Associate
Introduction
Hello, nikeair94 doing his first review.
First off I would like to give a big thanks to kul1 for providing me with the fans, I would also like to give a little special thanks to Nexus18 for happily fixing an error with the shipment.
I have never done a review much like this before, so when is a better time to start than with some Bitfenix Spectre Pro Fans, I may be a little rusty around the edges but hopefully I finish with a satisfactory review. I would also like to apologize for the quality of the photos as it was the best I could do. I would also like to apologize for me taking a little while to finish this review because it was the last week of our first "semester" in college, so I had to do a lot of last minute coursework. Anyway, on to the review.
Packaging/First Look
I got,
4 x 120mm Red LED Spectre Pros
2 x 140mm Red LED Spectre Pros
On first look, the packaging looks really nice, they have a smooth touch to them and the dark grey/black helps bring out the redness of the fans, as you can see from the photo below. The design of the 140mm and the 120mm are identical only the box is bigger, with a nice tight fit for the fans to stop any damages from bumps or scratches. Also, every cable, screw etc where placed inside a sealed plastic bag to stop any going missing.
Features and Specifications
Features
-Rugged Dual Frame Construction
-Reinforced Fan Blades
-High Pressure/CFM Design
-Focused Air Flow
-Silent Operation and Long Life
-"On-the-fly" Light Switching*
*With Selected Bitfenix Chassis and Accessories
Specificiations
Dimensions: 120x120x25mm
Operating Voltage: 12VDC
Starting Voltage: 5VDC
Current: 0.18A ± 10%
Materials: PC & PBT
Speed: 1200RPM ± 10%
Air Flow: 56.22 CFM ± 10%
Air Pressure: 1.24 mmH20
Noise: 18.9 dB(A)
Bearing Type: Fluid Dynamic Bearings (FDB)
______________________________________
Dimensions: 140x140x25mm
Operating Voltage: 12VDC
Starting Voltage: 5VDC
Current: 0.25A ± 10%
Materials: PC & PBT
Speed: 1200RPM ± 10%
Air Flow: 86.73 CFM ± 10%
Air Pressure: 1.38 mmH20
Noise: 22.8 dB(A)
Bearing Type: Fluid Dynamic Bearings (FDB)
What is Inside the Box
The Spectre Pros come with a lot of accessories attached, they of course come equipped with 4 anti-vibration screws and 4 normal metal screws. (although the fans do have to be threaded before using metal screws)
They also come packed with a 3pin to 4pin Molex Adapter, which I found extremely handy considering I ran out of FAN sockets on my motherboard, and an extra cable to attach your fan LEDs to existing LED switches.
Here is a picture of the Box and all of its contents. Please bear in mind the contents are the same for the 140mm just with a slightly larger box.
*Note: I also found the fans quite light to hold, if that matters to anyone.
Installation
Installing the fans, although sounds straight forward, I came across a few problems. First off, I did not get to try the Anti-Vibration screws because I could not figure out how they worked, this could be my low level of intellect, but maybe a small set of instructions or a little advice on your website on how to use them would be nice.
My second problem with installation (although another minor problem) is threading the screws. I never really understood why fans don't already come threaded? Surprisingly because of my weak arms threading the 6 fans took me the longest amount of time. Nonetheless, I managed to get them threaded. I feel like I am missing something here due to not having loads of experience with fans, so hopefully someone can explain my error as to why fans don't already come threaded.
I noticed the 140mm fans came with holes for both mounting 120mm or 140mm, which can be really handy for people who prefer it.
On my Bitfenix Shinobi I mounted 2 x 140mm on the roof, exhausting hot air out the top of the case,these replaced my old Spectre fans which came with the Bitfenix Shinobi Case, I then placed 2 x 120mm on the front of the Bitfenix Shinobi sucking air into the case.
The remaining 2 x 120mm fans I placed onto my H20 620 Antec Cooler. One was mounted on the inside of the radiator on the case and it sucked air from the radiator out the back of the case. The other was mounted on the other side of the radiator and sucked cold air from the inside of the case into the radiator.
