Soldato
Are there any reviews out on this case yet?, ive just googled but all i can find are the prototypes.
Mark
Mark
Akasa Mirage at OcUK
- Thread starter Yewen
- Start date
Mark A said:
I love my Eclipse... Best case I've ever owned. Its damn good to work with inside with loads of space. Mines turned sideways anyway so I don't see the front, just whats inside
Quite like the Mirage, they've improved on the front, although I'm not that keen on having doors on cases.
Soldato
Cant see no reviews sadly...
http://www.custompc.co.uk/custompc/labs/86396/akasa-mirage.html
Verdict: Unbeatable cooling, but it looks like a 1980s fileserver
http://www.custompc.co.uk/custompc/labs/86396/akasa-mirage.html
Verdict: Unbeatable cooling, but it looks like a 1980s fileserver
Soldato
1. This thing about 140mm fans - If you fit a 140mm fan into a 120mm fan space then you are restricting the fan and may well find you are actually moving less air and making more noise because of air cavitation behind the fan (the outer tips of the blades is where most of the work is done and so you are pushing air very hard at a solid surface - most of it comes straight back (pretty obvious when you think about it). Even with a 140-120mm adapter, you will still get a sub-optimal airflow. And I would still argue that the Eclipse does not need any more vent capacity - it already has 3 x 45cfm (120mm Akasa Amber)-190cfm (120mm Delta) fan apertures.
The Aerocool 140mm fan has the following specs;
Dimensions: 140mm x 140mm x 20mm
Rated Voltage: 12V
Air Flow: 54.7CFM
Speed: 1000 +- 10% RPM
Noise: 19.6 dBA
The 120mm Akasa Amber has the following specs;
Dimensions: 120mm x 120mm x 25mm
Rated Voltage: 12V
Air Flow: 45CFM
Speed: 1400 RPM
Noise: 18 dBA
The 120mm SilenX Ixtrema is rather better;
Dimensions: 120mm x 120mm x 25mm
Rated Voltage: 12V
Air Flow: 64CFM
Speed: 1800 +- 10% RPM
Noise: 14 dBA
So, if you choose your fan carefully, you can get quiet and high airflow without going to 140mm.
HighlandeR, who I think started the whole 140mm fan thing off, doesn't even see the need for a rear fan in his Eclipse! What I am trying to turn this discussion around to is - lets have improvements, yes, but sensible improvements that actually do something please.
2. Looking at the pictures that are being posted it seems to me that most of the front panel is still plastic. The front panel fitting clips still appear to be flexible plastic that slips into the alloy slots in the main carcase. The top and bottom bits where the door sits also look to be 'plasticy' compared to the door itself, which may well be alloy.
The Aerocool 140mm fan has the following specs;
Dimensions: 140mm x 140mm x 20mm
Rated Voltage: 12V
Air Flow: 54.7CFM
Speed: 1000 +- 10% RPM
Noise: 19.6 dBA
The 120mm Akasa Amber has the following specs;
Dimensions: 120mm x 120mm x 25mm
Rated Voltage: 12V
Air Flow: 45CFM
Speed: 1400 RPM
Noise: 18 dBA
The 120mm SilenX Ixtrema is rather better;
Dimensions: 120mm x 120mm x 25mm
Rated Voltage: 12V
Air Flow: 64CFM
Speed: 1800 +- 10% RPM
Noise: 14 dBA
So, if you choose your fan carefully, you can get quiet and high airflow without going to 140mm.
HighlandeR, who I think started the whole 140mm fan thing off, doesn't even see the need for a rear fan in his Eclipse! What I am trying to turn this discussion around to is - lets have improvements, yes, but sensible improvements that actually do something please.
2. Looking at the pictures that are being posted it seems to me that most of the front panel is still plastic. The front panel fitting clips still appear to be flexible plastic that slips into the alloy slots in the main carcase. The top and bottom bits where the door sits also look to be 'plasticy' compared to the door itself, which may well be alloy.
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Soldato
Nice theory but in practice my 140mm fan is without a doubt quieter and shifts more air soWJA96 said:
. Also fan specs on paper don't mean a thing as has been said many times before, Ive never compared all 3 of the fans you mentioned so i cant say which is better in practice. "The 120mm SilenX Ixtrema is rather better;
Dimensions: 120mm x 120mm x 25mm
Air Flow: 64CFM
Noise: 14 dBA "
LOL
Finally the fan adapter used to mount a 140mm fan to a 120mm blowhole packs the fan a good 20mm away from the fan grill so in fact id say it reduced any blow back effect. If i put my hand in front of the fan i feel no air blowing at my hand all i can feel is air blowing on my hand from the CPU cooler directly in front of the fan (as seen in pic). If i put my hand at the back of the fan i can feel a good health flow of warmish air, more than with an Amber @7v and at almost silent sound levels.
I didnt need this fan as my rig is very cool as it is but i wanted a decent LED fan and this came up in a google. It looks far better than the coolermaster blue led fans i had in there before it thats for sure.
Mark
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Soldato
I dont think it looks too bad, im not to sure of the buttons yet, i just hope they arn't made of plastic. There are much blander cases about IMO VVV
Soldato
Mark A said:
Quite. But you are absolutely 100% certain that your 140mm fan is quieter than all of them?
Mark A said:
I'm not sure you would feel anything even if you put a sheet of paper down between the fan grill and the fan ie. block it off completely. The whole point of my initial statement was that it reduces efficiency and increases noise. If you cut the hole out to 140mm you overcome my reservations completely.
