you all prolly dont give a damn but does anyone know of a way to log back into an Instagram account? I stupidly lost the account password. I appreciate any help you can give me!
I sincerely appreciate your series testing 120mm and 140mm fans and this current video tying those results together. I have exclusively built in SFF cases (Sliger SM580 and NCase M1). Finding the right balance between noise reduction and effective cooling can be a challenge, which is why I applaud your efforts in this regard. Thank you.
In my experience 2 X 140 on a 280 rad are about as good for sinking heat as 3 X 120 360 rad. Needles to say that a bigger, thicker radiator with horrific fans that are barley spinning will always perform much better than a small radiator with a better fans going at full blast.
The thing is, most pc case front panel can mount 3x120 or 2x140. Sure, the 140 might perform better 1:1 against 120, but how do we know for sure with 2:3 against 120? Also there is the argument that with 3 fans you potentially could run the fans at lower rpm for the same airflow, potential noise reduction.
@@4000marcdman There's more to it than that for sure. I mean sure, provided cash isn't an issue, just fill the whole thing with Noctua NF-A12x25s. But what if you have, say $60-70? Noctua NF-A12x25s are currently $32(USD) Noctua NF-A14s are currently running $24(USD) (Amazon) Which cools more? 2x A12x25s, or 3x A14s?
I think the real purpose of this exercise is for people who can mount either 120 mm or 140 mm fan (same amount of fans not 2 140 mm vs 3 120 mm). If they can mount 3 120mm fans vs 2 140mm I think most of them will choose 3 fans (if budget allows). Because many cases nowadays can let you either mount 2 120/140 mm fans on top and 1 120/140 mm fan on the rear. So this video really helps those people to make decision.
I absolutely agree. I have 2 140mm front intakes and i am wondering whether 3 good 120 would actually outperform them in terms of either noise or cooling capacity.@hardware scientist: given that you already established such a great review setup, is this something you could potentially test? I am thinking 2 14mm Arctic P14 PWM vs 3 Noctua NF-A 12x25?
Which would really depend on the case. If I were to have 3 120mm fans in my case the bottom most fan's airflow would be split blowing half it's air into the PSU shroud.
@@treefiddy727 same with my case (meshify c). I also would’ve needed the bottom fan to be a thin one so it could fit between the front panel and hard drive cage. So instead I went with 2 140s for intake and 3 120s for exhaust (2 on top, 1 on the back)
One of the best tech channel, you dont promote/use social media so we'll never know where you're gone to but i really hope you're okay, and i want you to know that you helped me alot with all the benchmarks and reviews thank you so much.
@@HardwareScientist oh thank goodness i was worried, im glad you're well and busy apparently, thats a good thing. Take your time man and comeback strong!💪 all the best for you and your channel
It depends on the need. In general 120mm fans have more pressure than 140mm fans. If you have a very restricting radiator or thin mesh (generally in the front), I prefere to use 120mm’s. For non restrictive air flow, like in the back and top of the case, where there’s no radiator or thin mesh, I use 140mm’s, because they have the same air flow at lower speed (more quiet).
Did you even watch the video, at all? 140mm fans are better at everything. The only time a 120mm fan is better at anything is when you are choosing a premium high end 120mm over a basic low end 140mm (like the video shows). But if you are choosing a premium high end 140mm fan, no 120mm fan can beat it at anything.
@@angrysocialjusticewarrior I checked all stats and static pressure is higher with smaller fans. Of course there’s a minimum size but hey, there’s a good reason why we have 120mm high static pressure fans in our server rooms. 140mm is better for high airflow as long as there’s no high airflow restriction. ^^
@@ArsenicShooter So that's a yes then, you did NOT even watch the video. And no, the reason your server rooms have 120mm fans is not because its the best for static. Its because its cheaper to have smaller fans. There is a reason why 280mm AIO can compete with 360mm AIO while a 240mm AIO gets outclassed by even air coolers.
@@angrysocialjusticewarrior ok, but then could you explain why the static pressure is higher on 120mm fans? Just being curious 🧐 just type in Google highest static pressure computer fans and you’ll get tons of tests showing 120mm fans are better. I’m talking about high restrictive systems, like the servers we have. Money is the last problem in a bank when it comes to efficiency in hpc systems with availability, believe me. For most gaming pc 140 are better as airflow is higher at same rpm, but as soon as you add just on very restrictive radiator, the 120mm wind hands down to push the air through. There are other tests taking that in consideration elsewhere. We use Noctua NF-F12 industrialPPC-3000 PWM with a static pressure of 7.63 mmH2O. If you find one 140mm with the same static pressure or more for the same price and industry norm, let me know I’ll check it out, for sure.
