Another "Man on the street review", this time of the new Phobya nano-2G 12 PWM 1500rpm Red LED. (catchy name) Item description Phobya nano-2G 12 PWM 1500rpm Red LED Manufacturer and code Phobya: Nano-2G 120 PWM Cost £12.70 (inc VAT @20%) Supplier SpecialTech http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop...-Nano-2G-PWM-Case-Fan--Red-LED-pid-13565.html Description and overview A 120mm case fan from Phobya. The fan has red LEDs and forms part of the Phobya Nano G range of fans. First impressions and quality. The red eyes of the Phobya demon stare out at you from the packaging, intimating that within lies something evil, something to be feared. Is it a demon? never really thought about it but I guess it's meant to be something "evil" as the Phobya Logo informs you to "Fear it". So it is indeed with a sense of fear, a sense of trepidation and where possible a sense-ible haircut that we open up the box. it is within this box of fear that we find...well....a fan. A rather nice fan but a fan none the less. OK so the branding concept, marketing and packaging are perhaps a much, but I can see where they're going with it. So I've managed to conquer my fear of what lies within the Phobya fan box (would that be Phobyaphobia?) and opened it up to have a look. First impressions of the fan are good, it has 14 blades (yes 14) with the blades alternating black/red. Both the blades and the cowling are finished in high gloss. The blades feel firm, but there is a small degree of flex. That said I don't get the feeling they're going to snap off or anything. The fan hooks up via a 52cm long black braided 4 pin PWM connection, which means of course that this fan can be attached to the PWM header of your MOBO offering intelligent control over fan settings. The only other thing inside the box is a set of 4 chrome grub screws for mounting. No silent rubber grommets, no 4 pin molex converters, no step down voltage conversion cables, just the fan and the screws. Instructions Instructions are not provided with this fan, although there is a fair bit of information on the rear of the box with regards to it's use of "Nano technology in the bearing of the fan", as well as the "waterproof coating of the electronic components" making it "perfect for watercooling solutions" Now i'm no genius (ask my wife), but I have done a fair few watercooling loops in my time and never once have I needed a fan that's water proof. Do they know something I don't? a new technique whereby the cooling fans are immersed in the reservoir to batter aid heat dissipation? No, that can't be it, as the box also states "The fan is not completely waterproofed, only the Nanoflux bearing"... The confusion continues. So if I'm reading this right What we have here is a fan that's a bit waterproof (but not very), which enables you to get it a bit wet (but not very). Not that I can think of any situation where I would need a fan to be able to have waterproofed characteristics. I know, maybe they mean if I get a leak in my loop and water goes everywhere in my case my fans will be ok (unless they get very wet of course). believe me if there's that much water hitting my fans then that my fans might survive the drenching is the least of my worries. Don't misunderstand, I'm not saying this waterproofing is a bad thing, i'm just struggling to see the relevance of it. Fitting. The fan can be fitted to the case either with the grub screws provided. As the fan body is of the traditional open corner construction, the fan can also be fitted to a tower type CPU cooler or to a radiator with the use of the appropriate fitting screws or clips (not included) The fan is of the PWM variety so if used as a CPU cooler it's speed can be controlled dynamically by the Motherboard. The fan comes wired via a pre braided 52cm long cable terminating in a 4 pin fan header connector Those of you who like to mod your fans by painting them (although it would be a sin to cover this chrome finish) will be pleased to know that the fan blade and hub section can be removed in the usual manner allowing painting of the blades and cowling section separately Performance. As always I shall be assessing the fan by means of my 3 categories scoring system Fans have 3 jobs to do. 1 Be quiet. 2 Move air. 3 Look sexy, cool, awesome, pretty, the muts nuts (insert adjective as appropriate). And again as always, with this being a "man in the street" review I'm not going to be throwing loads of numbers at you (maybe one or two), but no graphs I promise. Job 1 Be quiet The fan is rated between 10 and 25dB(A) which represent it's noise level at the speeds of 600 and 1500rpm respectively. Real world wise, using my established measurement of "putting my ear up against it and having a listen" the fan is very quiet at 600rpm, almost inaudible. However at 1500rpm there's quite a discernable whirr coming from it, almost a purr in fact. Not intrusively loud, but not quiet either. Job 2 Move air The fan is rated at 1500 rpm, and shifts 64.3 CFM of air. Not bad, and almost double what the Silverstone APs can shift. it also betters the tried and tested 1850rpm Gentle typhoon (GT) rated at 57.6CFM Time for another real world test. Picking up the fan while it's running (mind those fingers) and letting the air project onto my face at varying distances (mind the nose and anything else that sticks out of your face. I just have the nose but you never know)) Up close the pressure of air can be felt strongly, and whereas other fans can feel a bit gusty at 45cms or so this fan still delivers a good strong column of air. Not quite as good as the Silverstone, but better than the GT. Job 3 Look sexy, cool, awesome, pretty, the muts nuts (insert adjective as appropriate). Nearly as important these day as the other 2 categories. How does it look? Well like the other tests this again is subjective. The finish of the cowling is gloss black, almost to the point of Piano black. The blades are alternately gloss black and gloss red, not something I've seen done before but works quite well. The fan is ideally suited to upping the appearance of your tower type CPU cooler, with the red light and blades complimenting anything else that might have a red "theme" inside your case. A bit of an astute colour choice really, I wonder if they're bringing out a green and black one The fan has red LEDs mounted in the cowling which switch on automatically when the fan is on (they can't be controlled separately as with Bitfenix fans). The resultant illumination is strong and reasonably well dispersed, better than the Bitfenix fans, but not as good as the Silverstones which have the LEDs mounted in the hub. When switched on the effect is that of a red fan turning within a black cowling as the black blades are blurred out by the LEDs and the spinning of the fan. Conclusion. A good fan for the money. Good airflow and reasonable noise levels. A good choice for changing the appearance of your tower CPU cooler and adding PWM functionality at the same time. Also great for outside computer builds where a bit of rain might fall and get the fans wet, but not too wet (that's not the reason for the waterproofing either is it) Good points. Quality appearance and finish PWM Braided cable Quite high CFM Bad points. Not cheap A bit of a purr at the top end of the rev range How could the product be improved? Quite like it as it is really. Would I want to spend more to make it better? Nope.
I think he means where the fans are mounted on the outside of the case like I think the top fans on an Antec 100.
I like the style of your reviews but quoting manufacturers stated CFM output isn't sufficient. Marketing man go on holiday from the proceeds of writing bulls***. I very much doubt that a 1500rpm fan would give higher CFM than an AP-15. If Phobya are intending these fans to be used on a rad then their static pressure is very important and they should be, at least, tested on a rad with comparative results shown.
@ big elf Glad you like the style of the reviews and thanks for the feedback. Manufacturers figures do have to be taken with a pinch of salt. As I say these are "man on the street reviews" so they're not intended to be tech heavy. I don't include independant measurements for 3 reasons. I don't want my reviews to be too number ridded and tech heavy. There are plenty of others who can publish those figures. But mainly, and this is the biggy, I have no way of measuring this.
I'm buying this other brand of fan - it's made with quantum technology, and comes with more wifis and GBs. Oh, it's also magical and revolutionary, and everyone has one!
Exactly my point, why include "nano technology" in a fan??? The guys in marketing who put this blurb together must have been peeing themselves. Next thing you know we'll have motherboards incorperating "Bifidus digestivum" technology. Still a cracking fan though despite the marketing blurb.
