Introduction
We’ve been playing around with computer silencing for a while now at Tech-Reviews and so far, we’ve had great success in silencing the hard drives. However, we still have some really noisy fans, so today we’ll be replacing our cases front 92mm fan with a model which has been advertised as like a ‘silent whisper’. The fan we’ll be reviewing is the Coolink SWiF 921 – - the second 92mm fan in the SWif series following on from the SWif 920. This fan is supposed to run as low as 7dB/A – - virtually inaudible. So, read on and find out if this Coolink fan really is ‘whisper silent’.
About Coolink
Coolink is a brand of the Kolink International Corporation and stands for an effective conjunction of no-frills performance, excellent quality and attractive pricing. Coolink – the direct link to affordable high-end cooling!
Features
- Excellent airflow performance at minimal noise levels
- High precision double ball bearing
- Manual fan speed control
- PCI mounting bracket for adjustable fan speed knob
- Includes 3-pin to Molex adapter and fan screws
- 36 months warranty
Specifications
| Rotation Speed (RPM) | 800-1500 |
| Airflow (m³/h) | 31-55 |
| Acoustical Noise (dB/A) | 7-18 |
| Input Power (W) | 0,60 |
| Input Current (A) | 0,05 |
| Voltage Range (V) | 6-13 |
Packaging
The Coolink SWiF arrives in quite an eye catching cardboard box which is nicely styled and has a small ‘window’ allowing you to see the fan. Bullet pointed around the transparency are the features which the Coolink entails.
On the back of the box are some features nicely bullet pointed and a table of specifications.
Included with the fan are the following accessories:
- 3 Pin to Molex Adapter
- 4 Fan Screws
- PCI Slot Fan Speed Controller with 3Pin Extension Lead
It’s a bit of a disappointment having standard fan screws instead of anti- vibration pegs as they also help to reduce noise.
I quite like how Coolink have included a PCI speed controller as normally you’d have to buy one of these in addition to your fans.
Coolink SWiF – 921
The aesthetics of the Coolink 921 are slightly different to other fans on the market which are normally just one solid colour. The SWiF (Silent Whisper Fan) has a translucent plastic frame and blue fan blades. This colour scheme blends really well and should look awesome when the fan blade is spinning.
The back of this product is very similar to the front. However, there is a sticker in the centre of the fan frame showing the Coolink logo, product model number and website address.
Attached to the SWiF 921 are the standard red (12v), black (ground) and yellow (tacho signal) wires which connect to a 3 pin connector. The third wire (tacho) enables your motherboard to monitor the speed of the fan. However, if you don’t have any available 3 pin fan headers, you can use the supplied 3 pin to Molex adapter.
The PCI fan speed controller has an aluminium knob and uses a rheostat to increase / decrease voltage to the Coolink fan, thus reducing fan speed.
Testing
We did a number of tests on the fan while it was running.
The first test was to find out how much the fan speed controller reduced the voltage by. To do this, we hooked the fan up to our Cooler Master PSU and attached the fan to the PSU using the 3:4 pin adapter. We tested the voltages from the fan controller at three points on the rheostat: highest speed, lowest speed and the middle speed.
| Speed Setting | Voltage |
| Higest | 12V |
| Middle | 10V |
| Lowest | 8V |
Whilst adjusting the fan speeds, we also listened to the fan. At 12V the fan was audible close up, but when moving ~ three foot away from the fan, the fan could only just be heard. At 8V, the motor from the fan was only just audible, but being 3 foot away from it, silenced it completely. This concludes to show that 7dB/A is in fact, silent.
We then tested airflow from the fan. Just like testing noise, this is very difficult without having hundreds of pounds worth of equipment. So, the way we measured airflow was by taping two pieces of bog roll to the top of the fan and then seeing if there was much change at both the highest and lowest fan speeds.
At low speed, the airflow was short, as the toilet paper dipped down at the end of the paper. However, there was still enough airflow to keep the paper afloat.
At the highest speed setting, the toilet roll floated at a flat slant – - showing that the airflow is a lot stronger, thus continuing the strength of airflow for much further than the lowest speed setting.
The Coolink SWiF-921 retails at ~ £7.50. This is a very good price for a fan which includes a variable speed controller.
Conclusion
The Coolink SWiF 921 is a very good performer. It’s silent at its lowest setting but also provides adequate airflow. At its top speed setting, it’s still a good performer and is only just audible – - although inaudible if you have other case fans. It’s not just about performance though, the fan also looks good with its subtle blue glow from the blades when spinning.
The only downsides to the SWiF 921 is that it doesn’t include any anti- vibration pegs and it would’ve been nice for Coolink to include a couple of blue led’s in the fans frame.
However, for just £7.50 including a fan speed controller, the Coolink SWiF-921 is a great buy. One I’d happily recommend to any silencing addict wishing to add some silent 92mm’s to their system.
’)
