The first Fluctus 120 PWM fans marked a great qualitative progress in SilentiumPC production (now Endorfy). Nevertheless, they had their flaws, which the developers are gradually eliminating and, based on the measurement results, the newer 140 mm Fluctus can be said to be a clear improvement. The Fluctus 140 PWM ARGB stands out nicely from other fans in its price category.
Results: Static pressure w/o obstacles
Explanatory note: We measure the static pressure without obstacles in two different situations – with laminarized and with turbulent intake. The results in this section reflect the first case. That is, the air intake to the rotor is laminarized by the guidance tunnel. In this setup, the fan has a larger volume of air available and the achieved static pressure values are higher. This is the optimum environment in which to measure fan parameters correctly.
Why is there a missing value sometimes? There may be more reasons. Usually it is because the fan could not be adjusted to the target noise level. Some have a higher minimum speed (or the speed is low, but the motor is too noisy) or it is a slower fan that will not reach the higher decibels. But the results in the graphs are also missing if the rotor is brushing against the nylon filter mesh. In that case, we evaluate this combination as incompatible. And zero in the graphs is naturally also in situations where we measure 0.00. This is a common occurrence at extremely low speeds with obstructions or within vibration measurements.
I have several general questions.
I see how the exhaust airflow pattern is often commended on. By how much does airflow pattern affect cooling performance? For example, assuming two fans have identical airflow rate on a thin radiator. One fan has cylindrical exhaust while the other has conical exhaust. Alternatively, one has a larger fan hub and the other has a smaller one. Or just different blade design in general. Does cooling performance differ, and if so, by how much? How about for case fans? How about on the intake side, does airflow pattern differ there?
The wind tunnel is made free of dust before testing. By how much does dust settled on the wind tunnel/fan blades etc affect airflow and noise? Would a thin layer significantly affect the results?
Great questions. We have had the ones from the first paragraph jotted down for a while and we will deal with them later in specialized tests. We just have to work our way through the other topics. 🙂
As for the effect of fan “dirtiness” on air flow, I wonder how this could be tested. Of course, we keep the wind tunnel as clean as possible (it is even stored in a vacuum chamber) and I don’t think it is a good idea to risk changing the friction or reducing the anemometer speed by some sediments from the tested fan. But we’ll figure something out. For this purpose we could use some of the prototype tunnels that preceded the final one we are using. They have some imperfections, but they should be suitable for this purpose.
I’m in love with these deeply scientific reviews. No other reviewer, ever, anywhere, went to such lengths and details in their reviews, especially about pc fans. Because of them I’m getting now 2x Endrofy Fluctus 140 argb for a top exhaust on case with grill+ dust filter. Having read all other reviews, I do prefer them over Pure Wings 3, they seem to be more efficient and more quiet at similar settings.
Thank you!