120MM Fan roundup part 2
 

I'm retesting the fans from the previous roundup + adding these:

Spire: 1 model
Nexus: 2 models
GlobalWin: 1 model
Coolermaster: 3 models
ACRyan: 2 model
Scythe: 3 models
Acoustifan: 1 Model
mCubed: 1 model

sound samples recorded with HQ mic at 1cm - fan speed 12/7.5/5v

Temperature tests with Thermaltake Big Typhoon in open case. dBA measurements still wondering how to get the most meaningful results there.

Sounds good. You haven't got my favourite, the Glacialtech :)
Yeah, I don't know how you'll manage the dBA measurements. It so subjective and depends if the fan has too much 'wind' noise or bearing noise.

ended up placing the dBA meter about 5cm away from the fan when mounted on the heatsink, the results obtained seem quite accurate when you take the RPM into account. I was able to monitor the RPM of most fans, but below 700rpm was no longer picked up by the fanheader, so some very slow fans are missing that RPM value

Looking forward to the review, thanks>

about 8 hours of temperature tests to go ;)

I hope to get the review done and published before the end of the weekend

all testing done;

I have:
- HQ sound recordings of each fan at 5/7/12v
- dBA readings of each fan at 5/7/12v
- temperature results 5/7/12v
- subjective listening "place ear next to fan" results 5/7/12v



still wondering how I can present the sound recordings in a plug and play way, downloading a single file for each fan at each voltage is a bit too much, and nobody's going to do it. I'm thinking of using a static image of the fan tested + sound of the fan in a small movie , and host it through google video

ah yes, and a nice surprise for me at the end; Nexus send me 2 fans, one black/white the other orange color. Specs on box and website for both fan are the same. so I only tested the black/white; turns out the orange one has different specs, spins ~100rpm slower. I no longer have the HQ mic so it's going to be hard to include that one. But with 100rpm less, performance difference will not matter much. I did include it in the subjective listening test.

so in total it's a 17-Way (+1) fan roundup

AC Ryan Blackfire4
AcoustiFan AF120C
AcoustiFan AFDP-12025
Aerocool Turbine 1000
Arctic Fan 12
Coolermaster ALU AAF-B12-E1
Coolermaster LED Silent TLF-S12
Coolermaster Ultra Silent SAF-S12-E1
Coolink SWiF-1201
GlobalWin 1202512L
mCubed X12
Nexus D12SL-12 (black/white)
Nexus D12SL-12 (Orange)
Papsgt 4412 F/2GLL
Scythe S-FLEX SFF21D
Scythe S-FLEX SFF21E
Scythe S-FLEX SFF21F
Spire FD12025C1E3

Good work fella!

sneak peak at temp/dBA results for our forum readers:)

mcubed seems very good

don't jump to conclusions based on one graph with some numbers;)