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15-July-01 - Review by: Alchemy  click to enlarge Fan adapters seemed to be all the rage in the overclocking world not long ago, but lately the craze seems to have died down. The reason I see for this is that originally they where promoting as offering a performance boost above their 60mm counterparts. We were probably one of the first on the scene with our review of aluminium 80 and 92mm fan adaptors, but these models are only available on the Japanese market and pack quite a hefty price premium as well. HighSpeedPC have taken it upon themselves to bring the fan adaptor craze to the masses with the release of a moulded plastic 80mm fan adaptor, which they kindly sent to me for review. The model pictured above is the black version but I think for the moment they are only available in blue and clear. It's pretty obvious what it is - it doesn't try to impress with fancy inserts to assist airflow or such. It's simply a way of attaching an 80mm fan to a heatsink with 60mm fan mounts. As you'll see later in this review that's probably not such a bad idea. They sent me over the adaptor and four small black screws for attaching the adaptor/grills. It came in an A5 sized padded bag, and because it's made out of moulded plastic it's fairly light, so postage is cheap. As far as I'm aware, you can only obtain them from HighSpeedPC directly in the US and not from any of the many cooling stores now operating in Australia. Attaching the unit to my Alpha PAL6035 heat sink proved to be a bit of a challenge, as I couldn't find anywhere to supply me with the appropriate length/thread screws to do so. HighSpeedPC have since informed me that they are able to supply you with the correct screws, but I managed to figure out a fairly crafty way of doing it using some 80mm fan mounting screws and the mounting screws for the original 60mm fan. It did involve removing the shroud from the top of the Alpha, but the top of the heat sink doesn't get anything more than warm, so the adaptor melting is not a concern.  click to enlarge Admittedly, my primary concern in testing a fan adaptor was not what performance benefits it would bring (although any would be a big bonus), but the fact that it will allow me to use a slower 80mm fan and drop noise levels significantly, whilst (hopefully) maintaining present performance levels. The heat sink I used in testing, as mentioned above was an Alpha PAL6035. It was strapped onto a Duron 750 clocked up to 966MHz at 1.85V on an Asus A7V133. The original 60mm fan that it was up against was a YS Tech model FD1260257B-2A, a rather noisy little 4,200rpm unit rated to 26cfm at 34dB. The 80mm on the fan adaptor was a Sunon KD1208PTB3, a 2,500rpm ball bearing fan rated to 33cfm at 28dB. Whilst both fans are 3 wire models I opted to run them from the 12V line on my PSU so they are both running with all the juice they could get.  click to enlarge The tests where performed on a rather chilly Brisbane night with a room temperature of 14 degrees. The temperature inside my Macase K10 case (reviewed separately here) was steady at 30deg, with the sides on and no case fans present. If you're wondering what else was influencing the temperature, you can check out my PC specs in the OCAU PCDB right here. There's no point me drawing up a big fancy graph because both differences were 2 degrees or less, which would easily be within the margins of experimental error. It's clear that the switch from a 60mm to an 80mm fan didn't really make much difference in the performance stakes - at least, not with the combination of fans I used. What it did make a difference in, however, was the noise department. I sleep a few meters away from my case, and it's often left on at night. As anyone who owns a 60mm delta black label "turbine" will attest, the noise a fairly fast spinning 60mm fan makes is not only loud but high pitched as well - the sort of noise that keeps you awake at night. The Y.S. Tech wasn't up to delta levels of annoyance, but it definitely had me keen to do something about it. The 80mm fan, whilst rated at about the same dB level has a much less annoying pitch to it, and whilst the noise is still noticeable in a silent room at night, it's much less obnoxious. In conclusion, fan adapters are probably a product misunderstood by the overclocking community. Many people expect a fan adaptor and an 80mm fan will bring them improved cooling performance. In my experience this hasn't been the case, rather it has given me the ability to use a much quieter fan whilst maintaining present performance levels. For some people - especially those with Delta fans - this may be exactly what they're looking for. Check out over 1800 PC's in the PC Database! Other Recent Articles:
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