Very small correction: the price for Lian Li's triple fan kit varies from $65 to $75 USD, while the side RGB kit sticks to $20. So the price at 4:09 should read $65 - $75 while the price at 5:58 should be $85 - $95.
Have you considered adding some real manufacturers fans to test? Personally (and i believe large and growing part of PC community will agree) I'm tired of unnecessary feature creep to keep pushing prices up. 20$ was already high price for so old and such mass produced tech, price at which I'd expect years of usage in mild home conditions unfortunately for many products it is not the case. Now 30$ and 40$ fans are being shoved on us filled with argb or some gimmicks with dubious vale for end user. Most of these companies are just middle men ordering design from industrial oem's. Maybe it's time to defend our $ and skip them. San Ace, Sunon, Panaflo, Papst, Delta these are names you could look for and compare them against all that "pc gamur race" marketing. You can find models ranged 15-25$. They have no unnecessary bling and are designed to last years. The only problem is being industrial aimed products you need to buy few as if you want single pcs price is crap.
The 1800-2000 RPM thing is a non issue. Anyone running their fans at 2000RPM should be expecting that fan to make a LOT more noise than that one is, and 95% of users wont ever pass 1500rpm anyway.
@@MsabResearch honestly I cant say, because I did the upgrade at the same time when I switched motherboard and cpu 5950X to 7800X3D. But I could immediately tell there is a lot more airflow at low-medium rpm/noise compared to my previous fans: Arctic P12 (non max). Just by holding my hand in front of the radiator
We're working on that currently but the bottleneck is coming up with a way to show actual acoustic comparisons without causing the video to run WAY over time.
I was worried about the buzzsaw noise but I bought a 3 pack (with the ARGB kit of course) and snapped them together daisy chained for intakes at the bottom of my O11 Dynamic EVO. I could not reproduce the noise from 1800-2000 RPM when they were mounted this way. HOWEVER, when simply running the fan sitting on a vineered particle board ikea desk, the buzzsaw noise is mildly audible and seems amplofied by the desk. Snapping 3 of them together and running them the same way eliminates the noise for some reason. Running single fans (not snapped together) screwed into the O11D Evo also does not produce this noise.
We've got the methodologies for 140mm fans in the works as we speak and we'll likely get into those in early 2024. As for slim fans, its been requested a few times now and there are some excellent products in that category coming later this year so perhaps that might be the time we dive into it.
I have my phanteks nv7 case loaded up with D30 fans, and I am completely satisfied with both the looks, performance and noise levels that they produce.
@@ragtop63 There are normal fans and reverse fans, when using them with their intended direction, they all look the same, the sticker on the hub is plain silver, which looks fine to me.
@@ragtop63 Google "Phanteks Store" it'll come up as the first results, go to the fans section and the D30's are available in regular and reverse, single and 3 pack.
I would love to see the Thermaltake Toughfan 12, 12 Turbo, and 12 Pro all tested! They look great and also have a LCP design while being really inexpensive.
I bought these and used them for more than a month. My pc had 3 p28s and 3 T30s. The p28s where loud af, the loudest fans i have ever owned. They were incredibly loud above 42-45% speed (1200rpm). The T30s ran silent compared to the p28s all the way up to 75-80% (1700-1800rpm). The p28s moved tons of air but I couldnt handle the noise. I already returned them and will probably get more T30s. Keep in mind I own a lian li o11 vision and I do think the proximity to the side glass (p28s were mounted at the bottom as intake) helped them run lowder. The T30s also ran lowder in that position but nowhere near as loud anyways.
Why most reviewers testing with noise normalized but not temp normalized? I would think most want to go as silent as possible, within a given max. temperature!? (Edited out typos)
What’s really weird about them is although the frame is 28mm thick the fan blades are pretty much the same thickness as your average 25mm fans. Meanwhile the T30 has fan blades that’re so thick they almost touch the hub supports. I would really like to see someone else make a fan with blades as thick as the T30 and really give it a run for its money
Probably the only 2 25-30 mm thick PC fans that truly give the T30 120 a run for it's money are the Iceberg Thermal IceGale Xtra 120 (shockingly only 25 mm) and Super Flower Megacool 120. I tested all 3 of the above plus the Arctic P12 Max and the Cooler Master Mobius OC. The Megacool is a bit ahead of the Icegale Xtra and T30 which are about tied. The Mobius OC is just slightly ahead of the P12 Max but both are in a completely lower league compared to the Icegale Xtra, T30, and Megacool. Relatively speaking, the Mobius OC and P12 Max felt like a decent breeze while the Icegale Xtra, T30, and Megacool felt like wind blasting you. These subjective findings of mine were the same regardless of the fans being used in free-air or as a case-intake (Cooler Master HAF 932 side-panel). The side-panel did make some interesting changes to each fans' sound (but that's another story).
Would rather not take any risks with the sound pitch even at lower rpms. I've had the M25 phanteks for a few weeks, dead silent, never beyond the 900 rpm under load, beautiful with rgb option yet non-reversable. Plenty of airflow, shortly behind the phanteks T30 if capped at 2000 rpm.
A single case fan costing 30$ is insane! Considering that every PC case will have at least 6 of them, it'll put you back 180. You could buy a budget CPU for that money.
Yeah, it’s very costly for a mid tower, however for SFF builds where there’s only 2 or 3 fans they have to do a lot of work, having the best fans can be really noticeable for noise to performance.
Would love a Lian Li TL fan review! There are so many variants, but I suppose doing a comparison of the 120mm non-LCD variant, since the blades are LCP. Would be awesome to compare to the P28 etc. especially in regards to the noise. I would be especially grateful for metrics on the 140mm TL non-LCD version since they are, as far as I'm aware, the only 140mm LCP fans on the market right now.
