Maximum PC

I am gettng a Noctua NH-U12P SE2 120mm SSO CPU Cooler for an i7-3770k system. I plan on some moderate overclocking. The cooler comes with 2 Noctua NF-P12 fans, which are not PWM. I'm considering replacing them with the Noctua NF-F12 PWM fans, which have slightly different specs. I'm interested in opinions on whether one of these PWM fans in a push configuration would suffice, rather than 2 in a push-pull config.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835608014

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835608004

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835608026

There are better fans for much less money... The Noctua's are just WAY overpriced for what you get.

Check out the offerings from SilenX (no PWM fans though), Arctic Cooling, & Enermax.

Of all the fans I've owned, SilenX & Enermax have not failed. I have two 9 year old 92mm 14dBA SilenX that have been through near constant use since purchase, save for the occasional hardware swaps, & are still going like new. I have 8 SilenX in total between 6 & 9 years old & all still work as new. Only have 3 Enermax, but all still work great & are 5 or 6 years old.

Here would be my top choices from each of the above brands:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835186078
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835226042
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835214028

I am not interested in these brands. That's not at all my question.

Oh snap! To answer your question, one would probably be enough, you'd potentially have lower noise cus both the fans could be kept at low rpms, and then if overclocking seriously, the two could do a much better job keeping things cool. I say get two. But if you wanna find out for yourself, get one, and then buy another if necessary. My friend is running a stock clocked cpu on that cooler without fans (passive) and it's doing fine. But he's not oc'ing at all.

Thanks! Since I plan on just moderatey overclocking, sounds like startng with one is the way to go.

Hey, if you're looking to get a fan other than the ones that come with the heatsink, & don't care about spending more $$$ to get less, well, that's your prerogative.


BTW... I didn't mention it before because I'm sure my experience is the exception & not the norm, or at least I hope so. I suggested other brands because along with the high price of the Noctua fans, I've personally had 100% failure rate with Noctua fans. Two fans, both came with Noctua CPU heatsinks, one died after about 9 months use, the other around 11 months of use.