Coolink SWiF2 Fan Review

Coolink have provided 2x 92mm and 2x 120mm fans from their new SWiF2 range for review. Let’s see how well these fans perform.

Product on Review: SWiF2 92mm SWiF2 120mm
Manufacturer and Sponsor: Coolink
92mm MSRP: €9.90
120mm MSRP: €11.90

As i mentioned in my previous review Coolink are a very well regarded high end cooling company. They produce cooling hardware ranging from basic fans to full heatsinks and thermal compounds to laptop coolers.

Up for review today we have a selection of Coolink’s new SWiF2 range of fans. These look to improve upon the original SWiF which was one of their most acclaimed products.

Coolink is a brand of the Kolink International Corporation and stands for an effective conjunction of no-frills performance, excellent quality and attractive pricing. Coolink – the direct link to affordable high-end cooling!

Kolink International Corporation is a cooling specialist established in 1996 and well known among industry insiders. Throughout the years, Kolink designed and manufactured many top-performing heat-sinks under various brand names that succeeded in international markets. An experienced R&D team and ultra-modern production plants in Taiwan ensure continuous progress, efficient manufacturing conditions and strict quality standards.

Kolink’s retail brand Coolink stands for an effective conjunction of no-frills performance, excellent quality and attractive pricing. While Coolink held a strong presence in the Asian market ever since the late 90ies, it was not until 2005 that the brand was introduced to the European market on a large scale. After the launch of Coolink-Europe.com in late 2005, Coolink quickly became a well recognized brand for high-quality cooling components in Europe too.

Specifications

The specifications sheet that is found on the Coolink website shows the 921, 92P, 1201 and 120P. See below for the full details.

92mm packaging

As you can no doubt see the SWiF2 range is a colourful bunch. Starting with the 92mm units you can see that the box art is somewhat in your face. They certainly wouldn’t get lost on a shelf!!! The front is windowed to allow the fan to be seen while the rear contains useful fan specification information.

The new livery is colourful!

The back contains useful info.

On opening the SWiF2 921 you are greeted by the fan, 4x solid metal screws, 4x anti-vibration bolts, a 3D Coolink branded case sticker and a fully braided cable.

921 front with box contents.

The SWiF2 921 is a standard 1500RPM unit with a 3-pin fan connector. It uses Coolink’s new Hydro Dynamic bearing which should last longer and perform quieter too. This increased longevity is reflected by the addition of a further 24 months on the warranty cover for the fan. 5 years shows that they have great faith in the bearing.

921 rear.

Next up is the SWiF2 92P which comes bundled with a PWM fansplit cable, 4x solid metal screws, 4x anti vibration bolts and a fully braided cable.

92P front with box contents.

The 92P is a PWM (Pulse Width Modulated) fan that has an RPM range of 625-1900. It’s 4-pin connector is particularly well suited to use as a CPU fan.

92P rear.

120mm packaging

The 120mm fans come with the same brightly coloured box art. Once again the front is windowed to allow the multi finned arrangement of the fans to be viewed while the rear, as before, displays product information.

Vibrantly colourful box fronts.

Box back contains spec information.

The SWiF2 1201 is neatly packed alongside 4x solid metal screws, 4x anti-vibration bolts and a fully braided cable.

1201 front with box contents.

The SWiF2 120 is a standard 1200rpm unit with a 3-pin fan connector.

1201 rear.

Finally we have the SWiF2 120P which, like its smaller brother, is supplied with a PWM fansplit cable, 4x solid metal screws, 4x anti-vibration bolts and a fully braided cable.

120P front with box contents.

It has an RPM range of 800-1700 and has a 4-pin connector just like the 92P.

120P rear.

The 92mm fans both use a fairly standard 7 blade design like much of the competition. The 120mm fans are quite different and feature a tightly bunched 11 blade assembly. It’s going to be interesting to see how they perform in particular.

11 blades better than 7?

Testing

I will compare the Coolink SWiF2 921, 92P, 1201 and 120P to a selection of fans from other competing manufacturers that i’ve tested in the past.

These comprise of:

Akasa Amber AK-183-L2B
Akasa (grey smoked) DFS122515L
Thermaltake TT-1225
Vantec Stealth SF12025L
GELID Silent 12
GELID Wing 12

To test i will use the sound pressure level meter below to test the db rating of each SWiF2 fan at both 12v and 7v.