Рукопожатие через Океан! Смотрел с переводом и я восхищён вашей работой. На данный момент времени вы всё правильно говорите: "уровень шума, относительно оборотов" из всего,что я видел на UA-cam до этого ролика. Я однозначно оставлю ссылку на этот канал когда доделаю свои тесты где будет P28, если вы не против. Всех благ, буду следить за вашим каналом!
Has anybody tried building a fan with ceramic bearings? I used to race gas powered RC offroad cars and trucks. Since I raced offroad, I couldnt use ceramic bearings because of the debris introduced but the ceramic bearings have almost no kinetic rolling resistance. Spinning them will cause them to roll for ever. Seems like if a fan company could pull this off it would be revolutionary.
The noise probably comes from some turbulence caused by the very narrow gap but that is at the same time what gives you more pressure which is what you want for rads.
I love Noctua for their design philosophy of pushing for the absolute best performance possible (not to mention Noctua's unique colorway) and I have used their fans in many builds over the years and I'll probably continue using their fans for my own personal builds. But I have to say that Lian Li is really killing it with their Unifan system. I recently built a system for a friend using Lian Li's O11 Dynamic Mini case and he wanted it loaded up with the fancy Lian Li Infinity fans for maximum RGB and, damn, they're really nice. Even if you aren't in to the RGB aesthetic, you have to admit that the Infinity accents on the center and edges of the fan is a cool design. But looks aside, the fans also well-balanced performance for both airflow and static pressure applications and the Unifan system is by far the most convenient and well thought out daisy chain system to work with as a PC builder. I hope Noctua is taking notes on it.
I bought the Arctic P12 MAX thanks to your review and they had defect with insane noise/hum/grinding at lower RPM. I was sent replacement...TWICE and had same issues and currently I am ghosted. You could set them to higher RPM, but that completely ditches the reason to buy the fans. ...these look cool, once again, but I can't get burned once again. I'm stuck with those Arctic fans :-/
I completely understand and I'll be honest we actually bought another 12 Max fans and couldn't replace the issue some folks were reporting. There's really no way to know if the problems were affecting certain batches or certain regions . :(
@@HardwareCanucks Its good to know that it was only the first run I guess. Too bad I got replacements out of said batch each time :D Your videos are still amazing regardless.
Great fan. Good air flow. Perform superb both on air and rad... But they have a terrible sound on pull config, wich you dont find on a12x25, pro 4 and t30
You actually have to divide the pwm signal by 3 to get the proper readout the software just needs to have a option for daisy chain and then you just put in a number and it divides the RPM value by the daisy chain number
Edit: HC clarified my confusion in their response. ------------ What am I missing that you have different results for the same fans in the same tests between different videos? Like how does the Wonder Snail show a result of 80.6 degrees here in a 36 dba noise normalized air cooler test, but in your P12 Max review the WS showed a result of 86 degrees in that same test when noise normalized to 39dba? Wouldnt the higher dba mean its running faster and temps would most likely be lower if anything? It's also 72.3 degrees vs 82 degrees between those two videos with the same two air cooler tests at 100% speed, and ambient is listed as being the same. Am I missing something?
This is correct and explained in this video. We've since updated our methodology to give more consistent results. That resulted in less fans being included in this video. Since we haven't retested all of them. It also goes to show how slight changes in methodologies can impact overall standings of any product.
Technically no. You can see the updated methodology link in the description. The changes weren't extreme but nonetheless important for us to do as we build out more tests over time.
@@HardwareCanucksOh ok, that makes sense. My fault as I misinterpreted that part of the video thinking it meant the change was specific to AIO testing. Thanks for clarifying.
No problem. Truth be told you might find some variance from one video to another before this as well. That's because, due to variables that have now been eliminated we used to retest EVERY fan... All the time
@@HardwareCanucks Good lord, didn't realize it was that much going into each of these videos, as with my ignorance I generally assumed it was just each new subject fan being tested in the same previously-used setup, then added to the chart. I know we all appreciate the effort; the fan testing is my favorite content on the channel so keep up the good work.
Eventually, yes. Setting up consistent testing for them has been more challenging than we initially predicted since we can't use our current 120mm airflow testing setup.
I feel like recessed screw holes should be an industry standard, when I mounted arctic fans (P14 iirc) in the bottom of my Lian Li 216 the long screws that came with either the fan or the case were just a few mm short and I had to drill the little nub that is actually the opposite of what it really should be for build compatibility (the frame is recessed and the hole is proud) and would cost them basically nothing.
Have you had any issues with bearing noise at certain RPM points? We've heard reports of problems but after testing 14 of them, we've yet to encounter anything.
I bought 10, P12 Max fans for my recent custom loop: The P12 Max have a grinding noise when the fans start and, despite having a MoBo minimum speed above 30%, shortly after I log in to Windows (before FanControl software kicks in). After FC starts no issues with noise. @@HardwareCanucks
P12 Max is an absolutely absurd deal and I'm not really sure I'd get anything else on the market at this point. @@HardwareCanucksI've got 3 installed in my primary machine and haven't noticed bearing noise. One of the fans developed a random rattle type sound that isn't very loud and most of the time doesn't happen at all (only times I've noticed is at idle which is around 1300 RPM). This could potentially be bearing related, but unless it gets more consistent I can't say for sure.
@@HardwareCanucksI bought a set of 5 of the p12max a month ago and they all had annoying noise. 2 of them had a rattle and 3 of them had hum between 800rpm and 1200rpm
Would like to see the new Antec Storm T3 120x30mm and 140x30mm fans tested. They're very cheap and a few small independent reviewers have shown very very good numbers for them. I picked up three 140x30's for $30, which is an absolute steal.
