[EK-123]

As we would also like to hear your paise and complaints about specific products. We will be opening up several threads where you can express your opinions.

This one is about our new EK-Vardar Fx-120 series.

FYI, a bit of technical info

• unlike other general-purpose computer cooling fans, the EK-Vardar family of fans is built specifically for computer liquid cooling systems, namely radiator cooling. The 7-fin fan blade design is optimized for high pressure operation while maintaining the low noise profile throughout the whole operation range of the fan.
• High-quality motor and bearing assembly - Proven electrical design, actively cooled motor windings and Double Ball bearing with 50.000 hours lifespan (MTBF) ensures uninterrupted operation for years to come. Phase-width modulation (PWM) fan speed allows performance on demand.
• Sealed-edge fan casing - The classic, yet effective square shape of the fan casing ensures optimal performance in either pull- (suction) or push (pressure) regime without hydraulic losses thus ensuring optimal cooling capacity of your liquid cooling radiators.

For any Vardar fan owners out there tell us if they perform according to your expectations. Tell us what could be improved in the next version. We already know that you need bigger sizes and different colors of blades and cables. We are already working on that.



Also, currently we are running a Vardar + Radiator Giveaway. All you need to do is to head out to http://www.ekwb.com and sign up for our newsletter. We promise we will not spam you guys! If you are already signed up you might win it without moving a finger

 

[King4x4]

Let me be the first... Experiance on the Vardars:
4 Customs builds... One for me personnaly and about 3 for my clients.

Personel observations:
1- Sound signature is very good.
2- Air pressure when compared to the current mainstream fans (Corsair/NZXT and Swiftech offerings) is much better.
3- Color is a bit... meh... Either go for white/black or pure black fans.
4- Pricing is just perfect... not too cheap nor too steep.
5- Facing diffculties enticing normal customers to splurge the money to upgrade their rads... Everybody is screaming GTs.... Until they try a Vardar then they go puppy eyes.
6- No fan accessories puts a damper but we can manage if we can include anything required like rubber stands and dust filters as an extra.

Will help if you can provide guides and procedures on painting them so the normal joe knows what to do.

Otherwise, The Vardars are extremlly good and will continue to use them in my personel builds.

 

[TichePC]

So let me be the second

. We use Vardars in clients build from their introduction on market and are happy with them. As King 4x4 mentioned above they have very good sound signature and their air pressure vs. noise ratio is perfect.

What maybe you can change or think about in next revisions:

1. Color - a lot of client prefers complete black version of fans (or black / white but complete black is preferable) - we like grey / black, but complete black (like 3000RPM version) will be fine
2. Logo EKWB - will be better to put logo of EKWB on every side of fan (actually is on 2 sides)
3. A little bit better work on shrinks of cable (this is questionable because normally cables from fans ints visible at all
   )
4. Maybe put out model with lower speed and no PWM (i talk about serious total silent model where ordinary customers just put fan in 3pin and fan will spin on 500 RPM
   ...no regulation etc. )

This is all from me - continue EKWB with your nice work and support.

 

[AltexChris]

Being part of a retailer, I get feedback from a number of sources such as customers, sales reps, and of course myself when I'm given products to test or purchase a product on my own. The only "wish-list" features I've heard are, just as TichePC said, a special non-PWM Vardar perhaps to use as strictly case fans, and all black across the board. That said, I've been highly impressed with their performance and can't wait to get more when I start my next personal build.

 

[EK-123]

Thanks for your feedback, we will process your wishes in our portfolio plans where we can. As you can imagine we will not stop with doing 5 fans and that's it, especially after such good start.

If you haven't read our article on the Vardar development here is a copy of it:

True story of Vardar


We had a dream, for years, to design our own fans from the ground up optimized for liquid cooling without any compromises in performance and noise levels. Vardar fans are a result of a long and rigorous in-house development process. Members of our team had a background in industrial fan design with over 10 years of experience and that needed to be utilized.

Unlike chassis fans which are built to provide high air flow, a good radiator cooling fan must generate high static pressure as well while generating least amount of audible noise. This is also the reason why Vardar ended up with the square shape - it ensures optimal performance in either pull- (suction) or push (pressure) regime without hydraulic losses. The fan itself is powered by a high quality industrial motor with double ball bearing which has actively cooled motor windings to allow better air flow and long lasting performance.

We felt the need to upgrade the fan with dominantly popular PWM functionality, which stands for pulse width modulation, where the pulse is turning DC voltage on and off very fast. This allows active regulation of speed from your motherboard and better power efficiency.

Gentle Typhoon was the market benchmark that we set to beat. To avoid testing multiple physical prototypes, we used a set of complex mathematical models to design and simulate fan performance. Selected design was transformed info 3D printed prototype that went through an anechoic chamber testing (pictured below). Results confirmed that we have surpassed all available fans on the market. After a year of development we were ready to offer it to all liquid cooling enthusiasts.

