Now 5 220mm fan vendors! Add Power Works...

Felger Carbon · Post by **Felger Carbon** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 3:25 am

The maker of the original (I think) "250mm" fan, with 13 blades and found on the Xclio etc. is still unknown to me. Also, the maker of the 7-blade fan found on the Xclio and Aplus 188 and A380 cases is yet unknown to me. That's two 220mm fan makers.

Globe makes, and Zaward markets, yet another 220mm fan that comes in both BB and sleeve versions. The "Zaward" has been seen in the wild. Not so the Yate Loon, which also is offered in BB and sleeve versions.

That makes 4 220mm fan vendors, although Yate Loon may be only an "announced" vendor.

Now we add "Power Works", the name on the label of the 220mm fan flogged by Performance-PCs and presumably others. It's clearly an inexact copy of the original 13-blade fan. It comes with a plastic ring that's also an inexact copy of the original ring. And with mesh that's an inexact copy of the original mesh. I know this because one was delivered to me late yesterday afternoon.

Fan makers don't make their own ball bearings, and to the best of my knowledge, they don't make their own fan motor ICs either. So this new "copy" may use the same or different BBs and ICs. The 13 fan blades are made to look like the original, but have less blade area.

I have a few things on my plate at the moment, but I'll eventually attempt an equal-RPM noise test of this new fan against the original.

If any of you spot a sixth 220mm fan vendor, please let us all know?

Iateronmly · Post by **Iateronmly** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 5:59 am

I've had variation between two fans out of thermaltake side panels even. I think there is a batch consistancy problem.

Felger Carbon · Post by **Felger Carbon** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 2:13 pm

The Xclio/PSI/Casebuy (Mio) cases all use plastic rings for their big fans (can you call these rings 'escutcheons'?) that space the fan 0.2", or 5mm, away from the side panel they're mounted on. So four small screws are used to mount the kid/pet mesh fan protection to the side panel.

The Power Works does not have these four small screws, or the 0.2" space. Instead, while 4 posts are used the posts are shorter, so the metal mesh is clamped to the side panel between the plastic ring and the fan. This means any ball-bearing vibrations are intimately passed to the side panel as well (assuming a metal side panel is used). On the other cases, the only way to transmit the vibration is via the four long posts.

In the latter case, suspension further helps reduce the transmission of ball-bearing vibration to the side panel. But with the Power Works, if the mesh isn't tightly clamped by the fan/side panel, then there's nothing to hold the metal mesh in place - rattle city!

I'd like to hear from persons who've bought this fan and installed it in a case, to see how they've handled these issues.

ronrem · Post by **ronrem** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 3:46 pm

I notice Zaward shows pics also of 200 mm fans,that resemble Antecs,including flat sides eo allow top/floor mount. No details however-and no clue of where the Zaward stuff is sold-or the price. Good to see a trend toward more options. One fan lists at 300 rpm stock? Whooosh!

Kremmit · Post by **Kremmit** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 8:33 pm

I dunno if you want to include the Antec "Big Boy", as it's only a 200, not 250mm. But it's certainly in the category of "giant fans". I see Performance PCs is selling them individually.

Felger Carbon · Post by **Felger Carbon** » Sat Apr 07, 2007 10:08 am

I pried the "Xclio" label off one of my big fans and what do you know, another label was beneath! Diamond red/blue logo... well, look here. Yep, name Power Cooling. Back in the old days, it made HSFs with 60 and 70mm fans. A couple of years back, fans for 550W PSUs such as Hiper type-R. Full name of company (in English) Power Cooler Enterprise Co, Ltd.

I found several patents assigned to this company such as #20060120857, all(?) in the field of fans and cooling. The label under the Xclio label has the logo, the name Power Cooling, and "made in China". I dunno if PC is now a marketing company for a fan designed and made in China, or if it is a Taiwanese design and marketing company with offshore manufacturing.

A url can easily be found using Google, but it has expired. On Nov 2, 2006 "Arcturas" posted on the Thermaltake forums that he had gotten his hands on the Zaward version of the fan, and that perhaps TT could be persuaded to change from the Power Cooling fan.

