Do you need air flow?
 
Your best bet is to get some decent fans and turn them down using the hardware monitor in bios
 
I tried weak quiet fans, and when gaming it got too hot.  Upgraded to better fans and turned them down in a profile for non gaming, then full speed for gaming.
 
I went with coolermaster sycle flow because they were cheap, good performance and quite when needed.     

Corsair or Noctua.

Noctua are the best, but they definitely cost more for it. Haven't paid enough attention recently to recommend any cheaper brands for fans... Whatever you go with just avoid anything that uses a sleeve bearing as those wear out in 1-3 years max. Ball bearings are more durable but they tend to be a little louder... fluid bearings tend to be the way to go, there's lots of types out there now.

My first suggestion would be Noctua - they are expensive, but very good (tend to be quiet, don't get louder with use, and don't break).  They do a few - NF-A14 (140mm, balanced flow/pressure), NF-S12 (120mm, designed for air flow not pressure), and NF-P12 (120mm, balanced flow/pressure design) fans.  They also have a "redux" range (P14 and S12B), where they are re-using older designs, packaged with fewer accessories, for about 2/3 the cost of the others.
 
I'd also say have a look at Fractal Design's fans - they are standard 3-pin non-PWM fans, but they are silent at 5V, and very quiet at 7V.  They're also not very expensive, although they don't produce very much pressure.

Pay for what ya get, but once and be done!
 
What case you got?
 
CASE
Been happy with my Noctua NF-F12 PWM fans, Im looking to use as case fans (total of 3, two intake and one exhaust)
http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=productview&products_id=42&lng=en
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608026
 
 
CPU
Prolimatech Megahalems
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/17550/cpu-pro-29/Prolimatech_Megahalems_Rev_C_Intel_CPU_Heatsink_-_Black_Edition_LGA_775_115x_1366_2011_AM2_AM2_AM3.html?tl=g40c14s1037
 
With two of these:
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/24856/fan-1364/Noctua_Industrial_NF-F12_120_x_25mm_Fan_-_2000_RPM_NFF12IPPC20.html?tl=g36c15s60
 
 
Just a proper airflow and static case flow.  More important with a quiet setup, here is my upcoming setup"
 

 
 
 

boredgunner
Noctua is the best, specifically the NF-F series (120mm) and NF-A series (140mm).  The Scythe GentleTyphoons are also way better than pretty much any other fan, these are 120mm and you don't want to go above the 1850 RPM model (AP-15).  Other worthy mentions are: 
 
- Thermalright FDB series, 1600 RPM and below models (Sony fluid dynamic bearing, tried and true)
- Thermalright TY-140, TY-141, TY-147 are amazing and on par with Noctua, but have a strange shape (they use normal 140mm fan mounts though). 
- Silverstone AP141 (fluid bearing).
 
You'll want to avoid sleeve bearing fans.  Go with single ball bearing, dual ball bearing, or a proven fluid/magnetic fluid bearing fan.  

 
I thought they stopped making scythe gentletyphoons AP-15?

boredgunner

woken
 
 
I thought they stopped making scythe gentletyphoons AP-15?

Did they?  How about the AP-14?  It's also worth checking out places like newark.com, onlinecomponents.com, MPJA.com, and other large scale suppliers for OEM versions by Nidec.

When I was looking for fans sometime earlier in the summer I was reading that the people scythe worked with to make the gentletyphoons ended their contract with each other and were no longer to use the design that we see in the AP-15 and AP-14.  
 
I couldn't find any gentletyphoons on the webistes you suggested, maybe I didn't search correctly.
 
So if scythe's gentletyphoons are completely out of the picture you would recommend Noctua?  Have you used Corsair's latest Static pressure fans, boredgunner?

boredgunner
Noctua isn't even any worse than the GentleTyphoons, so I definitely recommend them.  I haven't tried the Corsairs, the specs are far from impressive (3.1 mmH2O static pressure, 62.74 CFM, at 35 DBA???) and I'm not so sure about the build quality.  

 
Idk man, this video is making the Corsairs SP 120 look really good lol:
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUbpb23yTK8
 
 
This guy got his 3960x @ 4.6 ghz with 100% utilization to be as cool as -7c as his hottest core!  His vcore is even at 1.4v!

RainStryke
Cougar makes decent fans for reasonable prices. I was very happy with how quiet mine were.

I second the Cougar fans - they are quiet (they make a pleasant whoosh noise) enough.  I've also had very good luck with Yate Loon's but they are a sleeve bearing and I kept them vertical orientation.
 
