best/quietest 80 and 120mm fans

TerrorFirmer

looking to throw 1 120mm and 2 80mm fans into my htpc build (nox media 2), any suggestions as to best airflow/noise compromise? Looking at noctua..

Komplett-Tech: Ryan

Noctua all the way, their fans keep getting better and better !

ScumLord

Akasa are very quiet if you stone deaf. The only way to really guarantee the fans will be quiet is to get some sort of fan controller.

Solitaire

Noctua if you have the money, Scythe if you don't.

jbloggs

For 120mm - Akasa AK-FN057 Apache for 80mm maybe something from Sharkroon, see Here...

meepins

I have 2 of the Noctua NF-S12B fans, they are excellent.

Bob_Harris

Xilence are very silent fixed speed fans and not at all expensive.

I got one of these a few weeks ago. 15dBA is virtual silence.

PogMoThoin

I've got 3x 80cfm Yate Loon 120mm which are lovely and quiet, came from Usa though, hard to find a supplier in europe

@idle

You wanted best/quietest so i imagine a good trade-off is what you are looking for?
I disagree about the noctua fans, in my experience they are only quietish when you use the resistors supplied with them and most importantly they push very very little air compaired to competitors. That is the purpose of a fan after all, to keep components cool!

I use xilence red wing fans (which i used to replace my 2 noctua's) in a push pull config on my noctua heatsink. 7 degress cooler @idle and 12 using IBT, and way quieter.

For system exhaust fan i would definitely get a scythe gentle typhoon. You can feel with your hand that it pushes far more air than any other fan i have used (many!) and is as quiet as a noctua without resistors.
Imho noctua fans are overrated because they are relatively quiet, but to achieve this you have to use resistors and make it fail at its primary function.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cooling/2009/09/28/what-s-the-best-case-fan/1

edit: For 80mm get the one bob harris has linked above. I am using it also as a northbridge cooler and it pushes alot of air and is very quiet.

http://www.quietpc.com/ie-en-eur/products/casefans/x-rw-80r

TerrorFirmer

Thanks for all the help guys, much appreciated. Think those xilence fans are definitely worth a look, and i'll reevaluate the 120mm fan - I think I might use 2 80mm sides and 2 80mm rear rather then use any 120mm at all to keep things even, as there'll be no front intake on this case - so that does make the xilence sound like a winner.

Dublin_Gunner

I find the 120mm Sharkoon Silent Eagle 2000 great for decent airflow and low noise.

Have used a few of them, and always thought they performed well.

Wonda-Boy

+1 on the Sharkoon, pricey but very good.

Also Scythe S-Flex fans are super too.