one? Of course not.



Scythe S-FLEX SFF21E 120mm 1200RPM Fan

Scythe S-FLEX fans used to be a favorite among silence freaks. This fan has a slightly audible buzz to it at max RPM. It is significantly quieter than the Slipstream, but moves a bit less air. Frame construction is very good, the frame does not flex one bit. The Kama Flow 2s replaced the S-FLEXes in Scythe's line-up and are significantly quieter. Maybe in the future I'll record one of them, but for now you'll have to take my word for it.



Noctua NF-P12 120mm 1300RPM Fan

Noctua has a good reputation among silence freaks thanks to the P12 (and the S12B). From the video you can tell the P12 holds its own compared to other 1300RPM models. It moves slightly more air than the 1200RPM S-FLEX with a more pleasing tonal quality. The frame feels fairly solid, though not quite as good as the S-FLEX. This fan is 'quiet enough' for most people and readily available. It's a bit on the expensive side at $20-25, so I'm not as enthusiastic about my recommendation as I could be.



Noctua NF-F12 120mm 1500RPM Fan

I really wanted this fan to perform well, but the results speak for themselves. This fan does spin at faster RPM than the P12 but it also doesn't seem to move that much more air. Is it me or does it also sound a bit 'rough?' Like a vacuum cleaner or I guess more like the blower style fans on a GPU. The stators help just a tiny bit in focusing air flow, but that's not a good enough reason to choose the F12 over the P12. Construction quality is consistent with the P12...well above average, but not as good as the Scythe S-FLEX.



Scythe Gentle Typhoon D1225C1B4AP-14 120mm 1450RPM Fan

Ah, the legendary Nidec servo based Scythe Gentle Typhoon. This fan is remarkably efficient. Look at that .049A@12V rating...it actually uses less than that, closer to .04A. Take a look at how long it keeps spinning after I cut off the power supply. Tonal quality is decent, but it sounds slightly metallic doesn't it? Air flow is decent, roughly the same as the 1200RPM S-FLEX, but more focused and therefore more static pressure. Build quality is exemplary, the best of the bunch. The fan blades are so thick and the blade edges are rounded! The frame itself is tanklike and fits like a glove around the impeller. The AP-14 1450RPM model is good, but the noise/CFM ratio doesn't come into its own until you move up to the AP-15 1850RPM model. These are up to $20 and never in stock anywhere. I recommend these fans to people who plan on running their fans at full blast. They'll definitely be quieter than other >1400RPM fans.



Scythe S-FLEX SFF21F 120mm 1600RPM

The 1600RPM version of the S-FLEX sounds a bit better to me than the 1200RPM model. At this point the woosh of air is overpowering the very slight buzz from the motor. This fan produces very good noise/CFM by my standards. Unfortunately since this line of fans is discontinued, I can't give it a recommendation.



Antec TriCool 120mm Fan 2000RPM High Setting

At 2000RPM, this fan moves more air than any other sample in my assorted box of fans. It also has a fairly high pitched, rough tone to it, but honestly anybody who wants this amount of airflow is going to have to put up with similar levels of noise. It does tick at lower RPM and frame construction is average.



Antec TriCool 120mm Fan 1600RPM Medium Setting
At 1600RPM, the TriCool still has a fairly rough tone, but it's not really loud either. Unfortunately it also moves quite a bit less air than the S-FLEX does at 1600RPM even if it is slightly quieter. These fans are okay and are literally available anywhere. If you don't have access too anything else and don't want to buy fans online, I guess these would be okay. The included 3-speed switch might be considered a nice bonus for those without proper fan controllers.



Silverstone RL4Z S1202512LIW-3M 120mm 1200RPM Fan (Globe Fan)

This fan came with my Silverstone FT02. It has dimpled impeller blades and a fairly decent construction. Unfortunately it moves less air than all but the BitFenix Spectre 1000RPM. The fan produces a slight motor whirr, but also a louder pulsing/switching noise. If not for that it would produce a passable noise/CFM ratio.



OCZ AD1212DX-A7BGL 120mm 1500RPM Fan (Adda)

The first thing I noticed about this fan was its bearing noise from low to medium RPM on initial startup. At max RPM it sounds a lot like the 1600RPM S-FLEX, but pushes less air. In terms of airflow it is comparable to the pair of Noctuas. Frame construction is decent, not great. If the bearing was less growly at lower RPM, it would be a much better fan. These fans are found on a lot of retail heatsinks, but not really sold individually, so I wouldn't be able to recommend them even if I wanted to.

The best possible reply I could hope for. Truly an example of thoroughness.

[Shiveron]

Im a big fan of the typhoons myself, but I have been using some bitfenix spectre pro's lately and they've been pretty nice. They're a tad bit louder than the regular spectres but the airflow and construction are 100x better. I would never recommend a regular spectre to somebody.

[Berserker Cronus]

I've become partial to Cougar fans after using them for the last couple months. I have four in my Fractal R3 (2 120mm front intake and 2 top 140mm outputs) and they're a vast improvement to the cruddy Cooler Master R4 and Gelid FN-XS12-10 fans I replaced. Though they are a bit louder than the Gelids, the 120mm version pushes a great deal more air, and have dropped my HDD temperatures a few degrees. With the 140mm models replacing the CM exhausts temperatures went down, even after removing the side intake and rear exhaust. One of the most notable improvements is vibration. Using the rubber mounts included with the Cougars, my case no longer shakes like it did with the CMs. Though I may not have the most informed opinion going from budget and silent to performance fans, I still recommend the brand for whatever my input is worth.

[Gamer2k1]

I've got 12 of them in my current case the Corsair 800d, Crusader Cronus, the Cougar Fans and love them, push alot of air and I wouldn't say they are loud or quiet but probally the best 120mm fans I've used in awhile.

[Deleted]

Nice to see both the Slipstream and the Typhoon fans are looking good here, both will be in my next build