Akasa Alucia SC, Soho AR and Vegas A
Although it didn’t look like it at first, Akasa will sell the fan from the Alucia H4 cooler separately. We had it briefly in our wind tunnel and it definitely has the potential to succeed in the mid-range segment. Then there are the illuminated Soho AR and Vegas A fans based on it, which are also sold in unconventional “Siamese twins or triplets” variants with a common frame for two or three rotors.
In an extremely quiet manner, Akasa has released fans from the Alucia SC, Soho AR and Vegas A series. The Alucia SC fans must have been wearing an invisible cloak because no one informed us about them and we would have missed them too if Akasa’s marketing department hadn’t “casually” brought them to our attention.
The Alucia SC fan first appeared in 120 mm format relatively recently as part of the Akasa Alucia SC cooler. We also published a short article on it, which included the fan eventually ending up in the wind tunnel for fan testing. Because of the attractive design based on the shapes of the Gentle Typhoon, we wanted to have a basic overview. And true to form, at the same speed, it doesn’t fall dramatically behind the Noctua NF-A12x25 PWM. It is admittedly a weaker, less efficient fan, but the important thing is that it’s half the price. The Alucia SC, besides having a very similar blade shape to the “sterrox” Noctua, it is also equipped with ducts on the intake side to accelerate airflow. It no longer has such a small gap between the blades and the Alucia SC12 achieves a particularly lower static pressure (1.94 mm H2O) at a maximum of 2000 rpm.
The difference in airflow (104.68 m3/h) is already negligible compared to the most efficient Noctua fan. But don’t take this as some kind of satisfactory evaluation yet, these are just the results at maximum performance. More important, of course, will be the results at more practical (lower) noise levels. From our tests you will sooner or later learn how the Alucia SC compares to price competitors such as the SilentiumPC Fluctus 120 PWM. The Akasa Alucia SC is also priced at 12 euros. In addition to the 120-millimeter model (SC12), a 140-millimeter model (SC14) is already available, which could be even rarer. In this 140 mm format, the Alucia SC14 is a rarity. Price competitors will certainly be threatened by Alucia SC fans in both formats.
The new Soho fans with ARGB LED lighting – AR (120 mm) and AR14 (140 mm) – are also available in two formats. Their rotor is the same as that of the Alucia SC fans, so it is interesting that they are listed with worse parameters.The airflow should be 5,76 m3/h lower (89,89 m3/h) and static pressure (1.75 mm H2O) by up to 9.8 %. If these ratios are correct, this may be due to, for example, different thermal expansivity of the materials. Their structure is different in Soho fans, if only because of the different colour.
Instead of blue (Alucia SC) the Soho ARs are in black and white.Noctua also discussed the possible changes to the properties by changing the color with the NF-A12x25 PWM chromax.black. In this case, the properties did not change, but Noctua pointed out that with faster development, the specifications of the black rotors might not match those of the brown ones. And this may be the case where the illuminated Soho AR fans are less robust, the thermal expansion is thus higher and therefore even at the same speed of the same shaped rotor, slightly worse aerodynamic properties may be achieved.
And thirdly, the Vegas A fans. These also have a maximum of 2000 rpm and the claimed airflow (89.89 m3/h) and static pressure (1.99 mm H2O) is again slightly different, despite the fact that the same mould is used to produce the rotor as in the Alucia SC and Soho AR fans.
Vegas A fans are available in three formats. While the single-rotor variant is still traditional, the multi-rotor variants are designed for mounting multiple fans in a row. As they share a common frame, they cannot be separated. However, the spacing of the mounting holes of this non-standard design is standard. The point of this solution is to facilitate installation on liquid cooler radiators or in cases where there are multiple fans side by side. Vegas A are at least for now only with 120 mm fans – Vegas A12, Vegas A24 and Vegas A36.
Vegas A fans also have ARGB LEDs, but unlike the Soho AR, they are equipped with ball bearings with longer life expectancy. The MTBF value is set at 80,000 hours, double that of the Alucia SC and Soho AR fans with hydrodynamic bearings.
All models are now available in stores. The Akasa Alucia SC12 (AK-FN117) is priced at around 12 EUR, the larger Alucia SC14 (AK-FN118) at around 14 EUR. The illuminated Soho AR (AK-FN108) is in stores starting at 17 EUR, the Soho AR14 (AK-FN109) at 20 EUR, and the Vegas A fans are priced at 17 EUR (A12/AK-FN111), 34 EUR (A24/AK-FN112) and 55 EUR (A36/AK-FN113-WH).
English translation and edit by Jozef Dudáš