Here are a few pictures of the results. (Note: I took quite a bit of photos, some with and without flash.
Image shot from inside the build at the back facing the front two fans.
Outside Font of Shinobi with Front Panel Off (With Flash)
Outside Font of Shinobi with Front Panel Off 2 (With Flash)
Outside Font of Shinobi with Front Panel Off (No Flash)
Lighting
As seen from the images above, the Spectre Pros LEDs can give a fair bit of lighting, although to anyone hoping for their hole case to be lit up, this isn't possible as the LEDs will only light up the area of the fan. (Which is a nice touch in my opinion)
The fans look gorgeous when spinning turned on with the LEDs shining on them, it is a shame my camera couldn't quite capture the lighting as it only captures the still image, and misses everything in motion, but it looks amazing.
As for light escaping, there was little to no light escape, thanks to the brilliant design of the Bitfenix Shinobi. All the light seemed to be only viewable through the window of the side case, which is perfect for a windowed case.
Noise
Inside the Bitfenix Shinobi noise where seemed to be one of the strong point for these fans.
Before I had 2 x 120mm Spectre Fans on my roof with an Antec Stock Fan on the Cooler and this was the result using a dB reader App on my iPod
(Sorry if this isn't quite accurate, also ignore the max and peak as these where caused when removing the iPod.) I placed the iPod inside the case for 10 minutes on each test.
Old Fan Result.
New Fan Result
I find this extremely good, considering I added a whole 3 fans to the case and the measure of the dB is only higher by 7 dB. I thought sound would have gone up higher than that but am very pleased with the result considering the iPod was placed on top of the PSU inside the sealed case. Outside the case the dB drops even more to around 40-45ish.
Cooling
Cooling, I had a little problem with, not with the fans but just with general room temperature. I benched my old setup, 2 x Old Spectres and 1 Antec Fan using MSI Kombuster and Prime95 for 10 minutes. These where the results.
I then benched with the new set-up and these where the results.
The difference in GPU is minuscule for me, although I can explain why. When I done the first test my room temperature was really cool, it was just a cold day in general AND my heating was down for the whole day. This would greatly explain why the temperature of the GPU has only went down by 1°c as the second test was done in a fairly warm room. (Although I opened the window wide for 10 minutes to make the room cooler) So on the GPU front, I believe temperatures could go even lower if I had done them on a day with no heating whatsoever.
On the CPU side of things, everything went perfect due to having an extra fan on the radiator and both fans on the cooler being superior to the last. I don't think the room temperature effected the CPU all that much, but the results from the screenshot above are quite astonishing. (Please note the i5 2500k was kept at default clock speeds for the test) You can see from the screenshot the cores temperatures are dropping to around 10-11°C less, which is quite amazing in my inexperienced eyes. I believe on a cold day, these temperatures might even go a little lower.
Overview/Final Impressions/Conclusion
Overall I am very pleased with the results of the product and I thank kul1 for letting me review these quite amazing fans, especially for the price range.
140mm - 9/10 These fans great air-flow mixed with sleek design with vibrant red LEDs have won me over, overall silent and for what the room temperature was, performed well on cooling the GPU.
120mm - 10/10 These bad-boys where the stars of the show for me, with an amazing cooling performance on the CPU radiator and and overall silent fan with beautiful LEDs, these fans have really impressed me. The price point on them is the icing on the cake as these fans performed amazing.
Notice
Well, this is my first review, and after reading other reviews on here I feel like I have let you guys down a little. Please feel free to criticize my reviewing as this can help me improve on the future. I am considering giving a shot at reviewing my Bitfenix Shinobi as I quite enjoyed reviewing these fans, all criticism helps, so be as harsh as you like, again thanks to kul1 for the opportunity, I hope my huge influx of photos made up for the slightly shabby review.
As for the cable management, it has been slightly improved since then.
