Another interesting product from DeepCool, is their new high performance 120 mm Game Storm GF120 fan.
Deepcool was founded with the mission of providing the best performance and humanized thermal solutions for worldwide customers.
Established in 1996, headquartered in Beijing, factory was established in Shen Zhen, Deepcool originally produced desktop, server coolers and cooling accessories. With the rapid development of personal computers, Deepcool expanded the business into AIO liquid cooling products, chassis, power supplies.
Their slogan “Enjoy your cool life!” was chosen ever since the stunning victory of Deep Blue, a program running on an IBM supercomputer, over Gary Kasparov, then world chess champion, in 1997, it has been clear that computers would be the most powerful tool of human being.
Recommended retail price when available: $ 19.90
Specifications
Features:
• Japanese Fluid Dynamic Bearing & high-quality IC to offer a super noise level
• GF120’s plastic frame is 100% wrapped by a TPE layer, which is a kind of soft and elastic material.This layer can absorb de-vibration to a great extent.
• Especially design blades with centralized flow pattern create outstanding static pressure and focus the airflow for superior performance on heatsinks and radiators.
• Detachable fan impeller with the function of recruited lubricating oil, greatly extend the lifetime. The fan blade of GF120 comes with multiple color of polychrome, so you can customize your fan to match your aesthetic appreciation.
• Optimized fan configuration with triple-proof (Dustproof, Waterproof, Oil-leakage proof) with estimated lifetime of 100,000 hours.
• GF120 has a 4-pin PWM connector, which allows the fan speed to adjust automatically according to the system’s request
• Four pieces of rubber screws are included for the fan installation. These rubber screws can absorb vibration to the maximum so as to avoid the noise made by normal metal screws.
Specs:
• Overall Dimension: 120x120x25 mm
• Net Weight: 170g
• Warranty: 5 Years
• Rated Voltage: 12VDC
• Operating Voltage: 10.8～13.2VDC
• Starting Voltage: 7VDC
• Rated Current: 0.14±10%A(MAX)
• Power Input: 1.68W
• FAN Speed: 500±200~1800±10%RPM
• MAX.Air Flow: 79.81CFM
• Noise: 17.6~32.5dB(A)
• Bearing Type: Fluid Dynamic Bearing
Packaging and content
Comes in a simple yet nice box, which is completely recyclable and with a clear plastic to see a quarter of the fan.
The logo is highlighted and on the back they go into technical details.
Inside, very well packed and organized, the actual fan with two drawers, one on each extremity.
In them, we have the accessories.
The 4 pin Molex-to-7v adapter and 4x rubber mounting screw type grommets.
Most products on the market these days also come with partially or fully sleeved cables, and the GF120 is of no exception. This gives the fan a ‘pro’ look and it feels better overall.
The fan itself.
Has a rubberized frame, very nice touch.
Even the holes have extra vibration abortion.
In terms of blade geometry, it seems that more and more fan manufacturers are adopting the idea of a bigger width and increased overlap at the end of the blades.
Thus to provide more air pressure and helps for a better static air pressure.
How we tested
– Sound meter – Pyle PSPL01 – positioned 1 meter from the case, (we will include +/- 2-3 % margin for error) with ambient noise level of 25-30 dB/A.
– RPM control and monitoring via MSI Control center, tested at 4 different stages 20, 50, 80 and 100 % RPM load.
– We removed the video card plus our PSU has semifanless action so that we removed virtually any other sources of sound, to leave only the GF120 fan running for optimal testing. Then we used it on our Thermalright AXP-100R CPU heatsink to see if any turbulence will occur.
– Regarding airflow we used an anemometer – Mastech MS6252A (we will include +/- 6-11 % margin for error) – positioned 15 cm away from the fan and in between we use an improved cardboard tubing also in diameter of 120 mm to channel all the airflow as straight as possible (used also for the small fans). The results were recorded in CFM.
– The rest of the hardware:
Processor: Intel i7 2700k @ stock settings
CPU heatsink: Thermalright AXP-100R
Case: NCase M1
Storage: Samsung 840 Evo (no HDD, again to remove all noise)
Motherboard: MSI B75IA-E33 mITX
PSU: Silverstone SX-600G SFX w/ semifanless function
Other fans:
• Noiseblocker eLOOP B12-P – also with PWM – (official specs) 28 dB/A and ~ 78 CFM @ Max RPM of 2000 RPM
• Noiseblocker Multiframe M12-P – also with PWM – (same) 29 dB/A and ~ 79 CFM @ Max RPM of 2000 RPM
• Noiseblocker Black Silent Pro PL-PS – also with PWM – (same) 23 dB/A and ~ 59 CFM @ Max RPM of 1500 RPM
The results
Excellent results by all means ! And we tested it against some of the best ones, the excellent Noiseblocker eLOOP and Multiframe series.
Then we did the underwater test.
Fully submerged it for 5 minutes.
Took it out and ran it.
Worked perfectly !
Conclusion
The Good:
+ All rubberized frame
+ Very quiet with a lo of air pushing power
+ Silent PWM control with no clicking in PWM or in Voltage control
+ Good accessories
+ Survived a full submersion test and runs fine
+ Completely recyclable packaging
+ Provide P-Q curves for the benchmark RPMs – few companies do this
The Bad:
– The design, maybe the material need to look more finished, but this is subjective
– Because it is fully waterpower they should also certify this fan to an IPxx code.
Really impressed today with this fan from DeepCool and thus it gets our:
Glob3trotters “High Performance” Award – 4.5 out of 5
Many thanks to DeepCool for supplying this product !
