Review: EK Vardar Evo 120ER D-RGB

[Stahlmann]

I've recently bought 6 of the above mentioned fans to replace my Noctua NF-F12's because i wanted something more blingy and with RGB. To my huge dissapointment the EK Vardar Evo fans are terrible:

 

Positive:

- RGB LED's are diffused very well, so the lighting distribution is very even thoroughout the whole fan rotor without any "hot-spots"

 

- Strong airflow and pressure performance.

 

- Completely flat fan frame to fit perfectly on radiators without leaving gaps for air to escape.

 

- Daisy-chainable standard 3-pin 5V D-RGB headers. No poprietary bullshit like with corsair fans.

 

 

Negative:

- The bearing noise is extremely annoying. From 25% PWM all the way to 100% PWM (2200RPM) the bearing is the loudest part of the fan, not the moving air. It sound like "grinding".

 

- When the PWM input is changing, there is a noticeable and distracting ticking coming from the fan.

 

- All of my fans had a minimum RPM of ~750RPM at 25% PWM before completely turning off. The product page said it should be around 500RPM minimum. Even at 750RPM they are just too loud for an idling system.

 

- The Stickers on the Hub are not even close to being centered and look terrible when the fan is spinning because they wobble around.

 

- Price of 24€ (Germany) for each fan.

 

 

Conclusion:

I will stay away from EK fans in the future. I am very dissapointed because i've ordered a lot of watercooling stuff from EK now and i never had any quality issues. I ordered the fans because they marketed them for being the perfect fan for silent watercooling performance. Issues like the PWM ticking is present on all 6 fans i received. The bearing noise is coming from 4 of 6 fans. This says quite a bit about the quality control going into these fans. When looking for silent fans, these are not the right choice. As pretty much all of my fans had the same issues, i am not willing to let them be repaced, as i strongly expect that the majority of replacement fans will have the same issues. Mine are going back to EK.

 

Maybe i'm just spoiled by using only Noctua Fans in the last few years, where you cannot hear anything but the moving air, no matter what RPM you're running. For now i will stay with my NF-F12 chromax fans and maybe buy some Phanteks Halos RGB frames to add some more lighting to my system. (Open to other suggestions for nice RGB fans comparable to Noctua's NF-F12 performance!)

 

Normally i don't write reviews about any product. When i order a product and i'm satisfied and don't have major issues i normally just rate it 5 stars and call it a day because it basically means "the product is as advertised". I only get into the details when i'm dissapointed and i don't want other people to have the same experience.

[Ankh Tech]

2 minutes ago, Stahlmann said:

I've recently bought 6 of the above mentioned fans to replace my Noctua NF-F12's because i wanted something more blingy and with RGB. To my huge dissapointment the EK Vardar Evo fans are terrible:

 

Positive:

- RGB LED's are diffused very well, so the lighting distribution is very even thoroughout the whole fan rotor.

 

- Strong airflow and pressure performance.

 

- Completely flat fan frame to fit perfectly on radiators without leaving gaps for air to escape.

 

- Daisy-chainable standard 3-pin 5V D-RGB headers. No poprietary bullshit like with corsair fans.

 

 

Negative:

- The bearing noise is extremely annoying. From 25% PWM all the way to 100% PWM (2200RPM) the bearing is the loudest part of the fan, not the moving air. It sound like "grinding".

 

- When the PWM input is changing, there is a noticeable and distracting ticking coming from the fan.

 

- All of my fans had a minimum RPM of ~750RPM at 25% PWM before completely turning off. The product page said it should be around 500RPM minimum. Even at 750RPM they are just too loud for an idling system.

 

- The Stickers on the Hub are not even close to being centered and look terrible when the fan is spinning because they wobble around.

 

- Price of 24€ (Germany) for each fan.

 

 

Conclusion:

I will stay away from EK fans in the future. I am very dissapointed because i've ordered a lot of watercooling stuff from EK now and i never had any quality issues. I ordered the fans because they marketed them for being the perfect fan for silent watercooling performance. Issues like the PWM ticking is present on all 6 fans i received. The bearing noise is coming from 4 of 6 fans. This says quite a bit about the quality control going into these fans. When looking for silent fans, these are not the right choice. As pretty much all of my fans had the same issues, i am not willing to let them be repaced, as i strongly expect that the majority of replacement fans will have the same issues. Mine are going back to EK.

 

Maybe i'm just spoiled by using only Noctua Fans in the last few years, where you cannot hear anything but the moving air, no matter what RPM you're running. For now i will stay with my NF-F12 chromax fans and maybe buy some Phanteks Halos RGB frames to add some more lighting to my system. (Open to other suggestions for nice RGB fans comparable to Noctua's NF-F12 performance!)