I come from the mentality that no one's testing is better. Every approach has its benefits and pitfalls and it's why I always, always recommend that people watch multiple videos and / or read multiple articles about whatever they want to buy. - Mike
@@HardwareCanucks I love your stuff, was just kidding. Awesome testing, great authentic personalities, thorough thoughtful testing and beautiful shots. 👏
Next time can you test a 360mm radiator? I feel like on a 120mm fan radiator the difference is much bigger than using a 3 fan setup because you relay on 3 stages to cool down the coolant rather than only 1. I'm asking because the Arctic fan are rated low on single CFM but the Liquid freeze 280/360 AIO coolers they perform exceptionally well and swapping the fans qith a lian li 28p for example won't make a huge difference compared to a 120mm AIO. Also it's pretty rare to see people using 120mm AIO, the 240mm ones are far more common on people builds
I would also like to note that my z790 master can spin them as slow as 320rpm. Not sure if they’ve been revised or my motherboard just has a really good fan controller
Very fascinating video. Can't help but thinking about CPU coolers after watching this. I noticed you love the IS-55. But unfortunately the ram blockage is a severe problem with this cooler. To me it seems the IS-67-XT keeps evertrhing the same as the 55 but sacrifices height to prevent the overhang. Idk if it was in your plans already or maybe you figured the 67 doesnt beat the 55 but it would be amazing if you could make a video comparing the IS 67, 47, and 55? And maybe some other newer cpu coolers? Or if you see this if you could reply that would be epic as well!
No we can't since every case will have slight variances that will change the fans' acoustical spectrums. Testing with the fans mounted to a case introduces too many variables.
We always give manufacturers a right to reply. Always. We even delay videos (eg: Assassin IV, HS80 MAX and Arctic P12 Max to name a few) if discussions with the manufacturer about our concerns are still ongoing. However, after a number of follow ups, there weren't any forthcoming responses in this case.
Yh I'm not trusting these fans at all. Idk y your fans run at 800rpm minimum but other early reviews of this fan from over 3 months ago had them running lower rpm and their were major issues of bearing noise. I'm thinking maybe because of this issue they've now changed it to run at a minimum of 800rpm which is unexpectable. Also the fact that they measure the fan blade distance between the frame at 0.6mm but yet are more tighter than noctua afx25 & noctua did mention at the time of release of their fans that this was the absolute closest possible distance they could go without the blade warping in years to come and end up hitting the frame. I'd pick noctuas years of testing their fans rather than lian li jumping on the liquid crystal polymer hype with probably 1 year of testing after they saw the success of the t30's.
Would it be possible to consider reviewing the Thermalright TL-C12C, the ultrabudget option...I'd like to see how they compare to the others in the line-up.
I love my t30 fans paired with phanteks t30 aio,excellent perfomance and sound and because i also like lian li all my pc components are in a lian li lancool iii,easily one of the best cases...
Great review as usual. Still surprises me that other big channels like LTT (Noctua fans) and J2Cents (kinda Lian Li fans) completely ignore the Phanteks T30, wich still is the best.
J2Cents is only interested in RGB fans, that's why he uses Lian Li fans. As for LTT, they're sponsored by Noctua, so will always ignore competitors and make paid reviews.
How about reviewing the Lian Li AL120 V2 that has a 28mm frame with fan blade RGBs.. and possibly the new Corsair QX120 to see if performance correlates with the price tag on them.
do people actually run fans at 2k rpm in general? my fans almost never go above 1k with all of my temps staying below 70c under load. usually around 55c
*You didn't tell how much air is being moved with each setting; this is very important, as RPM doesn't equal how much air is being moved, nor does it measure efficiency.*
I agree that for the price Lian Li should include the RGB or reduce the cost $15.00 and ship with no RGB. Either way the RGB should be included for that price.
@HardwareCanucks Can you please check out the newer Phantom spirit 120 Evo, and TL-k12 fans? Nobody seems to be reviewing them despite how crazy good the peerless assassin was.
So I'm really torn between setting my new case up with RGB fans (Lian Li AL120 V2) or something like this or the T30 that can push much more air at a higher RPM. I'm just wondering if it's worth sacrificing my desire for RGB heaven to have extra airflow.
Limit the max speed to 1800rpm, its still pretty damn fast and strong for that. I dont run my fans above 1500 rpm for max loads and they still provide good cooling. 1800rpm is plenty.
I'll take the D-30 120! Phanteks rules. Don't have to pay extra for RGB, either. If you want RGB the cost goes upto $46 per fan ----- $16 more than the D-30.
Sure. Due to our revised testing setup, we can more consistently achieve 36 decibels. So we have chosen to use that since a lot of people also mentioned that 39 decibels was on the louder side and we agree. Also, some of the upcoming fans that we want to test this year actually top out under 39 decibels so the move was very necessary for that as well.
For me the Arctic P12 Max still is the clear winner. And I own a set of Phantek T30s - which you won't want to operate at super high speeds out of noise concerns.
a bit pricey for fdb bearing fan compared to t30 magnetic bearing.. it gave you a bit convenience though not sure if it's worth it. t30 and noctuas have steep price because they were made to last while having good performance.
I would very much like testing at lower rpm too, maybe at 20, 25 and 30 db. 36 db only is way too much in my opinion. I want silent fans, not less noisy 😉
I know I'm late to the show, but I feel like PC case fan reviews in general focus too much on 120mm fans. I myself have 5 140mm fans in my build and would love a round up of the bigger brother in the case fans family.
I have six in push/pull on the Galahad II Performance to cool my 5900X. Coming from the original Galahad and SL10 V1s, I saw a 10°+ drop at idle, and about 15° under load. I forgot to take the plastic off of the cold plate, and it stayed under 72° in a Cinebench loop. The noise isn't bad for me, but have a high noise floor. I'm really happy with the new version of my build
Have you ever thought about testing pressure? I know you have real world testing which helps, but CFM as a metric tends to mean little compared to their ability to push into something, instead of blowing into nothing.