This only the beginning for EK fan portfolio, 140 mm versions are in the works and additional models are still in the pipeline.

 

[Odaik]

Does anyone know if there have been any tests that carry out a direct comparison of these fans to the old Gentle Typhoon models in the context of a radiator setup? I've seen a few tests against other fans and the Vardar does quite well, but none (as far as I can tell) against the Gentle Typhoons.

 

[tiborrr12]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Odaik

Does anyone know if there have been any tests that carry out a direct comparison of these fans to the old Gentle Typhoon models in the context of a radiator setup? I've seen a few tests against other fans and the Vardar does quite well, but none (as far as I can tell) against the Gentle Typhoons.

Yes, there is one - Vardar F4-120 (2200rpm) vs. Gentle Typhoon AP-45 (2150 rpm): http://www.xtremerigs.net/2014/12/03/first-look-testing-ekwb-vardar-fans/

 

[TichePC]

My friend Mino_85 from another discussion forum already bought and tested 1150 / 1850 RPM Vardars models. He usually test them for RPMs:

1. Minimum Voltage for start and RPMs on that Voltage (green colour on picture)
2. RPM on 5V
3. RPM on 7V
4. RPM on 9V
5. RPM on 12V
6. Last line is very interesting - this is the lowest value at which the fan still spins steadily, but not when starting from rest, but rather of reducing the voltage from the started state.
7. Also there is a second column where (if fan is PWM type) we can see RPMs vs. the % of PWM

Maybe this informations will be usefull ;-).

 

[tiborrr12]

Yes, all of these findings are correct and well within expected envelope

The table above shows nicely the Vardar works as advertised in the 40-100% duty cycle. The reason why it does not start with lower voltage (your #6 finding) is because the fan blade is very heavy and the integrated IC has over-current protection to protect it from high start-up current draw. Once it's running it can run on lower rotation speed but not from the 'cold start'.

 

[Odaik]

That's great, thanks for the info.

Do you see anything larger than 140mm being produced? 180mm perhaps? There are a number of 180mm radiators out there but unfortunately not much choice for 180mm fans that perform well on a radiator.

 

[tiborrr12]

180mm variant is not planned at the moment, but we're looking into it. 140mm variant should be available in less than a month (early batch).

 

[Odaik]

Thanks man, keep us updated!

 

[dodgethis]

Wong thread sorry

 

[snef]

don't know if its already mentioned somewhere but to remove the fan blade/impeller

its the same thing as GT, pay attention to little plastic locking washer, bearing, spring and other plastic washers

 

[TichePC]

It wasnt mentioned Snef so thank you. Have you already done coloring the Vardars? I just ask if its there some changes in sound after dismantling and putting together back

.

 

[Gabrielzm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by snef

don't know if its already mentioned somewhere but to remove the fan blade/impeller

its the same thing as GT, pay attention to little plastic locking washer, bearing, spring and other plastic washers

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

The motor come off too like in the GTs snef? In any case more color options would be good. White frame and black blades, all blacks and if it is feasible/doable why not more colors?

Just a teaser of white frame and black blades (those are GTs but I think it looks great):



another idea not related to vardar is some more color options in the delrin tops. What about some grey tops? Not in the least that I would be interested in that for immediate reasons, no hell no

(grey matter btw will be a build dominated by ek materials....)

 

[dodgethis]

I have four of the 3000rpm models and love the heck out of them! They are quieter than the Grand Flex PWMs (2400rpm) at a similar PWM signal and perform better!

However, my beef with them are mainly aesthetics, so bear with me.

1. My main gripe with the Vardar is the relatively short length of the power cable. At 30cm, I think it is rather short to route in my Caselabs. Also, it's easier to trim the cable than to add length, without soldering.
2. The red sleeving, heatshrink and connecter seems VERY tacky. Yes, it is meant to stand out from the rest but the red is quite out of place on an all black fan.
3. Also, the heatshrink for the connector came loose on mine because it couldn't shrink enough get a good grip on the connector and sleeving. You might want to switch to a higher shrink ratio one.

 

[tiborrr12]

Duly noted, dodgethis!

 

[snef]

@Gabrielzm

yes the motor came off, but they are glued and need to be very careful to not cut PWM wire

and reassemble with a dot of hot glue, but I think not worth the trouble , juste tape the motor and paint

some EK-Vardar F3 painted

 

[Gabrielzm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by snef

@Gabrielzm

yes the motor came off, but they are glued and need to be very careful to not cut PWM wire

and reassemble with a dot of hot glue, but I think not worth the trouble , juste tape the motor and paint

some EK-Vardar F3 painted

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Nice job mate, those look great for the build. Yeah GTs are easy to take the motor out. If the vardar are glued to the frame perhaps just taping will be easier I agree.