1. Introduction
Registered as a trademark of Listan GmbH & Co. KG in 2002, BeQuiet! is a brand who manufactures Power Supply units, CPU coolers, PC cases, and case fans. The main target groups for products in the BeQuiet! range are PC enthusiasts and gamers as well as smaller and larger PC integrators. The company’s headquarters is in Glinde, close to Hamburg. At the present time the company also has branches in Poland, Taiwan and China. The major market of the Be Quiet! brand is Europe.
Official product link:
http://www.bequiet.com/en/casefans/718
http://www.bequiet.com/en/casefans/722
2. Packaging and accessories
The fans are packaged in a black cardboard box with silver & orange accents.
On the front side the product is presented using a general image of it, on the upper side there are placed the name & logo of the manufacturer and next to them there is the max speed of the fan.
On the lower side there is printed the name of the fan and the slogan of the Silent Wings line, lower there are listed some of the feature of the product.
The front side of the box opens up, the fan and its accessories are individually packaged. Inside the box there are presented a few features of the fan & Silent Wings 3 line.
On the sides of the packaging there are printed both the manufacturer’s logo and the name of the product. Here there are presented some of the fan’s features in different languages.
The back side of the packaging presents the product’s specifications. On the upper side there is a brief description of Be Quiet! Company.
Accessories
The product comes with the following accessories:
– 1x Manual
– 5x Black screws
– 5x Push pins
– 5x Silica gel washers
– 1x 12V to 5V adapter
– 1x 12V to 7V adapter
– 4x Rubber mountings
– 4x Hard plastic mountings
3. Specifications
Be Quiet! Silent Wings 3 / PWM
Model: SILENT WINGS 3
Size: 120 x 120 x 25 mm
Bearing: Fluid Dynamic Bearing
Number of blades: 7
Weight: 0.137 kg
Rated Voltage: 12 V
Input Power: 1.44 W
Operating voltage DC: 4 ~ 13.2 (V)
Rated Speed (12V): 1,450 RPM
Static Pressure (12V): 1.79 mm H2O
Air Flow: 50.5 cfm
Noise level @ 12V: 16.4 (dB(A))
Lifetime MTBF: 300.000
Connector: 3-pin
Connector (PWM): 4-pin
Cable length (mm): 500
Features
– Virtually inaudible operation at max. 16.4dB(A)
– 6-pole fan motor with three phases giving very low power consumption and less vibration
– Advanced fluid-dynamic bearing (FDB) enables a super long fan life of up to 300,000 hours
– Seven fan blades with optimized surface structures ensure excellent airflow
– The rubberized fan frame is equipped with funnel-shaped air inlets producing extremely high air pressure
– Removable anti-vibration mountings minimize the transmission of vibrations to the PC case and its components
– Advanced high quality IC motor controller reduces electrical noise
4. Visual inspection
The general look of the fans is identical with the rest of the Be Quiet! products, imposing & elegant. Both the Silent Wings 3 model and the PWM variant use 7 blades made out of plastic, their surface is shaped & optimized for a better airflow. Also the main feature of this fans is the modular mounting system.
On the front side of the fans in the middle we find the Be Quiet! name & logo, this is the only graphic element present on the fan’s blades.
The blades of the fan are sculpted to increase airflow and lower the noise generated.
The frame of the fan has a rubberized texture and the inner shape is designed to increase the static air pressure.
The back side of the fans feature 4 plastic curved beams to focus the airflow. In the middle there is a label with the name, logo of Be Quiet! and the model number of the fan.
The modular mounting system of the fans includes two sets of 4 corners. These slide on the frame of the fan and are fixed in place by a clamp. These can be detached by using a sharp object to press the clamp and release the corners.
The hollow corners are used for mounting the fan to the case, these use a plastic pin and washer.
The corners made out of hard plastic allow the mounting of the fan on a radiator using a classic metallic screw, these feature rubber washers on the sides to dampen the vibration.
For power the fan SilentWings PWM uses a 4-Pin Molex connector, while the non-PWM fan uses a 3-Pin Molex connector.
PWM
DC
The cable of the fan is covered entirely by black sleeving.
5. Testing
The following system was used to test the fans:
– Processor: Intel i5 4690K @ 3.5GHz
– Motherboard: MSI Z97 Gaming 9 ACK
– RAM: 8GB Crucial Ballistix Tactical
– GPU: MSI GeForce GTX 970 Armor 2X 4G
– SSD: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB
– HDD: Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB / WD Blue 1TB
– CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken x61
– Thermal compound: Arctic MX-4
– Display: AOC i2769VM
– Case: Phanteks Enthoo Luxe
The 120mm fans has been tested using a 240mm CPU liquid cooler, the SilverStone TD02 at max. RPM.
The 140mm fans has been tested using a 280mm CPU liquid cooler, the NZXT Kraken X61 at max. RPM.
CPU Temp. – 120mm fans
The noise level was measured at three different distances from the fans (10cm, 20cm, 30cm.) the noise was measured with a margin of error of ± 5 db.
6. Final thoughts
The Be Quiet! Silent Wings 3 offer a very good performance, these being one of the most silent fans tested. Similar with the previous line of fans, the Silent Wings 3 have an elegant design, the only graphic element is the Be Quiet! logo placed on the middle of the fan.
The modular mounting system is efficient, when the fan is mounted on both a radiator or on a computer case.
The exceptional build quality and the options offered by the modular mounting system, justify the price of the fan. And the rich accessories package bundled with the fans.