PS - I found the spec sheet for the AP-15s.  http://www.nidec-servo.com/en/digital/pdf/D1225C.pdf  Maybe we can run searches on the official Nidec Servo part number?
I also found this post on OC.net that has a suspiciously similar looking fan - http://www.overclock.net/t/1450370/fb-gentle-typhoon-fans-ending-production/20#post_21372587 
 
~Fus

What do you guys suggest for case fans for intake and outtake?  Noctua as well?  I thought the NF-F and NF-A are meant for radiator only fans for push/pull

Noctua's radiator fans actually have a great static pressure rating and push a lot of air, so they're great for case fans too. Just be aware they do sell models at different RPM ratings. At 1500RPM the 140mm model I bought produces a considerable amount of airflow so I run them around 1,000RPM to keep things quiet, but they don't produce any actual motor sounds or transient noise that I've noticed. 
 

boredgunnerFans that are designed for radiators are also fine as case fans, the thing is they're usually overkill.  Noctua's NF-F and NF-A series however are all-rounders, designed for case usage and thin/low FPI radiators.  For those on a budget, go for Yate Loons, preferably from Sidewinder computers since reports show they usually get the best batches.

Yate Loon fans are good cheap fans, but they don't like undervolting at ALL. If you plan to buy Yate Loons you need to get the correct RPM model the first time or suffer the consequences. 
 
I wanted a little headroom to crank mine up (for the occasional heavy OC session) so I bought some 1400RPM 140mm Yate Loon fans figuring I could undervolt them.  But when I tried to undervolt all of them would almost instantly start generating various types of clicking noises and wouldn't stop until they were running  below 700RPM. The clicking drove me nuts and running them at less than half their rated speed killed a lot of the performance so I eventually replaced them with the Noctuas and have been happy since.

kougar
 
Yate Loon fans are good cheap fans, but they don't like undervolting at ALL. If you plan to buy Yate Loons you need to get the correct RPM model the first time or suffer the consequences. 
 
I wanted a little headroom to crank mine up (for the occasional heavy OC session) so I bought some 1400RPM 140mm Yate Loon fans figuring I could undervolt them.  But when I tried to undervolt all of them would almost instantly start generating various types of clicking noises and wouldn't stop until they were running  below 700RPM. The clicking drove me nuts and running them at less than half their rated speed killed a lot of the performance so I eventually replaced them with the Noctuas and have been happy since.

I've read that the better batches of Yate Loons (which Petrastechshop was known to sell before their demise) can undervolt better, but so far my experience has been like yours.  All my Yates hate undervolting.
 

woken
 
Only reason why I asked is cause I came across a review on newegg for the NF-F12, where the guy was explaining the NF-F12 wasn't meant to be used as a case fan and he was told this by the Noctua support, he copies and pastes his e-mail from the Noctua support onto his review:
 
 

NOT FOR CASE VENTILATION

Pros: Very Quiet
High Quality Product
Cons: I have RMA because it's not for case ventilation, long version explanation here :

NOT MADE FOR CASE VENTILATIONS.
This Noctua FANS are ONLY for CPU Cooler and Radiator (Focused Flow system creates outstanding static pressure and focuses the airflow for superior performance on heatsinks and radiator)

I have contacted NOCTUA Support about it, and here is their answer :

===================================
Dear Epsilons,

First of all many thanks for choosing our products.

The NF-F12 was designed for high-pressure applications like CPU coolers and radiators. The NF-S12A provides more airflow with a bigger spread after the outlet, which is better for case ventilation, where static pressure is usually not as important as on a cooler.

However, I just tried it out and yes, the NF-S12A moves noticeably more air in free-flow condition and you can feel it, so I doubt that your fans are defective.
Once on a CPU cooler the situation will look different but for case ventilation the NF-F12 just isn't the best choice.

This overview explains the difference between the fan lines:
http://www.noctua.at/main...ng=fr&products_id=

Kind regards,
Andreas Karner
Noctua support team

Noctua does have some fans designed to provide higher CFM and lower static pressure, but I doubt the difference would be large.  So maybe go with whatever is cheaper?

Thanks all for the responses and information!

What do you guys think about the Noctua Industrial NF-F12 compared to the Non Industrial line?
 
What I'm really worried about is the sound, I just recently installed corsair SP120s that came with my h100i on a push config and they are unbearably loud.
 
 
I'm really curious to know if the Noctua Industrial NF-F12 and non Industrial NF-F12 will emit the same amount of sound granted they ran at the same speed or similar.
 
Or will I be better off getting a gentletyphoon AP-15 for sound/performance?

boredgunner
If they were running at the same speed, I think sound would be the same.  Industrial is probably overkill for case fans though.  Noctua and GentleTyphoons are on par in terms of sound/performance ratio.  

 
I was just looking at this link a couple minutes ago:
 
http://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/120mm_and_140mm_fan_comparison,17.html
 
 
This guy's results showed for his setup:
 
Gentle Typhoon AP-14 @ 1355 rpm:  22.5 dba and 46.8 degrees centigrade over ambient
Gentle Typhoon AP-15 @ 1785 rpm:  26 dba and 44.5 degrees centigrade over ambient
 
 
Noctua NF-F12 PWM @ 1427 rpm:  28 dba and 46.2 degrees centigrade over ambient
 
 
 
I have never owned anyone of these fans, but would you agree with the results since it seems like you have owned tried these fans before?