Crisp Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 I'm in the process of building a storage server and am after some advice on some case fans. Now from reviews around the Internet I've been looking at these two. It's a tie between Fractal Design or Noctua. My goal is as quiet as possible. From what I've read around, the Fractal is ment to be more silent than the Noctua fans, but I'm after some opinions from Neowin. Has anyone had any experiance with both? I prefer the look of the Fractal fans, the two tone black and white is very smart looking, but being a server build, visuals are not a concern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nothing Here Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 I'm in the process of building a storage server and am after some advice on some case fans. Now from reviews around the Internet I've been looking at these two. It's a tie between Fractal Design or Noctua. My goal is as quiet as possible. From what I've read around, the Fractal is ment to be more silent than the Noctua fans, but I'm after some opinions from Neowin. Has anyone had any experiance with both? I prefer the look of the Fractal fans, the two tone black and white is very smart looking, but being a server build, visuals are not a concern. I'm running Fractal R2 120mms. They are quiet and do the job. Never ran Noctua so I can't compare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HawkMan Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 I think I have fractal or maybe both, either way I think both are good options, the web shops should have dba levels, there's probably bigger differences between different models than between fractal and noctua. Also remember that at full speed they'll probably be "noisy" anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chconline Veteran Posted September 26, 2012 Veteran Share Posted September 26, 2012 I got both. I have experience with the Fractal Design Define R3, Define XL, and the Define R4 as well as every Noctua fan made in the last 5 years (NF-S12, NF-S12B, NF-P12, NF-P12 PWM, NF-F12, etc). To cut to the point: Go for the new Noctua PWM fans if you want silence. FiB3R 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindovermaster Moderator Posted September 26, 2012 Moderator Share Posted September 26, 2012 I only ever used Noctua. Well, and the other generic ones. If there is a price difference, I'd get the cheaper, as it sounds that both are heavy performers. Hey, chconline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metal_dragen Veteran Posted September 27, 2012 Veteran Share Posted September 27, 2012 I have a Fractal Define R2 with 2 of the Fractal fans and have since added 2 Noctua NF-P12 fans to the chassis. I honesty can't tell the difference in noise between the 2 since my video card makes more noise than the entire rest of the system, even at idle. Either way you go, you'll get quality silent fans. In my experience, the Fractal's are cheaper, but the Noctua's seem to have a better reputation for silence and reliability/longevity and you'll pay a bit of a premium for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kachimasu Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 Go with the Fractal cases. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CronicHazel Posted September 28, 2012 Share Posted September 28, 2012 Go with the Fractal cases. The guy's asking about fans not cases lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neoadorable Posted October 1, 2012 Share Posted October 1, 2012 two Noctua 120's in my mATX case, been running flawlessly for two and a half years now, very quiet. recommended. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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