In a video you said that the mobius 120 oc was the best of all at 36db and now it turns out that it is not even in the top because of your new methodology, does that mean then that this is real now? or the above was the real thing
Results and positioning can and will change based on methodology sadly. However unless a major issue is found or we find a way to significantly give more consistent results across a wider band of products, things won't change. I'm confident in saying the evolution towards what we currently use since this review started will be carried through 2024.
Never heard of them. But then again there are dozens, if not hundreds of companies that simply rebrand fans and other components from large manufacturers in China.
@@HardwareCanucks there's some interesting (read controversial) reviews coming out about this fan so I'm quite curious about your review on the fan if its happening :D
Noticed that noise immediately.. kinda sucks these would have been amazing otherwise. I Wonder if the sound changed at all when it was on the radiator?
For T30 competitors, am curious how the Super Flower Megacool would stack up. Got some free alongside a Leadex VII PSU I got on Newegg. They're pushing out a lot more air than my P12 Max. But I don't have a T30 to compare against.
I love the uni fans but I have been using them exclusively and spent so much on them since they come out I really need to give them a brake and play with something ells the next couple builds
Any word on the alphacool apex stealth metal fans? I know they are to release in October/ November of this year but I'm hoping you guys are given an early preview
@@HCGonzalezJr87 Yea, the perform as expected is the biggest thing. What I've gathered so far from UA-cam and reddit by official alphacool accounts, is that they should release in both black and white by November. Possibly October. There are 140mm fans coming next year at some point. The speculation/ what I've also heard is that they will have a chrome version of the fans and they will cost $30 for a single fan
I'd still go with P12 Max or good old Gentle Typhoons over that. You wouldn't want to run any of the fans form this comparison faster than 2000 RPM anyway.
800 RPM ist just crazy. i went for a oversized ALF II 280 running at every load under 500RPM. i even dont need the stronger arctic fan and took the included RGB instead for more nice fps. there is not much argument against a arctic.
![NOCTUA Давай ДО СВИДАНИЯ [ PHANTEKS PH-F120T30 ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/JjYtJi9YJ7s/mqdefault.jpg)
Very small correction: the price for Lian Li's triple fan kit varies from $65 to $75 USD, while the side RGB kit sticks to $20. So the price at 4:09 should read $65 - $75 while the price at 5:58 should be $85 - $95.
Gamers Nexus is gonna make a video about you now.
Have you considered adding some real manufacturers fans to test?
Personally (and i believe large and growing part of PC community will agree) I'm tired of unnecessary feature creep to keep pushing prices up. 20$ was already high price for so old and such mass produced tech, price at which I'd expect years of usage in mild home conditions unfortunately for many products it is not the case. Now 30$ and 40$ fans are being shoved on us filled with argb or some gimmicks with dubious vale for end user. Most of these companies are just middle men ordering design from industrial oem's. Maybe it's time to defend our $ and skip them.
San Ace, Sunon, Panaflo, Papst, Delta these are names you could look for and compare them against all that "pc gamur race" marketing.
You can find models ranged 15-25$. They have no unnecessary bling and are designed to last years. The only problem is being industrial aimed products you need to buy few as if you want single pcs price is crap.
@@sznikersindustrial fans make you deaf. its not good stuff. agree rgb is stupid. but there is noctua and its 30€ without rgb.
Mike please review for the ak620 digital?
@@MsFearco because the actually design in house
The 1800-2000 RPM thing is a non issue. Anyone running their fans at 2000RPM should be expecting that fan to make a LOT more noise than that one is, and 95% of users wont ever pass 1500rpm anyway.
My Phanteks t30 can hit 3k rpm and i think that is funny when i benchmark because it goes off like a jet engine.
Agreed, just installed 3 of these on my radiator. Big upgrade. But realistically Im never running the fans in that range.
noticed better temps too?@@HangryReviews
@@MsabResearch honestly I cant say, because I did the upgrade at the same time when I switched motherboard and cpu 5950X to 7800X3D. But I could immediately tell there is a lot more airflow at low-medium rpm/noise compared to my previous fans: Arctic P12 (non max). Just by holding my hand in front of the radiator
Thank you for the reply mate. Is the sound type also less annoying compared to the arctics, or same?@@Lawry-from-the-block
Would have been nice if you had the other premium fans to compare loudness and sound notes against each other.
We're working on that currently but the bottleneck is coming up with a way to show actual acoustic comparisons without causing the video to run WAY over time.
@@HardwareCanucks What is that new metal (?) fan that can spin super fast but is supposedly very quiet?
@@Tconl Alphacool Apex. October/November release.
It's useless anyways until tech youtubers finally ditch db as a scale of "perceived loudness" and use Sone instead.
It aint useless perse. You just need to look at it more from a number to number comparison. @@ThrashingBasskill
I was worried about the buzzsaw noise but I bought a 3 pack (with the ARGB kit of course) and snapped them together daisy chained for intakes at the bottom of my O11 Dynamic EVO.
I could not reproduce the noise from 1800-2000 RPM when they were mounted this way.
HOWEVER, when simply running the fan sitting on a vineered particle board ikea desk, the buzzsaw noise is mildly audible and seems amplofied by the desk.
Snapping 3 of them together and running them the same way eliminates the noise for some reason. Running single fans (not snapped together) screwed into the O11D Evo also does not produce this noise.
Top of the class analysis. This channel is exceptional.
The speed changes on this fan sound like they are about to drop a sick beat.
