KitGuru KitGuru.net – Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards
A couple of weeks ago a company that we hadn't heard much about before asked if we would like to look at some of their fans. So imagine our surprise when a huge box, about the size you would expect for a PC case, arrived from said company.
We opened it up to see one of the largest collection of case fans and fan accessories we've ever seen inside.
Today we are going to look at a variety of fans and fan accessories from Airen and Aimaxx and evaluate which are best suited to different purposes. They have sent us everything from temperature controlled fans to PWM controllers which can be used with standard fans.
It is clear from the extremely similar packaging that the Airen and Aimaxx brands are products of the same company despite their vastly differing colour schemes. They have used a red, white and black colour scheme for the Airen fans and a green and black colour scheme for the Aimaxx fans which should both stand out very well on the shelves.
Airen RedWings 120 Deluxe
The 120 Deluxe is a fixed speed fan with no clever PWM or TC speeds controls. It spins at 1200rpm, providing a good compromise between airflow and noise emission. The only accessory that Airen supply with this fan, besides a set of four screws with washers, is a silicon gasket preattached to prevent vibrations being transferred to your PC case.
It has both 3-pin and 4-pin molex connectors so you can power the fan from the headers on your motherboard or directly from your PSU. It has a rated noise level of 14.9 dBA and airflow of 38 CFM. Like all the other Airen fans we have here today, the 120 Deluxe has a red fan blade with seven fins and a black housing.
Airen Redwings 120 Clever Deluxe
Airen use the word ‘Clever' to describe the PWM functionality of this fan. For those who are not aware, the PWM function automatically adjusts the fan speed for you based on temperature information from your motherboard. So the fan operates across a range of speeds which, in this case, is 400 – 1600rpm.
The fan has a 4-pin PWM connector and is also supplied with a silicon gasket to reduce vibrations. It has a rated noise level of 10.5 – 24.5 dBA and airflow of 26.5 – 68 CFM depending on speed.
Airen RedWings 120 TC
As you may have guessed, the letters ‘TC' in the name of this fan stand for ‘Temperature Controlled'. So what does this mean? In essence, this is very similar in principle to a PWM fan, varying the speed with temperature. But, in this case, the temperature information is gathered by an inbuilt temperature probe rather than from the motherboard.
In the past, we have found temperature controlled fans to be less effective than PWM fans as they rely on case temperature rather than the temperatures of hot components. The fan speed of this fan remains at 700rpm until the case temperature reaches 35c, after which it rapidly accelerates to 1600rpm. This model has only a 3-pin connector and isn't supplied with a silicon gasket. The noise level of the fan is rated at 10.5 – 21.5 dBA and the air flow is rated at 28.2 – 68.6 CFM.
Aimaxx eNVicooler 12
The Aimaxx fans that we have here look almost identical in form to the Airen fans apart from the different coloured fan blades. We actually prefer the green fan blades of the Aimaxx fans to the red of the Airen even though we can't see it fitting in aesthetically with many setups. The eNVicooler 12 spins at 1200rpm out of the box but this can be reduced to 700rpm using the included adapter. The rated noise level of this fan is 9.8 – 12.8 dBA and air flow of 24.3 – 68.6 CFM. Instead of the gaskets used for the Airen fans, the Aimaxx fans have silicon fan mounts to reduce vibrations.
Aimaxx eNVIcooler 12 PWM
The final 120mm fan we have here today is the Aimaxx eNVicooler 12 PWM which is essentially the eNVicooler 12 with added PWM support. Like the Airen PWM fan, the Aimaxx PWM fan spins at a speed of 400 – 1600rpm but with a reduced noise level of 9.3-22.8 dBA. The airflow of 14.9 – 68.6 CFM isn't quite as good as the Airen fan at the bottom of the speed range but has the same maximum airflow. This fan is also supplied with a 4-pin PWM connector and four anti-vibration silicon fan mounts.
Airen RedWings 92 Deluxe
The 92 Deluxe is essentially a scaled down version of the 120 Deluxe. But with reduced size comes an increased fan speed of 1400rpm to achieve a comparable airflow. The airflow of this fan is, in fact, slightly lower at 34.5 CFM which isn't too shabby considering it has the same rated noise level of 14.9 CFM. This fan also has a silicon gasket included to reduce vibrations and both 3-pin and 4-pin molex connectors to ensure it is compatible with your system.
Airen RedWings 80 Deluxe
With the 80 Deluxe, Airen have had to compromise more on air flow to maintain the same impresssive noise level of 14.9 dBA. The rated airflow of the 80 Deluxe is actually almost half that of the 120mm variant at 19.6 CFM despite the higher speed of 1600rpm. Again, Airen have attached both 3-pin and 4-pin molex connectors and included a silicon gasket to reduce vibrations.
