Fan Mini-Review: Battle of the Big Name ~50CFM Fans
Fan Roundup Part 3 has begun
Preface
Doing things a little differently for my third fan mega-round-up. Will be doing mini installments of some 'key' matchups as I build up all the data to the full-size review. The full review will be more than just an amalgamation of results--it will have its own new results of fans I've left out in the process (because they didn't quite fit into any of the mini round ups).
I haven't done this previously for a variety of reasons:
1) I really didn't know what the 'key' matchups were until AFTER the tests were completed.
1a) The key matchups for this review were pretty clear. Today you will see the first one.
2) With my old test setups, I was wary that I'd get done with some data, publish it, and then find a flaw in it via later testing. By withholding the data until it was all screened as a whole and randomly double checked (well, I checked the San Ace H1011 data at least 5 times), I felt more confident in the consistency and validity.
2a) With my new test setup and the experience of testing over 90 fans prior to this round up, I feel I can screen, double check, and publish as I go.
3) It's a lot of work to do this. By releasing the data all at the end, I can take breaks as I please. Real life can get in the way without any sort of concern over a deadline, and I can prepare certain people of certain results (for instance...I contacted Petra suggesting he order more Yate Loons before I published my review showing his were different and superior to the rest).
3a) I plan to do all the above still. Sorry, but if I need a break from testing, I'm taking it. Each fan takes about two hours to get basic data from, plus I also warm the fans up and also do an extended burn-in to achieve data that's representative of long-term use, rather than out-of-the-box use (I mean, really...who cares how a fan performs for the first 5 minutes you have it?...the other 525,595 minutes in a year are more important).
Testing has changed....again
Okay, yeah...each full-size round up has its own testing procedure and testbed. I make improvements each time for a variety of reasons:
1) attempt to speed up the procedure for my sanity.
2) attempt to improve repeatability of...everything.
3) attempt to have more significant data each successive test.
4) I actually don't want results from one test compared to another.
What does that mean?
Well, from going from Roundup 1 to Roundup 2, I ditched the CPU temp tests. They were a massive PITA. And they didn't *say* much, IMO. I also tried to get more prevalent fans for Roundup 2, as I felt the fans in Roundup 1 were almost a hodge-podge collection that were not terribly representative of what overclockers will be using in their daily systems (or what was available for sale).
For Roundup 3, I have the biggest change yet (IMO). I've done separate testing for Open Air Noise and Radiator Noise. No longer am I correlating Radiator Airflow with Open Air Noise. It wasn't totally useless as it was--the airflow numbers were always pertinent, and to be frank, the Open Air Noise numbers aren't typically that different from Radiator Noise numbers. But thanks to one particular fan in Roundup 3, my hand was pushed and I HAD to do the testing. More on this later.
As for point #4, that may seem weird to dataologists (yes, I made that up, but you probably know what it means--there are many of you here at XS). But simply...the test environments were very different and frankly, the fans themselves weren't even the same. I just didn't want people thinking that one result from one test could be just dropped into the result bank of another test...so I went out of my way to make the data incongruous. The easiest way? Change the way I used to convert my recorded noise measurements to published noise data. The data didn't actually change, just the number associated with it--and I'd do it differently each time. Roundup 3 is no exception. Don't try to compare data from this roundup to previous roundups, please.
Okay, enough bloviating
Let's talk about fans.
In this roundup I've tested between 4 and 6 fans, depending on how you count :p:
Fan 1) Scythe S-Flex E (1200RPM)
Fan 2) Scythe Slip Stream M (1200RPM)
Fan 3) Yate Loon D12SL-12 (1350RPM)
Fan 4) Noctua P12 (retail sample, 1300RPM)
Fan 5) Noctua P12 (review sample, 1300RPM)
Fan 6) San Ace 109R1212H1011 @ 5V (yes, only 5V results in this test--no clue what RPM it's at :p:)
Why these fans?
All are either tested, rated, or presumed to move approximately 50CFM. They're also the most prevalent everywhere you go on the internet.
Two are solid performers from Roundup 2: the Yate Loon D12SL-12 (well, I actually didn't test the SL, but the SM is extremely similar as I found out in my own testing later) and the S-Flex E.
