Fractal Design Silent Series R2 140mm Fan Review By A Silence Freak

[Wesley]

I have a Define XL R2 with 6 of these fans in it and its still whisper quiet at 12 Volts lol Yay Fractal!!!!

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

This fan came with my case.

I cannot comment on the packaging because it came with my case. It was held in place by four black screws with obviously one in each corner.

The fan itself uses a black frame with eleven white blades. The cable itself is sleeved in one of the most fantastic sleeves you will ever see. Even though there are red yellow and black wires within the sleeve you cannot see them at all. By the way it's a plastic-ey sleeve. The connector is white.

In terms of noise these fans are completely silent. I can just barely hear them when they are at full speed.The airflow however is almost next to nothing. Okay that may be a little too harsh. However the airflow from these fans is very small. Don't expect these to move massive amounts of air in and out of the case. Putting my hand behind the 120mm version, I could hardly feel any air coming out.

There was one big problem though. I had it mounted horizontally (----) blowing out the top of my case and when it was spinning at full speed it would make an obnoxious sound.It was kind of like a high pitch and a low hum combined together and that was not pleasant. However decreasing the fan speed solved the problem but at the same time diminishing even more airflow.

These fans look nice and are really quiet if that's what you're looking for however the airflow is just not good enough even for a silence optimised fan. If you want a black and white fan then you should look into the Gelid Silent 14s or 12s instead. I would not recommend these fans. I will get pictures up when the camera has finished charging.

 

I was thinking of buying an etra R2 fan for a second intake, my top HDD cage will also be removed, do you think I will have enough airflow?

[nightlitezzz]

I was thinking of buying an etra R2 fan for a second intake, my top HDD cage will also be removed, do you think I will have enough airflow?

Get a Gelid Silent 14 instead. Or 12 if you want the 120mm version.

[Demos]

Silly review honestly, the R4 stock fans are beyond awful. At 12v they are unbearably loud. At 3v and 5v they are indeed audible and push so little air, they may as well not be on.

EDIT: You claim to be a silence freak, and claim the Fractal R2 fans are silent? You must be quiet deaf.

Here is what a properly optimised silent gaming rig looks like, short of going passive, this is as quiet as it gets. I only rarely get electrical noise from the PSU. Link for my build.

[Rovert19]

I own an arc midi r2, and I too find that the fans are a tad loud at 7v. I have also noticed the buzzing noise others have claimed. I'm waiting for Noctua to release their grey version of the NF-A14 so hopefully it comes out soon. I have a couple NF-P12s sitting in my closet, so I may give it a test run with those as my intakes instead of the Fractal R2-140s. I will report my findings once I find some time.