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Vantec Stealth Fans


Date
: 04/10/02 – 12:52:44 AM

Author
:

Category
: Cooling

Page 1 : Introduction

Manufacturer: Vantec
Price: $10.49 (60mm) – $11.99(80mm) – $12.99(92mm)

Introduction

Overclockers Online has always brought your reviews of motherboards, processors, video cards, cases, storage devices, … and lots more. Of course all that hardware kicks butt, but something many people tend to forget is "cooling": these days a small heatsink+fan combo sitting on your processor won't be sufficient to keep your system stable during your daily work! Installing a big mofo heatsink like the AX-7 onto the CPU is a good start, but if there is no cold air entering the case and hot air leaving it, your brand new killer heatsink won't perform as planned. Case cooling has become a vital part of a serious computer system and today I am taking a closer look at a nice set of case fans made by a well-known manufacturer of heatsinks and everything that comes with it: Vantec. Many people are not in favor of case fans because they tend to add a lot of noise to your rig. Frankly, I can't blaim them! It's ok to install those high rpm fans, spinning at approximately 8,000rpm, but having a few of those in your room all day long
will
drive you nuts in the long run. Vantec's engineers were aware of this problem and they decided to take care of it: the Vantec ultra quiet
Stealth
fans were born! Are they really as silent as the box tries to tell us? What about airflow? Only one way to find out, and that's the O²-way :).

Page 2 : Specifications

Specifications

There are three different Stealth fans available:

Model: SF6025L
Fan Size: 60x60x25mm
2.36×2.36×0.98"
Rated Voltage: 12 V
Rated Current: 0.08 Amp
Air Flow: 12 CFM
Rated Input Power: 0.96 W
Noise: 20 dBA
Rated Speed: 2600 RPM
Bearing: 2 Ball Bearings

Model: SF8025L
Fan Size: 80x80x25mm
3.15×3.15×0.98"
Rated Voltage: 12 V
Rated Current: 0.10 Amp
Air Flow: 27 CFM
Rated Input Power: 1.20 W
Noise: 21 dBA
Rated Speed: 2050 RPM
Bearing: 2 Ball Bearings

Model: SF9225L
Fan Size: 92x92x25mm
3.62×3.62×0.98"
Rated Voltage: 12 V
Rated Current: 0.07 Amp
Air Flow: 28 CFM
Rated Input Power: 0.84 W
Noise: 20 dBA
Rated Speed: 1750 RPM
Bearing: 2 Ball Bearings

As you can see, Vantec offers three variations of this new fan: a 60mm model that is intended for use on heatsinks (or maybe video cards if you have room to spare), a more all-round 80mm fan that can serve as case fan and also for use on heatsinks since many new heatsinks are designed to work with 80mm fans. Last but not least there is the 92mm variant of the Stealth fan, which is most likely to be used as case fan.

As the above speclist is showing, all fans have a thickness of 25mm. The 60mm model is pushing around 12CFM, being the little brother when compared to the remaining two fans who push 27CFM and 28CFM respectivly. As you can see, the 80mm and 92mm model are delivering more or less the same amount of airflow (there's a difference of one CFM, in favor of the 92mm fan), but the difference is to be found somewhere else: the 80mm version generates 21dBA noise, uses 1.20W input power and has a rated current of 0.10 amp. The 92mm fan is producing 20dBA noise, making it more silent than it's smaller brother. It also uses 0.84W input power and has a rated current of 0.07amp, both being lower when compared to the 80mm counterpart.

All fans are using a double ball-bearing mechanism, which extends the life of the fan drastically. All fans come with a speed-o-meter, letting you monitor the fan speed through your hardware monitor software. Vantec is claiming that their fans are running 80% quieter than a standard case fan, but those values are relative: it depends to what fan you compare. The stealth fans were indeed running very silent and the only noise you hear is actually the airflow they are pushing around! Each fan comes with 4 screws (those sweet, thick ones) and of course with a 3-to-4 pin adapter in case you don't have any fan headers left on your motherboard or in case the wire is not long enough to reach it.

Note that Vantec is giving you a life-time warranty on these fans, so if they ever go dead on you, you're getting new ones for free :)! That's what I call service …

Page 3 : Testing

Testing

How does one test a case fan? Well, to see how the fan performed I decided to install them in my own box: I only had one case fan in there and to be honest, adding one or two would definetely be a good thing. First I ran the fans outside of the case, to see what kind of noise they emitted. I'll be short on the matter: as I said in the specs already, the only noise you get is the airflow! No annoying high-pitch sounds getting on your nerves and driving you crazy ;).

Installing them is a breeze: locate a place to install them, screw the fan down with the supplied fans and connect the fan to the motherboard or to a power connector and you're done! Easy eh ;)? Installing the 60mm fan onto your heatsink is just as easy: take of the old fan, put on the new one and lock it down.

Now, how did it perform? Just as you'd expect a case fan to perform: my case temperatures went down by two degrees celcius and the noise level did not increase (not audible anyway)! Does this makes me happy? Of course it does! Cutting two degrees of your case temperature means your heatsinkfan will be blowing air over the heatsink that is two degrees cooler as well … in the end your CPU will run cooler thanks to the lower case temperature.

All in all I'm happy to tell you operation "stealth fan" went as planned and very painless. Temps are lower, noise level stays the same … all is well!

Page 4 : Conclusion

Conclusion

What can I add that I haven't mentioned in the review about Vantec's Stealth fans? They perform very well, emitting no annoying noise and delivering a nice amount of airflow. Case cooling is important nowadays and people who are still running their box without any case cooling should really consider getting these fans. Your hardware will last longer because of the lower temperatures and overclocking results will increase for sure! Vantec has equipped their fans with a double ball-bearing mechanism, extending the life of your fan drastically. And if it ever breaks down, you still have your life-time warranty that will get you a replacement fan in no time! If you are interested in getting yourself a pair of these fans, you might want to check out Coolerguys or XPC Gear, they have them in stock.