120mm Fan Testing on an MCR120 Radiator Round 6

[Martinm210]

Yate Loon D12SL-12 from P.T.S.

This is a fan I had lying around for a while, bought at Petra's since they had the better higher quality yates.

Yates have been known as an exceptional value fan for some time, and I have used them on several builds myself.

The finish of the fan is generally a little low, the stickers are never on centered and it seems like the blades are not quite balance, but in the end they do really well from a noise/CFM perspective. They also do not come with wire sleeving or any accessories...not even a box. They are basically an OEM type package, fan only.

Regardless of the absent package, the fan does really well. No apparent undervolting issues, no harsh vibrations or motor ticks, and a relatively good sound. Perhaps not as smooth in sound as some other, but the noise level is low and consistent throughout the voltage range.

My results had this fan pretty well matching the medium speed model with perhaps slightly lower noise levels. I say perhaps because 1dBA is possibly within testing error and 3dBA is considered barely perceptible. Personally, I can't tell the difference between the SM and SL models at like performance levels.

Previously I had thought the SM was better than the SL, but with this I think they are the same.

This fan gets my "Amazing Value" thumbs up.. ...

VIDEO LINK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUZCgbR5jEk

[Martinm210]

Thermalright FDB-12-2000

Another fan sponsored by Shazza...thanks!!

This was my first Thermalright fan, and picked the higher speed model to get a feel.

PACKAGE
The packaging was very minimalist, basically the bare fan in a brown box. No sleeving on the wire, etc...but the build quality looks good. It has a larger fan motor similar to the Scythe S-flex series.

POSSIBLE DEFECTIVE FAN?
Upon initial testing, I suspect the sample I have may have a defect. It sounds like something is very slightly rubbing internally which is fairly obvious in the videos at lower volts. Regardless, I pressed on to complete the whole test.

NOISE LEVEL
Was slightly worse than the yate medium baseline fan at very low volts, but a fair amount better at the higher speed area. Noise level was overall pretty good.

NOISE QUALITY
Due to the possible defect rubbing sound, noise quality suffered quite a bit at the low end. It wasn't quite as obvious at higher speeds, but it was still there to some degree causing some roughness and irregularity to the sound.

EFFICIENCY
The fan is extremely energy efficient. It actually consumed less power than the yate medium while producing much more air flow. Very impressive and probably a good indicator of the low friction bearing within and possibly a good long life indicator as well.

RANGE
The fan has exceptional RPM range, from 570RPM at 4V to 2060 RPM at 12V, that's quite a range..

OVERALL
I would really like this fan if it wasn't for the rubbing noise (poor noise quality) I had with this sample and I'm curious if it's just this sample or common to them all (I don't know?). Obviously at 2000RPM the motor needs to be stout, and it does appear to have some optimizations at the higher speed area. I'd be curious to see how the lower RPM models do.

VIDEO LINK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdeL9PFN5EE