 

Normally i don't write reviews about any product. When i ordered a product and i'm satisfied i normally just rate it 5 stars and call it a day because it basically means "the product is as advertised". I only get into the details when i'm dissapointed and i don't want other people to have the same experience.

Well, corsair fans with propetriary bullshit, are silent and look good, so you pay more for more, makes sense doesn't it

[Stahlmann]

Just now, Ankh tech tips said:

Well, corsair fans with propetriary bullshit, are silent and look good, so you pay more for more, makes sense doesn't it

Yeah but that doesn't mean anything cheaper than corsair fans have to be shitty. These EK fans are quite expensive even compared to other RGB fans.

[Ankh Tech]

1 minute ago, Stahlmann said:

Yeah but that doesn't mean anything cheaper than corsair fans have to be shitty. These EK fans are quite expensive even compared to other RGB fans.

I get your point, but corsair is corsair, and there taking over the world, who knows, maybe we will see corsair motherboards, btw, you could try corsair hydro x

[Stahlmann]

8 minutes ago, Ankh tech tips said:

I get your point, but corsair is corsair, and there taking over the world, who knows, maybe we will see corsair motherboards, btw, you could try corsair hydro x

HydroX is their watercooling stuff, there are no HydroX fans. But i've asked about LL and QL series fans in the past and people said they're not as good in noise and performance as Noctua Nf-F12's.

[Ankh Tech]

1 minute ago, Stahlmann said:

HydroX is their watercooling stuff, there are no HydroX fans. But i've asked about LL and QL series fans in the past and people said they're not as good in noise and performance as Noctua Nf-F12's.

yes but ml120 are great and silent (magnetic levitation) maybe that will work for you

[Stahlmann]

1 minute ago, Ankh tech tips said:

yes but ml120 are great and silent (magnetic levitation) maybe that will work for you

Do you have any personal experience with them?

[Ankh Tech]

Just now, Stahlmann said:

Do you have any personal experience with them?

No, but I went to a local pc store, and they showed me the noise, it was silent

[Skiiwee29]

3 minutes ago, Stahlmann said:

Do you have any personal experience with them?

I have used both ML and LL fans, the ML are better in terms of pressure and performance, but the LL series are quieter in my experience. 

[Ankh Tech]

1 minute ago, Skiiwee29 said:

I have used both ML and LL fans, the ML are better in terms of pressure and performance, but the LL series are quieter in my experience. 

and qls are the same as lls but with both sides rgb and more leds

[Stahlmann]

Just now, Ankh tech tips said:

and qls are the same as lls but with both sides rgb and more leds

Yes, i knew about that.

 

2 minutes ago, Skiiwee29 said:

I have used both ML and LL fans, the ML are better in terms of pressure and performance, but the LL series are quieter in my experience. 

5 minutes ago, Ankh tech tips said:

No, but I went to a local pc store, and they showed me the noise, it was silent

Now i'm getting mixed messages again

 

All the corsair fans are extremely expensive and the RGB ones cost ~200€ for 6 fans. I want to be sure about them BEFORE buying anything. But noise is extremely subjective from what i noticed. Many reviewers said the EK vardar fans are completely silent, but they were obnoxious to me...

 

[Skiiwee29]

Just now, Ankh tech tips said:

and qls are the same as lls but with both sides rgb and more leds

Incorrect. the QLs are worse in performance. If you compare them even on Corsair's website, they have less airflow, less static pressure.. they are worse in every measurable performance areas. 

[Ankh Tech]

Just now, Stahlmann said:

Now i'm getting mixed messages again

 

All the corsair fans are extremely expensive and the RGB ones cost ~200€ for 6 fans. I want to be sure about them BEFORE buying anything. But noise is extremely subjective from what i noticed. Many reviewers said the EK vardar fans are completely silent, but they were obnoxious to me...

 

Yes, because everybody is used to a certain average of noise, 50 decibels can be loud to someone and silent to others, so try your luck, and if not, you can get a full refund from corsair and they have amazing customer service

[Skiiwee29]

1 minute ago, Stahlmann said:

Now i'm getting mixed messages again

 

All the corsair fans are extremely expensive and the RGB ones cost ~200€ for 6 fans. I want to be sure about them BEFORE buying anything. But noise is extremely subjective from what i noticed. Many reviewers said the EK vardar fans are completely silent, but they were obnoxious to me...

