I learned something new recently… I never knew that Sony had anything to do with making fans or parts of them, but it shouldn’t surprise me too much though as Sony seems to have a hand in pretty much everything.
To for review I have a 92mm fan that features a fluid dynamic bearing by Sony that is supposed to last longer, be quieter and improve performance
So for our 400th review on DragonSteelMods, I’ve got a fan! Yep, a fan, a 92mm fan from our friends at Scythe. It’s their new Kama Flex 92mm Silent Case fan, and I’ve found that it is very quiet and actually performs well.
Scythe "KAMA FLEX" 92 mm Silent Case Fan Review
Author: Kristofer Brozio
Sponsor: Scythe
Tech Specs,Features or the Basic Info:
Scythe "KAMA FLEX" 92 mm Silent Case Fan
We introduce the affordable version of fluid dynamic bearing case fan. The technology of fluid bearing for this model is to provide a dramatic reduction in fan noise and prolong the life of your fan. Fan RPM as well as the PCB of the fan has been tuned differently by Scythe for its own model purposes.
Tuned by Scythe to Make it Affordable! Equipped with Fluid Dynamic Bearing also known as C.O.S.C (Closed Oil Shaft Carrier), Long Life, Silent, and High Performance!
Features:
Equipped with FDB (Fluid Dynamic Bearing)
This fan is equipped with FDB (Fluid Dynamic Bearing) also known as C.O.S.C (Closed Oil Shaft Carrier) to provide long-life and stable bearing operation.
Market Leading Low-Noise Level
FDB technology drastically eliminates the friction between the bearing and the shaft which makes this fan nearly inaudible to human ears. Additional suction magnet optimizes the magnetic force balance within the rotor to achieve the absolute silence.
Outstanding Long Life of 120,000 Hours
Patent Pending structure allows the fan to last up to 120,000 hours.
Tuned by Scythe
Fan RPM as well as PCB are originally tuned by Scythe engineer to better meet the demand for the users in PC DIY (Do It Yourself) market.
Specs:
Dimensions (mm): 92x92x25
Model# :SA0925FDB12SL
Fan Speed: 1,600 rpm
Fan Noise: 19.7dBA
Air Flow: 29.7CFM
Rated Voltage: DC12V
Connector: 3-pin (4-pin adaptor included)
Cable Length: 30cm
Bearing Type: FDB (Fluid Dynamic Bearing) also known as C.O.S.C (Closed Oil Shaft Carrier)
* On some packages, MTBF is shown as 80,000 hours & 60,000 hours (for 120mm/1900rpm Only) but the actual MTBF is 120,000 hours.
A Better Look at Things
:
There’s not much amazing or exciting about the packaging for the Scythe Kama Flex 92mm fan, it is a fan after all, how exciting can it get right? The Kama Flex comes in a plastic box with cardboard insert printed with all the specs and features. We can see the entire fan through the front of box so we know exactly what we are getting.
The Kama Flex has a 3-pin power cable, included with it are screws for installation and a 3-pin Molex adapter.
So here it is:
Not very impressive is it? It’s a black fan that resembles pretty much every other 92mm fan out there today, but it’s not what’s on the outside that counts, it’s what’s on the inside that matters…
Installation, Testing and Comparison
Since I recently reviewed the new Noctua 92mm case fan it was easy for me to throw a graph together and add the temps for the Scythe Kama Flex as well, this way we’ve got a small comparison group to look at.
I did the tests the same exact way I did the Noctua tests, using the Noctua NH-U9F CPU cooler, which natively uses a 92mm fan. Using Orthos Stress Prime for one hour to get load temperatures, this test was done using my Q6660 CPU, so the highest temperatures were average out and used for the results.
Ambient temperature during all testing was 19C (+/- .3C).
Since the CPU cooler itself was all ready to go from my previous tests it was easy to just swap out the fan for the Scythe Kama Flex.
There’s not much to the installation on the CPU cooler or even if I wanted to use it as a case fan, Scythe included standard fan screws.
And for the testing, in the following chart you’ll see results for three 92mm fans under load and at idle. We have two Noctua fans, the NF-B9 and NF-9 and the Scythe shown below:
The Scythe Kama Flex is a very quiet fan even when running at full speed connected to the Molex connection so it does live up to it’s name of a ‘silent case fan’.
As for performance we see an average three degree drop while under load, not bad, not amazing, but not bad for a fan that you can barely hear.
Summary:
So from my testing the Scythe Kama Flex performs very well when put up against other ‘high performance’ fans on the market today.
It is as advertised also, it’s silent, I found that it added no additional noise to my case even when running on high speed.
DragonSteelMods gives the Scythe "KAMA FLEX" 92 mm Silent Case Fan 5 out of 5 score and our Recommended Award as well.
Pros:
-Virtually silent
-Ease of install
-Well made
Cons:
-None really
I would like to thank Scythe for the chance to review the "KAMA FLEX" 92 mm Silent Case Fan and for their continued support of DSM.
Discuss, Questions HERE
review# 400
yep.. that’s 400 reviews for us!
..woo-hoo…