I'm sure enough people have requested 140mm fans but it might also be a good idea to test slim 120mm fans since they are quite common in SFF builds.
We've got the methodologies for 140mm fans in the works as we speak and we'll likely get into those in early 2024. As for slim fans, its been requested a few times now and there are some excellent products in that category coming later this year so perhaps that might be the time we dive into it.
I'm waiting for tests of slims, because there are still few such comparisons and tests on YT
@@HardwareCanucks when is it ready? :-)
I have my phanteks nv7 case loaded up with D30 fans, and I am completely satisfied with both the looks, performance and noise levels that they produce.
What about fans used as intake? They show the ugly sticker on the back of the fan. How do you get around that?
@@ragtop63 There are normal fans and reverse fans, when using them with their intended direction, they all look the same, the sticker on the hub is plain silver, which looks fine to me.
@@bonanzabrandon6877 Right but does the D30 come in reverse? I haven’t been able to find any info on that.
@@ragtop63 Google "Phanteks Store" it'll come up as the first results, go to the fans section and the D30's are available in regular and reverse, single and 3 pack.
@@ragtop63 It looks like the 140mm version is mostly sold out, but the 120mm are in stock.
I would love to see the Thermaltake Toughfan 12, 12 Turbo, and 12 Pro all tested! They look great and also have a LCP design while being really inexpensive.
I bought these and used them for more than a month. My pc had 3 p28s and 3 T30s. The p28s where loud af, the loudest fans i have ever owned. They were incredibly loud above 42-45% speed (1200rpm). The T30s ran silent compared to the p28s all the way up to 75-80% (1700-1800rpm). The p28s moved tons of air but I couldnt handle the noise. I already returned them and will probably get more T30s. Keep in mind I own a lian li o11 vision and I do think the proximity to the side glass (p28s were mounted at the bottom as intake) helped them run lowder. The T30s also ran lowder in that position but nowhere near as loud anyways.
That 2000 rpm whine takes me back to cooling my OC'ed K7 in the early 2000s lol.
Why most reviewers testing with noise normalized but not temp normalized? I would think most want to go as silent as possible, within a given max. temperature!?
(Edited out typos)
You guys do the best fan reviews
What’s really weird about them is although the frame is 28mm thick the fan blades are pretty much the same thickness as your average 25mm fans. Meanwhile the T30 has fan blades that’re so thick they almost touch the hub supports. I would really like to see someone else make a fan with blades as thick as the T30 and really give it a run for its money
Probably the only 2 25-30 mm thick PC fans that truly give the T30 120 a run for it's money are the Iceberg Thermal IceGale Xtra 120 (shockingly only 25 mm) and Super Flower Megacool 120.
I tested all 3 of the above plus the Arctic P12 Max and the Cooler Master Mobius OC.
The Megacool is a bit ahead of the Icegale Xtra and T30 which are about tied.
The Mobius OC is just slightly ahead of the P12 Max but both are in a completely lower league compared to the Icegale Xtra, T30, and Megacool.
Relatively speaking, the Mobius OC and P12 Max felt like a decent breeze while the Icegale Xtra, T30, and Megacool felt like wind blasting you.
These subjective findings of mine were the same regardless of the fans being used in free-air or as a case-intake (Cooler Master HAF 932 side-panel).
The side-panel did make some interesting changes to each fans' sound (but that's another story).
Would rather not take any risks with the sound pitch even at lower rpms. I've had the M25 phanteks for a few weeks, dead silent, never beyond the 900 rpm under load, beautiful with rgb option yet non-reversable.
Plenty of airflow, shortly behind the phanteks T30 if capped at 2000 rpm.
A single case fan costing 30$ is insane! Considering that every PC case will have at least 6 of them, it'll put you back 180. You could buy a budget CPU for that money.
Yeah, it’s very costly for a mid tower, however for SFF builds where there’s only 2 or 3 fans they have to do a lot of work, having the best fans can be really noticeable for noise to performance.
add £20, and you can get a 7600x!
I don’t think I’ve ever run fans higher than 1200rpm!
Ordered 6 P28’s - Thanks for the review
How are they doing? I think about ordering 6x too.
@@MiamiCon They’ve been perfect
Would love a Lian Li TL fan review! There are so many variants, but I suppose doing a comparison of the 120mm non-LCD variant, since the blades are LCP. Would be awesome to compare to the P28 etc. especially in regards to the noise. I would be especially grateful for metrics on the 140mm TL non-LCD version since they are, as far as I'm aware, the only 140mm LCP fans on the market right now.
Рукопожатие через Океан!
Смотрел с переводом и я восхищён вашей работой. На данный момент времени вы всё правильно говорите: "уровень шума, относительно оборотов" из всего,что я видел на UA-cam до этого ролика. Я однозначно оставлю ссылку на этот канал когда доделаю свои тесты где будет P28, если вы не против.
Всех благ, буду следить за вашим каналом!
Has anybody tried building a fan with ceramic bearings? I used to race gas powered RC offroad cars and trucks.
Since I raced offroad, I couldnt use ceramic bearings because of the debris introduced but the ceramic bearings have almost no kinetic rolling resistance. Spinning them will cause them to roll for ever.
Seems like if a fan company could pull this off it would be revolutionary.
The noise probably comes from some turbulence caused by the very narrow gap but that is at the same time what gives you more pressure which is what you want for rads.
I love Noctua for their design philosophy of pushing for the absolute best performance possible (not to mention Noctua's unique colorway) and I have used their fans in many builds over the years and I'll probably continue using their fans for my own personal builds. But I have to say that Lian Li is really killing it with their Unifan system. I recently built a system for a friend using Lian Li's O11 Dynamic Mini case and he wanted it loaded up with the fancy Lian Li Infinity fans for maximum RGB and, damn, they're really nice. Even if you aren't in to the RGB aesthetic, you have to admit that the Infinity accents on the center and edges of the fan is a cool design. But looks aside, the fans also well-balanced performance for both airflow and static pressure applications and the Unifan system is by far the most convenient and well thought out daisy chain system to work with as a PC builder. I hope Noctua is taking notes on it.
