Performance – Max & Speed Percentage
Max RPM, CFM, Pressure & Power
The fan’s maximum speed is not that high, barely exceeding 2000 RPM. Airflow is the lowest among all the fans I used for comparison, and the same goes for static pressure. Power consumption is low, at least, losing to the much more affordable Arctic P12 PWM PST, which has higher airflow and slightly lower static pressure. Please keep in mind that the Arctic fan’s price tag is 1/4.7 of the Apex fan’s price.
20-100% Fan Speed Percentage
Since most fan control ICs don’t apply precisely the percentage of RPM speed that you want (e.g., 50% PWM for a 2000 RPM fan should be 1000 RPM), I used to find the fan’s maximum speed and then dial directly the fan speeds that corresponded to 10%, 20%, and so on of its maximum rated speed. I decided to stop doing that. So from now on, in all of my fan evaluations, I will dial the corresponding PWM value in 10% steps to also check how accurate its fan controller is and for my noise results to align with the airflow and static pressure results from the Longwin apparatus where I don’t use RPM but PWM control for all testing.
The fan’s controller has a problem at 10%, making the fan’s speed go up and down. But the truth is that you don’t need to go that low because noise is dead low with 40% and below fan speeds anyway.
Hello and thank you for the detailed review of the new Alphacool Apex Stealth Metal 120mm.
After reading your old articles I bought 3× Thermaltake TT TOUGHFAN 14 Pro and 3× Thermaltake TT TOUGHFAN 12 Pro to replace Be Quiet! SILENT WINGS PRO 4 140mm PWM and 120mm (Airflow in a MSI MPG Quietude 100S).
I find the framework to be of higher quality, more mature. I like the wiring without a sleeve, easier to fold and store.
For the same dB noise there is a vastly superior CFM and Static Pressure, and all this for almost a quarter of the price less (in Europe).
I was impatiently waiting for the Alphacool Apex Stealth in 120mm (and 140mm in 2024?) but your rigorous testing proves that there is a problem in the design of the blades.
I saved time and money thanks to you