Wonderful Performer
review by
davelt
I reviewed this back in May 2015.
Most special CoolerMaster fans have always been hair-brain ideas that never really made it. Jetflo and Excalibur are just some of them.
I am not going into the details but I can tell you I've never really liked CoolerMaster fans
But they are saying this is their greatest fan ever, the Silencio 120. Is it though? I don't know. Let's find out!
Static Pressure Optimized ... And recommended for silent PC? Hmm. It had better deliver.
I've never really heard of a SP Optimized fan that's also silent because they're rare and usually industrial!
I like the new boxes from CM though, professional and also very good on the presentation front.
So it appears the POM bearing is a POS? The Loop Dynamic Bearing must be expensive considering that it doesn't come with any other accessories and it costs 9 pounds in UK.
Also the cable is a lot longer than the Jetflo 120 now.
Simple Inner Box. I like they are no longer using the awful reflective sticker!
They just reused the box from the Jetflo 120 and placed less accessories inside.
The fan though features 5 highly curved blades for maximum swept airflow and static pressure across a broad RPM range unlike current fans which tail off in performance below 800rpm if it's top RPM is 1500. That's how special it is. (Most if not all PWM fans can go lower than 800rpm but they tail off as I said)
It is also a Delta-like design having being seen on a Xbox One Heatsink and that's also a 120mm fan by pure coincidence.
Performance.
How does it do? I used it on my Deepcool Captain 120 AIO on my Intel Xeon X5650 @ 4GHz 1.25v Uncore 1.25v in a Phanteks Enthoo Pro with a Powercolor R9 285 Turboduo
Let's look at noise first where this fan shines. This is at full load under Prime 95 Small FFT as IBT freezes up my system and only eases up once the test is done.
Not good when I need concurrent readings for temperatures.
Did REALLY well there. The Jetflo is so noisy because it was forced to run at full speed otherwise the temperature of the CPU would have gone up.
See what I mean? At 1000rpm on the Silencio is all this AIO needs to cool my bad boy 6-core with. I also got similar temps with a stock 5930K which is surprising because that's 22nm and on Haswell and that was done at full speed with the stock Deepcool fan!
The truth shows. I don't even need to ramp up the fan on my 120(!) Deepcool Captain 120 AIO for the temps to lower because ... It won't.
At stock settings though I am getting 51C with the Silencio 120 and 53C with the Deepcool fan at the same RPM.
Closing up, this is a highly impressive fan. It retails for 9 pounds or 9 euros if you're in europe from the CM Store
But these days you can buy Nidec GTs (They ARE designed and manufactured by Nidec entirely, Scythe merely marketed it)
The best bit is that this is a great fan for all sort of PCs, from ITX to Watercooled monsters!
For ITX I have 3 recommendations, the Nidec GT, this fan and the Silverstone AP123. The AP123 has the advantage of directed flow but it is also noisier and lower in airflow. It's not like the Silencio isn't directional either because the blade design allows it to be fairly directional.
For watercooled monsters ... Just buy a Nidec GT. Just do it.
I want to see though also, is the performance of this on a Raijintek Themis Evo that I have.
Pros | Cons |
---|
Quiet, High Static Pressure (for the noise it produces which is almost inaudible), looks like serious bit of kit. | Not cheap. Less accessories than the Jetflo 120. |
Ratings