I bought the Arctic P12 MAX thanks to your review and they had defect with insane noise/hum/grinding at lower RPM. I was sent replacement...TWICE and had same issues and currently I am ghosted. You could set them to higher RPM, but that completely ditches the reason to buy the fans.
...these look cool, once again, but I can't get burned once again. I'm stuck with those Arctic fans :-/
I completely understand and I'll be honest we actually bought another 12 Max fans and couldn't replace the issue some folks were reporting. There's really no way to know if the problems were affecting certain batches or certain regions . :(
@@HardwareCanucks Its good to know that it was only the first run I guess. Too bad I got replacements out of said batch each time :D
Your videos are still amazing regardless.
That rattling noise at low RPM is probably due to less lubrication in the bearings. It's a QC issue.
good fans whoever needs some rgb and good performance, for the best performance/acoustics you will still want the T30
Great fan. Good air flow. Perform superb both on air and rad... But they have a terrible sound on pull config, wich you dont find on a12x25, pro 4 and t30
Can you test Alphacool Apex Stealth Metal Fan? We would like to see if you find similar results to what Igor's labs found.
You actually have to divide the pwm signal by 3 to get the proper readout the software just needs to have a option for daisy chain and then you just put in a number and it divides the RPM value by the daisy chain number
Edit: HC clarified my confusion in their response.
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What am I missing that you have different results for the same fans in the same tests between different videos?
Like how does the Wonder Snail show a result of 80.6 degrees here in a 36 dba noise normalized air cooler test, but in your P12 Max review the WS showed a result of 86 degrees in that same test when noise normalized to 39dba? Wouldnt the higher dba mean its running faster and temps would most likely be lower if anything?
It's also 72.3 degrees vs 82 degrees between those two videos with the same two air cooler tests at 100% speed, and ambient is listed as being the same. Am I missing something?
This is correct and explained in this video. We've since updated our methodology to give more consistent results. That resulted in less fans being included in this video. Since we haven't retested all of them. It also goes to show how slight changes in methodologies can impact overall standings of any product.
Technically no. You can see the updated methodology link in the description. The changes weren't extreme but nonetheless important for us to do as we build out more tests over time.
@@HardwareCanucksOh ok, that makes sense. My fault as I misinterpreted that part of the video thinking it meant the change was specific to AIO testing. Thanks for clarifying.
No problem. Truth be told you might find some variance from one video to another before this as well. That's because, due to variables that have now been eliminated we used to retest EVERY fan... All the time
@@HardwareCanucks Good lord, didn't realize it was that much going into each of these videos, as with my ignorance I generally assumed it was just each new subject fan being tested in the same previously-used setup, then added to the chart. I know we all appreciate the effort; the fan testing is my favorite content on the channel so keep up the good work.
the triple pack is $65 right now, I'm seriously thinking of it
really like the way Mike does the content , great addidtion Canucks (havent watched in a while)
will you do videos on 140mm fans too?
Eventually, yes. Setting up consistent testing for them has been more challenging than we initially predicted since we can't use our current 120mm airflow testing setup.
You could totally make your fans make music with how their tone changes based on their rpm
Would like to see you included thermaltake fans into your data set.
hell yea i want that 2600rpm jet engine experience!
I feel like recessed screw holes should be an industry standard, when I mounted arctic fans (P14 iirc) in the bottom of my Lian Li 216 the long screws that came with either the fan or the case were just a few mm short and I had to drill the little nub that is actually the opposite of what it really should be for build compatibility (the frame is recessed and the hole is proud) and would cost them basically nothing.
The last 3 PCs I built all had Artic P12 Max installed ... & they're 8 bucks on Amazon, saving $22+ per fan is a no brainer. (or they have P14)
Have you had any issues with bearing noise at certain RPM points? We've heard reports of problems but after testing 14 of them, we've yet to encounter anything.
I bought 10, P12 Max fans for my recent custom loop: The P12 Max have a grinding noise when the fans start and, despite having a MoBo minimum speed above 30%, shortly after I log in to Windows (before FanControl software kicks in). After FC starts no issues with noise. @@HardwareCanucks
@@HardwareCanucksdidn't it have something to do with the bearing not being lubricated or something alike?
P12 Max is an absolutely absurd deal and I'm not really sure I'd get anything else on the market at this point.
@@HardwareCanucksI've got 3 installed in my primary machine and haven't noticed bearing noise. One of the fans developed a random rattle type sound that isn't very loud and most of the time doesn't happen at all (only times I've noticed is at idle which is around 1300 RPM). This could potentially be bearing related, but unless it gets more consistent I can't say for sure.
@@HardwareCanucksI bought a set of 5 of the p12max a month ago and they all had annoying noise. 2 of them had a rattle and 3 of them had hum between 800rpm and 1200rpm
Would like to see the new Antec Storm T3 120x30mm and 140x30mm fans tested. They're very cheap and a few small independent reviewers have shown very very good numbers for them. I picked up three 140x30's for $30, which is an absolute steal.
As always top notch content. Do you dare say your testing is better than GN's 😁
I come from the mentality that no one's testing is better. Every approach has its benefits and pitfalls and it's why I always, always recommend that people watch multiple videos and / or read multiple articles about whatever they want to buy. - Mike
@@HardwareCanucks I love your stuff, was just kidding. Awesome testing, great authentic personalities, thorough thoughtful testing and beautiful shots. 👏
Next time can you test a 360mm radiator? I feel like on a 120mm fan radiator the difference is much bigger than using a 3 fan setup because you relay on 3 stages to cool down the coolant rather than only 1. I'm asking because the Arctic fan are rated low on single CFM but the Liquid freeze 280/360 AIO coolers they perform exceptionally well and swapping the fans qith a lian li 28p for example won't make a huge difference compared to a 120mm AIO.
