I've been running some very old 120mm x 25mm CoolerMaster R4 fans with the red LEDs in my case for quite a few years now (69 CFM I believe), and thinking it's about time I retired them. My case is a 18" x 18" MountainMods Case and I have 5 case fans running (all old R4s), plus the 2 fans that came with the Corsair H105 radiator (I don't intend to replace those). Been looking through FrozenCPU.com / Newegg etc.. but have not reviewed case fans for years so I'm not up with the play on what is good and what isn't these days.
 
I don't need PWM fans, these are purely for case airflow and will run through a controller, not through the motherboard.
 
Preferring low noise as the primary feature.
 
I would prefer to have LEDs if possible, either red or blue doesn't matter which..
 
I don't mind paying more for quality.
 
Any suggestions?
 
 
 

 
Thanks, but I won't be plugging them into the motherboard. I use a controller, so they are 3-pin case fans, not 4-pin PWM fans.
 
 
 

tucker147
AeroCool's Dead Silence fan's seem to be pretty good. I'm thinking of picking up a few 140mm ones myself.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835129070

Thanks, the reviews and specs look pretty damn good. I'll see what else gets posted on this thread (if anything), but liking these. Hitting 62.5CFM with only 14.8dBA (on 7V setting) is impressive.
 

Squall_Rinoa86
Btw sorry for delayed response, my daughter was resistant to taking a nap >.<

Thanks for info, and lol, my daughter turned 3 years old today, and I'm all too familiar with her resisting sleep and anything else we ask her to do.
 

The corsair AF series fans are my choice for best silent performing fans.

 
Thanks for recommendations. Looked at Corsair AF Quiet Editions, but they have significantly higher dBA than those Aerocool Dead Silence fans for a similar CFM. BitFenix Spectre Pro look pretty good on dBA / CFM. Actually looking on Newegg, they say the R4s I use currently have a much lower dBA than they do in reality, so who knows how reliable any of these alleged specs really are. Bah. Might buy one Aerocool DS and see how it goes.. if good, I'll swap out all my fans.

 
Update - I am very impressed with the Aerocool DS fans.. very. I now have 3 x 120mm and 1 x 140mm Aerocool DS blue fans in my new case, and on full power they are pretty much completely drowned out by the sound of 2 x 120mm 'ultra silent' NoiseBlocker fans on my Corsair H105 radiator - with similar CFM! NoiseBlocker may have a little higher pressure though, but too bad, I've just ordered 2 more Aerocool DS fans to replace the NoiseBlockers, lol (and hell, you should have heard the original Corsair fans that came with the H105 radiator, omg unbelievably loud).
 
Thanks Tucker 147 for the initial mention of the DS fans, very pleased with them.
 
I tried the DS voltage reducer extensions (cuts it down to 7V), and yes the fans were exceptionally quiet, however the little volt reducer extensions got very hot very fast - as in too hot to touch for more than a second or two. Didn't like that so I tossed them, I'm staying with 12V and a fan controller, although they are very quiet on full power anyway.
 
A very few isolated cases mentioned the DS fans were louder when mounted horizontally.. so I'll find out when the new ones arrive for my radiator.
 
Cheers