Fractal Design Silent Series R2 were released in April this year for the first time and they were introduced as the series replacing the old FD series from which I’ve tested the 140mm model. The Silent Series R2 offers full range of models with size from 40mm to 140mm. For this test and review I will have the honor of testing and reviewing the 140mm model.
So let’s check out the fan itself.
The first thing I noticed after I received the fans was that they are with totally new package.
The new Silent Series R2 models arrives in a very stylish painted in black carton box with a see through cut, through which you can see the part of the propeller, with some basic information related to the bearing and the size of the model on the front part and full technical details on the back part.
After I took the fan out of the black carton pagake I saw that it is placed in a “bed” of transpartent plastic and the additional accessories are next to the fan in a special compartment.
The standard package content is made of:
- Four metal screws
- Four rubber dumpers
- Low-speed adapter
So let’s check out the fan itself.
Fractal Design Silent Series R2 140mm is made of a pretty standard square frame painted in black to which is attached the motor with hydraulic bearing which is supposed to perform with high airflow at very low noise level. Is this right ? I will check it a bit later.
Apart from the standard square frame, the fan offers a propeller 11 blades with not very aggressive angle. As usual the propeller is painted entirelly in white.
Seems that this colour scheme is the only one that Fractal-Design use both in the cases and in the fans.
The power and regulation is done via 500 mm long 3-pin fully sleeved for effortless cable routing and boosting the overall visual appearance of the case.
According to Fractal Design official web page this model is working at two different modes:
- Without the low-speed adapter – 1000 +/- 10% revolutions per minute with maximum airflow level of 66.0 CFM, static pressure of 0.84 at only 18.5 dBa.
- With the low-speed adapter – 800 +/-200 revolutions per minute with maximum airflow level of 52.8CFM, static pressure of 0.54 at only 14.9 dBa.
The test results are shown in the following charts:
Airflow through the fan at 5V, 7V, 9V, 12V
Propeller rpm during the tests at 5V, 7V, 9V, 12V.
The anemometer showed the following air speed:
After mounting the fan onto the stand and leaving it to run for about 30 minutes at maximum speed, it was time for the tests to begin.
As with my other tests, again I started with a gradual increase of the voltage through the Lamptron FCT starting at 0V and the Fractal Design Silent Series R2 140mm made one full revolution at exactly 3.5V. To conduct the first test I had to increase the voltage to 5V.
Test at 5V:
The first test was conducted at 5V and in this test the model reached 495 revolutions per minute and maximum airflow level of 37.44 cubic metres per hour. In this test, Fractal Design Silent Series R2 140mm was absolutely silent.
Test at 7V:
The second test was conducted at 7v and in this test the maximum airflow level reached was 57.12 cubic metres per hour at 705 revolutions per minute. Again the fan was completely silent.
Test at 9V:
The third test was conducted at 9V and the fan reached 900 revolutions per minute with airflow level of 74.4 cubic metres per hour. In this test there was a tiny noise coming from the air passing through the propeller. It was not possible to hear it from a distance bigger than 100 mm.
Test at 12V:
The last test was conducted at 12V and at this voltage the fan reached its maximum performance of 89.28 cubic metres per hour at only 1050 revolutions per minute. The noise coming from the air passing through the proppeler slightly increased but still was barely audible.
Conclusions:
- Performance: First thing to say for the new Fractal Design Silent Series R2 140mm is that it operates in a much more stable way with much bigger airflow level than Fractal Design FD-140. Apart from that the fan starts to rotate at lower voltage which makes it usefull in any scenarios such as mounting on both – cases and on CPU cooler cooling a processor working at default or a bit overclocked frequency.
- Noise level: Fractal Design Silent Series R2 140mm is a true quiet product working at 450-1000 revolutions per minute, although at 12V there was a tiny noise coming out from the air passing through the propeller.
- Apperance: What can I say… I really love the black and white colour scheme with black meshed sleeving and I believe it is the most neutral one ever made. Not only for this fan but I believe that all products from Fractal-Design are very beautiful and stylish.
As a disadvantage I can meantion the lack of PWM power and regulation.
After the test and review is done, all I can say is Good Job Fractal Design!
I think Fractal Design Silent Series R2 140mm deserves the following reward:
Fractal Design Silent Series R2 140mm has been added to the 140mm catalogue.
Official price (MSRP): unknown
Warranty: unknown
I thank Fractal Design for the test sample.
