This is a quiet low speed fan, running at only 1000 rpm. These blades in particular are designed to have a good balance of airflow and pressure, making them a good general purpose fan. These fans compare favorably to a lot of other fans in its price range and performance level. A number of advantages that this fan has include an (1) excellent motor, (2) tool-less removal of fan blades, (3) open corners, (4) a sleeved cable, and (5) a ridiculous 5 year warranty.
1) Its motor is very high in quality such that unlike a lot of other fans, it doesn't click or create other electronic noises, even when undervolted.
2) The blade impeller can be pushed out easily by grabbing the frame with your fingers, and pushing on the blades with your thumbs. This allows you to easily clean the fan blades, or even to add in lubrication if you so desire. Other fans usually use a c-clip to lock the impeller axle into the bearing, requiring you to both peel the sticker and carefully use pliers to remove the fan blades. Reattaching the blades is to simply push the axle back into the bearing and push down until it clicks in place. Sometimes delivery can end up tossing packages around, and the fan blades might pop out a bit during transit. Just make sure the blades are all the way into the base before installing.
3) Open corners seems like an odd advantage, but numerous heatsinks have fan mounting clips that require open corners to hold onto the fans. Examples of this are the Noctua D14, C14, Thermalright Silver Arrow SB-E, and Archon SB-E. This fan will mount on those heatsinks, but fans with enclosed corners will require hard modification.
4) Sleeved cable looks nice. It isn't a tight weave, so while the cable is quite flexible, it is also somewhat see-through so if you look at it closely, you can kinda see the red and yellow wires through the sleeving.
5) Warranty seems to be matched only by a few other companies. I have never needed to call in a warranty so I can't speak for their service. I've had these fans running on older computers for years and the first ones I've purchased are still running without problems.
Be certain however, that in exchange for being low noise, these, like all other quiet fans, are also low airflow. While many manufacturers will rate their fans as having massive airflow with minimal noise, Gelid's ratings on this fan are actually realistic, which is very rare amongst fan manufacturers. With a gratuitously large heatsink, these can keep a 125 watt CPU cool, but leaves very little room for overclocking. I personally used a single one of these fans mounted on the bottom of a Noctua C14, and it was capable of keeping an AMD 8320 cool at up to 4.2 GHz, but any higher speed required a bump in voltage and ultimately pushed the temperature to unsafe levels; the fan just didn't have enough airflow at that point.
So, who is this fan for?
This is a great fan for those who are looking for an inexpensive fan that doesn't make strange noises when undervolting.
This is also for those who are looking for a fan that's quiet at 12v, resulting in quiet performance without any fan control.
This has more than enough performance for anything that won't be overclocked, or only lightly overclocked.
This is not a good choice if you live in a noisy environment such as near a high traffic road or if you have an air conditioner constantly running. The background noise in your home will be high enough that you could use a higher airflow fan without hearing it. On the other hand, those who are very sensitive to noise and who live in very quiet homes, like those located in the suburbs away from high traffic roads might find this fan to be louder than desirable, it's really too hard to tell.
This is not a good choice if you want really high overclocks.
Those who live in very hot climates may have to be careful with this fan as well.
For more information, check out SilentPCReview. They tend to use a Nexus 120mm 1000rpm as their reference fan, and it has the same blade geometry as this Gelid. The Nexus is slightly quieter with roughly the same airflow, so you can see the kind of temperatures they get on various heatsinks and processors to get an idea for this fans performance and cooling capacity.
| Product Dimensions | 4.72"L x 0.98"W x 4.72"H |
|---|---|
| Brand | Gelid Solutions |
| Power Connector Type | 3-Pin |
| Voltage | 12 Volts |
| Wattage | 1.8 watts |
| Cooling Method | Fan |
| Compatible Devices | Server |
| Noise Level | 20 dB |
| Maximum Rotational Speed | 1000 RPM |
| Air Flow Capacity | 37 Cubic Feet Per Minute |
| Item model number | FN-SX12-10 |
| Item Weight | 4.1 ounces |
| Item Dimensions LxWxH | 4.72 x 0.98 x 4.72 inches |
| Color | Black |
| Manufacturer | Gelid Solutions |
| ASIN | B001K6XYWY |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Date First Available | September 11, 2009 |
