Fans

A good quality chassis fan will not only make your PC cooler, but will significantly reduce its noise output too. We round up 55 fans to see which deserve to be spinning away in your PC.

Scythe

Manufacturer:	Price:
Scythe	£9.99 inc VAT
Reviewer:	Review Date:
James Gorbold	Aug 2006

	OVERALL RATING

SCORE

4/6

Scythe HSFs tend to be either extremely loud, or passively cooled and therefore silent, so we were keen to see on which side of the noise divide its case fans fall.

The Scythe Kaze-Jyu is designed to fit 92mm fan mounts but uses a 100mm fan. This means that, theoretically, it should have a higher airflow than a standard 92mm fan spinning at the same speed. The fan is preset to spin at 1,000rpm, and Scythe claims that it will produce 28.2cfm at 14dBA.

We measured the Kaze-Jyu's airflow at 10cfm, and its noise level as being equal to or less than the background noise level of the listening room (20.1dBA). So, although the Kaze-Jyu is quiet, its low airflow makes it hard to recommend.

Scythe also manufactures a range of 120mm fans, including the S-Flex series. All three S-Flex fans are identical, apart from their motor speed, which increases in 400rpm steps. The SFF21D spins at 800rpm and is claimed to produce 33.5cfm at 8.7dBA; the SFF21E spins at 1,200rpm and is claimed to produce 49cfm at 20.1dBA; and the SFF21F spins at 1,600rpm and is claimed to produce 63.7cfm at 28dBA.

We measured the SFF21D as being able to move 30cfm at a lower noise level than that of the background noise level of the listening room (20.1dBA), while the SFF21E moved 61cfm at 25.5dBA, and the SFF21F moved 76cfm at 33.7dBA. This means that the SFF21D is essentially silent, the SFF21E is quiet and the SFF21F is loud. However, all three fans are expensive and therefore poor value for money.

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