Hello, nikeair94 doing his first review.
First off I would like to give a big thanks to kul1 for providing me with the fans, I would also like to give a little special thanks to Nexus18 for happily fixing an error with the shipment.
I have never done a review much like this before, so when is a better time to start than with some Bitfenix Spectre Pro Fans, I may be a little rusty around the edges but hopefully I finish with a satisfactory review. I would also like to apologize for the quality of the photos as it was the best I could do. I would also like to apologize for me taking a little while to finish this review because it was the last week of our first "semester" in college, so I had to do a lot of last minute coursework. Anyway, on to the review.
Packaging/First Look
I got,
4 x 120mm Red LED Spectre Pros
2 x 140mm Red LED Spectre Pros
On first look, the packaging looks really nice, they have a smooth touch to them and the dark grey/black helps bring out the redness of the fans, as you can see from the photo below. The design of the 140mm and the 120mm are identical only the box is bigger, with a nice tight fit for the fans to stop any damages from bumps or scratches. Also, every cable, screw etc where placed inside a sealed plastic bag to stop any going missing.
Features and Specifications
Features
-Rugged Dual Frame Construction
-Reinforced Fan Blades
-High Pressure/CFM Design
-Focused Air Flow
-Silent Operation and Long Life
-"On-the-fly" Light Switching*
*With Selected Bitfenix Chassis and Accessories
Specificiations
Dimensions: 120x120x25mm
Operating Voltage: 12VDC
Starting Voltage: 5VDC
Current: 0.18A ± 10%
Materials: PC & PBT
Speed: 1200RPM ± 10%
Air Flow: 56.22 CFM ± 10%
Air Pressure: 1.24 mmH20
Noise: 18.9 dB(A)
Bearing Type: Fluid Dynamic Bearings (FDB)
______________________________________
Dimensions: 140x140x25mm
Operating Voltage: 12VDC
Starting Voltage: 5VDC
Current: 0.25A ± 10%
Materials: PC & PBT
Speed: 1200RPM ± 10%
Air Flow: 86.73 CFM ± 10%
Air Pressure: 1.38 mmH20
Noise: 22.8 dB(A)
Bearing Type: Fluid Dynamic Bearings (FDB)
What is Inside the Box
The Spectre Pros come with a lot of accessories attached, they of course come equipped with 4 anti-vibration screws and 4 normal metal screws. (although the fans do have to be threaded before using metal screws)
They also come packed with a 3pin to 4pin Molex Adapter, which I found extremely handy considering I ran out of FAN sockets on my motherboard, and an extra cable to attach your fan LEDs to existing LED switches.
Here is a picture of the Box and all of its contents. Please bear in mind the contents are the same for the 140mm just with a slightly larger box.
*Note: I also found the fans quite light to hold, if that matters to anyone.
Installation
Installing the fans, although sounds straight forward, I came across a few problems. First off, I did not get to try the Anti-Vibration screws because I could not figure out how they worked, this could be my low level of intellect, but maybe a small set of instructions or a little advice on your website on how to use them would be nice.
My second problem with installation (although another minor problem) is threading the screws. I never really understood why fans don't already come threaded? Surprisingly because of my weak arms threading the 6 fans took me the longest amount of time.
Nonetheless, I managed to get them threaded. I feel like I am missing something here due to not having loads of experience with fans, so hopefully someone can explain my error as to why fans don't already come threaded.I noticed the 140mm fans came with holes for both mounting 120mm or 140mm, which can be really handy for people who prefer it.
On my Bitfenix Shinobi I mounted 2 x 140mm on the roof, exhausting hot air out the top of the case,these replaced my old Spectre fans which came with the Bitfenix Shinobi Case, I then placed 2 x 120mm on the front of the Bitfenix Shinobi sucking air into the case.
The remaining 2 x 120mm fans I placed onto my H20 620 Antec Cooler. One was mounted on the inside of the radiator on the case and it sucked air from the radiator out the back of the case. The other was mounted on the other side of the radiator and sucked cold air from the inside of the case into the radiator.