McBanjo · Post by **McBanjo** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 2:01 am

Here in Sweden there seems to be a company named bZerk that has a big fan. But it's definatly an import.

http://www.gtek.se/img_prod/BZFA2501.jpg
http://www.gtek.net/img_prod/BZFA2501LED_3.jpg

Specifications:
Weight 400g
Airflow 102 - 163 mÂ³/h
rpm 650-850 at 10,2 - 13,9V
Noise 19 - 35 dB(A)

Felger Carbon · Post by **Felger Carbon** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 4:08 am

McBanjo wrote:Here in Sweden there seems to be a company named bZerk that has a big fan. But it's definatly an import.
Noise 19 - 35 dB(A)

That's the original "Xclio" version of the 13-blade fan. I can tell from the mold details on the 4 fan mounting holes. The decorative plastic ring is the version used on the Mio case, and (I believe) also the Aplus 188A case - they include the fan controller on the side panel, and the adjustment resides in the plastic ring. A noise level of 19-35dBA makes a lot more sense than just quoting "19dBA". The Thermaltake version of that fan is rated lower than "19dBA", but also turns slower; it's obviously the "L" version of the fan.

mailalan · Post by **mailalan** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 11:38 am

I've just ordered a new system thats in an Enermax Uber Chakra case which has what they call a 250mm fan in the side panel.

I'm concerned that this fan might be a little loud even though its low speed.

Have you found any of the giant fans you've tested so far to be much quieter than the rest? Which ones would you recommend?

- Alan

Felger Carbon · Post by **Felger Carbon** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 2:09 pm

mailalan wrote:I've just ordered a new system thats in an Enermax Uber Chakra case which has what they call a 250mm fan in the side panel.

The fan in this case is probably the same 13-blade fan used in the Xclio/Solo etc cases - a ball-bearing "M", roughly 800RPM at 12V. Undervolted, I believe you'll be very happy with its noise/cooling performance. Since the fan starts at 3.0 to 3.1V, you can very safely run it at 5V or, if you need better cooling, 7V.

EndoSteel · Post by **EndoSteel** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 2:39 pm

Felger Carbon
Back in the old days, it made HSFs with 60 and 70mm fans. A couple of years back, fans for 550W PSUs such as Hiper type-R. Full name of company (in English) Power Cooler Enterprise Co, Ltd.
They are still manufacturing fans for Zalman (F1 \ F2) and Aerocool (80mm models).

~El~Jefe~ · Post by **~El~Jefe~** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 8:59 pm

I would love to experiment with a single side fan solution to a case. just that and nothing else, not even a psu fan on low. it could be a decent way to go if the fan was smooth enough.

Felger Carbon · Post by **Felger Carbon** » Sat Apr 28, 2007 9:25 pm

~El~Jefe~ wrote:I would love to experiment with a single side fan solution to a case. just that and nothing else, not even a psu fan on low. it could be a decent way to go if the fan was smooth enough.

Too bad Newegg sold out of that $25 case-and-bigfan deal. Now you'd have to spend $60 including shipping (in the US of A) to get a Mio, but that includes a PSU. Experiment away! Or did you mean experiment without spending a little money and raising a little sweat? You know, armchair experimenting?

Felger Carbon · Post by **Felger Carbon** » Mon May 07, 2007 6:52 pm

The Globe/Zaward 220mm fan, with the 13 toothpick blades, has appeared in a commercial product, as you can see in this review on page 2. I dunno if this is a sleeve or ball-bearing model.

Newegg carries several Chakra models, including the new Uber in the above review. Older Chakra models use the ubiquitous paddle-blade big fan, for instance in the 3052 $70 model. But you can see the lower toothpick blades on the Globe fan almost disappear because of the higher pitch and thinner blade width in the Newegg photos. On Newegg, search "Enermax Chakra case".

Interestingly, a fan reversal switch is common to both models despite the different fans.

wesmundo · Post by **wesmundo** » Tue May 08, 2007 2:28 am

I just got the Performance-PCs 'Works Power' version shipped to UK. Turned up fine, no problems with shipping or packaging.

