Alphacool has unleashed the new Apex Stealth fans on the world, which attract attention for two things in particular. Firstly, the fact that they contain robust metal elements and secondly, the specifications. These seem to be literally incredible, and while we have no doubt that the efficiency of these fans will be top notch, it’s hard to find elements for which they should be “the best”, as the specs suggest. Read more “The armored Apex Stealth fans promise the “impossible””
A few 120 mm fans are already thicker than standard, but now there is one which is also one number larger. And it’s being taken up again by the brand that managed to popularize the 30 mm profile the most – Phanteks. The latest D30-140s come in two designs. In addition to the regular variant, there is also a reversed one with the same blades, but incorporated into the frame for the opposite direction of airflow so that it mainly “looks” good. Read more “The new Phanteks D30 fan: Extra thickness now in 140 mm”
Why spend as much money on one fan as you would on four or five Endorfy Stratus 120 PWMs? There is a clear answer to this, but it may not be interesting to everyone. Especially when the fans are meant to fit well into builds designed with the best possible price/performance ratio in mind. That’s when low-cost fans make sense, and the end-user often dismisses the “imperfections” of the Stratus 120 (PWM) with a wave of the hand. Read more “Endorfy Stratus 120 PWM: Efficient fan on a budget”
Same model, different pieces. Differences in vibrations can be dramatic. Especially if they are cheap fans with high manufacturing tolerances. While most Endorfy Stratus 120 PWM fans have some vibration, you can also come across “golden” samples that don’t vibrate at all. This is admittedly a very rare but existing situation. The variance of vibration is much greater than you might think. Read more “15× Endorfy Stratus 120 PWM fan in vibration tests”
Can you guess how big the difference in vibration can be between the “best” and “worst” piece of the inexpensive Endorfy Stratus 120 PWM fan? We’ll take a look at this in the future, and your job will be to guess as accurately as possible. As a reward, whoever comes closest to the correct answer will receive any “cooling” product from Endorfy. In the case of smaller items, the prize can also be made up of multiple items. Read more “Guess a fan vibration variance and win anything Endorfy”
Does it or does it not clearly beat the Noctua NF-A12x25 PWM? The Phanteks T30 doesn’t like second places, and in the vast majority of cases it doesn’t get to them, outperforming competing fans in its format (120mm) by a good chunk when optimally setup. But that was a bit of a must to justify the extra thickness, which is associated with poorer compatibility after all. Read more “Phanteks PH-F120T30: The fan that pushes boundaries”
We’ve known about Scythe’s preparations for a new fan for some time now. We are only now getting to the details of its design. While it hasn’t officially been released yet, it has appeared in Wootware catalogue – and in all its glory. In addition to the complete parameters, we have several high-resolution photos available. With the Grand Tornado fan, Scythe is sure to get a say in who has the “best” fan. Read more “This is “Grand Tornado” – finally an elite Scythe fan”
In the next fan test there will be a model for which many of you have been waiting for a long time. It will be quite easy to recognize it even from the photo, which reveals only a small part of it, a detail. Everyone who writes us what fan it is will be entered into a draw for one big pack of them. And it’s really worth entering, there aren’t many more attractive options in the 120mm fan field (and we’ve exhausted all the hints with this one). Read more “The next fan in our test database will be… can you guess?”
There are only a few white fans with ARGB. Still, BeQuiet’s Light Wings models have some rather unique features as this rare commodity. That’s true visually as well. But they also have high performance or airflow to noise ratio. For our tests this time, out of the two options, we chose the high-speed design, which has its “own” blade geometry. But it also handles very low speeds to boot. Read more “Escape from darkness – BeQuiet! Light Wings White (BL101)”
Clockwise rotation fans are quite a rarity, you don’t normally come across them. However, Scythe, for example, makes such models and for good reason. Why not take it the other way around? In terms of standalone operation, of course, it doesn’t matter. In series, in the position of the second fan, it is possible to achieve higher cooling performance on CPU coolers compared to using fans with the same direction of rotation. Read more “Scythe Kaze Flex II 120: Wild ride in reverse”
A smaller fan format does not always have to mean low airflow. To achieve comparable results to larger cross-section models, there needs to be higher rpms and with them higher noise levels, but as long as you accept this, and you don’t really have much choice due to the size constraints, the new P8 Max fan seems like an attractive option. And most importantly, it’s one of the few of its kind. Read more “Arctic’s “P” line of 80 mm fans now includes the Max model”
You might be saying that you know the rotor of this fan and that Valkyrie was inspired by the Gentle Typhoon D1225C a little too much. But that’s okay. Mainly the positives were taken from said template and the biggest negative – high vibrations – was avoided. And although some things could still be worked on, in the context of ARGB LED models the X12 fan fares quite well. Read more “Valkyrie X12: Impressive rotor, a bit undermined by the motor”
We pay close attention to fan vibration in our tests, as it clearly indicates the mechanical qualities of the design. However, it is always good to have an idea why some fans vibrate more, others less, some not at all. And we will deal with this in more detail in this article, which is based on our own experience, but also on notes from fan developers. Can a cheap fan reach high speeds without vibration? Read more “Analysis: The main reasons why fans vibrate”
“Modifying” a cooler by replacing the fan with a relatively more efficient model may not always lead to the desired result. Sometimes you will get significantly less improvement than you would expect, other times you may even be worse off. This means that at equal noise levels, you will achieve lower cooling performance, and it doesn’t really matter what fan you use. Sometimes the design of the heatsink has the final say. Read more “Psychoacoustic optimization of coolers… A gag? Physics”
An older, even old, but still relevant fan. The selection among cheaper, 140mm models is quite small and when you look at the design of the Silent R3, it looks quite good at first glance, even technically. Moreover, it is a slower-speed fan, which doesn’t automatically mean that it avoids resonant frequencies, but it does promise to run rather quietly. And at those lower noise levels, also an attractive price/cooling performance ratio. Read more “Fractal Design Silent R3 140 mm: Low speed, “no” vibration”
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