Performance
True Max RPM Speed
Firstly, given that these fans have a wide range of RPM speeds, it’s important to see how the actual speed measures up to that on the box. Given that these fans are all rated as having a 10% degree of variance, overall our testing found that the fan speeds across the range were more than comparable to that rated to them.
There is a little variance, particularly on the 1800 high-speed FLX model. It is, however, as above, all within acceptable remits.
CPU Temperatures With Normal Fan Speed
The first cooling performance test we conducted was using the coolers standard profile. The surprising factor is that despite many faster model speeds in operation, the 800RPM models provided some of the best results in terms of fan speed to CPU temperature.
CPU Temperatures With Maximum Fan Speed
When the speeds are cranked up to their maximum, the 1800RPM model fans step away quite considerably from the slower speed models. We should, at this point note that while all temperatures improved, the higher speed models seemed to do much better when at ‘full-throttle’. While this might sound obvious, the physics is a little trickier. Good cooling is more about solid and consistent airflow. The airflow consistency (in how the fans deliver it) is more important for a cooler CPU than outright speed.
Acoustics
In terms of noise levels, while the high-speed fans are clearly quite notably louder at full-tilt, on the whole, the results are surprisingly consistent. Even the low-speed models provide very little variance in the overall noise output.
In normal operation in idle mode, the results are, for all intents and purposes, identical. There are a few variants here and there, but on the whole, all the fans run at a similar noise level.
So, what conclusions can we draw from this? Well, if noise is a factor in your system build, it’s probably best to avoid to the high-speed fans and choose one of the lower speeds alternatives. Whichever one you choose will give you a similar level of acoustic performance.
