Introduction

EK Water Blocks may be most known for its water blocks, as in the name itself, although the Slovenian company has done its best to put out products for anything and everything related to PC DIY watercooling. These include fans, of which the original EK-Vardar fans were among my favorite, released before I even started writing here on TechPowerUp. An updated EK-Vardar EVO then debuted here over five years ago and won an Editor's Choice award before the fan market seemingly decided to go all aboard the RGB train. EK first countered this with the Vardar EVO RGB that had centrally mounted LEDs which weren't individually addressable either—something that would be laughed at today by those who want a stunning light show in their PC even if it still offered plenty good performance for the time. A few other fans came and went in the time since but, if you look at the EKWB shop today, you will notice three different types of 120 mm fans being sold today. One does not have RGB and is arguably forgettable, the other continues the central LED use in addition to offering non-LED versions, and then we get to the third fan that is the subject of this review.


The newly released EK-Quantum Impulse fans are intended to appease the RGB fans (heh) by not only having LEDs in the central ring but also in the frame. This in itself is not new to the consumer market with the likes of CORSAIR and Thermaltake having done so many years ago, although these are EK's first step in this space. The company makes it clear on the product page that these fans are "not a replacement for other EK fans that maintain a focus on high radiator performance but more of an aesthetic-focused offering that provides silent operation and balanced performance." Indeed, they also mentioned a true replacement to the EK-Vardar EVO is on the way still, and I offered to do a quick look article on these fans since they were not necessarily planned for being competitive in my radiator-based testing. To its credit, EK did not want to sugarcoat anything and requested I do a full review with performance testing so people could see where these fans placed alongside the many others tested and thus allow readers to make an informed purchase decision accordingly. Indeed, there are some handy quality of life features here which will interest many either way, so let's thank EK for providing review samples to TechPowerUp as we begin with a look at the product specifications in the table below.

Specifications