Cooler Master GeminII

[Xtremeoverclocking]

i just got this new cooler at my door but i for got about 120 mm fan now my question is what are the best 120mm Fan Man Can Buy i am looking at 12 ARCTIC FAN.

[Dr. V]

Originally Posted by Xtremeoverclocking

i just got this new cooler at my door but i for got about 120 mm fan now my question is what are the best 120mm Fan Man Can Buy i am looking at 12 ARCTIC FAN.

That's the recommended one especially for this cooler. 20dBA and 37CFM - very quiet, and efficient - amazing fans.

[Elysium]

I've got some Thermaltakes on right now. Nothing wrong with them, (I think it's 75CFM at 35dB?) but sort of loud (and heavy). I'd get the Arctic Cooling ones that you menitioned.

[Tyreal]

I would probably go for Yate Loons, they are quiet and push decent amounts of air but I don't know if the fans would be optimal for the density of the fins. If it were me, and I were using that on my test bench I would be using 38mm thick Panaflos.

[Elysium]

Originally Posted by Tyreal

I would probably go for Yate Loons, they are quiet and push decent amounts of air but I don't know if the fans would be optimal for the density of the fins. If it were me, and I were using that on my test bench I would be using 38mm thick Panaflos.

Yes, but take wieght into account also. 38mm fans are going to be a lot heavier then the super thin Arctic Cooling fans.

[Tyreal]

Hence why I said I would be using my test bench and if it were me.

[Dr. V]

We have to remember that efficiency (CFM) to sound (dBA) ratio is extremely important here. With 5 fans in a case at 20dBA each, the total sound it will reproduce is 27dBA (yes, I did the calculations). Anything below 30dBA is less than "comfortable and regular" sound - meaning you'll have an awesomely quiet case. This calculation started out with me knowing I'll have 5 fans at 20dBA each in my case soon. My front fan, rear fan, PSU fan, and 2 fans on the cooler.

The Arctic 12 fans produce only 20dBA of sound, but move 37CFM of air - that's an awesome ratio (1.85:1). Also as aforementioned, they're not that heavy at all - one of the lightest 120mm fans around. Yate Loons as Tyreal mentioned are also definitely good fans for this purpose, but are heavier. Also, to get similar results you MAY need to get the the 38mm version, resulting in even more (maybe too much at this point) weight - this goes for most other fans, although YL's may be an exception.

Either way, be sure you're very careful to look at the airflow to sound ratio of a fan before buying it. I have a 57CFM fan in my sister's computer - insanely efficient, but slightly noisy at 28dBA (unless it's alone in which case it's still very quiet). But look at the ratio - about 2.04:1 - even better than the Arctic 12. This is where the confusion comes in: after looking at the overall fan configuration in your case, is it worth having the extra CFM at the sacrifice of (definitely noticeably) more noise?

HL's review of the CM GeminII uses the two Arcitc 12 fans in question, and look at the results they got - the answer looks like no to me.

But then again, there are many configuration approaches you can take at the CM GeminII. You could have two different fans for different purposes. A more powerful but maybe slightly more noisy fan on the CPU side, and a whisper quiet one for the other side where the RAM and (close to) the northbridge would be located. At the end of the day it's a personal opinion.