Here are a few pictures of the results. (Note: I took quite a bit of photos, some with and without flash.
Image shot from inside the build at the back facing the front two fans.
Outside Font of Shinobi with Front Panel Off (With Flash)
Outside Font of Shinobi with Front Panel Off 2 (With Flash)
Outside Font of Shinobi with Front Panel Off (No Flash)
Lighting
As seen from the images above, the Spectre Pros LEDs can give a fair bit of lighting, although to anyone hoping for their hole case to be lit up, this isn't possible as the LEDs will only light up the area of the fan. (Which is a nice touch in my opinion)
The fans look gorgeous when spinning turned on with the LEDs shining on them, it is a shame my camera couldn't quite capture the lighting as it only captures the still image, and misses everything in motion, but it looks amazing.
As for light escaping, there was little to no light escape, thanks to the brilliant design of the Bitfenix Shinobi. All the light seemed to be only viewable through the window of the side case, which is perfect for a windowed case.
Noise
Inside the Bitfenix Shinobi noise where seemed to be one of the strong point for these fans.
Before I had 2 x 120mm Spectre Fans on my roof with an Antec Stock Fan on the Cooler and this was the result using a dB reader App on my iPod
(Sorry if this isn't quite accurate, also ignore the max and peak as these where caused when removing the iPod.) I placed the iPod inside the case for 10 minutes on each test.
Old Fan Result.
New Fan Result
I find this extremely good, considering I added a whole 3 fans to the case and the measure of the dB is only higher by 7 dB. I thought sound would have gone up higher than that but am very pleased with the result considering the iPod was placed on top of the PSU inside the sealed case. Outside the case the dB drops even more to around 40-45ish.
Cooling
Cooling, I had a little problem with, not with the fans but just with general room temperature. I benched my old setup, 2 x Old Spectres and 1 Antec Fan using MSI Kombuster and Prime95 for 10 minutes. These where the results.
I then benched with the new set-up and these where the results.
The difference in GPU is minuscule for me, although I can explain why. When I done the first test my room temperature was really cool, it was just a cold day in general AND my heating was down for the whole day. This would greatly explain why the temperature of the GPU has only went down by 1°c as the second test was done in a fairly warm room. (Although I opened the window wide for 10 minutes to make the room cooler) So on the GPU front, I believe temperatures could go even lower if I had done them on a day with no heating whatsoever.
On the CPU side of things, everything went perfect due to having an extra fan on the radiator and both fans on the cooler being superior to the last. I don't think the room temperature effected the CPU all that much, but the results from the screenshot above are quite astonishing. (Please note the i5 2500k was kept at default clock speeds for the test) You can see from the screenshot the cores temperatures are dropping to around 10-11°C less, which is quite amazing in my inexperienced eyes. I believe on a cold day, these temperatures might even go a little lower.
Overview/Final Impressions/Conclusion
Overall I am very pleased with the results of the product and I thank kul1 for letting me review these quite amazing fans, especially for the price range.
140mm - 9/10 These fans great air-flow mixed with sleek design with vibrant red LEDs have won me over, overall silent and for what the room temperature was, performed well on cooling the GPU.
120mm - 10/10 These bad-boys where the stars of the show for me, with an amazing cooling performance on the CPU radiator and and overall silent fan with beautiful LEDs, these fans have really impressed me. The price point on them is the icing on the cake as these fans performed amazing.
Notice
Well, this is my first review, and after reading other reviews on here I feel like I have let you guys down a little. Please feel free to criticize my reviewing as this can help me improve on the future. I am considering giving a shot at reviewing my Bitfenix Shinobi as I quite enjoyed reviewing these fans, all criticism helps, so be as harsh as you like, again thanks to kul1 for the opportunity, I hope my huge influx of photos made up for the slightly shabby review.
As for the cable management, it has been slightly improved since then.
