Not a fan of fans...
Posted by Turbulent_Way2318@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 14 comments
I'm building a PC for the first time and having some trouble finding information on fans. As far as I understand if you don't want to see the ugly side of your fans, your intakes should be reverse blade and exhausts should be regular, but I've even found conflicting information on this.
What I really want is to find a manufacturer which makes one type of aesthetically pleasing, somewhat affordable ARGB fan model which has 120mm and 140mm variants, along with reverse blade options, which is available in the UK, but I'm struggling something which meets all the requirements. If a sacrifice has to be made, the fans could be RGB rather than ARGB and if the only options are expensive I can probably find the budget. Does anyone have any recommendations?
I'm also not too clued up on how fan controllers work and if I need to buy them. I understand sometimes they can be included when you buy a set of fans and can be difficult to purchase individually, but that's about all I know about them.
If you need to know the details of my build, my parts list is here: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/HardcoreTree600/saved/#view=9xnyVn
You might notice I haven't decided on a GPU yet but I plan on vertically mounting one that's high end (but not 5090 kind of high). I plan on 3x140mm on the bottom for intake, and having the 3x120mm radiator fans and 2x120mm rear fans as exhaust, then adjusting speeds to avoid negative pressure. (If my plan has any flaws I would love to hear them!)
tehpenguinofd000m@reddit
Define somewhat affordable
Turbulent_Way2318@reddit (OP)
I expect to pay a premium for aesthetics, but I can't justify spending something like £30 per fan. I could manage anything less than £20 each, but if I need to pay any more than that I'll scrap my build idea and go with a blackout stealth one 😂
tehpenguinofd000m@reddit
It's hard to find a fan that does everything you want without paying that much for it. I saw you have the X870 Carbon in your build, do you really need the 870 chipset??
If not, you could easily free up enough $$$ for some nice fans and lose nothing
Turbulent_Way2318@reddit (OP)
You're absolutely right, I guess it doesn't really make sense for me to splash on something like the carbon X870E while being stingy on the cooling. I picked it partly because of its looks but also its USB and PCIe configuration with its quality of life features, but I agree if I'm willing to spend extra for that, it's a bit of a double standard if I'm making that budget restriction on fans. On reflection I think I had a bias because of how cheap fans can be, and in my head I was thinking of the prices as '5x more than what I could be paying' rather than £20 more.
I'll revise my reply - if I can find aRGB fans where the same design has a 120mm normal variant and a 140mm reverse variant, I'll go with them if the price isn't absurd like £100 each.
tehpenguinofd000m@reddit
Eh I wouldn't call it a double standard. I just see a few places in your build where you could shave off a few hundred, lose basically nothing, and shift those funds towards fans.
That said, sounds like you should look at the Lian Li Unifan TL line. They have 120/140, reverse and normal. You do have to buy a controller separately (unless you buy the 120 triple pack that comes with one)
I don't own them, but they have great thermals at lower noise levels and look pretty cool. That would be my pick
Turbulent_Way2318@reddit (OP)
Thanks for your response. I did see the ones you mentioned and they looked great, but I ended up ordering the Phanteks M25 v2 fans which also had the variants I needed but came in at 1/3 of the price of the lian li ones while hopefully doing everything I need them to do. I've heard the connections can be annoying to deal with but if I have any problems I'll make an edit to the post and cross that bridge as I come to it 😂
tehpenguinofd000m@reddit
Much cheaper! The fans I got were also 3 for the price of 1 lian li fan (without controller) so i dont blame you
Hope they work out well for you
Razgorths@reddit
You can get knockoff Lianli infinity mirrors dirt cheap on Aliexpress. I have all the RGB options turned off on my case but bought a 140 mm one for kicks because it was $6; 120 mm are even cheaper. No idea how it actually performs but it definitely moves air; if you're planning to put in like 10 fans it honestly doesn't matter.
The one I got was Jungle Leopard brand "Prism V4"; there's also a V6 and others, along with alternate brands like Upsiren. Just search for something like "140 mm fan" or "argb fan" and they'll pop up pretty quickly.
Turbulent_Way2318@reddit (OP)
Can you notice any quality difference between AliExpress and official ones? I've never bought from there before, is the shipping reasonably cheap and fast? Thanks
Razgorths@reddit
I don't have official ones to compare to, but the build quality feels solid: rubber corners, hefty plastic, sturdy fan blades, not a "knockoff" product feel if that makes sense.
Again I got mine for $6 total including shipping on Ali during a sale/coupon event; I don't know what the shipping situation is in the UK, but I assume China -> US would be fairly similar to China -> UK. The 120mm variants are maybe $4~5 depending on color/style/store and if you get a bundle they might be even cheaper. You can basically get a full set of fans for the price of one official Lianli.
MADFOXTHEBADFOX@reddit
Water cooling the way to go
obstan@reddit
I mean if you don't care about branding, I think thermalright is by far the best budget/quality out there. They have plenty of options and their prices can't be beat. I use them all the time and they have different aesthetics and their newer "silent" fanline is insanely good for the price.
Matt0706@reddit
If you care to empty your wallet I’d recommend Lian Li SL-INF.
GOTWlC@reddit
depends on your budget for fans, but lian li makes some really good fans w/ reversible options.