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Confused by terms like static pressure, airflow, and CFM? This comprehensive guide breaks down everything you need to know about PC cooling fans, helping you choose the perfect ones for optimal performance and quiet operation in your gaming rig.
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00:00I've got lots of fans. Unfortunately, most of them are PC fans, and we're dead. Hi, Dad.
00:04And that's going to be useful for today's video. We're going to talk about fans, which ones to buy,
00:09what they're used for, and how to get the best performing and looking PC by thinking a little
00:13bit more about them. So the two most common fan sizes are 120mm and 140mm, and most cases will
00:24fit those. But there are bigger fans with more limited case support, like this, the Haven H18,
00:28which is 180mm. Generally, you'll find these larger fans bundled with cases that support them,
00:34such as the Haven BF360 that this van came in. But there are some benefits to bigger options.
00:39So a larger fan such as this can push a lot more air through your system at slower speeds.
00:44In particular, this H18 is rated to 164 cubic feet per minute at 1300rpm, whereas this H12 is rated to
00:5272 cubic feet per minute at 2100rpm. So higher airflow and the benefit of lower noise levels.
01:00The downside to a larger fan is that they require a higher current, and any given motherboard's fan
01:05headers are rated to a maximum current, though generally, these are pretty high these days.
01:10Before filming this, I checked the specs of the cheapest B850 motherboard I could find on Newegg,
01:15the ASRock B850M XR2.0. Most of its headers are rated to a solid 3 amps, only the CPU fan
01:23header is
01:23a mere 1 amps, which is still plenty to power something like the H18. Just bear these amperages
01:28in mind if you plan on using multiple fans on a single header with a splitter. It generally pays
01:33to check before you blow a bit of your motherboard. Ideally, you'll have a fan controller with SATA
01:37power to provide all you need, and it can help clear some cable mess, though you don't really need
01:41one. Another way to get rid of cable mess is something like this, which is a Cooler Master
01:45Sickle Flow Edge 360, and it's one big unit, so you don't have the cables between the fans,
01:50but it is a bit more awkward to fit in your case because you can't take it apart.
01:58There are two key stats for fan performance, static pressure and airflow. Airflow, as I mentioned before,
02:05is fairly easy to grasp. As measured in cubic feet per minute, it's the volume of air flowing through
02:10aerospace at standardized temperature and pressure. That's a standardized pressure because cooling is
02:15diminished at high altitudes where the air is not as dense as at sea level. That's why F1 teams have
02:21to figure out how to cool their cars more effectively at the Mexican Grand Prix, the highest altitude race
02:25of the season, compared to the Dutch Grand Prix. In terms of PC gaming, that means you actually want
02:30to be more considerate of your case's cooling if you live at a higher altitude, though if you're gaming
02:35at the top of Everest, your PC is probably chilly enough as it is. Okay, right, let's get back on
02:39track. High airflow fans move the highest volume of air through a system for effective cooling,
02:43so why not use these all the time? Radiators and heat sinks, that's why. These massive metal
02:49dickheads always cut your fingers to bits, exhibit A, but they also block airflow inside your case,
02:55and that's where static pressure fans come in. They're very useful for pushing air through your
02:59heat sink. A static pressure rating measures the pressure exerted by a fan in an enclosed space.
03:04Without getting too far into it, mostly because I don't really want to, it's sort of how much
03:08a blow power a fan has, which is a very technical term. For our use case, the higher static pressure
03:13rating for a fan, noted in millimeter H2O, the better it is at pushing air through a radiator.
03:19The more air through a radiator, the more effective it can be at cooling your components. See, blow power.
03:25Static pressure fans tend to have fewer, thicker blades, or perhaps just thicker blades.
03:29Something like the Corsair RX120 is rated for high static pressure with a max 4.38 millimeters H2O
03:36with a max 2100 RPM, much higher than its pretty QX120 RGB fans at 3.8 at 2400 RPM. You'll
03:45find some
03:45fans offer much lower static pressure ratings, such as the high FA12, which is rated to just
03:501.6 millimeters H2O at a max 1800 RPM. Then you get a bunch of fans that are hybrid solutions,
03:57a blend of airflow, static pressure, and quiet operation. The liminal space between specialities
04:02is where many of Noctua's top fans live. This NF812X25G2, thanks for that Noctua, our highest
04:09rated fan has a max airflow rating of 63.15 CFM and static pressure of 3.14 millimeters H2O,
04:17and it achieves these at only 1800 RPM, which makes it extremely quiet. So your choice of fan will be
04:23somewhat dependent on what you're going to use it for.
04:30As I've mentioned, a larger fan needs to spin slower to shift a similar amount of air compared to a
04:36smaller fan, though RPM is an important factor in choosing any fan. It's easy to look at something
04:41like the Height Vic FP12 and think, phew, 105.8 CFM and 8.14 millimeter H2O, that's clearly a beast.
04:49I know everyone's thinking that when they look at those numbers. And you'd be right, it is a beast,
04:52though only if you're prepared to run it at maximum speed. On that fan, 3000 RPM, which as I found
04:58through testing it myself, is ridiculously loud. Too loud, in fact, for my taste. Even Height tunes these
05:04fans down to 65% of their top speed by default in its software to avoid the worst of the
05:09noise.
