Xinruilian fans from XSPC

XSPC Fan Review

 

Last fall Nathan of Koolertek contacted me. He had a new line of fans in. They were Xinruilian fans from XSPC. He wanted to know how well they would perform. If he sent me some samples, would I test them and tell him? Sure, I wrote back. So he sent them and I included them in the fan studies I was doing on the NH-D14. I was surprised. They did pretty well.

 

Actually, they did very well for seven-dollar fans. They were the most substantial sleeve bearing fans I had ever handled. And they blew more air with less noise than a number of more expensive fans. So when Nathan wrote to say that XSPC had expanded their line, I was happy to test this one too. This may be the last fan I test on my NH-D14 test rig before I dismount the heatsink.

 

So now we have enough fans for a proper review. Here they are -- three 120x25mm fans and one 140x25mm fan:

 

 

What struck me about these fans was that they didn’t look like they’d do much. XSPC is a company that provides water-cooling for PC’s. They sell all sorts of gear related to water cooling, including “Fans designed for XSPC Radiators.” But these fans don’t have the broad chord blades one usually associates with high static pressure fans. In fact, the fans look a bit peaked. Not promising, I thought. But the proof is in the testing.

 

They are, however, solidly built fans. I didn’t believe they were sleeve bearing fans until I peeled back the label on one and checked it out. Yup. Sleeve bearing.

 

Speaking of sleeves, though, look how the heatshrink tubing goes all the way into the PCB housing:

 

 

And in this closeup you can see how the heatshrink tubing passes pretty far out of the fan, and on the other end snugs right up against the black plug:

 

 

Black fan, black heatshrink, black sleeving, black plug -- guaranteed to disappear into your rig the way it is supposed to do.

 

 

Specifications and free-air performance

 

I never take the word of a brand seller on their specs. I always measure fans. I measured these by putting my SPL meter ten centimeters in front of the intake face of each of these fans as it ran in free air. By subtracting 20 dB from my results I got the sound pressure level you should expect at one meter away:

 

Seller’s Specifications						As Measured
Fan Model	RPM	CFM	SPL (dBA)	Static Pr		RPM	SPL (dBA)
				mmH2O
RDL1225S-1200	1200	48.3	22	1.0		1256	22.5
RDL1225S-1650	1650	65.2	29	1.8		1654	29.5
RDL1225S-2000	2000	73	35	3		2083	34.5
RDL1425S	1350	73.92	29	1.23		1266	29.5

 

XSPC follows the admirable practice of saying their sound pressure levels are approximate. I laugh when I see numbers like 19.05. No one can measure sound that closely. Hats off to XSPC for their refreshing candor with their SPL’s. Too bad they didn’t do the same with their CFM and static pressure numbers.

 

Another thing: XSPC tells us their cables are 45cm long. Well, I measured them. They’re exactly a half meter -- 50cm -- from frame to plug tip. I guess XSPC wants you to be able to place your rad pretty far away from your power source.

 

By the way, do you notice how shockingly accurate their RPM and SPL specifications are? Until I sat down to compile this I really didn’t notice.

 

Again, this is amazing for seven-dollar fans.

 

 

Cooling Performance of 120mm Xinruilian fans

 

When I received the RDL1225S-2000 I went back and retrieved three charts from past testing. I tested the new fan with the three 140mm fans, added the results to the speadsheets, and generated new charts. I have highlighted the Xinruilian fans:

 

 

 

 

The KM2-1700 is a Scythe Kaze Maru 2 140mm 1700 rpm fan. It is also called a Slip Stream 140. The TY-140 is a 140mm PWM fan sold by Thermalright.

 

Conclusion

 

So much for predictions. These inexpensive little fans turned out to perform very well, thank you. And they weren’t noisy. They are handsome and solidly solidly built. And to the extent I could measure them, their specs were accurate.

 

Thanks to Nathan of Koolertek for providing the fans. I suspect he is as surprised as I am to see how well they did.