I need a little help on deciding between these 2 fans: GELID Silent 12 (PWM) Wing 12 UV Blue  and Noctua NF F12 PWM chromax.black.swap
 
I’ve been debating about this for 2 days and there is a reason why it’s taking me so long to decide.
 
I have used these Gelid fans for few years in this build that I’m rebuilding now again. Because this build is substantially big ( 4x 480 Black Ice Nemesis) and the rads are optimized for low RPM fans so I could run my fans at the lowest speed( 40% I think) keeping  absolutely silent yet running cool.
 
Few months ago I took my system apart and used most of the fans across my other systems that are air-cooled I also got some Noctua fans I also got CPU cooler (NH-D15S) for my sons system.
 
I have always heard about Noctuas superior CPU coolers and fans but until you get one, you have no idea how great their products are, the fan ( I got separately chromax, for the NHD-15S  is absolutely quiet and I also got 6 NF-S12A PWM chromax and they are absolutely dead silent, keep in mind I am silent freak and both fans are  fairly quiet, maybe differ pitch but both are close with db.
 
For my rads I could get the NF-S12A PWM chromax  even thou they are not optimized for radiators, but  than again I have so much rad space it doesn’t matter if I use case or rad fans really and that’s why I am in predicament.
 
This would be easy If I still had all the Gelid fans, I would just simply use them but they are all across my other systems that I don't want to touch so I’m starting from scratch again (no fans)
So now I have choice between Noctua NF-F12 chromax which are nice or GELID Silent 12 (PWM) Wing 12 UV Blue. Price wise,  they both come close I need 16 of them … $450 for Gelid and about $465 for Noctua.
 
Please give me your opinion with some rational explanation why you would chose one over the other  that would help me please.
 
I forgot to mention, aesthetics are important to me as well and both fans look great with my Caselabs STH10 black so there is another reason why is taking me so long to come to conclusion.
 
This was my previous build with Gelid fans:
 
I think Black Noctua with dark red rubber corners  would look very cool to, see why I'm debating :)
Thanks
 
 

These the Fans in Question ?
 
NF-S12A PWM chromax
 
 
GELID fan:


GELID WING 12 PL (FN-FW12BPL-18)

 
OR
 
GELID WING 12 UV Blue (FN-FW12-15-B)

The Gelids seem to have better static pressure than the Noctua. If you're paying good money for fans [nice ones will cost ya'] Customer support would be helpful. Good to hear about Noctua! 

notfordman
The Gelids seem to have better static pressure than the Noctua. If you're paying good money for fans [nice ones will cost ya'] Customer support would be helpful. Good to hear about Noctua! 

Actually Gelid are rated at 1.92 (mmH2O) when Noctua NF-F12 chromax are 2.61 (mmH2O) so there is quite a bit difference and Noctuas fans are build solid opposed to Gelid feels on flimzy side.
 
Thanks fro your input

 
 
  Well my new 16x Noctua NF-F12 PWM chromax arrived today, Amazon is fast
I had to shrink these jpg's substantially 90% to be able to upload them here,  the max allowed size is 200kb so the color is way off, black looks ugly gray In reality its pure black looks much nicer, I like all black:)
 

batboy88
No we made history man...cracked a block again....and caught just in time...may be ok.

GTXJackBauer

AWK16
 

I thought your build looked familiar! lol  It's me GTX from Aqua's forums.  Didn't know you were here as well.  Nice to see you back with rig again.

Yes its me my friend, nice to see you here to. I had my WC system down for few months but its time to do some upgrades. I figured that I must well get new fans and since recently I got some Noctuas  for my air cooled system and I was truly impressed I thought why not get new Noctua fans for my radiators.
 
The other day when I installed them (16x NF-F12 PWM chromax) and just tested by using spare PSU and powered them all..man they are something else. I thought Gelid were quiet already but these have totally different pitch sound making them much more pleasant to the ear I love them and I really like the black mean look
 
 
 

GTXJackBauer
No comparison between the two imo.  Noctua, Gentle Typhoons and maybe a few others are in their own rad fan league.  Untouchable.  I think you made the right choice and I also like the all black so it looks flushed with the case.  Can't stand their awful brown color scheme with most of their fans as much as I like them in a performance aspect.

Yes, I've had some different brands of fans in my time and although Noctuas are undeniably more expensive, their quality, performance and customer support is absolutely top notch I won't hesitate to get them again unless I go broke before that