 

Noise to Performance, no one touches the Noctua NF-F12s. For RGB the best is the ML series, followed closely by the LL series. I have 6 LL series in my case and keep them at a constant 1000 RPM 24/7 and can't hear them, though im not the best of judgement completely on that as I do have a significant amount of hearing loss. However, even when I wear my hearing aids, I can't hear them over my small desk fan I use. 

[Stahlmann]

1 minute ago, Skiiwee29 said:

Incorrect. the QLs are worse in performance. If you compare them even on Corsair's website, they have less airflow, less static pressure.. they are worse in every measurable performance areas. 

Do you know why that is? They seem to use all the same tech and rotor design.

[Skiiwee29]

Just now, Stahlmann said:

Do you know why that is? They seem to use all the same tech and rotor design.

I don't personally, only going off pure numbers published by the manufacture. 

[Stahlmann]

3 minutes ago, Skiiwee29 said:

keep them at a constant 1000 RPM 24/7 and can't hear them

Maybe i'm in a very quiet environment at home or i have very good hearing (which i doubt because i like to listen to loud music, etc) but the only truly inaudible setup i've had until now are NF-F12's running at 500RPM. Even at 550RPM i start to notice them. Seems like i have unrealistic standards about silent fans...

[Ankh Tech]

Just now, Stahlmann said:

Maybe i'm in a very quiet environment at home or i have very good hearing (which i doubt because i like to listen to loud music, etc) but the only truly inaudible setup i've had until now are NF-F12's running at 500RPM. Even at 550RPM i start to notice them. Seems like i have unrealistic standards about silent fans...

yeah try running noctua 3000rpm fans at max and rate it

[Skiiwee29]

Just now, Stahlmann said:

Maybe i'm in a very quiet environment at home or i have very good hearing (which i doubt because i like to listen to loud music, etc) but the only truly inaudible setup i've had until now are NF-F12's running at 500RPM. Even at 550RPM i start to notice them.

Different hear differently. One frequency may not be heard by me, but could drive you insane. Just play around with the RPMs and see if you can find a spot thats tolerable, usually in the 800-1000 range the NF-F12s are usually silent and should be inaudible to 99% of people unless right up on them. 

[Mateyyy]

This might be useful, considering the discussion above:

(no, the MLs are not better than the Vardars, or at least not notably)

 

6 minutes ago, Ankh tech tips said:

yeah try running noctua 3000rpm fans at max and rate it

And how would that be relevant, exactly?

[Ankh Tech]

6 minutes ago, Mateyyy said:

And how would that be relevant, exactly?

I mean they complain about noctua fans at 500 rpm, imagine 3000

[Stahlmann]

Just now, Ankh tech tips said:

yeah try running noctua 3000rpm fans at max and rate it

Of course every fan is loud at high rpm. I know that. I just look for ones comparable to NF-F12's. I don't mind when they spin up a bit, but i want them to be as quiet as possible without turning off. Because with radiators you need some air moving through at all times. 

 

1 minute ago, Skiiwee29 said:

Different hear differently. One frequency may not be heard by me, but could drive you insane. Just play around with the RPMs and see if you can find a spot thats tolerable, usually in the 800-1000 range the NF-F12s are usually silent and should be inaudible to 99% of people unless right up on them. 

For me the noise scales linearly. All the way up form 500 to 1500 RPM they seem to get louder and louder. Basically my sweetspot is the lowest possible rpm while having decent airflow. 

[Ankh Tech]

Just now, Stahlmann said:

Of course every fan is loud at high rpm. I know that. I just look for ones comparable to NF-F12's. I don't mind when they spin up a bit, but i want them to be as quiet as possible without turning off. Because with radiators you need some air moving through at all times. 

 

For me the noise scales linearly. All the way up form 500 to 1500 RPM they seem to get louder and louder. Basically my sweetspot is the lowest possible rpm while having decent airflow. 

Then your stuck with noctua, they offer the best performance for the lowest noise, but they are comparably the worst looking fans ever

[Stahlmann]

2 minutes ago, Ankh tech tips said:

I mean they complain about noctua fans at 500 rpm, imagine 3000

No complaining. Just stating how i hear them. I didn't say the bother me above 500RPM. But they are not silent anymore above 500RPM.

[Stahlmann]

Just now, Ankh tech tips said:

Then your stuck with noctua, they offer the best performance for the lowest noise, but they are comparably the worst looking fans ever

As i have the black chromax variants, they're not ugly at all. But i was hoping to find some RGB fans that are at least somewhat comparable. But as my standards for silence are so high, i guess i'm stuck with Noctua for eternity.