The build quality is a bit shoddy really. It has cheap-looking, slightly iffy moulding design - some of the 'spoke' arms (not sure what they're called) had fractures where they join the rim.

There were no screws etc for fitting

but then what kind of modder doesn't have a miscellany of spares anyway i guess.

The bezel has mountings and hole, presumably for a rotary variable resistor speed control, which wasn't included. I don't mind about that as i don't want it anyway, just hook up to 7V etc. I cut these mountings off.

The steel grille was kinda botched but useable. the main curved section was crafted perfectly but the edges that go under the bezel are a mess. The mesh holes are way too small anyway so this will get replaced sooner or later.

When running it has a slight wobble. Dunno if the hub is mounted slightly skewed or if the blades moulding is off.
Generally happy though - shifts enough air to replace 3x120mm fans I reckon and it's quiet enough undervolted.

Felger Carbon · Post by **Felger Carbon** » Tue May 08, 2007 3:46 am

wesmundo wrote:IWhen running it has a slight wobble. Dunno if the hub is mounted slightly skewed or if the blades moulding is off.

The wobble might just be the label being applied slightly off-center, which is just an optical effect, not a physical wobble. The rest of your comments reflect my experience, except I saw no cracks.

wesmundo · Post by **wesmundo** » Tue May 08, 2007 6:40 am

I saw the wobble when looking at the outer edge of the blades, but it's no big deal i think.
It must have sustained the cracks in airmail, but again it's hardly a showstopper.

I think I might do away with the grille and instead build a side panel/baffle similar to Bluefront's (viewtopic.php?t=39003) to draw air from below and deflect sound. It can't restrict airflow any worse than the grille!
If i'm feeling really brave I might lose the PSU fans too.
Do you think I should try rebuilding the PSU casing with mesh, or would that mess up the airflow path and do more harm than good? My PSU is at the top, with bigfan mounted low to wash over hot VGA.

Felger Carbon · Post by **Felger Carbon** » Tue May 08, 2007 8:33 am

wesmundo wrote:If i'm feeling really brave I might lose the PSU fans too.
Do you think I should try rebuilding the PSU casing with mesh, or would that mess up the airflow path and do more harm than good? My PSU is at the top, with bigfan mounted low to wash over hot VGA.

Fanless PSU? It depends!

First, if you're powering a SLI dual - hot hot video board game machine, forget losing the PSU fan. On the other hand, my computers use the mobo integrated graphics and pull 68W from the wall, and work marvelously well (and cool) with no fan. I start with a PSU that has a 120mm fan so I have a big hole there with no further mods other than snip snip toss. InWin sells a 300W model at Newegg for ~$23.

So it really depends on what your power drain is, and whether you're willing to take a small risk experimenting. The risk is a lot less if you know how to solder snipped fans back into the PSU!

If you're overclocking with one of the really hot video cards, forget it!

wesmundo · Post by **wesmundo** » Wed May 09, 2007 2:21 am

cheers for the tips Felger! I have an old Antec Trupower 380 with 2 fans. Taken out the rattly 80mm and kept the quieter 92mm (didn't have to snip as it has proper connectors). I've used alu tape liberally to block holes and shepherd airflow towards the PSU. General temps are great; I guess i better stump up for thermal probe bay or something before attempting fanless PSU.

I have a single XFX 6800gs, modest draw system really. This big fan keeps it cool nicely. Before, I would have problems with the card throttling down clockspeed due to heat, casing FPS drop and stutters, even with Arctic Accelero X1 on fulll blast. This model's oversensitive to heat I think. Before I fitted the 220mm, I had to have a noisy little fan pulling stagnant air from under the vga and out through the spare slots.

I reckon these big fans are well worth getting the dremel out for

Bring on the 360mm

Felger Carbon · Post by **Felger Carbon** » Wed May 09, 2007 5:40 am

wesmundo wrote:Bring on the 360mm

A new pioneer! I can retire to my rocking chair and become the "mid-sized fan" has-been.

Now 5 220mm fan vendors! Add Power Works...

Now 5 220mm fan vendors! Add Power Works...

A physical description of the Power Works "250mm"

13-blade (original) 220mm fan maker revealed!

Which is quietest?

Re: Which is quietest?