Mark A said:
Maybe that could turn into more a nervous giggle if you ever actually get one and tried it? SilenX fans are OK in my experience, but very expensive for what they are.
Mark A said:
So you actually bought it for the LED's? I have no problem with that. It's very open of you to admit it.
I do have an issue with you making basically uninformed comments about fan selection for quiet performance when you haven't tested the fans in question, nor do you have a genuine thermal issue to test them with.
I generally use YS-Tech 125cfm fans on a fan controller. They shift a lot of air very fast at low sound volumes. If needed, they shift enormous amounts of air at much higher sound volumes. I use these because I don't think any of the 'quiet' fans on the market actually move enough air to be useful in a machine that runs 100% of CPU capacity all the time (which my computers do, as they are all running F@H).
I have looked at 140mm fans and 250mm fans. I've looked at punkah fans from B&Q. Generally, for price, performance and quietness, I come back to YS-Techs on a fan controller.
And it's actually quite easy to measure the relative power of 2 fans. Place a fan on a flat surface 1" from a wall, blowing away from the wall. Place a ruler on the surface in front of the fan. Hold a piece of paper A4 up to the fan with it turned off and measure the deflection of the paper away from the fan with it turned on. Fans that deflect the paper more, move more air.
And before anyone else says it, yes, we do have too much time on our hands in our office
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Associate
WJA96 said:
Those fans have been tesed by memebers @ xtremesystems, needless to say they considerably under perform those Silenx claimed specs.
Soldato
Maybe then again maybe not, those specs are laughable. Its OK having a go at me for not trying all them fans, have you tested them all?. Ive tried 2 of the fans you mentioned and the aerocool beats it in both noise and the amount of air it pushes. The silenx fan could well beat it, and i might even buy one if they are so good, all i meant is that them specs are way off.
I'm not making uninformed comments at all, i said this fan i have installed now is quieter and pushes more air than the Akasa Amber i had installed before it, this is what i have found using both. Thats all i have said, i haven't said that its better than all 120mm fans.
I bought it because all the LED fans i had tried thus far were pants, i found a few reviews on google that said this fan was an LED fan but also had good performance. I didn't buy it "for the LEDs" as i already have fans with LED's. I don't mean i don't need a rear fan in my rig because i do but i wanted a good performance blue led fan there and this fits the bill.
Mark
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Soldato
raja said:
Actually - they tested the clear LED one. I have the original black plastic one with no LEDs. I don't just sit and look at computers all day you know!
Soldato
Mark A said:
Yes, using my not entirely scientific, but completely parametric paper test. I have the 140 and 250mm Aerocool fans and they are actually both quite loud.
MARK A said:
If they are then you can take it back, can't you. If you buy the black one (no LEDs), it actually does what it says on the pack.
MARK A said:
You said was better than the 3 fans I mentioned, but you haven't tried the SilenX, so it was an uniformed comment.
MARK A said:
There is nothing wrong with wanting a quiet LED fan.
Soldato
I didnt, i said it was better than the Amber, i said the specs for the silenx were way off, so it wasn't uninformed.
Well mine isn't loud at all, @ 12v yes but at 7v it is quiet.
If its 14db @ 12v and 64 CFM i will indeed take my LOL back.
Mark
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WJA96 said:Actually - they tested the clear LED one. I have the original black plastic one with no LEDs. I don't just sit and look at computers all day you know!
I swear by them, 80mm there is NOTHING that goes better in a ATCs case, dead silent and push good air. Expensive but there is nothing better at 80mm out there.
SilenX I swear by them, silent, push a good amount of air and are not £50 a fan which for me is the money you spend to beat them. Do not know why everyone hates them so much, I never look at fan specs anyway since Thermlatake released a fan that did 100cfm+ at 9db.
Don't knock SilenX until you try them, they are my favourite brand of fan but I buy Ambers at 120mm as you can get 2x more for your money and they are not that far behind at 7v and 5v.
Oh and just to clear up this argument. The specs for ALL fans are way off, they differ from case to case, and there are manufacturing tolerances to take into acount, you also have to accept that all manufacturers take there readings from different distances.
SilenX fans are actually acurately tested, just from a different distance to most others.
E.G. I could make a 200cfm 200db Delta be marked up as 0db without breaking the law if I took my readings from the otherside of a nuclear fallout shelter. As long as if someone asked I said it was from there I would be ok and not mis-selling.
Fans are a case of try them and see what you like, just don't hop on the hate SilenX bandwagon.
Soldato
What are the LED Silenx fans like then?, they have the same specs on paper as the black i believe so are they as good?. I want a blue led fan for the front intake in 120mm so might give them a go. I was by no means hating them as Ive never tried them.
Mark
Mark
Soldato
The LED SilenX are not as visually impressive as others as the LEDs are fixed to the hub, not the outside of the fan, so the middle glows, but the rest does not.
Soldato
WJA96 said:
lol this was just a minor suggestion on my part, nothing to take serious exactly.
I agree entirely 120mm fans is all thats needed but I still belive with the Scythe mine heatsink supporting 140mm fans it maybe nice to at least have the option to screw in 140mm fans on the front and back.
In fact the Akasa engineers when designing the Mirage once added a 250mm fan on the side.....
So it is possible we will eventually see the move to perhaps 140mm fans (now that some heatsinks support it) and perhaps customised even bigger fans on Cases.