Performance Testing

Please refer to the dedicated test setup page here as it applies to this review as well and I did not want to go over it separately to save on review space.


Let's remind ourselves that the fan is rated for 500–1800 RPM (+/- 10%). EKWB sent over six fans in total, and they hit an average of 1684 RPM at 100% PWM duty cycle and went down to an average 404 RPM at 36% PWM duty cycle before turning off completely. This was weird and unexpected since EKWB made no claims of their 0dB start-stop functionality and originally wrote on the product page that the minimum RPM (which should be around 500 RPM) at 25% PWM duty cycle may vary slightly depending on the PWM controller. A repeat test on an MSI Z390 MEG Ace motherboard showed similar results, and all six fans fared the same, so clearly something was off. When contacted, EK confirmed that they indeed did have a 0dB operation scheme in this fan too, but a communication gap somewhere meant that the product page hadn't been updated until now. A good thing, fan stop (likely a result of a different resistor in-line than apt for these controllers) means you get complete silence from these fans if needed, and the graph above goes to 19 dBA because that is the floor's ambient in my anechoic chamber used for testing. In order to turn them back on, increase the PWM duty cycle percentage to ~37% as was the case here, but note that this means startup boost for current draw is now added, so if you plan on using this feature, account for the worst power-draw scenario or use a PWM-powered splitter. All six fans also tested near identical to each other, which is nice to see.

Context is needed to talk more about the fan's performance and noise, so I have below comparison charts for some fans tested so far at set RPM values (or as near as they can get to those).


I have included fans in charts where the rated RPM is within 50 RPM of the chart cutoff point, and have also removed fans either too old or simply redundant with the introduction of an updated version. In addition, I have removed fans that only appear once or twice in the charts above since they are not good for comparison as more entries get added into the test database. The specific RPM values chosen reflect usage scenarios most popular with watercooling even though some fans (the Noctua NF-A12x25, for instance) go higher. The charts are to be considered for comparison within this result set only and are not to be compared with results from another test elsewhere owing to different testing conditions.

So yeah, looks like EKWB did not strike gold here with the Meltemi. If anything, these tests show that the fan is woeful compared to the 25 mm thick EK-Vardar EVO fans this fan is based off. There is definitely the effect of my testing these fans in a push configuration, which does not help that massive deadspot in airflow in the center owing to the huge motor hub, but regardless, it is a shame to see the fan louder and less effective than an older 25 mm thick fan that even costs less.


Knowing that a shroud will help in this case, I wanted to test the effect of adding a 12 mm thick plenum I had lying around. Two tests done with the fan at 1000 and 1500 RPM convincingly show that the EK-Meltemi benefits highly from this, and having the fans in a pull configuration will also help greatly. But there remain better options for noise or performance optimization alike, nearly all of which are also more compatible with a case.


EK sent along their own fan P-Q test results to show that the fan design works well in their test experiments. Indeed, I will also agree with them that the fan does better in push than pull, but such is the fickle nature of DIY PC watercooling today that aesthetics matter more, and people tend to have fans in push. For something intended for pure performance, however, having mediocre results in push is a negative no matter how it is spun.