Ultra-Quiet, Temperature Sensitive, Clear PC Case Fan
AcoustiFanT - Ultra-Quiet, Temperature Sensitive, 80mm Clear Computer Case Fan
Site: QuietPC.com / AcoustiProducts
Price: £14.99 RRP at time of review
Uses: Add additional cooling to your system
The Unit:
Ok where to begin this is just a normal case fan right? Wrong.
Yes the dimensions are standard and I assume the bearings and sleeves are again fairly standard pieces of kit. The main obvious difference when looking at the fan is the extra wires that are visible. These wires are present because of the addition of a thermistor, case fans usually have three wires for the fan itself so I assume the other two wires must be used for the themistor to operate.
Well I haven't been a big one for overdoing system with fans and modding. I have a reasonable spec system with a fan at the front of the case to bring air in and a fan on the rear to exhaust the hot air as well as a fan installed on the side window, which I use sometimes. My personal preference when it comes to fan is that they should be clear I don't like the neon fans that are available the odd LED built in to the fan is fine but with a clear casing in my opinion it just looks better.
Fitting:
Now case fans are fitted usually by the standard mounting screws, this unit comes with 4 anti gel gromits which act as a cushion fitting between the case and the fan. They can be a bit fiderly and if you get it wrong you can split them when trying to secure them. If you take your time and follow the instructions you can fit them perfectly.
The results well I couldnt notice any difference between using them and not using them, i think they are a good idea as the vibrations being sent through the case can be reduced dramatically if you had these fitted at various points of your case.
The in-line resisitor worked very well to alter the speed of the fan, obviously the hotter it gets the faster the fan rotates. This fan shouldnt be used on its own, i think this type of fan would be better suited for a side window fitting as this will allow the resistor cable to be moved into better placings of your system. By holding the resisitor between two fingers it took 3-5 seconds for the fan to increase or decrease its speed.
A good descriptive paragraph about this from the Acousti website:
'The majority of the fans we supply come with either a Zalman Noiseless Resistor Cable , or a Low RPM In-Line Resistor (see tables below) both of which essentially give you the choice of two fan speeds/noise levels for each fan. For near-silent operation, simply connect the optional resistor cable in-line with the fan power supply, which will reduce the speed of the fan and therefore also the airflow and noise. However, for customers who prefer more airflow, simply omit the resistor.'
