Deepcool's 140 mm PWM Fan Designed For Quiet Operation

News
By Niels Broekhuijsen
published

Deepcool's got a new fan up its sleeve, which has a sleeved cable.

Silently, Deepcool announced the GF140 fan. This is a 140 mm fan aimed to bring low-noise performance to the table at an affordable price.

To keep it silent, Deepcool has opted to use a handful of technologies. The most obvious one is PWM support, and that the fan will spin at speeds between 700 and 1200 RPM. The PWM signal is interpreted by a "silent IC," which drives a motor with a Japanese fluid dynamic bearing. On top of this, Deepcool has opted to cover the frame of the fan with a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) cover, which acts like a vibration-dampening rubber around the entire fan. Last but not least, it also has blades with bumps that are intended to guide the air, which should theoretically increase the airflow and static pressure of the fan.

All of the above turns into a fan that will push up to 71.8 CFM while making up to 26.7 dBA of noise. The fan will make 17.6 dBA of noise at its lowest speed, but Deepcool did not quote information on minimum airflow levels or static pressure. Deepcool does rate the fan with an MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) of 100,000 hours.

Additionally, the entire impeller can be removed from the fan hub for easy cleaning or for swapping it out for a different color unit, according to the Chinese manufacturer. The mounting point for the fan is at the usual 120 mm location, so do be sure to check compatibility with your case. Because of this, using it on a water cooling radiator may also be somewhat tricky, as most 140 mm radiators don't have threading at the 120 mm points.

When we met with Deepcool at CES 2015, the company informed us that it is working hard to put a dent in the U.S. component market. The company already has a handful of products on the U.S. market, which it sells mostly through NewEgg, but for now we'll have to wait and see what DeepCool has up its sleeve to really make that dent it speaks of.

There was no word on availability for the GF140 fan, although we were told that MSRP sits at $15.99.

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Niels Broekhuijsen
Niels Broekhuijsen

Niels Broekhuijsen is a Contributing Writer for Tom's Hardware US. He reviews cases, water cooling and pc builds.

6 Comments Comment from the forums
  • iceman26
    i can't fathom why fan manufacturer always opt for Silence rather than CFM. where the primary purpose of a fan is cool things. jeez
    Reply
  • alextheblue
    Sounds a bit like a Noctua knockoff. If it sells below MSRP it might be worth a look for silence on a budget. Otherwise you're better off putting the money towards the real deal or looking elsewhere entirely.
    Reply
  • apor
    Let me know when someone releases a better fan than Noctua... until than I don't know why we even bother.
    Reply
  • Quixit
    i can't fathom why fan manufacturer always opt for Silence rather than CFM. where the primary purpose of a fan is cool things. jeez

    Really? I like my computer to not sound like a jet engine. They wouldn't make them if no one was buying them. I remember back when we used to use Delta Black-Label fans and trust me, you don't want to go there. A 140mm Delta Black Label fan would be so loud you'd be able to hear it through a reinforced concrete wall.
    Reply
  • photonboy
    Noise vs CFM:

    Manufacturers do NOT "opt for Silence rather than CFM", there are a wide variety of fans to choose from.

    The best fan is the one that cools sufficiently with the lowest noise.

    Also, not sure you read the article very well (iceman 26) as they said they got almost 72CFM at 26.7dB which essentially means it cools well with relatively low noise.

    *I bought PWM fans for my case and have fan speed setup (RPM vs temperature) and my case fans spin at 600RPM and are essentially silent. They never go above 800RPM even though they are capable of going up to 1500RPM because that would add pointless noise.

    (Many people have far more noise due to fans than they need either due to excessive fan speed, too many fans, or low quality fans)
    Reply
  • alextheblue
    Let me know when someone releases a better fan than Noctua... until than I don't know why we even bother.
    Price, for one. For premium silent builds I highly recommend Noctua. They are the best by miles. But for a budget build there are some other PWM fans that aren't too bad and they're a lot cheaper. The other reason to buy something else is raw airflow. Noctua fans do a great job of moving air for how quiet they are, but there are situations where someone demands more peak airflow (whether they really need it or not is debatable).
    I remember back when we used to use Delta Black-Label fans and trust me, you don't want to go there. A 140mm Delta Black Label fan would be so loud you'd be able to hear it through a reinforced concrete wall.
    I think I still have a 120mm Delta screamer lying around somewhere. I wonder if it would still be loud if I run it at 7V? :P
    Reply