GELID Wing 12 120mm UV Case Fan

Packaging and Bundle
Let’s start with the packaging; the box itself is quite large for just a single 120mm fan so you know even before reading the text that it is going to come with a nice selection of accessories. The box design and colours are nice if slightly muted, but at least they are not overtly attention grabbing and the sweeping curves are something a bit different. The silver corner grabs your attention early on and lets you know that the blades are UV Blue as the Wing 12 series also features a UV Green version. The three viewing holes in the front of the box show the fan blades so you can see the blue colour, along with the four included silicone fan mounts and the fan speed controller at the bottom. The text on the front states the model as well as “Low Speed Optimized Silent Fan with Nanoflux Bearing (NFB)” which is interesting for a product aimed at the gaming market.

The two sides of the box each give four key features: Winglet Blade, Fan Mounts, Start Voltage 5v, Fan Speed Control, Water & Dust Proofed, Extra Long Lifetime, Silent Operation and 5 Year Warranty. These are the key features that Gelid believe will sell the product to a potential buyer looking at the fan in a store. Most are fairly normal, although the 5 year warranty shows Gelids confidence in the build quality and design, however unlike major components it seems unlikely many consumers would actually claim on the fans warranty unless it was in the first few months of use. Still it is nice to know it is there after all and if nothing else it shows this is a product built to last. The other feature that catches my eye is the Water & Dust Proof claim; the former seems fairly out of place in a computer system as the last thing I’d be worrying about if I had a leak with a watercooled system is if my fans survived. Still this does at least imply a good bearing sealing system which is never a bad thing.

The back of the box gives us the same list of features shown on the sides under a “Key Features” section, which again gives us an insight into what Gelid consider this products key selling points. Next we have a short section explaining the Nanoflux Bearing (NFB) which was mentioned on the front of the box. This bearing system is specific to Gelid products, so it is hard to say how reliable it will be but if the quoted MTTF (Mean Time To Failure) is anything to go by along with the 5 year warranty, Gelid are at least confident in its longevity enough to back it up for that length of time. The final section on the box shows the specifications, most of which we have seen in the earlier specification section on the previous page.

Lastly let’s take a look at the provided bundle which I’m quite impressed with, firstly we have a set of four silicone fan mounts, they are fairly standard these days due to the low cost of production and their effectiveness. As you know they stop the vibrations produced by the fan spinning from being transferred to the case frame and then getting amplified. According to Gelid they are made from a strong ultra-soft silicone polymer which should prevent them from breaking during installation. In my mind at least they are certainly much more welcome over standard self-tapping fan screws, although they will not be perfect for every application so including a set of these as well would have been desirable.

They have also included a Zalman Fan Mate style variable fan controller which allows you to control the voltage along a curve rather than at set values (7v, 5v etc). This offers great flexibility allowing you to finely tune the rotational speed of the fan and in turn the airflow and noise output it produces. Now this obviously isn’t the ideal solution for everyone, however you don’t have to use it for normal operational if you don’t want to but in my opinion it is a very nice addition. Especially if you plan on using this fan on something like a CPU heatsink where you can fine tune the noise for general desktop work and turn it up for overclocking and gaming. With Zalman Fan Mates being anything from £2.50 to £3.35 + P&P from a reputable retailer this is a very welcome included accessory on a £10 product. Having using the one provided by Gelid and the Zalman one side by side I can see no noticeable difference in quality or operation. Overall an excellent included accessory and I’m impressed with Gelid for including it.