Also it's pretty rare to see people using 120mm AIO, the 240mm ones are far more common on people builds
I would also like to note that my z790 master can spin them as slow as 320rpm. Not sure if they’ve been revised or my motherboard just has a really good fan controller
Very fascinating video. Can't help but thinking about CPU coolers after watching this. I noticed you love the IS-55. But unfortunately the ram blockage is a severe problem with this cooler. To me it seems the IS-67-XT keeps evertrhing the same as the 55 but sacrifices height to prevent the overhang. Idk if it was in your plans already or maybe you figured the 67 doesnt beat the 55 but it would be amazing if you could make a video comparing the IS 67, 47, and 55? And maybe some other newer cpu coolers? Or if you see this if you could reply that would be epic as well!
No one runs their fans outside the case. Test must be done inside a case to reflect realistic use. This will change the noise levels.
No we can't since every case will have slight variances that will change the fans' acoustical spectrums. Testing with the fans mounted to a case introduces too many variables.
How come in this testing the mobius seems to perform much worse than in your videp dedicated to them?
I would love to hear a response from Lian Li and see an update video from you guys to test any future revisions for this fan.
We always give manufacturers a right to reply. Always. We even delay videos (eg: Assassin IV, HS80 MAX and Arctic P12 Max to name a few) if discussions with the manufacturer about our concerns are still ongoing. However, after a number of follow ups, there weren't any forthcoming responses in this case.
@@HardwareCanucks Thanks for the reply. Glad to hear.
Scythe just started selling their Wonder Tornado & Grand Tornado 120mm fans. I hope you can review them too :)
Awesome test, thank you so much!
Yh I'm not trusting these fans at all. Idk y your fans run at 800rpm minimum but other early reviews of this fan from over 3 months ago had them running lower rpm and their were major issues of bearing noise. I'm thinking maybe because of this issue they've now changed it to run at a minimum of 800rpm which is unexpectable. Also the fact that they measure the fan blade distance between the frame at 0.6mm but yet are more tighter than noctua afx25 & noctua did mention at the time of release of their fans that this was the absolute closest possible distance they could go without the blade warping in years to come and end up hitting the frame. I'd pick noctuas years of testing their fans rather than lian li jumping on the liquid crystal polymer hype with probably 1 year of testing after they saw the success of the t30's.
Love looks of my T30 i use 3 of them for my x73. Am thinking to get 7 more T30 for my Nzxt H9 flow.
Not bad at all Mike. Great review!
Antec Storm T3 next please! Seems like a really good price point.
How about testing the Thermaltake ToughFan 12 Pro or the Valkyrie X12 Fan ARGB?
Would it be possible to consider reviewing the Thermalright TL-C12C, the ultrabudget option...I'd like to see how they compare to the others in the line-up.
I love my t30 fans paired with phanteks t30 aio,excellent perfomance and sound and because i also like lian li all my pc components are in a lian li lancool iii,easily one of the best cases...
Great review as usual. Still surprises me that other big channels like LTT (Noctua fans) and J2Cents (kinda Lian Li fans) completely ignore the Phanteks T30, wich still is the best.
J2Cents is only interested in RGB fans, that's why he uses Lian Li fans.
As for LTT, they're sponsored by Noctua, so will always ignore competitors and make paid reviews.
Phanteks still the best and BY FAR
How about reviewing the Lian Li AL120 V2 that has a 28mm frame with fan blade RGBs.. and possibly the new Corsair QX120 to see if performance correlates with the price tag on them.
do people actually run fans at 2k rpm in general? my fans almost never go above 1k with all of my temps staying below 70c under load. usually around 55c
*You didn't tell how much air is being moved with each setting; this is very important, as RPM doesn't equal how much air is being moved, nor does it measure efficiency.*
*Even at the lowest setting the Lian Li, and Phanteks are much too loud.* *SilenX fans are better all around.*
Take a look at the fans that come with the Galahad II Trinity Performance. They're basic the same fan I believe but do hit 3000 rpm.
I agree that for the price Lian Li should include the RGB or reduce the cost $15.00 and ship with no RGB. Either way the RGB should be included for that price.
Actually like the 2000rpm sound in this example
I've heard good things about the new Inwin Neptune DN120/140 pros
Now can we get a 14cm version? I'm biased against 12cm fans.
I'll stick with my cheap P12 Max. Once they come out with some RGB versions, then i'll probably upgrade
thank you!!! helped a lot!
@HardwareCanucks Can you please check out the newer Phantom spirit 120 Evo, and TL-k12 fans? Nobody seems to be reviewing them despite how crazy good the peerless assassin was.
So I'm really torn between setting my new case up with RGB fans (Lian Li AL120 V2) or something like this or the T30 that can push much more air at a higher RPM.
I'm just wondering if it's worth sacrificing my desire for RGB heaven to have extra airflow.
Great video Mike, but when we see a battle of 140mm fans? ^^
I know I know...... we're working on it
How about testing 140mm fans?
Limit the max speed to 1800rpm, its still pretty damn fast and strong for that. I dont run my fans above 1500 rpm for max loads and they still provide good cooling. 1800rpm is plenty.
Ιf P12 Max come in White and White-RGB Black-RGB at around 14$ noone can compete them.
P12 Max here in local shops cost only 6.80€.
