Are the default fans in Fractal Design R6 better than my Noctua-fans?

[winterwonderland]

On my FD R6, i have 3x 140mm fans (2 in front, 1 back) that came with the case. Are those fans better and more importantly; more quiet than the fans i have available for mounting:
- 3x Noctua 140mm NF-A14 PWM
- 2x Noctua 120mm NF-S12A PWM
- 1x Noctua 120mm NF-F12 PWM

Should i change the default fans with any of these, perhaps? If so, which fans should i put where? Should i just make it easy and change the 3x default 140mm fans with the noctua 140mm fans?

I am also planning to buy Scythe Ninja 5 cpu cooler, but not yet... Right now, i have only stock cooler.

 

[mtcn77]

Don't go fan shopping. Resistance/airflow are reciprocals of each other. If you are looking to get one, sure find out about them, but I got this if you want to see for yourself. Ninja 5 cannot be quiet if you don't throttle the fans. Big fin array = more drag.
[Noise - rpm range]
I had another review in which Ninja or some look-alike "absolutely destroyed" the reviewed cooler I cited above, so there is room to play with which to make the best of your hardware. Such contemporary Ninja 5 big towers reign in pwm benchmarks.

 

[xkm1948]

My fractal define r5’s default GP-14 fan sucks. Pretty quiet alright but god awful at moving any air

 

[winterwonderland]

Don't go fan shopping. Resistance/airflow are reciprocals of each other. If you are looking to get one, sure find out about them, but I got this if you want to see for yourself. Ninja 5 cannot be quiet if you don't throttle the fans. Big fin array = more drag.
[Noise - rpm range]
I had another review in which Ninja or some look-alike "absolutely destroyed" the reviewed cooler I cited above, so there is room to play with which to make the best of your hardware. Such contemporary Ninja 5 big towers reign in pwm benchmarks.

Thanks.

So, what about the actual question... Are the fans i currently own better than the default fans in my R6 case? I should swap them out with mine, yes? The guy above me says his default fans are crap, so i guess mine are too?

 

[mtcn77]

Thanks.

So, what about the actual question... Are the fans i currently own better than the default fans in my R6 case? I should swap them out with mine, yes? The guy above me says his default fans are crap, so i guess mine are too?

You need impedance curve graphs to tell which is better. Actually not only that, impedance vs flow vs noise.
I just spared you the details. If you have a bigger tower cooler, you can run them dialed slower more efficiently. Fans are mostly differed by their motor component. I literally don't believe any rotor catch phrases. There are ring reinforced ones, noiseblocker eloop, arctic bionix and nidec(my favourite) gt, however this creates its own blower fan characteristics. You have to consider air has inertia that 'rings' when compressed. I wonder what we will have in the future to fight air noise, fan mufflers?

 

[winterwonderland]

You need impedance curve graphs to tell which is better. Actually not only that, impedance vs flow vs noise.
I just spared you the details. If you have a bigger tower cooler, you can run them dialed slower more efficiently. Fans are mostly differed by their motor component. I literally don't believe any rotor catch phrases. There are ring reinforced ones, noiseblocker eloop, arctic bionix and nidec(my favourite) gt, however this creates its own blower fan characteristics. You have to consider air has inertia that 'rings' when compressed. I wonder what we will have in the future to fight air noise, fan mufflers?

I guess i should have said 2 things; don't go too advanced yadayada technical on this noob and be easy. Shouldn't be that hard to say if the Noctua fans are more quiet/worse than the default fans, right? I guess i'll just swap them out and see... Pardon if i did not ask my questions correctly, by the way.

 

[mtcn77]

I guess i should have said 2 things; don't go too advanced yadayada technical on this noob and be easy. Shouldn't be that hard to say if the Noctua fans are more quiet/worse than the default fans, right? I guess i'll just swap them out and see... Pardon if i did not ask my questions correctly, by the way.

Noctuas are amazing industrial fans. That is the correct wording here - industrial. However, you get what you pay for. I cannot channel you in either way. Axial fans are axial, centrifugal fans are centrifugal. It is such a fundamental scientific inquiry, imo.
There is only a single right solution: the rpm dial you can play with which sidesteps all this pedantic nonsense to the uninterested.
If I told about hardware.info and all their fan charts, it would be unwarranted... so take it as you like.

 

[newtekie1]

The Noctua NF-A14 fans are definitely better, use those to replace the Fractal Fans.

 

[winterwonderland]

Thanks for the replies! I am in the process of replacing the 3 default ones with the 3 A14s. And thanks for the advises too!

Thread SOLVED!

 

[Bill_Bright]

FD fans are great - especially compared to fans that come with some other cases. Are there better after market fans? Sure. But do you need them? Most likely, no.

But what you consider to be "better" is all relative.

Is a fan that moves more air better? Maybe. Maybe not. For me, it is not if it makes too much noise.
Is a fan that is quieter better? Yes, as long as it provides enough cooling.

The best fan will move the most CFM in total silence. Is there such a fan? Nope.

As you can tell, I put a priority on fan noise - or rather, the lack of fan noise.

What you need to do is look at your temps - then decide if your FD fans are good enough. I have the R4 and I keep mine set at medium speed and my CPU rarely ever goes above 30°C.

 

[mtcn77]

I didn't know noctuas were this good to be honest, but nidec gt is getting pummelled here by all contenders for no reason.

Fan Benchmark Interpretation – PC Fan Reviews

 

[Boyturtle]

Thanks for the replies! I am in the process of replacing the 3 default ones with the 3 A14s. And thanks for the advises too!

Thread SOLVED!

I too have an R6 and have been considering changing the stock fans to Noctua NF-A14. How did you find the noise levels and cooling ability following your fan swap?

 

[Bill_Bright]

To be sure, the FD fans included in FD cases are definitely high "quality" fans. That is, they are well designed, well made, and use quality precision (thus quiet) bearings.

With that established, it has got to be said that, as a general rule - there are exceptions, of course - but as a general rule and with all else being equal, quieter fans are the result if them running at a slower RPM. But slowing down the rotation speed of any fan, while making it quieter also reduces the amount of air that fan moves.

If you believe your FD fans are making too much noise, try using the R6's fan controller to reduce rotation speeds. Watch your temps to make sure they don't increase too much. I recommend you also verify any fan noise you are hearing is really coming from the case fans, and not the CPU fan, GPU fan(s), or the PSU fan. You could easily replace your case fans only to find out the fan noise was really coming from the PSU or something else. And if using water cooling, note pumps can make a lot of noise in comparison.

My point is, we use FD cases on many of our builds here, including my own personal computers. Granted, my ears are 68 years old and I worked next to a military flight line for 24+ years, but my ears are very sensitive to fan noise. I hate fan noise. I mean I really hate fan noise. And I note FD cases, including the R6, are excellent at suppressing noise. I certainly can't complain about my cases and we have never had a complaint from any client about their FD case fans making too much noise either.

In my situation, the ambient noise almost always is what I hear - not any fan noise from my case. If I am really tasking my computer and the FD fans ramp up in speed, typically by that time my CPU, PSU and GPU fans have ramped up speeds and sound levels too - not to mention Led Zeppelin is a few dBs higher too!

If you had some generic case with generic fans, then for sure, I would say go with those Noctua's. But you spent good money on a high quality case with high quality fans. Enjoy it!