I don't know about you, but personally, I've always had a hard time deciding on which fans to get. That decision can be influenced by several cosmetic factors (LED lit, UV reactive, Color, Etc...), but even when you are limiting your choices by those factors, there are numerous fan choices.

Do you pick by price alone thinking "a fan is a fan is a fan", do you try to do the Katrina method of maxing out your CFM and decibels be damned, or do you do the stealthy move of minimizing noise, who cares about temps?

Hopefully after reading this review, you will be able to make a more informed decision. Coolink sent a smorgasbord of fans and a drive cooler for me to review, so let's compare fans as the first course.

The Coolink Specs

There are two main types of the Silent Whisper Fans sent, Basic and Retail. Both are double ball bearing type fans, the difference between them is that the Basic version contains only a fan and mounting screws, whereas the Retail adds a pin adapter cable and a speed controller (w/ mounting bracket and knob.)

As seen in the following chart, there are several different speeds of fans which increase both airflow and noise. The data for the comparison table below was taken off of the packaging for the Coolink fans, and from the websites of the other manufacturers. Note: I will give all the fan makers the benefit of the doubt where the stats come in, as I lack the setup or motivation to validate these claims.

So your purchase decision is easy to make if you go with either the Stealth, Katrina, or Cheap criteria, but what if you want the best of both?

As you can see above, I took the data provided and created my own tool: noise/airflow. The bottom line is you want the least noise per cubic foot of air per minute, so the smaller the number = the less noise per volume of air pushed. In both the 80mm and 92mm categories, the Coolink SWiF fans were the most acoustically efficient fans. When we reach the 120mm size, they are about as good as the competition.

Now before you go off and do the math yourself and by the most acoustically efficient fan, pay attention to the airflow and noise levels. As seen in chart above, the Sunon PMD1212PTB1-A 120mm fan is the most efficient fan listed, however, for the 150 CFM you will have to constantly listen to 54 decibels of ambient noise just from this fan alone.

The Coolink Fans

On to the second course, the product itself. All of the fans provided (including the fan in the Silent Savior) are made of clear plastic with the propeller being molded out of a navy blue resin. The blue is not UV reactive, but is attractive in it's own right. All wires are sleeved with a black casing that, according to the faint printing on it, should be able to withstand 125 degrees Celsius.. you REALLY need to buy more fans if the inside of your computer is that hot.