and 40mm fans are also used for cooling down Server chassis (1U/2U), SFF or Mini-ITX PC, HTPC, Thunderbolt enclosure, eGPU box, Routers, Switches, Smaller CPU heatsinks, FLEX ATX Power Supply, Consoles (PS4 / Xbox, etc.), Inverters, Switches, 3D Printers, NAS server / RAID enclosure, DIY Projects, DVR / NVR systems, Raspberry Pi 3, Battery charger and other electronic devices. So, here I am going to list down the best 60mm and 40mm fans for use in various devices for providing excellent cooling performance. Moreover, these fans also serve as better replacement fans in devices and appliances that use 40mm / 60mm fans for cooling. Among computer enthusiasts, Scythe is a famous name. We have reviewed the Ninja 4 and the Fuma heatsinks here. We have also reviewed the Slip Stream DB fans here. Slip Stream and GlideStream fans focus on airflow, but they can push air through a rad. The Slip Stream PWM was part of a Mugen 2 that was bought retail. The Slip Stream DB fans were provided directly by Scythe. Only the PWM model is tested here. If you are looking for good 60mm and 40mm computer fans for PC cooling, DIY cooling, 3D Printers, and cooling other electronic devices then you are at the right place. Smaller 40mm and 60mm fans can have a wide range of applications just besides PC cooling. These smaller fans are rarely used for case cooling nowadays because all the computer cases use bigger case fans which are 120mm and 140mm fans. However, they can be used in a PC case for focused cooling or for cooling other components inside it. These fans can be used to cool down the Northbridge or motherboard chipset, NVMe or SATA / M.2 SSDs, VRMs, or maybe even RAM. You can also use these fans on your passively cooled graphics card or regular graphics card if it has been heating a lot and the factory-fitted fan is not performing well. The static pressure is rated at 1.475 mmH₂O at 12V. The air flow is rated at less than 58.1 CFM equivalent to 98.7 m³/h. The sound pressure is rated at less than 21.2 dB(A) at 100CM. The loudness level is 0.440 Sone (N) at 100CM. The MTBF is 140000 Std./hours. Operating temperature for the fans is -10°C to +60°C.

Case fans generally come in two core sizes including 120mm and 140mm versions. Apart from the fan diameter and location of the holes to attach to the chassis both are pretty much the same. Occasionally cases have a front or top 200mm - 230mm fan but with manufacturers producing more slim and sleek case designs, the larger fans are getting integratedless. Water Cooling Radiator Fans Testing was performed on the Microsoft Windows 10 x64 Professional edition build version 1709. Noctua NT-H1 thermal paste was used. The fans were put on 50% and 100% of their speed. The pump of the CLC was put on 100% of the speed. Asus RealBench v1.44 was used to stress test the CPU. RealTemp was used to monitor the temperatures. Below you can find the best 40mm fans for computer cooling and for cooling other devices. These 40mm fans can also be used as replacement fans for various devices and components including Flex ATX PSU. 40mm Fans 12V Noctua NF-A4x10 FLX Fan As said before, the blades are a translucent blue and have a slightly bumpy texture to them. This seems odd for a fan as it will increase air turbulence and therefore noise. It could also prove fatal with trapping dust over long periods of operating; our testing will let us know.

Quiet, reliable and affordable.

First the fans were placed in a test stand, where their free air RPM was observed. Then the fans’ noise was assessed. The standard proxy for what you can hear is the Sound Pressure Level (SPL), measured in decibels and given a type A weighting (dBA). A silent room is about 30 dBA. The SWiF2 120: Coolink produced a fan with a unique impeller. It has a bullet hub and eleven blades. It came with vibration isolators as well, in electric green. The specimen here was bought at retail. Coolink 120P Corsair Radiators for PC liquid cooling come in all sorts of sizes and configurations, from single 120mm radiators (one fan placement per side) all the way up to monstrous 560mm radiators. Other than choosing the correct size you need to ensure the fans offer high static pressure.

The NF-F12’s, the NF-F12 industrialPPC’s, and the NF-P12 were provided by Noctua. Noctua NF-P12 Rosewill The application comes with a clean and intuitive interface that is unlikely to give you any troubles. It is worth mentioning that the app scans your system for the audio drivers and, if it detects any issues, it prompts you to reinstall the utility or update the drivers to the latest version. As a side note, the tool does not provide the links for the newest drivers, so you need to look for that yourself. FDB = Fluid Dynamic Bearing, a patented evolution of the sleeve bearing which causes the lubricating fluid to be recirculated within the bearing.