The sound meter used for testing.

Due to the sound level meter only registering a db rating of 50db+ i will have to adjust the sampling distance to allow the fan to register on the meter (after a few test runs it was decided to test the fan at each rated voltage at a distance of 2cm).

The ‘damping of sound level with distance’ calculator will then be used to calculate the db rating at a greater listening distance. This will give a clearer understanding of the actual volume of each SWiF2 fan.

The test will use a PC comprised of the following hardware:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600
Motherboard: Gigabyte G33 motherboard
Memory: 4GB GeIL ULL PC6400 DDR2
PSU: Hiper Type-R 580W PSU

Results

Running @ 12v and recorded @ 2cm
Coolink SWiF2 921 – 60
Coolink SWiF2 92P – 67
Coolink SWiF2 1201 – 67
Coolink SWiF2 120P – 74

After conversion the results @ 2m are as follows
Coolink SWiF2 921 – 20
Coolink SWiF2 92P – 27
Coolink SWiF2 1201 – 27
Coolink SWiF2 120P – 34

12v performance.

Running @ 7v and recorded @ 2cm
Coolink SWiF2 921 – 50
Coolink SWiF2 92P – 56
Coolink SWiF2 1201 – 54
Coolink SWiF2 120P – 61

After conversion the results @ 2m are as follows
Coolink SWiF2 921 – 10
Coolink SWiF2 92P – 16
Coolink SWiF2 1201 – 14
Coolink SWiF2 120P – 21

7v performance.

Summary of fan performance
Up first are the 92mm units.

The Coolink SWiF2 921 performed very nicely indeed. It produced no whine and was very quiet at both 12v and 7v. Back pressure wasn’t the best but i feel that was more to do with the fans size than it underperforming. As you can see @ 7v the fan was virtually inaudible even when close.

The SWiF2 92P was a good deal louder due to the higher RPM rating. It shifted much more air than the 921 but this was done at the obvious expense of quiet. 12v presented an issue… the fan did whine a fair amount running flat out. Again i believe the fan size had something to do with this as the smaller fan means the pitch of the whine is higher and consequently more intrusive.

Moving up to the 120mm fans brings us better airflow at lower volumes.

The SWiF2 1201 is up first and provides excellent performance. At 12v it seemed a good deal quieter than 27db due to the noise being a much lower pitch than the 92mm units. It produced great back pressure too and continued to do the same at 7v. What can also be said of its 7v performance is that it barely makes a peep. 14db of a low pitched sound is almost undetectable even close up. I am very impressed with this particular fan.

The SWiF2 120P completes the group – it is a very powerful fan and the db results kind of reflect this. I would not say it was particularly quiet especially when compared to the SWiF2 1201 above but it was the most gutsy in the group. It’s back pressure was pretty awesome and for the airflow on offer i don’t think it was uncomfortably loud. Fan whine was apparent but not massively intrusive.

Lastly i must also mention that all the SWiF2’s on test span up at 7v without any issues at all.

Conclusion

The Coolink SWiF2 series of fans offers serious performance across the board. They’re more than a worthy replacement for the original very highly regarded SWiF model.

In my opinion Coolink have sorted all of the issues i saw in the original SWiF series fan. Lower (more competitive) pricing, better performance and the addition of anti-vibration mounts really bring Coolink back into the race.

The 11 blade 120mm SWiF2.

Functionally the fans are ultimately faultless. If i had to give a negative my only criticism would be the colour. I actually like it but i can imagine a good few people who would choose something else simply because of the toxic/radioactive colour scheme.

Pros
+ Very quiet
+ Nicely presented
+ Well priced
+ Good back pressure
+ Starts up @ 7v

Cons
– Bright colour scheme may not be everyones cup of tea
– Slight fan whine with the 92P and 120P @ 12v

In conclusion i would happily recommend the entire SWiF2 series up for review here. Regardless of case size there is a fan for everyone ranging from the silent HTPC user all the way up to the high performance overclocker. These really are very impressive fans with particular special mention going to the SWiF2 1201. A Gold Award from Vortez!