Well, after installing the 47ohm resistors on all 6 fans, only 3 of 6 fans were able to start up on their own. After giving two mid-case fans a gentle flick they were able to maintain themselves (so 5/6 fans spinning), but one of the front case fans just wouldn’t spin under its own power. I assume either half the cables are bad, or the voltage is dropping too low for these slightly different fans to get going, @clayd333 did you notice any issues with your install? Any slow or no-starts? According to Vikram, the coolerguys fans are soon being replaced by these top motor fans in all newly built HL15s.
I’ve already started the return process for the resistors and am planning on swapping all the fans entirely. Vikram offered to swap these Top Motor’s for the original Cooler Guys models (thanks again Vikram! you all are awesome!), but if I’m going to swap fans, I’d rather it be for quiet+performant fans.
I’m looking at either the Noctua NF-S12A FLX or the NF-S12A-PWM. I’ve spent some time reviewing other posts on the forum and a super helpful spreadsheet for like-for-like swap options, but the FLX model isn’t included.
It seems to me that the FLX will allow for the ‘cleanest’ install - it will use all of the existing 3-pin cabling, provide nearly equal CFM to stock fans, but at almost 50% lower db while running at the highest RPM (1200), albeit with much lower static pressure. I suppose there’s a little less reusability down the line since they’re not 4-pin, but I’m not planning on swapping any of my full-build gear out any time soon…
@Glitch3dPenguin is there something I’ve missed about the FLX model? Any reason it’s not included in your spreadsheet?