Review- SilenX Ixtrema Pro 120

Computer-Ed · May 30th, 2007

The quest for a cool PC is the one constant in the enthusiast market. The desire to keep our high powered components as cool as possible drive us to spend money on may different ideas and tricks.

When it comes to the effort of air cooling however there is only so far we can go and even when we reach the pinacle of air cooling we hit a problem, NOISE. Those super cooling fans are just plain loud.

A company called SilenX is out to change that. They have an entire series of fans all designed to push large volumes of air but do it with reduced noise.

The model we are looking at for this review claims to be able to move 72cfm of air while stay at 14dba of sound.

Now lets put this into perspective, an Antec Nine Hundred case comes with three 120mm fans. These three fans on high push 79cfm of air but produce 30dba each in noise. At their lowest settings the air flow drops to 39cfm and 25dba. This means that if the SilenX fans can live up to their hype they can move almost as much air as the Antec fans on high but still be quieter than the Antec fans on low.

Lets find out, SilenX sent me three of the pro 120 fans, with green LED to match the Zalman 9700 cooler in the system right now. We will replace the Antec stock fans with the Silenx and compare CPU, Video and HD temps to see if the air flow remained as well as see if they are truly quieter.

With the new fans in place the first change noticed is the color of course, which is now a rich green. It lends a nice matrix style to the case. Antec ought to consider this a cool color option for the next generation of the Nine hundred.

The second thing I noticed was all the other sounds in the room I typically missed. The noise level change was AMAZING. This change is on par with the change from high speed on the stock fans to low speed.

But just how quiet was it really. I do not have a proper sound meter in house so I had to find some way to accurate measure the sound level. I found online a program called RoomTools and grabbed the demo. Using a mic ( Plantronics headset mic) and my soundcard I was able to take real time sound readings from the area.

With the computer off and everything else in the room off except the PC using the SilenX Fans, at my ear the room noise level is -30. (the lower the number the better) Within 3" of the front fans the noise level is at -18. With the Antec fans on high the noise level at my ears was -25 and at the front of the case -7.

The temperature readings with the CPU fan set to auto speed, at idle is 35c on the core with the SilenX and 34c on the core with Antec on high. The HD was 31c on both fans and the GPU was 47c on both.

Now not to forget the speed changes available with the Antec fans, on low the stock fans delivered sound at ear of -29 and at front of -15. The big change however comes with the temps on the GPU jumped to 51c and the HD to 33c, while the CPU at idle only rose to 36c.

I did not test under load since I am not looking at overall cooling but air throughput so any level that is the same can be used to judge how close the air throughput was.

I was amazed at the level of noise difference the SIlenX fan delivers with nearly the same air movement.

SilenX has taken it's cues from the Submarine Service where propeller design is a huge industry and the need is to move the most water through the propellers without producing much noise. There is an art to tweaking the pitch and angle as well as the shape of the blades. SilenX has learned this art and applied it to a whole series of case fans from all sizes.

However all this wonderful silent air moving comes at a cost. A SilenX 120mm fan can set you back $22 apiece. This means if we wanted to really quiet down the Nine Hundred case we would spend $66 plus shipping to replace the three stock fans.

If the cost is worth it or not is something that each person will have to judge for themselves. However if you want great air movement and still keep the noise levels down the SilenX fans are DEFINITELY worth a look.

I apologize for the lack of photos, the pictures above have been taken from the SilenX and Newegg website. My digital camera is on the fritz right now and I will try to get some pics posted in a few days.

May 30th, 2007	#1
Computer-Ed .. Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 452	Review- SilenX Ixtrema Pro 120 The quest for a cool PC is the one constant in the enthusiast market. The desire to keep our high powered components as cool as possible drive us to spend money on may different ideas and tricks. When it comes to the effort of air cooling however there is only so far we can go and even when we reach the pinacle of air cooling we hit a problem, NOISE. Those super cooling fans are just plain loud. A company called SilenX is out to change that. They have an entire series of fans all designed to push large volumes of air but do it with reduced noise. The model we are looking at for this review claims to be able to move 72cfm of air while stay at 14dba of sound. Now lets put this into perspective, an Antec Nine Hundred case comes with three 120mm fans. These three fans on high push 79cfm of air but produce 30dba each in noise. At their lowest settings the air flow drops to 39cfm and 25dba. This means that if the SilenX fans can live up to their hype they can move almost as much air as the Antec fans on high but still be quieter than the Antec fans on low. Lets find out, SilenX sent me three of the pro 120 fans, with green LED to match the Zalman 9700 cooler in the system right now. We will replace the Antec stock fans with the Silenx and compare CPU, Video and HD temps to see if the air flow remained as well as see if they are truly quieter. With the new fans in place the first change noticed is the color of course, which is now a rich green. It lends a nice matrix style to the case. Antec ought to consider this a cool color option for the next generation of the Nine hundred. The second thing I noticed was all the other sounds in the room I typically missed. The noise level change was AMAZING. This change is on par with the change from high speed on the stock fans to low speed. But just how quiet was it really. I do not have a proper sound meter in house so I had to find some way to accurate measure the sound level. I found online a program called RoomTools and grabbed the demo. Using a mic ( Plantronics headset mic) and my soundcard I was able to take real time sound readings from the area. With the computer off and everything else in the room off except the PC using the SilenX Fans, at my ear the room noise level is -30. (the lower the number the better) Within 3" of the front fans the noise level is at -18. With the Antec fans on high the noise level at my ears was -25 and at the front of the case -7. The temperature readings with the CPU fan set to auto speed, at idle is 35c on the core with the SilenX and 34c on the core with Antec on high. The HD was 31c on both fans and the GPU was 47c on both. Now not to forget the speed changes available with the Antec fans, on low the stock fans delivered sound at ear of -29 and at front of -15. The big change however comes with the temps on the GPU jumped to 51c and the HD to 33c, while the CPU at idle only rose to 36c. I did not test under load since I am not looking at overall cooling but air throughput so any level that is the same can be used to judge how close the air throughput was. I was amazed at the level of noise difference the SIlenX fan delivers with nearly the same air movement. SilenX has taken it's cues from the Submarine Service where propeller design is a huge industry and the need is to move the most water through the propellers without producing much noise. There is an art to tweaking the pitch and angle as well as the shape of the blades. SilenX has learned this art and applied it to a whole series of case fans from all sizes. However all this wonderful silent air moving comes at a cost. A SilenX 120mm fan can set you back $22 apiece. This means if we wanted to really quiet down the Nine Hundred case we would spend $66 plus shipping to replace the three stock fans. If the cost is worth it or not is something that each person will have to judge for themselves. However if you want great air movement and still keep the noise levels down the SilenX fans are DEFINITELY worth a look. I apologize for the lack of photos, the pictures above have been taken from the SilenX and Newegg website. My digital camera is on the fritz right now and I will try to get some pics posted in a few days.