EK Vardar F4-120ER... thoughts?

[atomicus]

Does anyone have experience with these fans? What is their sound profile like at lower RPM?

 

I am considering using x9 of them in a build, excessive I know, but it's more for the aesthetic and I would like silence, so my plan was to have x6 on one 360 rad (P/P obviously), and x3 on another, all running at very low speeds. Rads would be HW Black Ice Nemesis GTS, so ideal for low RPM.

[done12many2]

17 minutes ago, atomicus said:

Does anyone have experience with these fans? What is their sound profile like at lower RPM?

 

I am considering using x9 of them in a build, excessive I know, but it's more for the aesthetic and I would like silence, so my plan was to have x6 on one 360 rad (P/P obviously), and x3 on another, all running at very low speeds. Rads would be HW Black Ice Nemesis GTS, so ideal for low RPM.

 

I use 25 of them in my daily rig.  Great fans, but I've had to replace two within days if installing due to bearing noise.  No issues with the replacements.  

 

I'll share a customer service experience with you as well.  Talked to EK for each fan that needed replacement and they told me to take it up with the retailer.  I planned on doing that anyways because shipping from the US to the UK isn't cheap, but the fact is, they didn't even offer that as an option.  The just said take it up with the place of purchase.  I have nothing, but EK parts in two builds (see sig) and this type of service concerns me.  Luckily, they do make quality stuff so it shouldn't be too much to worry about.

 

As far as the performance of the fans.  They are excellent.  Because I have so many of them installed, I went with the Extended Range (ER) version, which is what you are asking about.  The ER lets them drop to a lower speed without issues with stopping or noise.  At idle all of my fans spin at roughly 400 to 450 RPMs and are completely inaudible.  If needed, they can spin all the way up to 2200 RPMs, but obviously noise is an issue. 

 

Speaking of noise and "sound profile."  My Corsair H115i AIO cooler on my test bench is louder at max speed with its 2 x 140mm fans than my daily rig is at max speed with 25 x 120mm ER fans.  The fans on the AIO make more of a "fan" sound and the EK Vardars ER fans make more of a windy sound.

 

Hope that helps.

[atomicus]

37 minutes ago, done12many2 said:

As far as the performance of the fans.  They are excellent.  Because I have so many of them installed, I went with the Extended Range (ER) version, which is what you are asking about.  The ER lets them drop to a lower speed without issues with stopping or noise.  At idle all of my fans spin at roughly 400 to 450 RPMs and are completely inaudible.  If needed, they can spin all the way up to 2200 RPMs, but obviously noise is an issue. 

 

25, WOW lol! Great thanks, that's what I wanted to hear . The low speed feature was indeed what attracted me to the ER versions. I've had issues with fans before that I've tried to run at very low speed, either they stop altogether or just have an odd sound, so it seems the ER are ideal for that scenario.