Airen RedWings 80 Clever Deluxe
Like its larger sibling, the 80 Clever Deluxe is also a PWM controlled fan which automatically adjusts fan speed depending on temperature. This model spins between 600 – 2200 rpm, producing airflow of 12.3 – 32.5 CFM. It does this with a rated noise level of only 9.5 – 21 DBA which is impressive for such a fast spinning fan. It is supplied with a 4-pin PWM connector attached and has a silicon gasket to reduce vibrations.
Aimaxx eNVicooler 9 PWM
Despite only being a 92mm fan, the enVIcooler 9 PWM fan produces a rated airflow of 13.5 – 40.5 CFM which isn't bad at all. It has a rated noise level of 9.6 – 22.3 dBA, spinning between 600 – 2000 rpm. Like the other Aimaxx fans we looked at on the last page, the eNVicooler 9 PWM is supplied with anti-vibration silicon fan mounts instead. It is supplied with a 4-pin PWM connector.
Aimaxx eNVicooler 7
The eNVicooler 7 shares a lot in common with the eNVicooler 12 such as 3-pin and 4-pin molex connecters and a low noise level of 8.9 – 12.9 dBA. It spins at either 1200rpm or 2200rpm depending on whether you use the included adapter but only has a rated airflow of 10.5- 19.8 CFM. We cant say we have ever found space in any cases we've tested for a 70mm fan but we're sure there are a few people out there who will need one.
Aimaxx eNVicooler 4
Aimaxx take things even smaller with the eNVicooler 4 fan at only 40 x 40 x 25mm. We have seen a few spaces for 40mm fans in the past for which this fan is appropriate. It spins at 4500rpm but this can be reduced to 2100 using the included adapter for a lower noise level. The noise level is rated at 8.9-17.9 dBA which is very low at its highest so we don't see a great need for the adapter. It is the only Aimaxx fan not to be supplied with vibration reducing fan mounts but it does have silicon washers to absorb some vibrations. Like the other fixed speed fans it has both 3-pin and 4-pin molex connectors.
Airen Cool Panel
The first, and probably most exciting, cooling accessory that we have been sent is the Airen Cool Panel. Even though it has almost every feature we could ask for crammed in, it certainly won't make your system look any prettier as its design is quite dated. It is essentially a fan controller that sits in a 5.25″ drive bay in the front of your PC, providing control over two fan speeds in your system between 800 – 9000rpm. It also has two probes to let you monitor two temperatures inside your system and has a 8-in-1 card reader to sweeten the deal.
Along the front of the panel there are also a number of connectors which provide easy access to certain interfaces through the front of your system. These consist of two USB2.0 ports, two SATA ports, an RCA video jack and microphone, headphone and linein 3.5mm jacks. To adjust the fan speed there are two silver rolling switches and an LCD to display the set fan speed and temperatures. Airen thoughtfully include all the cables you need to hook the panel up to your rig.
Airen RPM Clever
As its name suggests, the ‘RPM Clever' is quite clever, letting you convert a fixed speed fan to a PWM one. It is as simple as plugging the 4-pin connector into a 4-pin PWM header and plugging a 3-pin fan into the other end of the unit. The knob on top of the unit also lets you adjust the fan speed manually. If you live in a very cold place, the module will also turn off the fan if the CPU temperature goes below 20c.
Airen HDD RedWings
The final cooling accessory we have on test today is the Airen HDD RedWings which is a 3.5″ hard drive cooler. The unit itself sits on top of your hard drive, blowing cooler air over the surface with it's 60mm fan. Even though he fan spins at 3500rpm, it only produces 15 CFM of airflow. In our opinion, hard drive coolers are a waste of time these days as most modern PC cases have more than adequate cooling for hard drives built in.
Final Thoughts
We have looked at so many different fans today that our heads are spinning (no pun intented!). The pick of the lot are definitely the Aimaxx eNVicooler PWM fans which are quieter than their Airen counterparts without compromising on airflow. They also have a PWM function to ensure they aren't making unnecessary noise. The only fans we looked at that we would avoid are the Airen ‘TC' temperature controlled fans which we found didn't work very effectively at all. Ranging from £3 to £5 at Pure Cool PC, the Airen fans represent great value for money. We couldn't find any of the Aimaxx fans we tested on sale in the UK so we can't judge their value for money. But if they are priced similarly to the Airen fans, they are sure to be good value for money.
As for the cooling accessories, the Airen cool panel is certainly feature packed. We do feel that Airen have been distracted by throwing in everything (including the kitchen sink) rather than concentrating on the core functions of the unit. Most systems these days have a minimum of three fans so only supporting two fans in verging on criminal in our opinion. But, if your case is lacking in front panel connectivity, the Airen Cool Panel is certainly the way to go! We can't judge its value for money as we couldn't find it for sale anywhere online.
KitGuru says: A decent range of fans at very reasonable prices!