There's the king of Roundup 2: the San Ace 109R1212H1011...but only at 5V, since that's really all that's pertinent. :)
There's two new gunners: the Slip Stream M may be rated for 68.54CFM, but it's a 1200RPM fan and if I've learned anything, it's two things (:wasntme:); 1) manufacturer ratings can be fully ignored for both CFM and dBA and 2) RPM rating tells you a lot about what a fan can or can't do. As it turns out, the fan doesn't move 68+CFM, go figure. :rolleyes:
The other newcomer is the Noctua P12--and in addition to having my usual retail sample (I buy ALL of my fans...more on this later), I also have a review sample from Noctua (I don't know if they know I have it though?--it wasn't sent directly to me [or with the intent of ending up in my hands] is the short version). The review sample was made in late October of `07 and the retail sample was made in mid April of `08. Both are otherwise "new" though...they were NIB when they reached my hands. This fan promises to be a significant improvement over the previous S12 via significantly revamped design to rectify radiator performance (the S12 was a very good fan that was basically incompatible with radiators and fan filters due to its fan blade design).
Anyway, the reason I don't test review samples is simple (especially if you've taken an Intro to Philosophy course)....while I can trust some companies to send me run-of-the-mill fans that I'd expect to perform identically to a retail sample (Panaflo, Sanyo Denki, NMB-MAT, Delta, etc.), other companies I absolutely cannot trust (SilenX, Silverstone, etc.)...and then there are the companies in the middle (Zalman, Noctua, Scythe) that I'm (rightfully) unsure of. The philosophical problem is: where do I draw a line? Any line is arbitrary so therefore I can't draw any line. This means either ALL review samples, which is already proven as a bad option....or ALL retail samples, which I do. Besides, a retail sample is very likely to be more universally indicative of retail performance.
So why am I testing a review sample of the Noctua P12? Curiosity mostly. I have it, so I figure I might as well compare it to the one I've purchased. :)
Anybody want results? Did anybody actual read all of that? God I hope so...little irks me more than having someone ask a question that's answered in the first post. It may be a lot of words, but it's important, pertinent, and it'll be the last time I say most of it as further Mini-Reviews will be mostly data/interpretation-only.
Open Air Performance
http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/8...cture28ic8.png
All fans are good here, really....there's no winners or losers. There are some important things to note, however.
1) the review sample generally outperforms the retail sample except at 8V and 9V where the review sample acoustically goes flat. It doesn't change at all--the pitch, the loudness, nothing. I had to double check the multimeter. That said, when put on the airflow testbed, the same noise characteristics were noted, but the airflow scaling was as-expected. Hence the 'dip'
2) the S-Flex E is the best sounding of the group. No doubt about it. YL D12SL-12 is a close 2nd. The S-Flex E also gets quiet in a hurry...at 7V it's making about the same amount of noise as the other fans do at 5V.
3) the Slip Stream struts its stuff. Disappointingly, it never gets silent, even at 5V, but it performs well in open air and has a decent noise profile.
4) the Noctuas sound pretty good. They're not as good as the S12s I tested, subjectively, but they're good. I'd put them in my case :yepp:
5) San Ace H1011 isn't going to be dethroned easily. Oddly, it was also the 'chattiest.' Nothing you'd notice in a case, but sitting out in an open room and compared to some great fans, you notice the slightest different and it was making a bit extra noise than I would have expected...still a wonderful showing though.
Radiator Performance
Things get interesting
http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/4...cture29rh0.png
1) Okay, who didn't see the Slip Stream's demise coming? I know I've been harping on it for the longest time...but even this surprised me.
1a) When first testing this fan for the Fan Filter Comparison I did, I noticed it was actually performing okay on the radiator. Airflow numbers weren't horrendous like I anticipated. The 1900RPM "SH" actually had similar airflow loss to the 1900RPM S-Flex G. I was kinda flabbergasted. Then I turned off the music, turned off the A/C, turned off the TV, turned off the loud-as-sin Xbox 360, turned off the dogs and turned off the gf and I noticed something--the Slip Streams were getting significantly louder on a radiator. Well beyond the point of turbulence noise...it was like the fan was increasing its RPM...significantly. Now I haven't tested THAT (RPM sensors I've learned to not trust, thanks ASUS, Intel, Abit, and DFI), but I figured I might as well test the noise it makes on a radiator...then I realized if I was going to be testing the noise it made on a radiator, I'd have to test all fans on a radiator for noise. No longer could I assume the difference would be negligible....thanks Scythe.
