Introduction

The EK-Vardar fans were first announced and released nearly three years ago to the day. It was a time when PC fans, especially for watercooling, were not the best from a performance point of view, and the venerable Gentle Typhoon was no longer to be found since Scythe had parted ways with Nidec-Servo. EKWB promised not only an alternative in the same mindset, but an even better performing one at that. The original Vardar fans all had dual ball bearings, and they came in the 140 mm size range as well, which helped a lot too. Then came a batch of bad ball bearings that caused a lot of issues to customers and the company alike, while others improved upon their own offerings. The Gentle Typhoon made a comeback, and we even have magnetic levitation bearings in this market now. EKWB has revised their fan series under the Vardar EVO name, and this includes the Vardar EVO 120ER, today's review subject.


As the name might indicate, the EK-Vardar EVO 120ER is a 120 mm fan with an extended range (hence the -ER in the name) of control. It comes in all black or white color options, which is nice to see, and for those who care about it let me mention right away that there is no built-in lighting whatsoever here. These color options aside, the Vardar EVO aims to tickle your performance bone solely. Indeed, even the name is fitting then given Vardar is, and I quote, "a type of the cold northwesterly wind blowing from the mountains down to the valleys of Macedonia. It is a type of ravine wind, enhanced by a channeling effect while blowing down through the Moravia-Vardar gap, bringing cold conditions from the north to the Thessaloniki area of Greece." Thanks again to EKWB for the review sample, and let us begin the review with a look at the specifications below.

Specifications