@@grantherrmann2723 That has basically no basis in physics, the middle 120 does the same amount of work as the outer 120s. Fan efficiency is only changed if there is a large amount of restriction on the exhaust (static pressure) or a large amount of velocity on the intake (relative angle of attack). Putting 2, 3, 10, any number of fans next to each other has no realistic degradation. 3x120s at the same rpm with the same profile as 2x140s will flow more air and so *should* result in better cooling but only barely. Case design will actually be a bigger contributor overall.
@@marcgallant5270 That is entirely dependent on the case, not the fan configuration. 3x120 vs. 2x140 cooling specific components better has everything to do with interior shape and fan placement. CPU and GPU have their own dedicated fans, the only purpose of case fans is to male sure there is fresh ambient air for the components dedicated coolers to work with.
@@droolguy pretty much every"good" airflow optimized case GN has tested 3x120 vs 2x140 the 3x120 always edges out the 2x140 for GPU temps, his sample size is rather large.
this temperature to noise graph per fan comparison definitely shows who's best. I prefer it a lot over bar graphs, much more readable. Keep the good content coming !
I wish everyone else made charts the way you make yours. So many bar charts where you have to compare one with another in your mind. This is so much clearer.
That's helpful! One comparison I'd love to see is case fan test of 2x140mm versus 3x120mm as the front intake since this exact configuration is extremely common in mid tower cases.
Ooh good idea! I personally want to see a comparison of all the popular 200mm fans (Noctua NF-A20, CM MF200R, Thermaltake Riing Plus 20, Aerocool Duo 20, and any others)
Where did you go? I was hoping you made a best 92mm fan CPU coolers for small builds. I hope you get back into it. Your channel was doing well. You helped a lot of people. I hope you are well.👍
What would be great is a discussion on fan design - learning about dynamic / static pressure; learning about how to identify based on blade design and count, etc...It'll give context to all this data.
The only channel I subscribed to during my COVID-PC building quest. I like how you evolve your videos and the 2D charts are much usefull than usual bar graph list at other places.
Great video as always, but 0:22 almost gave me an aneurysm. The whole point of that frame is that to use a 120mm fan on a 140mm radiator you need to seal the difference in size so that you don't lose static pressure around the edges. What would help the frame achieve that is mounting it correctly, with the flat part closer to the radiator, not the other way around. I have no doubts that you mounted it correctly while testing though.
Will be interesting to see how fans compare when Noctua releases their next 140mm. Would also be interesting if phanteks released a thick 140mm fan, I feel like that would basically destroy everything in the current market
Hi, I'm doing so diving and came across this. Figured I'd ask you incase you might know or could point me towards a solution. Assuming identical fans what setup is expected to move more air, 3x 120mm or 2x 140mm? Comparing the area of the circles 120 = 11309.73, 140 = 15393.8. 3x120 = 33929.19, 2x140 = 30787.6. Of course this involves alot of assumption regarding fan speed. where a configuration with larger fans could operate at lower speeds and for a small sacrifice of airflow might be much quieter.
Hey, can you get your hands on an Arctic P12 PWM fan? They are a fraction of the Noctua A12 fan in price but great performance. Would love to see how they perform, especially against the 140mm P14
So, I have 3 x 200 mm fans in my case. I have been mocked that they aren't as good as the 140s would be. I like the lower RPM quietude they have. Any chance you can add some 200s to the chart?
Great video, but I haven't found the exact answer to my question. I have a front panel that can fit either x3 120mm fans or x2 140mm fans If the fans performance is relatively identical, which setup would be more benefitial? Since you can only fit two of 140mm, would 120mm extra fan overpower 140mm setup?
hello sorry in my case I can mount 3x120mm on the front but if I make a small change I can also mount 3x140mm what do you think is it worth making this small change? will I buy more performance and less noise? yes and yes what do you think of the:(hush! Light Wings 140mm PWM High Speed Fan 3 Pack ARGB Lighting Silent Case Fan 4 Pin BL077)?
Hello Hardware Scientist. Thanks for clarifying that all things equal, 140mm fans are generally better. My question is, what then is better between 3x120mm and 2x140mm for front intake? Thanks.
Amazing video! I took your advice and replaced my 14mm silentwings 3 with Arctic P14 PWM and did not regret that decision. Amazing how much more quiet the Arctic are! Would you, by any chance, consider a comparison of intake fan setups? I am thinking of 2 14mm Arctic P14 PWM vs 3 Noctua NF-A 12x25? Keep up the good work!
