The DarkSide Gentle Typhoon 1450 Black Edition fan is part of a series of Gentle Typhoon Black Editions that came about due to the resolve of a single person who wanted to see the venerable Gentle Typhoon be brought back, and then had to realize Nidec-Servo did not really care for this market. With high MOQs and little maneuvering room on prices, corners had to be cut to get the fan at the $20 price point we see it today. This mean the bare minimum in packaging, no accessories, no cable sleeving, and a small marketing budget to get the word out aside from word of mouth. Indeed, when I mentioned to a TPU reader the other day that I was working on a review of a Gentle Typhoon fan, all I got back was surprise about the fact that these were still being made.

At $20, this is no inexpensive fan. The original Gentle Typhoons in all their OEM black and gray color scheme glory sold for $13-$16 (aside from the high speed 2500+ RPM options that went for more), and at that point, there was really no competition. A higher price coupled with years of competitors having caught up and even surpassed this fan in some cases means things are hard for the fan and brand today. At the same time, $20 is no longer a high price point for fans with some going for as high as $40 each, and we are only talking about the PC DIY market here too. With RGB lighting, more expensive bearings, and even zero-RPM modes added in, the Gentle Typhoon actually does not seem that bad from a value basis. A lot of competing fans are priced at around the same $20 mark, but there are some that can be had for less.

If you want a decent no-frills performer with a long track record of reliability, this one is for you. The Gentle Typhoon 1450 RPM is also in a sweet spot in that it is not too loud and can be used as-is without the need to set up a fan curve, and at the same time does enough from a performance point of view to where you can pair it with a 240-360 mm radiator and cool a typical 250-300 W TDP system. But finding this fan outside of North America is hard, and this is where others will gladly line up to take your money. As it is now, I would urge you to weigh all your options accordingly - you will likely find something that better suits your particular needs.