Cooltek Silent Series Fans

[testman78]

Introduction

Case fans historically tend to fall into one of two categories of performance - air flow/power potential, and noise level/quiet operation potential. One usually has to sacrifice a bit of the quiet operation factor in order to achieve the desired power level needed to do an adequate cooling job. If you need to avoid the noise level, then you may need to sacrifice some air flow to get the decibels down to acceptable levels. A number of case fans have hit the market in recent years claiming voluminous air flow and whisper-quiet operation or marketing variations of this theme. The examples that can truly make this claim are few and far between.Today we have for review some of Cooltek's new Silent series of case fans.The Silent case fans are being marketed as fans with extreme silence.We will endeavor to see if it fulfills its intended role.



Although the Cooltek's new Silent series case fans are available in 40mm,60mm,120mm and 140mm form factors,our review samples are a 120mm and 140mm versions.First we will see what Cooltek has to say about the Silent's features and specifications.



Packaging & Contents


The packaging of the Cooltek Silent Fan is a white-blue cardbox with a big window at the front side that allows to see the fan. Product features and some marketing points are shown along the top.



The reverse side lists the specifications,repeated in many languages.



Included in the package are a set of fan screws, and practical silicone washers for the decoupled installation of the fan.




A Closer Look

The fans of the series have black frames and white blades.



The blades are very pleasing and stylish look.



The Silent Fan (120/140mm)with Blue,Red LED is equipped with four blue/red-lit LED's mounted to the frame.



Frame and blades are made of semi-transparent material, the rotor is held in blue/red.



Fans in the dark.



In order to achieve quiet noise levels, DeepCool has gone to great lengths to silence the fans.



A revised fan blade design and the use of extremely durable Rifle-bearings are the outstanding features of this newly developed silent fan series.



The frame of the Silent Fans is particularly stable and gives the fan a high stiffness.



In combination with the high-quality bearings, the fan produces therefore with very little vibration.



Black sleeve 4-pin PWM cable.




Test System and Methology

Processor: Intel Core i7 3770k@4.6 Ghz -1.2 Volts
Motherboard:Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H
Cpu Cooler:Noctua NH-U14S
Memory: 16GB Mushkin
Graphics Card: Sapphire HD 6970
Power Supply: Antec HCG 750W
Chassis: Cooler Master Silencio 650 Pure
Boot Drive: Ocz Vector
Storage Drive: 3TB Seagate Barracuda


Software:

CPUID HW Monitor 1.23
CPUID CPU-Z 1.65
Prime95 v27.1



All hardware and settings will remain the same throughout each test. Ambient temperatures were 22.2 C during testing.Each fan was tested independently in a quiet room, with the power supply isolated, to ensure accuracy.



Results - Noise Level

I simply could not believe what I was seeing -- motor operation was simply unbelievably smooth and was barely audible.There was no motor clicking noise at all. Even air turbulence noise is kept at a bare minimum.




Conclusion

Bear in mind that most of the fans in the series are slow spinning and are not suitable for replacing fans of performance CPU coolers.They are however suitable to be used as case fans for systems where acoustics are more important than maximum thermal performance.Now i could review each fan individually but since they are all the same core design of fan i think viewing them as a series is most fruitful. What is clear from testing the Cooltek Silent PWM fan is that there is a great deal of flexibility.The PWM models combine both and allows you to choose which speed you want between 300 to 1500RPM via PWM controls.



The Cooltek Silent Series fans are truly some of the best fans(in terms of noise level) i have ever tested and their price is perfect(2.79-4.99 Euro's).At this price we can see that Silent Series fans are occupying the lowest price point for Silent fans in the market segment.They are firmly recommended to those who want their PC to be completely silent, especially HTPC users.