I'll take the D-30 120! Phanteks rules. Don't have to pay extra for RGB, either. If you want RGB the cost goes upto $46 per fan ----- $16 more than the D-30.
Can you pls. do a video of a Counter Rotating Fan and mount it 3inches.
11:05 in all previous tests you gave values for 39dBA, now suddenly 36dBA? Can you explain?
Sure. Due to our revised testing setup, we can more consistently achieve 36 decibels. So we have chosen to use that since a lot of people also mentioned that 39 decibels was on the louder side and we agree. Also, some of the upcoming fans that we want to test this year actually top out under 39 decibels so the move was very necessary for that as well.
Thank you for the clarification.@@HardwareCanucks
For me the Arctic P12 Max still is the clear winner. And I own a set of Phantek T30s - which you won't want to operate at super high speeds out of noise concerns.
Exactly. Most people building custom PCs would not want to run their fans over 2000 RPM ever
a bit pricey for fdb bearing fan compared to t30 magnetic bearing.. it gave you a bit convenience though not sure if it's worth it. t30 and noctuas have steep price because they were made to last while having good performance.
Please add the
Thermalright TL-B12W
I would very much like testing at lower rpm too, maybe at 20, 25 and 30 db. 36 db only is way too much in my opinion. I want silent fans, not less noisy 😉
I do have 8 of them, using them on "silent mode" and they're very quiet
@@HSKVaskihe wants silent (!) fans, not quiet ones
@@hopey1809 They're silent, can't hear them honestly, mines don't go over 800 rpm, 0 noise
@@HSKVaski was gonna ask, T30 or Lian li uni in silent mode still cool effectively?
Still cool ! Currently using 5800X3D and 6800XT, they're used in silent mode + low rpm @@MsabResearch
I know I'm late to the show, but I feel like PC case fan reviews in general focus too much on 120mm fans. I myself have 5 140mm fans in my build and would love a round up of the bigger brother in the case fans family.
I have six in push/pull on the Galahad II Performance to cool my 5900X. Coming from the original Galahad and SL10 V1s, I saw a 10°+ drop at idle, and about 15° under load. I forgot to take the plastic off of the cold plate, and it stayed under 72° in a Cinebench loop. The noise isn't bad for me, but have a high noise floor. I'm really happy with the new version of my build
In the future can we get some sound clips of the fan mounted on a radiator?
Have you ever thought about testing pressure? I know you have real world testing which helps, but CFM as a metric tends to mean little compared to their ability to push into something, instead of blowing into nothing.
In a video you said that the mobius 120 oc was the best of all at 36db and now it turns out that it is not even in the top because of your new methodology, does that mean then that this is real now? or the above was the real thing
Results and positioning can and will change based on methodology sadly. However unless a major issue is found or we find a way to significantly give more consistent results across a wider band of products, things won't change. I'm confident in saying the evolution towards what we currently use since this review started will be carried through 2024.
i wanted to see if you've heard about a brand named valkyrie? they make CPU coolers and fans with cool designs but seem less known.
Never heard of them. But then again there are dozens, if not hundreds of companies that simply rebrand fans and other components from large manufacturers in China.
P28 Is it best to use a push or pull hook on the radiator?
They lowered the price of the white triple pack to 50 and it's currently 45. Seems like a good deal for premium fans.
Now I'm confused I thought the CM mobius oc beat the phanteks t30 in your other video? Clarification?
Any chance for a Apex Stealth metal fan review? It looks amazing tbh...
We're in touch with AlphaCool about it. :)
@@HardwareCanucks sweeeet, can't wait, rly curious about it! Keep up the good work and thanks for the videos! :D
@@HardwareCanucks there's some interesting (read controversial) reviews coming out about this fan so I'm quite curious about your review on the fan if its happening :D
Noticed that noise immediately.. kinda sucks these would have been amazing otherwise. I Wonder if the sound changed at all when it was on the radiator?
For T30 competitors, am curious how the Super Flower Megacool would stack up.
Got some free alongside a Leadex VII PSU I got on Newegg. They're pushing out a lot more air than my P12 Max. But I don't have a T30 to compare against.
It's using dual ball bearings so I doubt it can compete vs noise (or at least noise pleasantness).
Here, here. I'd like to see HC review that one, myself.
You can add halo frame to T30.
Why does no one ever talk about the Antec Storm T3? You can get a 3 pack for $40 USD. and they are available in 120mm AND 140mm.
I'd like to see these up against the mag fans from seasonic
I love the uni fans but I have been using them exclusively and spent so much on them since they come out I really need to give them a brake and play with something ells the next couple builds
Any word on the alphacool apex stealth metal fans? I know they are to release in October/ November of this year but I'm hoping you guys are given an early preview
This! Patiently waiting to upgrade all of my fans on both of my computers if they perform as well as expected. All of my builds are silence focused.
@@HCGonzalezJr87 Yea, the perform as expected is the biggest thing. What I've gathered so far from UA-cam and reddit by official alphacool accounts, is that they should release in both black and white by November. Possibly October. There are 140mm fans coming next year at some point. The speculation/ what I've also heard is that they will have a chrome version of the fans and they will cost $30 for a single fan
We will get some but launch is indeed later this year.
Please test the new corsair fans, QX120
hola! seen those antec storm 140s? 30mil thick if im not mistaken, and cheap, thanks for the video
They'll never be Noctua, and it shows with them going for thick fans
I'd still go with P12 Max or good old Gentle Typhoons over that. You wouldn't want to run any of the fans form this comparison faster than 2000 RPM anyway.
800 RPM ist just crazy. i went for a oversized ALF II 280 running at every load under 500RPM. i even dont need the stronger arctic fan and took the included RGB instead for more nice fps. there is not much argument against a arctic.
@hardwarecanucks could you review the APNX FP2 RGB?