wOw, those little boogers really B.L.O.W, hahaha :clap:

10/15k on a 40mm fan... what a couple of screamers... glad they're made for industrial uses :D

Now that case manufacturers have dumped the front HDD and optical bays in most cases to make room for radiators, it's about time we started seeing more high-static-pressure, low noise fans in the 38mm format. 25mm fans are a legacy size left over from the days when most PC fans were 60 or 80mm in diameter. Using the 38mm server standard is surely a no-brainer for applications like densely-packed radiators, no?

Chrispy_Now that case manufacturers have dumped the front HDD and optical bays in most cases to make room for radiators, it's about time we started seeing more high-static-pressure, low noise fans in the 38mm format. 25mm fans are a legacy size left over from the days when most PC fans were 60 or 80mm in diameter. Using the 38mm server standard is surely a no-brainer for applications like densely-packed radiators, no?

Didn't EK make like a thicc Vardar or something? If I recall they barely perform better than the regular 25mm fans. Fan design and engineering is more important than thickness. Which is why the Noctua NF-A12x25 and Scythe GT are some of the best fans still despite being 25mm thick.

owen10578Didn't EK make like a thicc Vardar or something? If I recall they barely perform better than the regular 25mm fans. Fan design and engineering is more important than thickness. Which is why the Noctua NF-A12x25 and Scythe GT are some of the best fans still despite being 25mm thick.

They did, and TPU tested it with disappointing results, mainly because it was being tested in a way that favours low-static pressure performance/acoustics.

A regular radiator on an open testbench and a flow-measurement tunnel with no significant impedance will always paint a thicker, pressure-focused fan in poor light. Where they shine is in a more common scenario that is rarely tested for, the quiet PC.

We're talking indirect air-path from side baffles around the edges, through restrictive vents, baffles, past a wall of sound-absorbtion foam, through a dust filter, through a dense radiator, and into a case with positive pressure and indirect exhaust.

So yeah, 38mm fans aren't universally better, they're just misunderstood by many reviewers - or at least not ideally suited to the common mainstream cooling applications that most fans are benchmarked against. There's a reason that the server world uses them instead of 25mm fans, and that's because airflow impedance in servers vastly exceeds anything you'll see in mainstream PC cases. Once you hit a certain threshold of airflow restriction, the depth of the fan, and the resulting increase in the blades' ability to compress air smoothly, plays are far more important role.

It's easy to get sidetracked by all-glass vanity builds that are pushed to the front by marketing, sponsorship, and streamers, but the low-flow, sound-absorbing cases are still popular and common, despite not being glamourous enough to win airtime in the spotlight. If you're an adult who just dumps their PC under a desk and wants it to be unobtrusive, this is the market for you, and I'm willing to bet that it's a much bigger market than the RGBLED tempered glass company marketing departments want you to believe.

Hi,
Yeah 40-40 is pretty dinky fan and really has no fins lol
Smallest I have for rigging over memory is 60x noctua 3k+- rpm nf-a6x25 19.3 dba 13.7 with adapter.

Chrispy_They did, and TPU tested it with disappointing results, mainly because it was being tested in a way that favours low-static pressure performance/acoustics.

A regular radiator on an open testbench and a flow-measurement tunnel with no significant impedance will always paint a thicker, pressure-focused fan in poor light. Where they shine is in a more common scenario that is rarely tested for, the quiet PC.

We're talking indirect air-path from side baffles around the edges, through restrictive vents, baffles, past a wall of sound-absorbtion foam, through a dust filter, through a dense radiator, and into a case with positive pressure and indirect exhaust.

So yeah, 38mm fans aren't universally better, they're just misunderstood by many reviewers - or at least not ideally suited to the common mainstream cooling applications that most fans are benchmarked against. There's a reason that the server world uses them instead of 25mm fans, and that's because airflow impedance in servers vastly exceeds anything you'll see in mainstream PC cases. Once you hit a certain threshold of airflow restriction, the depth of the fan, and the resulting increase in the blades' ability to compress air smoothly, plays are far more important role.

It's easy to get sidetracked by all-glass vanity builds that are pushed to the front by marketing, sponsorship, and streamers, but the low-flow, sound-absorbing cases are still popular and common, despite not being glamourous enough to win airtime in the spotlight. If you're an adult who just dumps their PC under a desk and wants it to be unobtrusive, this is the market for you, and I'm willing to bet that it's a much bigger market than the RGBLED tempered glass company marketing departments want you to believe.

Server fans are completely different they're actually CFD flow designed with proper engineering AND backed by insanely high RPMs. Also the reason they use thick fans is mostly because servers use thinner fans and you need the thickness to have any meaningful pressure and airflow then. Like I said. A well designed 25mm fan will perform better than a poorly designed simply 38mm fan. A very well designed 38mm fan should still perform better but it will probably be marginal in most normal use cases. Meaning no they probably won't become the new standard ever.

owen10578Server fans are completely different they're actually CFD flow designed with proper engineering AND backed by insanely high RPMs. Also the reason they use thick fans is mostly because servers use thinner fans and you need the thickness to have any meaningful pressure and airflow then. Like I said. A well designed 25mm fan will perform better than a poorly designed simply 38mm fan. A very well designed 38mm fan should still perform better but it will probably be marginal in most normal use cases. Meaning no they probably won't become the new standard ever.

Well yes, but server fans and consumer fans are aimed at different markets. The server fan blade (and motor) is designed for maximum throughput with no regard for noise level. Consumer fans need to be aimed at maximum throughput per deciBel. Equating server fans and consumer fans using the same blade design is obviously incorrect.

There are decent 38mm consumer fans, aimed at great noise levels for the given static pressure they generate, Silverstone make some, and 12V 38mm fans from Sanyo, Sunon, Delta exist that are used in other consumer applications where unobtrusive cooling is required, just not PCs. For some reason, PCs are stuck in the 25mm rut that's just a legacy of the '90s.