ThermalTake 80mm Fan Review

Admin - 2007-03-19 13:34:12 in Cooling
Category: Cooling
Reviewed by: Admin   
Reviewed on: January 3, 2002
: Thermaltake.com
Price: $ 14.95
Introduction

I reviewed the Volcano 7 heatsink/fan a couple of months ago, which did very well I might add. The Volcano 7 heatsink comes with this same exact ThermalTake fan. Well today, I will be doing a specific review on this fan and getting in to deeper details about it this fan.

Specifications

Fan Dimension: 80x80x25mm
Rated Voltage: 12VDC
Start Voltage:   7VDC
Rated Current: 0.18AMP - 0.45AMP
Power Input: 2.16W - 5.4W

Fan Speed: 2900 rpm at 25�c & 5000rpm at 35�c
Air Flow: 46 CFM at 2900rpm & 53 CFM at 5000rpm
Noice: 27dBA at 2900rpm 39dBA at 5000rpm
Bearing Type: Two Ball bearing
Life Time: 50,000 Hours
Connector: 3 Pin


In the box

Here is what you will find in the box:

  • 80mm Fan
  • Nice looking laser cut fan grill
  • Screws
  • 3pin to 4pin adaptor

    Screws? Yes, you have to put the fan grill on yourself. You can choose to do that or not, it's up to you.
    •

    The fan

    This fan is 80mm in size, and would make a good fan for the front of your case. There is a little green sensor on the side of the fan, which is connected by two wires, one red and one yellow, with heatshrink tubing.    The fan

    This fan is 80mm in size, and would make a good fan for the front of your case. There is a little green sensor on the side of the fan, which is connected by two wires, one red and one yellow, with heatshrink tubing.

    There is also three other wires coming from the fan. Two wires which is ground and 12v power. These two wires go to your motherboard header to get power. There is also a yellow wire that goes to another motherboard power connector, that controls the fan speed and fan monitoring.

  • This is one of the things I don't like about this fan. You have to use two motherboard headers in order for the fan to work properly. I'm guessing the reason Thermaltake did not incorporate them in to one connector is because it would be harder on them. Right now, all they are is just a fan off of their Volcano 7 heatsink, and it's easy for them to make the fans. All they have to do is put it in a pretty box, and ship them out. However, they did include a 3pin to 4pin adapter. This is good, but what if you have a tall tower case and you want to install the fan in the top of your case? Well, the fan monitor won't work because the wire is to short to reach the motherboard. That is what happened when I tried it.. So I opt to install the fan in the front of my case.


    Performance

    Test rig:
  • KG7-RAID
  • WinXP
  • 512MB RAM
  • SB Live! X-Gamer
  • Four hard drives
  • NewQ EQ

    To get the idle temps I shutdown my test system for 30mins then booted in to windows and then let the system idle for another 30mins. To get the full load temps I ran Seti@home for 60mins. Here are the results:
    •

    Conclusion
    Is the fan here to stay? Well, it all depends. I think they are here to stay, but some things need improving. Since it is a "case" fan, the wires should be a lot longer on them so they can reach the motherboard. It almost didn't reach the motherboard in my case, where I had the fan. They do include a 3 pin to 4 pin adaptor. Overall, I think it's a pretty good idea, and I hope they come out with a 120mm fan.

    I'd like to thank Thermaltake.com for providing this fan for us to review.


    Pros:

    Cons: