Be Quiet! Silent Wings 2 (Dark Wings DW1) Series Fan Review

Be Quiet! are quickly emerging as one of the premier cooling and power supply manufacturers on the market. Their high quality power supplied have gained many awards thanks to their balance between performance and price. Cooling is a relatively new section of the market that they have delved into in recent months. Their current cooling line-up consists of high performance CPU coolers including the Dark Rock Pro, top-down CPU coolers and a variety of enthusiast-grade case fans. Today we will be looking at their premier range of case fans, the Silent Wings 2 (previously know as Dark Wings DW1) series.

80mm, 120mm and 140mm fans form the Silent Wings 2 series making them an option for a wide variety of users. The 120mm and 140mm version that we are testing today operate at speeds of 1,500 RPM and 1,000 RPM, respectively. Quiet operation is key for the Silent Wings 2 series with the 120mm version being rated for 50.5 CFM at 15.7dbA and the 140mm version shifting 60.4 CFM of air at just 15.8 dbA. This combination of airflow and silence is achieved via the airflow-optimised surface structure of each fan blade. A FDB (Fluid Dynamic Bearing) with copper core and vidually balanced fan wheel gives the Silent Wings 2 fans a MTBF of 300,000 hours.

Priced at around £18/€19,90 with a 3 year warranty for both the 140mm and 120mm versions, the Silent Wings 2 fans must offer competitive performance to survive in the enthusiast segment of the market.