05:09So you do want to find some sort of balance. Generally, I find the fans that are better balanced do
05:14better throughout the RPM range. For example, the new Arctic P12 Pro, that's this one, is a fairly
05:19affordable high speed 120 millimeter fan with a 77 CFM and 6.9 millimeter H2O. Running that through my
05:26makeshift wind tunnel with an anemometer, anemometer, yeah, sea anemone, anyways, showed a high airflow
05:31of 2.6 meters a second at max RPM, but diminishing airflow at slower speeds. Meanwhile, the Noctua G2 hit
05:39only
05:392.2 meters a second at max RPM, but maintained higher airflow than the P12 Pro at 1200, 800 and
05:46400 RPM.
05:48So yeah, generally better. That matters because generally you're running your fans on a curve.
05:52Whether set in the BIOS or via some form of software, fans tend to run between 30 and 85%
05:57speed
05:58at any given time, most likely based on your processor's temps, unless you've tweaked that
06:02saying. So for the most part, the lower RPM range is what matters more than the maximum performance you
06:08could be getting. And an effective fan design will be able to push a good amount of air,
06:12even at a lower speed, without making much noise.
06:19There are a lot of bearing types used across PC fans, and while there are pros and cons for each
06:25one, I generally find that the quality of the fan is the more important factor in longevity and noise.
06:31A cheap fan tends to start rattling or making weird noises quicker than a high quality one, but on the
06:36flip side, it's cheaper to replace a cheap one like for like.
06:39Nevertheless, let's run through a few of the popular fan types in the market and see what
06:43their evangelists say about them. You'll find a range of prices for each, but I've given a rough
06:47idea of what to expect for each one.
06:49Magnetic dome bearing.
06:52Corsair uses magnetic dome bearings in most of its fans today. They're very quiet on account of reducing
06:57the friction between parts to next and nothing, and that helps keep them going for longer.
07:02SSO2 bearings. Noctua uses SSO2 bearings which combine oil and a magnet to stabilize and lubricate
07:08the rotor, which it says is superior to a bog standard sleeve bearing. It's certainly very
07:13quiet in our testing.
07:15Sleeve bearing. A sleeve bearing is used in some budget fans and rely on a good dose of lube to
07:20function, which can be an issue if they are mounted horizontally and all the lube seeps out.
07:25Don't laugh. Anyways, there are better options out there these days.
07:28Fluid dynamic bearing. A fluid dynamic bearing, also known as a hydrodynamic bearing, tries to
07:33solve the whole leaky lube problem by keeping the fan sealed up. They tend to be pretty popular these
07:38days and can offer high reliability and low noise levels. Definitely a decent option if well made.
07:43Be quiet tends to use FBD on its best fans that uses rifle bearings for the rest.
07:48Rifle bearing. A rifle bearing is similar to sleeve but aims to keep the lubrication moving along the
07:53bearing to avoid any sticky issues. This generally increases the rated lifespan of the fan.
07:59One more thing. Reverse fans. These are great for certain setups but I see people get tripped up
08:03on why they exist. So you only need reverse fans for aesthetic reasons. So reverse fans. This top fan
08:10is blowing air towards the camera and this bottom fan is blowing air away from the camera. So they have
08:15different use cases. That reverse fan works great as an intake. You get to see the nice RGB lighting
08:20effects and the air is blowing into your case. Whereas the regular fan works great as an exhaust
08:24where you get to see the nice RGB lighting still but the air is leaving your case. Got it?
08:34Should you buy into an ecosystem for cooling? These are ways to easily connect lots of fans together,
08:40often using magnets as you can see here. Clever. And sometimes with other components like liquid coolers,
08:46all in the name of saving cable mess and offering a single app to control your entire PC. Though many
08:52manufacturers are jumping at the chance to lock you into their ecosystem. Should you take them up on
08:56the offer? I've used a fair few of these for full system builds including Corsair's IQ, Height's Nexus
09:02Link and Phanteks Link 6. So here's my honest take. I prefer the non-proprietary options. Something like Phanteks
09:10offering which lets you hook them up to one another with a single connector for both power and lighting
09:14control but hidden away neatly and terminating in your standard motherboard PWM and RGB connectors.
09:21This way you get fewer cables but you can control everything via your motherboard and also add other
09:27fans really easily. Otherwise it's easy to spend a lot of money and lock yourself into an ecosystem
09:32like IQ which does allow for fairly seamless control of all your components from a single app
09:37but is quite expensive and requires running cables to a system hub. The inclusion of a system hub on some
09:43of
09:43its newer power supplies makes this a lot neater trust me but these cost a huge amount of money so
09:49yeah it's whether that's worth it to you. So to sum up big fans are better for keeping noise levels
09:59down.
10:00Only if you're replacing a fan on a cooler do you really need to think about buying something with a
10:05high static pressure rating. Some fan bearings are great for keeping noise levels to a minimum and
10:10increasing longevity. However you'll get great bang for your buck from something like a five pack of
10:16arctic p12 p14 pro fans. If one breaks they're pretty cheap to replace. If you want RGB lighting
10:23non-proprietary connections are easy to use and install. Only buy into a brand's proprietary ecosystem
10:28if you're prepared to spend a lot of money to get the complete look and you're happy to stick with
10:33that
10:33brand for years to come. All in all don't stress about it too much. You can use a tool like
10:38hardware info to
10:39check your temps to see if your components are running hot but generally give your cooler a
10:43dust every now and then and you'll be just fine. If a fan starts squeaking swap it out. Right check
10:48back on PC Gamer for more hardware info reviews news and more and I'll see you next time. Bye!
11:09you