Interesting. I would also be curious to know how the Noctua NF-S12a (advertised as case fan) performs against the NF-A12x25. According to the specs the NF-S12a has better airflow but in real world it could show other results
This video was a interesting one. Do you think you could do this but with your CPU coolers? Like Compare the best budget one with mid-range and best mid-range with the high-end
I would be really interested to see how the bgears b-PWM fans would stack up against these, they have a 120 and 140 version. There isn't any good comparative content out there for them, but personally I have been using them for a while and haven't had any issues, no cooling issues and haven't had any fail
I can fit 3pcs NF-A12x25 PWMs in my case. Or 2 140mm Although the 3x NF option is way more expensive. It's massivly going to outperform the 140s Right now the case has 1 120mm and 1 140 mm in front and 1 120 in back...
I'm more concerned with GPU temps; so would 3x120's in a mesh front case outperform 2x140's? Since the GPU get's more direct airflow? Or would well-placed 140's win in that scenario?
I wish you could test 200mm fans. There are a few that I'm interested in (Noctua, Bitfenix, Cooler Master, and Thermaltake). I really want to see which is the best giant RGB fan haha
I want to really really trust your videos. But you don't measure temperature delta. So I could run the same test on two different fans. But if I just tell you their temps and my room changed 4 degrees. The fans are gonna perform different no matter what.
@Rocooon No they're very good, particularly for the price. Only issue is that they have a slight motor whine (and the single Arctic Bionix I have had a similar issue) at around 900-1100 rpm but that shouldn't be an issue if you set your fan curve so that they top out above or below this under a gaming load. I found it a bit irritating but figured out how to work around it and it's not an issue for me. Might irritate some people too much though.
F is their airflow optimised model. P has better static pressure performance but is just an all round excellent fan. If you're just using the F as case fans in a case designed for good airflow (with minimal restriction on the front panel etc) they should be fine imo. If you need them for rads or air cooler plus case you're better off getting the P fans. Notable issue with them is motor whine at certain rpm (for me it was between 900-1100 rpm) but you can set your curves to get round this issue.
140mm is almost always better. Lower RPMs, lower noise, similar or better airflow. Now if you have to choose 2x 140s or 3x 120s, this is really a choice between better noise or slightly better airflow.
Will Noctua NH-D15 heatsink with 2 arctic P14 PWM perform better then with 2 Noctua NF-A15 ? You are biggest fan expert i know of and i love your videos. also will you make 200 mm fan comparison ?
if you are here thinking about whether installing a 3x120mm fan or a 2x140mm fan in your case this will help you. ( NOTE: This applies to the ones who wants the greatest amount of airflow for their case) ** if your case only allows 1x 120/140mm fans for the front panel then go for the [1x 140mm fan] ** if your case only allows 2x 120/140mm fans for the front panel then go for the [2x 140mm fans] ** if your case only allows 3x 120mm / 2x 140 mm fans for the front panel then go for the [3x 120mm fans] ** if your case allows 3x 120mm / 3x 140 mm fans for the front panel then go for the [3x 140mm fans] (NOTE: This doesn't apply to ones who overdrive their fans to achieve greater RPMs. This only applies to stock max RPMs)
@Hardware Scientist I really appreciate the time you took to do all of the testing and data work-up, alongside making the video, thank you! I will certainly be subscribing and watching more! I am curious about the static pressure of these fans and if that might explain some of the steeper 120mm cooling curves. Originally I was thinking about using the NF-F12 industrialPPC-24v-3000 Q100 due to its static pressure rating, but now I am unsure. I keep getting told to build with 140 but you're starting to convince me I've at least been looking at the right brand. Any thoughts?
Pls try some server grade high performance or high rpm fan like delta , i have one in my system and pls tell is worth the noise u get with server fans for getting low temps
For some reason my 120mm Noctua fan is quieter and moves more air than my Noctua 140mm fan. Definitely regret getting one 120 and one 140 instead of just two 120s. Oh well!
Chinese Snowman from AliExpress test please :) their RGB versions are not as good as non-RGB, and they have 4,5,6 heatpipes and 1, or 2 fan versions. pretty cheap tho, would like to see them compared to Fuma2 and others.
But the problem I have in here is that temperature five months ago in the northern hemisphere is different from what we have now. Will it affect the final result giving 5-10 more degrees Celcius on average?
