Thermaltake SWAFAN GT14 PC Cooling Fans Review

How Much Does it Cost?

The Thermaltake 140mm SWAFAN GT14 PWM Case Fans with 3 Changeable Blades are available now with an MSRP of £29.99 each. That’s not cheap for a fan, but keep in mind, that you’re getting a fan that can be configured into three different types of fans to suit your needs. If you rebuild and modify your systems fairly often (as I do), then this can be a real-time and money saver in the long term. That being said, if you just want a good quality, high-performance fan that isn’t modular, the Toughfan 14 is hard to beat at £15.98. Whatever you choose, however, it’s clear that Thermaltake are top of its game for high-end cooling fans right now!

Overview

I’m a big fan of Noctua, and I even like the brown ones, but it’s hard to ignore that Thermaltake is taking the iconic Noctua fans to school. First with their Toughfan series, and now pushing innovation and features even further with their SWAFAN technology. While they’re not cheap, they’re easily twice the price of Thermaltake flagship single-direction fan, but since you’re technically getting three fan designs for that investment, it doesn’t seem like a bad investment.

However, I should stress, that I wouldn’t recommend these fans for all but the enthusiasts who need them. If you’re not bothered about the aesthetics of looking at the back of a fan, it’s cheaper to get the ToughFan and turn it around. However, if you want something that looks great while still delivering reverse airflow, then these reverse configuration is awesome. Being able to convert them from a high airflow case fan to a high-pressure cooling fan for radiators is great too, and it means you can use these fans for literally any application.

If you have say, the CTE500 PC case from Thermaltake, you can have three of these in the front as high static pressure mounted on a 420mm AIO radiator. You can have three on the back and bottom of the case as reverse high airflow bringing in more cool air, and more in the top in the forward high airflow to act as the exhaust. OK, it would cost a little over £300 to populate it with 11 fans, but it will look amazing and be very well-cooled.

Should I Buy Them?

They’re obviously a very specific and expensive product that does more than your typical PC users will likely need. However, for the enthusiast market, they’re in a league of their own, providing exceptional build quality, aesthetics, durability, and flexibility that are sure to take any high-end build to the next level. While not the quietest fans when maxed out, if you need massive airflow, these deliver more than any fan I’ve ever tested. Of course, dialling back the RPM, it’s easy to find a good compromise between RPM, noise and cooling performance.