SUMMARY: When overclocking started to become popular, about the only thing that a company had to do to be successful was to put out a product that worked great. But with today's emphasis on windows and new gadgets, manufacturers are finding the need to cover the looks category as well. Come join Mike "Darthtanion" Wright as he takes a look at a pair of Antec LED Fans. This company thinks that they qualify in both of these categories so we're going to give them the chance to step up to the plate. Let's see if they succeed!
Though it may not look like much in the light, it comes to life in the dark. But before we get into that, we’ll go ahead and take a look at the fans themselves.
Both versions measure in at 80mm x 80mm x 25mm so will mount in any standard 80mm fan bracket. Since it is a standardized size, it will also easily fit into any self-made 80mm blow holes that may have been added to your case. The fan spins at a rate of 2600 RPM and has an airflow rating of 34-CFM. Add to this the fact that it only emits about 30dBA of sound output and you can see that there is some promise here.
Performance wise, these fans are on par with the Sunon fans that I have been using for quite some time now for case cooling. I ran through my normal battery of tests for heatsinks to see if they could combat heat created by the hard drive, the video card and the processor. With an ambient air temperature in the room of 21C, I was only able to get the case to 28C. This is an identical result from faster Sunon fans, but with a LOT less noise!
Cabling
Fortunately, Antec went with a 4-pin Molex connector for powering this fan. I have been seeing some 3-pin fans hitting the market and I just dread the power draw that these monsters are putting on a motherboard. Hook up a few of the larger 80mm fans and you could be in the market for a new mainboard.
Also of note is the braided covering over the wires. Though the likelihood of dropping a wire into a bad place is slim with 80mm fans, it just makes the whole package look better. And if you just happen to also have a window in your side panel, then this will give you a much better look overall.
If you happen to be the type of person that wants to monitor everything inside the case, then you’ll be happy to know that there is also a 3-pin connector to hook up to the motherboard. It’s only purpose is to allow you to monitor the fan speed through the BIOS or by means of a third party monitoring utility (like SiSoft Sandra or Motherboard Monitor). This feature has become almost a standard on fast 60mm fans, but it is also a welcome addition to the larger brothers.
