WEBVTT 00:00:12.320 --> 00:00:15.599 That's how you upgrade a computer, 00:00:19.560 --> 00:00:25.920 right? With the purchase of a qualifying Intel processor, SSD, or Knuck, you 00:00:24.320 --> 00:00:29.439 could instantly win an Intel gaming jersey and be entered in the draw for 00:00:27.599 --> 00:00:33.200 the Ultimate System. Click now to learn more. Linus and I like our premium fans 00:00:31.519 --> 00:00:36.559 and we're both quite public about being fans of Noctua and with pretty good 00:00:35.040 --> 00:00:40.079 reason. Noctua is able to boast extremely high build quality, great 00:00:38.079 --> 00:00:43.680 thermal performance, and very low operating decibel levels. Lately, 00:00:42.079 --> 00:00:48.559 they've even addressed the issue of their kind of puke brown problem by 00:00:46.559 --> 00:00:54.559 introducing their Redux and especially their industrial PPC line of fans, which 00:00:51.600 --> 00:00:58.320 I'm a big fan of, but they're pretty crazy expensive if you think about it. 00:00:56.640 --> 00:01:02.800 In many cases, people are buying these premium fans to replace fans that are 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:06.400 already installed in their case or that come with a radiator by default. Is it 00:01:04.879 --> 00:01:11.200 really worth it, though? Does a price performance value of swapping your fans 00:01:08.560 --> 00:01:15.200 really make any sense in this case? Or should we be more focused on investing 00:01:12.880 --> 00:01:19.280 in different parts of our computer? We decided to find out. Let's start with 00:01:16.799 --> 00:01:25.119 our test setup. We have an NZXT H440 with its defaults fan setup of three 120 00:01:22.000 --> 00:01:27.920 mm fans in the front and one 140 mm fan 00:01:25.119 --> 00:01:32.320 in the back. Then we have a Corsair H105 with its two default 120 mm fans 00:01:30.400 --> 00:01:36.560 strapped to it up in the top of the case which will be cooling an i7 4930K. When 00:01:35.119 --> 00:01:42.400 we switch to Noctua fans, we'll be replacing all of the 120 mm fans with 00:01:39.000 --> 00:01:45.119 NFF12s and we will replace the 140 mm 00:01:42.400 --> 00:01:49.040 fan in the back with an NFA14. First off, we have our thermal testing. Our 00:01:46.720 --> 00:01:52.000 4930K is running at stock and as per usual, our idle test will be ran with 00:01:50.640 --> 00:01:56.399 minimal processes running in the background. Our load test is ran with 00:01:53.680 --> 00:01:59.840 Prime 95 running small FFT mode just to stress out the CPU a little bit and get 00:01:57.920 --> 00:02:04.399 that heat flowing. In both thermal and audio test cases, the fans are running 00:02:01.520 --> 00:02:08.399 at about 1100 RPM for the stock and the Noctua aftermarket fans. Secondly, we 00:02:06.880 --> 00:02:11.920 have the audio test case. This was done by shutting off everything in range that 00:02:10.080 --> 00:02:16.000 could make noise. That means straight up unplugging pretty much all electronics 00:02:13.599 --> 00:02:19.200 in the area and even going as far as unplugging the fridge that was on the 00:02:17.520 --> 00:02:23.360 floor below just because it was slightly too close. I then set up our Xtech 00:02:21.440 --> 00:02:26.400 digital sound level meter and recorded it with a camera just to make sure 00:02:24.640 --> 00:02:29.760 everything went okay as I wanted to leave the room just in case the sound 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:34.319 meter would pick up my breathing. So essentially, yeah, there was an 00:02:31.440 --> 00:02:38.560 improvement. Awesome. But maybe not the $24 worth of improvement that you were 00:02:36.560 --> 00:02:41.599 hoping to get. This money could easily be shifted into other parts of your 00:02:40.239 --> 00:02:45.680 computer for a more noticeable performance improvement in most cases. A 00:02:44.319 --> 00:02:49.840 lot of things in the computer modding world aren't exactly worth it in a price 00:02:48.160 --> 00:02:52.720 performance sense. And while I can sit here and bash on performance fans, there 00:02:51.519 --> 00:02:57.440 are other culprits as well. Do-it-yourself water cooling isn't exactly the biggest reward for your 00:02:55.920 --> 00:03:01.280 investment either, especially if you're a fan of buying premium components. And 00:02:59.519 --> 00:03:04.239 this brings me to the conclusion. I've known what the results of this test 00:03:02.560 --> 00:03:07.760 would yield for quite a while, and I'm sure many of you watching knew as well. 00:03:06.159 --> 00:03:10.560 But that doesn't stop people like Lionus and I from water cooling our computers 00:03:09.200 --> 00:03:15.280 and outfitting them with top-of-the-line fans and other stuff like that. But this 00:03:13.840 --> 00:03:19.760 doesn't exactly have the greatest price performance ratios, and that's okay with 00:03:18.239 --> 00:03:24.080 us. If you're on a tight budget and trying to build a gaming rig that will ultimately live under your desk, you 00:03:22.640 --> 00:03:27.519 should probably just focus on your core components in this case. If you're a fan 00:03:26.239 --> 00:03:31.920 of performance components and essentially the computer version of a hot rodder, then it's probably fine for 00:03:30.560 --> 00:03:35.920 you to torch your wallet a little bit and invest in premium stuff like premium 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:38.799 fans and water cooling. All right, guys. So, what do you think of premium setups? 00:03:37.519 --> 00:03:42.959 Are you into that? Are you just buying like extremely gaming optimized ones 00:03:41.120 --> 00:03:45.680 that are as low cost as you can get while getting the highest performance 00:03:44.159 --> 00:03:50.239 out of it that you can get? Let me know in the comments down below. While you're down there, like, favorite, dislike, 00:03:48.560 --> 00:03:53.840 subscribe, share, all that kind of stuff. And if you want to do that in 00:03:51.920 --> 00:03:57.200 another place as well, jump over to the forum and do it there. And if you don't 00:03:55.280 --> 00:03:59.599 like the ads, become a contributor as normal. If you want a shirt for some 00:03:58.640 --> 00:04:04.720 reason, check the link in the description down below and you can get an awesome looking shirt there. I think 00:04:02.640 --> 00:04:07.920 we have our better than useless shirts on sale there. I know a guy that 00:04:06.319 --> 00:04:10.640 actually works here recently bought one, so that's pretty cool. Thanks for 00:04:09.360 --> 00:04:22.670 watching and I'll see you guys next time.