1b) So I began testing noise on a radiator set up and....wow...my ears were right, the thing makes a ton of new and extra noise on a radiator. Whereas the Yate Loon and S-Flex basically were unchanged on the radiator, the Slip Stream acted like a completely different fan--a fan out of the 1200RPM class.
2) In other news, the San Ace H1011 actually got quieter on a radiator :lol: It also has fairly high CFM loss all things considered...but that's nothing new, it did in Roundup 2 as well. I have a feeling its RPM is decreasing. Still at the top of the heap though :p:
3) Yate Loon D12SL-12 and S-Flex E are solid performers--still. :)
4) The Noctua P12 didn't quite live up to the hype. It's a pretty good performer, no doubt (its superiors are outstanding fans frankly), but it's not a killer like it looks and is hyped. It may be an overaggressive blade structure causing turbulence noise that brings it down. I'll have to examine more.
5) The review sample still has the dip, but the added noise of being on the radiator (and the increase in airflow) shallows the dip slightly.
The end
That's basically all I have for now. Not sure what fans will come next or when to expect the results, but I have oodles of free time this week (I think), so who knows what will actually happen.
Adding some qualitative experience with a few of these fans...
I recently got my hands on a few of these fans at cost from a friend who works at an internet retailer. I tried the S-Flex SFF21F 1600rpm fan, the 1200rpm Slipstream, and the Zalman ZM-F3.
I run an overclocked q6600 on a Xigmatek HDT-S1283, and had read countless fan comparisons on xtremesystems forums, silentpc forums, etc.
I run my system in an Antec 300 case, which has a 140mm fan on top, easily the loudest fan in my case. It's not particularly bothersome, as it's pretty low pitched, and it sits right above the cpu heatsink, so while it drowns out the cpu fan a bit, there's large openings on the top, back, and a hole in the side of the case for you to hear the cpu fan. For this reason I am somewhat picky about noise, as I sleep pretty close to my computer.
I have had other versions of the slipstreams, a 1600rpm one and an 800rpm one I still use. Both I have tried on the heatsink, the 1600rpm one was too loud for me, even when brought down to 1250rpm. I hoped this would change with the 1200rpm one.
It didn't, really. The 1200rpm one sounds great free air, only a light low pitched hum. When put on the heatsink, the sound is not particularly loud, but is a noise that stands out from the other fan noise, low and prominent. I couldn't stand this noise, it drove me crazy and I couldn't use it. But it wasn't all that loud.
Next I tried the Zalman, and even at 1800rpm, I thought it sounded better than the Slipstream. Louder, but it blended in better with my other fans and wasn't too distracting. Performance was the best with this fan, both idle and load, load temps could best the Slipstream by 2-4 degrees, not quite sure because of different ambients. But significantly better. Idle temps were better too, by 1-2 degrees. The only problem I had with this fan was when I throttled it down, I would hear a light ticking noise. You wouldn't have known it was there if you didn't put your ear close to the fan, but after you know it's there you don't forget about it and start noticing it more. It could have been just my sample, but I was disappointed as this was a great performing fan which seemed perfect for automated fan control, it was very quiet at lower rpm's except for the light ticking.
Lastly, I tried out the S-Flex. At 1600 rpm, it is more quiet to me than either the Slipstream or the Zalman, and definitely has the best tone to it. It just doesn't bother you. The performance is pretty close to the Zalman, just a tad below it in temps, tough to say with ambient differences. It scales down perfectly, I would recommend this fan to anyone with a Xiggy or similar. This fan has a bit of internet "hype" if that's possible for a computer fan, and it lives up to its billing.
All this said, I realize it's tough to decide what's worth the money to you, the differences are just tones and the performance leaves me with a safe overclock regardless of which one I choose. I was lucky enough to get these fans at cost, $5 for the Slipstream and $9 each for the Zalman and the S-Flex. Currently I'm running the S-Flex on the Xiggy and the 1200 Slipstream on the exhaust. It's a great combo and it doesn't bother my sleep, so I'm quite satisfied.
