Aerocool Case Fans

Windshield wiper blades. How many of us actually replace them at their correct intervals? (6 months or 6,000 miles for those of you contemplating this) I know I sure don’t, as I really could have used a better set just the other night when driving home in the snow. Case fans. No, they don’t really have a correct replacement interval, but you might want to replace yours pretty soon, as I have found that new fans help out more than I would have expected.

In this review, we will look at some of the newest offerings from newcomer Aerocool, in the way of case fans. Three of the fans have an awesome aluminum housing that not only looks very nice, but provides the fan with some added strength. The other fan reviewed is an adjustable one that performs quite nicely. Enough with the baiting, lets take a look at these fans.

Basic Case Fans…or Are They???

The first two fans we will take a look at are the 8025 12V case fans.

Specifications:

• Dimensions: 80 x 80 x 25 mm
• Bearing: Sleeve
• Speed: 2000 RPM
• Air Flow: 21.5CFM
• Noise: 20.3 dBA
• Voltage: 12 VDC
• Housing: Aluminum AA6063
• Fan Blade: UL Polyester

As I said in the intro, these fans have an awesome aluminum housing that really adds to the look of the fans and the case when they are installed. The aluminum has a nice brushed texture to it, and there are no jagged edges to rough yourself up on when installing. There are also small grooves on each side of the fan that remind me of some older car stereo amplifiers that had the heat sinks on the outside.

Installation of the fans was more of a project than I thought fans could be, which really surprised me. With around 11 inches of power wire, some users may find that this is not enough, as not all motherboards have their fan headers located in ideal places for these fans. A nice addition to the package would have been a 3-to-4 pin adapter, so that you can add a little length to the power connection if need be. The other down-side to these fans was the oh-so-cool aluminum housing mounting holes. The supplied screws are a little weak to be driven into the housing, as I stripped two of them trying to install one of the fans. I ended up “piloting” the holes outside of the case so that I could put more force on them to aid in the final installation.

The second fan from Aerocool comes from their Silence Solution line of fans. This fan is essentially the same fan as the 8025, but includes four bright blue LEDs mounted in the frame of the fan. It also upgrades to ball-bearings which allowed the fan blade to spin easier, and reduced fan noise a bit. I was pleased to see that this fan did come with a 3-to-4 pin adapter, which was missing from the 8025 fan packages.

After removing my old (about a year or so) Antec fans and spinning their blades and then spinning the new Aerocool blades, I could definitely tell a difference in the two. The Antec fans felt a little stiff and obviously had some dust buildup inside of them. I believe this is the cause of the few degree temperature difference between the two brands of fans. In no way is this a fault of the Antec fans, as I am now convinced that these parts of the PC just need to be replaced every now and then, just like the wiper blades on your car.

Spinning at 2000 RPM, these fans are very good at keeping quiet, only hitting 20.3 dBA according to Aerocool, which is something that I know many PC owners are striving for nowadays. Spinning at this low speed only allows the fans to push about 21.5 CFM, which for some people may be enough of a trade off for their volume. The fans also utilize sleeve bearings for the fan itself. The fans keep my case temperature at a nice 25C, whereas my old Antec fans were leaving me a little warmer at around 26-27C.

Pros:

• Good looking, sturdy aluminum frame
• LED version really adds a nice glow to your case
• Quiet operation

Cons:

• Moderately short power wire
• No 3-to-4 pin adapter for non-LED fan (LED version does include one)
• Not-so-easy installation

If you think your case is in need of some fresh fans, take a look at the 8025’s or LED Silence Solution fans from Aerocool, because before you know it, you will need those new fans, just like I could have used some new wiper blades.

I'm awarding the 8025s and LED Silence Solution fans a 9 out of 10!