Silent fans / CPU cooler

I'll be buying some new fans and a new CPU cooler for my 'server' which is on 24/7. I've had these fans since I bought the computer cases and 2 Antec fans just started whirring on me today and I decided it's enough, I need new fans and a new CPU cooler to augment the old AMD stock cooler. I'm looking for quiet fans primarily, there won't be any OC'ing done on the other computer. Longevity of the fans is also desirable, as the fans on my Thermaltake Element V started whirring just ~6 months of using them. Thing is though, I'm quite limited to just a few vendors at my local shop, and don't want to invest in fans from outside Croatia just now to avoid paying ridiculously high taxes. So let's begin.

I'm limited to the following vendors. And not all their products are available for purchase here. (yes no Noctua's I'm afraid )

- Arctic Cooling
- Bitfenix
- Coolermaster
- Scythe
- Sharkoon
- Xigmatek
- Thermaltake
- Spire

Now, for the CPU cooler, I have to admit I'm quite partial to Arctic Cooling. I'm using the Arctic Cooling Freezer XTREME for about 1.5 years I think and it's still dead silent. Not much of an overclocker though. So I was thinking something along the lines of this ->

http://www.arctic.ac/en/p/cooling/cpu/15/alpine-64-pro-rev.2.html

But if necessary I will go again with another Freezer xtreme -> http://www.arctic.ac/en/p/cooling/cpu/57/.html

Also a friend advised this Zalman -> http://www.zalman.com/eng/product/Product_Read.asp?idx=311
I have no experience with Zalman so I'm not sure what to expect, but all the reviews I could find for this aging CPU cooler are that it is quiet. Keep in mind this new cooler will augment my old AMD stock cooler(can't wait to get rid of it, looong overdue ), and will cool the aging Athlon 64 3500+.

For the fans, I will be getting some fans for my gaming rig, 2 or 3 120mm fans, 2 of those for HDD cages and 1 as an exhaust fan on the back of the case. For this purpose I was looking at Scythe's GentleTyphoons, limited at 1150 RPM. I've been watching them for quite some time and have heard nothing but praise for them.

http://www.scythe-eu.com/en/products/fans/gentle-typhoon-120-mm.html

Also for the gaming rig, I will be getting 2 200mm fans and 1 230mm fan. For this purpose I saw the Bitfenix fans ->

http://www.bitfenix.com/global/en/products/accessories/spectre-led

These come both in 200mm and 230mm and are supposedly quiet. Here I would really like some advice as I've no experience with Bitfenix. And I'm pretty limited at these dimensions, only Bitfenix fans are available and only one Xigmatek XLF-2004 200mm is an alternative. I've also found this thread and Chobbit seemed very satisfied with them -> http://www.overclock.net/t/1055359/bitfenix-spectre-led-fans-tested-and-reviewed

Now for the fans in my other rig, I need 4-5 120mm fans and the CPU cooler. For the fans I was mostly interested in the Arctic F Pro TC -> http://www.arctic.ac/en/p/cooling/case-fans/76/arctic-f-pro-tc.html
This cooler is temperature controlled, but there is another variant of it that has PWM which I presume allows me to direct at which speed I want it to work -> http://www.arctic.ac/en/p/cooling/case-fans/394/arctic-f-pro-pwm.html?c=2183
I was almost sold on these but, I noticed the odd shape of the fan itself. I guess I can't mount it both ways as I could a regular fan -> http://www.tech-kings.net/home/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=170%3Aarctic-f12-pro-pwm-fan-review&catid=44%3Acooling&showall=1

The only con in the above review -> Only usable as an exhaust fan or a pusher for an HSF; I apologize for my bad English, this does mean I can only use it at the back of the case then, right? As exhaust on the Antec to blow hot air out. If this is the case, I still need 2-3 intake fans to cool the HDD's. So I was thinking something along the lines of Bitfenix's Spectre 120mm white LED fans. Also I would highly admire your recommendations on this regarding the above mentioned vendors.

Wow this turned out to be long, thanks if you've managed this far, any input is appreciated.

xbournex, thanks for the advice. For the bigger fans I might just go with the Pro, but since my Arctic can't really handle any OC I put it against, I think with no OC'ing the Spectre fans will suffice. Arctic is dead silent and with the Spectre fans I mean to continue this trend. OC'ing will be put on hold for my next rig

In the 120mm fans, the choice is much more varied, see here -> http://www.links.hr/index.php?option=katList&deftab=yes&page=sviartikli&id_kategorija=05090815&sort_cat=cijena_s_pdv&sort_ord=desc&showpics=on

The site is in Croatian but you can get an idea of what I have available for purchase. Also from another site I have the option of buying a Thermaltake Longevity 12 (120mm) and a Thermaltake Blue LED case fan 230mm. I will do extensive research on these two as I would not want to invest in other Thermaltake fans seeing as the ones on my case served me so poorly

EDIT: Could I perhaps ask a mod to move this thread to 'Air Cooling'? Seeing as it's a lot more active.
Edited by TemplarLord - 4/27/12 at 6:45am

In the end I got 3 Scythe Slip Stream Slim's 1200rpm(did the 5V mod on them), and the AC Alpine 64 Pro to get rid of the aging AMD cooler; on the server.

For the gaming rig got a couple of Scythe GT's and a BitFenix Spectre 230mm White LED (that looks uber cool in my case, only buying White LED's from now on ). Also bought the Spectre 200mm to mount on top of the case, but it doesn't fit.

I made sure to double check the specs on the Thermaltake Element V Black Edition which specifies it supports 2x 200x200x20mm on top of the case. And the Spectre Non-LED 200mm also specifies it is a 200x200x20mm fan. So I'm not sure what to make of this.