PWM fans are used for lots of things now. A PWM fan can be used as a case fan, as a heatsink fan, or as a rad fan. AIO coolers simply expand the playing field for PWM fans. So I have collected twenty-four fans here for review in our 2016 case fan roundup. The NB-eLoop X B14-P ARGB works in a range between 0 and 1500 RPM, thanks to PWM technology, generating a considerable static pressure of up to 2.310 mm H2O. However, it becomes absolutely impressive when looking at the airflow, i.e. the air flow rate. A remarkable 186 m³/h (109.47 cfm) at maximum are generated here despite the low speed range. At 12 Volt voltage and full speed the fan is still not louder than a maximum of 29.6 dB(A) - this is a remarkable achievement in the world of air cooling. Cable management, Decoupling and LightingFurthermore, the NB-eLoop has cable management: Only a very short 4-pin cable is attached to the fan itself, the length of which can be varied using two supplied adapter cables. Thanks to the choice of a polycarbonate material, in particular Makrolon, the chassis is also vibration dampened and additional dampeners are still included as standard. I thought I would never do it again, but soon I expect to see non-PWM voltage-controlled 120mm fans for review. It seems that OEM's still make them.Well, I got my Noctua NF-S12A fans tested, with their various resistor wires. Next come the Scythe Slip Stream 120DB's, the San Ace 9S fans, and a variety of oldies but goodies. I really didn't know I had so many! As the blades are now sort of ending at the frame which is also rotating, the vortexes are dissolved. The second contributing factor is the use of the invariant magnetic bearing which is called NB-Nano SLI2 bearings as these bearings won’t contribute to the noise production. These bearings remind me of the magnetic levitation concept on the Corsair ML fans. I was not able to find specific information on these bearings. They are using NB-EKA P2 motor.

Noctua’s industrialPPC line also uses a 3-phase motor. Most motors you see have four poles inside. These have six. The NB-eLoop fans mostly need 70-90% of a number of revolutions compared to the available low noise axial fans to produce a comparable cooling capacity and volume thanks to its aerodynamically optimized loop rotor. The next column shows the nominal fan speed in RPM. The next to the last column tells you how much noise the fan makes, the Sound Pressure Level at 1 meter, stated in decibels with an A weighting (dBA) which is reasonably close to what you might hear. And finally, the last column shows the airflow the fan produces, stated in cubic feet per minute, or CFM. The Deepcool GF120 was a fine runner-up. Notice how much quieter the two winners were than their neighbors. They also pushed a lot more air through the restrictive rad than fans of similar unobstructed output. What made the Deepcool fan a runner-up and not one of the winners was the fact that it was a lot noisier than they were.These fans come under their IT series of fans which are marketed for the PC users and the enthusiasts. We are reviewing the B12-PS and B12-P versions of the eLoop in 120mm category. The B12-PS fans are rated at 12V DC with an input power of 0.95W using the 0.082Amperes. The starting voltage for these fans is 6.2V. The fans are rated at 400 to 1500 RPM at 12V. You may wish to compare the specifications to the results, so I placed the table near the chart. The first column identifies the fan. The second says what kind of bearing it has. The third column tells the current draw in amps. SP means Static Pressure, which is stated in mm H2O. All the outputs all turned out to be underestimates, to one degree or another. The SPL varied. In some instances the fan made fewer dBA than specified. The fan comes with a multi-speed controller attached to it for changing fan speed to low, medium, and high. You can also use it to turn the fan completely off when required. The fan blades are protected by the metal grill on both sides. Even being such a high-performance and high RPM fan, the fan is very silent and has a maximum noise rating of 18 dBA only. So, if you are looking for a multi-purpose 40mm fan with high performance and manual speed control, then look no further and get this one today. AC Infinity MULTIFAN Mini 40mm USB Cooling Fan Specs Noctua is a partnership between Rascom, an Austrian company, and Kolink International, a Taiwanese corporation. Noctua products are legendary, with heatsinks for enthusiasts and industry, and fans with diameters of 40 mm up through 140 mm, also for enthusiasts and industry. In this review, we are looking at a number of fans, two with Low Noise Adapters, which bring our total number of fan sets to 26.

SPL testing on a rad might be misleading because fans -- even when mounted on a rad -- can use the CFM box as a sounding board. I have thought about building a testing chamber out of something large and stiff, but I would have no place to put it . . . and there would still be no assurance that fans did not use it to make a sounding board. Think guitar or violin to get a notion. Originally the house label for Newegg, Rosewill does offer their products for sale in other places these days. They produce a bewildering variety of fans. Not so bewildering are the Hyperborea fans, in 12 cm and 14 cm sizes. These have relatively low speeds as if the makers were aiming at their being used for case fans, as well as on heatsinks and rads. The two units here were obtained retail. Rosewill Hyperborea 12cm San Ace Conceived for industrial heavy duty applications that require enhanced cooling performance and advanced ingress protection, Noctua’s industrialPPC (Protected Performance Cooling) line comprises ruggedized high-speed versions of the company’s award-winning retail models.

My, how time flies! Enermax released PWM fans with their three-position switches three years ago. We reviewed their fans then. I hauled two of those fans out of their case to compare them with other PWM fans. Although each of these fans has three speeds, we only test them with their switches in the H position, otherwise, I’d never get done. It is very difficult to test system fans fairly as there are many factors that would need to be taken into account. However, since we can assume that the fan that moves the most air will provide the best cooling we can compare them on different fronts; their noise, features and longevity. Answers to comments: SPL I can measure and put numbers to. The "tone" of a fan is highly subjective. Ask Noctua and Nidec. All sorts of products from heatsinks to fans are made by Deepcool. Their GF120 fans have special airflow channels. We can only speculate what they might do for unrestricted airflow, but as you will see below these fans are surprisingly good at pushing air through a rad. The bionic loop fan is the world’s first such design to feature a bionic frame and bionic rotors. Combination of these two with the SLI2 and position invariant magnetic bearings have enabled the NB to deliver a product which delivers the same or better performance level as can be had from the axial fans but at much less noise level. The fans are modular as well. Unlike standard axial fans with fixed power connector, these fans don’t have fixed connectors.