be quiet! Silent Wings 3 120mm PWM high-speed - Fan Noise

Pretty good for medium impedance applications. However, it kind of occupies a weird niche for me. For lower impedance applications, I would prefer to use a Kaze Flex, as it would likely move more air. For higher impedance, I would prefer a Toughfan, A12x25, F120T30, etc, because this fan leaves substantial gaps around the edges of radiators. But for heatsinks, this fan should be pretty good, and in the aforementioned applications, it won't be terrible, there are just often better options.

Also my unit has some kind of electrical noise. Not lack-of-smooth-commutation noise, but some kind of a buzzing/hissing sound, which my Pure Wings 2 doesn't have. Not sure if this is a widespread thing or not.

[Tourbillon]

Thanks for the test, please keep testing different top fan models.

[saintlacke]

Thanks for the test, It seems like the non pwm version would be quieter, if you can test that out

[lovie]

Are you going to do a review on the new silent wings 4 that are coming out this month? I've been wondering if those will beat the noctua 12x25 fans

[hsuknowledge]

I just found out this to be noisier & less efficient @1450 rpm than Enermax TB Silence Adv 120mm.
Tested with a mesh front panel of Phanteks P300A.
The Enermax fan keeps my RAM temperatures down to 39.5/36.5°C (2 sticks), while the be quiet! high speed fan got loud but only performed like 46/40°C, for the same PrimeGrid workload.

Official stats:
Silent Wings 3 @ 1450rpm: 50.5 CFM / 1.79 mmH2O (should be the same for high speed version @ same speed)
TB Silence Adv @ 1500rpm: 63.9 CFM / 1.82 mmH2O
How crazy of its stats, and its sound is really smooth @ ~90%PWM/1450rpm.

[MrX-ygrz]

Arcic P14 PWM is better? Are they louder than P14?

[superblitz]

How good would you rate this fan?I think for 22$ it makes the noctua's feel pretty overpriced

[Autotrope]

Interesting that this has the whiny noises at certain frequencies like the arctic P12

[pixelvoyager]

why wings 2 it is more silent wings 3 ???

[wdowa]

Wow. Totally soundless bearing / engine. Only hum from cavity on engine mounts

[Leka]

Would be great if you also tested the fans with a dust filter attached in front of them and with a heatsink behind them.

Many of their acoustic characteristics change dramatically when there are obsctructions. The Silent Wings 3 is particularly horrible when there's something in front of it.

[stirfe]

pro tip : dont put this 9x in youre pc on 100 % you ears fly off