SilverStone is now offering what they call an “air channelling” specialized fan that also has ARGB and which is built on hydraulic bearings for silent operation and low energy consumption. This is the Air Penetrator 140i ARGB series which also features 135 and 140 mm mounting holes but for the moment only comes in the 140 mm frame size.
SilverStone Technology Co., Ltd is a company based in Taiwan, founded in 2003 that makes computer cases, power supplies, and other peripheral for personal computers. Their goal was to provide products that create inspirations and customers a wide selection of choices.
With distribution centres in different areas of the globe, SilverStone products can be seen all over the world, not just for computer users but also for home entertainment use. Thus providing leisure with integration of advanced technologies that is functional and making them enjoyable to use.
Prices and Availability
This model is the ARGB updated higher speed model over the standard one which is only available as a 140 mm. You can grab one for around $27, a price point with a lot of competition as we are about to see.
*Update 21/08/2021 – The video review is live as well!*
Highlights and Specification
*Courtesy of their website.
140mm PWM air channelling fan with ARGB lighting effects
￭ Industry leading air channelling fan
￭ Integrated ARGB lighting effect
￭ Hydraulic bearing for quiet operation
￭ Integrated rubber padding helps to further reduce vibrational noise
￭ Mounting holes designed for 135mm and 140mm fan mounts.
￭ Integrated air channelling grille double as fan guard for extra protection
￭ Low power consumption
Visual Inspection
They come shipped in the regular SilverStone packaging design with a visual depiction of the fan on the front and with the main emphasis on the full RGB support and motherboard lighting software compatibility.
On the back we have the main specs detailed with even a quick diagram of how the air channelling affects the airflow versus some regular fans.
All of the included accessories are tucked in the upper part of the box.
Thus, with the SST AP140i ARGB fan you get:
* 1x quick user’s guide/ warranty card
* 4x Philips mounting screws
* 1x ARGB 3pin male to female Y-splitter
* 1x ARGB 3pin female to 4-1pin female adapter
The 140i ARGB fans use PBT for the frame (polybutylene terephthalate which is a tough, durable plastic) and Polycarbonate for the fan blades. It weights 195g and measures 139mm (W) x 25mm (H) x 139mm (D). It has 7 translucid fan blades and needs a 4-pin PWM plug for power and a 4-1 pin ARGB for the 5V LEDs.
On the back we see the air channelling grille that also acts as a fan guard for extra protection. Since it uses hydraulic bearings for the rotor, all of these features help the fan to spin up to 2000 RPM and thus displacing up to 73.48 CFM of airflow, with a static pressure of 2.72mmH2O and with a reach of up to 2.2 Meters. At full chat the fan is rated up to 41.3dBA of noise output and should last at least 30,000 hours (~3.5 years) of continuous operation.
Both sides of the fan have preinstalled rubber anti-vibrational pads and even feature 135 and 140 mm mounting holes.
The RGB is facilitated by the presence of the 12 LEDs just beneath the rotor cap.
When in use, as you can see they have a great colour diffusion and of course are fully compatible with all of the main motherboards’ lighting control software.
It’s easy to connect them when you have multiple examples, as shown in their presentation video.
Testing methodology
- The SilverStone fans will be used on the be quiet! TF2 heatsink and then placed in front of the be quiet! 802 case to test their advertised airflow reach
- The AMD Ryzen 7 1700 CPU will be overclocked at 3.70 GHz for 1.325v
- As the main torture test, we will employ a 2 minute run in AIDA64
- Room temperature was recorded at ~ 22°C
- For the noise testing, we used our Pyle PSPL01 placed 30 cm away from the setup – all other fans will will be off or set at minimum RPM
- Thermal paste used Noctua NH-H2
- We will compare the results to other fans close to its price/performance bracket plus other items for an even broader perspective
- All CPU fans will be left on the ‘standard’ auto % rpm curve to simulate real life usage patterns with the side panel attached and the case fans will be tested at 30, 50 and 100% RPM points against the stock case fans
- Any results over 90°C in any condition are considered a fail
Testing platform:
– CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 1700 AM4
– CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock TF 2
– RAM 16GB DDR4 T-Force Night Hawk RGB 3000 MHz CL16
– Motherboard: ASUS ROG STRIX X370-F Gaming ATX @ BIOS 5220
– Boot SSD: Sabrent Q 1TB M.2 NVMe 1.3 QLC Gen3 x4
– Video card(s): KF2 GTX 480 Anarchy Accelero Xtreme Plus
– PSU: be quiet! 550W Pure Power 11 FM Gold
– Case: be quiet! Silent Base 802 Black
– Case fans: be quiet! Pure Wings 2 140 mm (x3)
Competition 140mm fans:
* Noctua NF-A14 iPPC-3000 PWM
* (((Noiseblocker))) eLOOP ARGB B14x-P 1500 RPM PWM
* be quiet! Silent Wings 3 High Speed PWM 1600 RPM
* be quiet! Pure Wings 2 PWM 1000 RPM
Software:
– OS: Windows 10 Pro x64 Build 21H1
– GPU Drivers: NVIDIA GeForce WHQL 391.35
– Core Temp v1.17 – To see the temperatures in real time
– CPU-Z v1.95 – To verify the CPU’s statistics
– AIDA64 Extreme v6.23 – Another popular total system stability test
– Cinebench R15 – Popular CPU benchmark
– MSI Afterburner v4.62 – To record the FPS and load/temperatures
Resolution for our test game Rise Of the Tomb Raider, is set at 1920×1080 with everything at Medium quality settings and no AA.
Testing, Results and Analysis
In the first CPU test, Cinebench R15, the SilverStone 140i has some fierce competition from some of the best brands on the market when it comes to overall cooling performance and noise output. It settles for a third place on the podium.
Then in the main torture test, via AIDA64 which ran for 2 minutes, the same overall hierarchy is preserved. This is not necessarily a bad thing for the SST 140i since, again, it’s in the ring with one of the best 140 mm fans out there.
Now let’s test the SST 140i’s claimed airflow reach by installing two of them in the front of the testing case and then comparing them to the stock ones that came with the enclosure plus an extra set for diversity, in a benchmark run in Rise of The Tomb Raider, since the GPU is the farthest away from the fans and will benefit the most out of any increase in airflow.
As advertised by SilverStone, yes, these Air Penetrator fans do offer an extra reach of airflow over a longer distance and thus it’s reflected in the lower temps for the GPU above the 50% RPM point.
The last test is the noise output. Overall they are very close to the eLOOP ones that spin 500 RPM lower anyway and this fact alone is a win for the SilverStone Air Penetrator series.
Conclusion
What we have here is an excellent ratio of cooling performance and noise output from these Air Penetrator 140i ARGB fans from SilverStone. They managed to held their ground against some of the best brands out there within minimal margins. The extra advertised reach is valid via the air channelling optimization and thus they will make excellent case fans as well. The pricing is a bit high when for the same asking price you can get a 3-fan kit from lower tier brands or even get anything from the tested fans presented today but in the end this is up to you to decide.
The good:
+ Excellent cooling performance and noise output
+ Extended airflow reach
+ Great ARGB
+ 135 & 140 mm mounting holes
The bad:
– Maybe do a 120 mm variant as well
– A bit pricey
Glob3trotters “Performance” Award – 4.5 out of 5
Many thanks to Silverstone for supplying us with these fans!
