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Silverstone Air Penetrator SST AP181 Fan review

Rating: 9.0.

At KitGuru we believe that good cooling is a primary concern when maintaining stability with a system build, especially if you are overclocking. While we haven't looked at many fans since we opened a few months ago, today we are going to be reviewing an exciting new product from Silverstone called the Air Penetrator.

This Air Penetrator fan has been designed as an intake fan and their goal was to focus airflow into a column that can be ‘channeled through various obstacles inside the modern computer case for more efficient cooling performance'. The concept and design ethics are in place to ensure that the unique blade and grille designs can create enough pressure to push air as far as 1 meter away with minimal speed (and therefore noise). Silverstone are pushing this range of fans as a perfect intake partner and also for high density heatsinks and radiators.

Special Feature
  • Industry leading air channeling fan
  • Wide fan blades for reducing air resistance
  • Integrated air channeling grille double as fan guard to reduce overall size
  • Low power consumption
The model we are looking at today is the SST AP181 which is an 180mm fan, and the big brother of the AP121, which is a 120mm model. These fans have a unique fan blade design with an air channeling grille permanently attached to the front of the unit.
The AP181 can be used as an upgrade option inside a Raven 02 for instance, or the Fortress FT01, FT02 as they all use the same size fan and the speed switch system will integrate without an issue into these cases. The Ap181 can work at either 1,200 rpm or 700rpm with the in line switch.
Model No. SST-AP181
Color Black
Bearing Sleeve
Rated Voltage 12V DC
Start Voltage 10.8V DC (low RPM mode)
Rated Current 0.45 AMP
Rated Power 5.4W
Speed 700 rpm / 1200 rpm
Effective Airflow Range 1.2; 3 meter
Airflow 80-130cfm
Static Pressure Max 1.1-2.45mm H20
Noise Level 18/34 dBa
Dimension 180mm (L) x 180mm (W) x 32 mm (H)

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14 comments

  1. great to see a company creating something different!

  2. I found the technical elements of that review very interesting indeed, didnt know half of the airflow systems with ordinary fans

  3. They are really only charging 3-4 more than a traditional fan of the same size, thats pretty good marketing from Silverstone.

  4. How can you not like Silverstone as a company. the Raven 02 design and now these fans. So much high quality products reviewed on this site, its as if you filter though all the crap no one wants to see, thanks!

  5. Impressive design and I also found the overview of the technology very interesting to read. A lot of great work has gone into this product.

  6. very solid design, was interested to see how ordinary fans work, and the smoke video on the last page was a good representation of how the flow is generated upwards. very smart. Cant wait to see the review of the Raven03 here.

  7. Its always good to see a company such as silverstone trying to do something new with technology rather than akasa, who churn out £3 products for decades.

  8. Fung Wung Hung Long

    Just ordered three of these for my Raven 02. Cheap upgrade I reckon and I dont have much cash lately, so its something to play with 🙂

  9. £15 isn’t too bad, bit more than a normal fan, but I bet the R&D for this cost a lot.

  10. Frank Streamliner

    £15 isn’t too bad, bit more than a normal fan, but I bet the R&D for this cost a lot.

  11. I started reading this and saw 6 pages and almost shit myself. How could they write 6 pages about a fan??!

    Well clearly you could as I read the whole lot and thought it was one of the best fan articles ive read in recent years. I think Silverstone are onto a winner, bit concerned with the high speed noise though, I think their last fan design was around 28dBa under high speed settings, so clearly this new design can be slightly louder.

  12. Very nice looking new design, I may have to order 3 for the Raven 02

  13. Great Review, I will be grabbing 3 of these to replace the 180’s in my FT-02

  14. will also be grabbing 3 for my Raven 02 !!