Today for review I have a case fan that moves a whole heck of a lot of air, this thing will keep even the hottest case cool that is if you don’t care to much about the noise level of your case. For review today I have the Windstorm 80mm Fan from our friends at Vizo. The Windstorm pushes an amazing 81.5CFM, but puts out over 50 decibels of noise, if you can stand the noise this fan will keep your case, CPU or any component in your system nice and cool with lots of fresh air. The Windstorm could be a great asset for overclockers and enthusiasts who wish to really push their system. I even decided to get creative and throw a couple videos in, this fan can easily push itself across my table. Read on to check it out..
Vizo Windstorm 80mm Fan
Reviewed by: Kristofer Brozio AkA Dracos
Sponsor: Vizo
Tech Specs,Features or the Basic Info:
Model: WS8038
DESCRIPTION:
When it absolutely has to be cool, nothing beats the VIZO Windstorm Case Fan. With airflow levels as high as 81CFM, hot air doesn’t stand a chance. Perfect for gamers and overclockers, the VIZO Windstorm Case Fan is a no-compromise solution to overheated computer woes.
FEATURES:
Up to 100% more air flow than standard case fan.
Double ball-bearing fans for extended life.
Custom made cable for fan R.P.M. detection.
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SPECIFICATIONS:
WS8038
Weight: 180 g
Rated Power: 10.8 W
Rated Current: 0.9 Amp
Fan Speed: 5800 RPM10%
Air Flow: 81.5 CFM
Noise: 52.1 dB(A)
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A Better Look at Things
:
As with all Vizo packaging it is very well done and looks pretty cool. On the front you can see a bit of the fan through the small window, it also lists a couple of the features.
The back of course lists the full specs and features, along with a brief installation guide.
Opening the box we find only the Windstorm and a pack of screws for the installation. The Molex power connector is the pass through type so you won’t loose a connection. The Windstorm also features a separate connector to monitor the speed (RPMs) of the fan via a motherboard header.
The Windstorm comes with a fan grill pre-installed.
The bottom of the Windstorm looks like fan blades as well, but they are special air guides.
The Vizo Windstorm is a heavy, solid fan, it is very well made and seeing that it comes with a 2 year warranty it is made to last quite a while.
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Installation, Testing and Comparison
I installed the Vizo Windstorm on the side of the my Coolermaster Centurion case, that is the only available spot for an 80mm fan I have. The fan location is directly above, or in front of, my CPU cooler.
It mounts as any fan would, I did switch the included fan grill to the rear to still use the black one I have to match the case.
Installation was easy, no problems at all. Connecting it up I did find that the cable isn’t that long and depending on the size of the case it is being installed in the length might not be long enough.
You may have noticed that the Windstorm is a bit larger than the standard 80mm fans out there. In fact it is almost twice the width, or height of other fans.
Keeping that in mind, I did try to install this on my other case, which is also a Coolermaster Centurion, but the CPU cooler I had in there is the Coolermaster Hyper TX and it was too tall to install the Windstorm, I couldn’t close the case. So that is something else that needs to be kept in mind while installing, you are limited a bit by the size of the fan.
As for testing, well I turned the system on and said OH NO! as in this is just TOO loud for me. I like my system to be as quiet as possible, and the Windstorm is anything but quiet. It does push a whole lot of air, and yes it did actually drop my CPU temperature three degrees, but no amount of noise is worth that to me. The Windstorm drowned out everything in my case, even the normally loud 7900GT OC stock cooler.
The Windstorm is a fan that you will not be using for your HTPC system, or any system that you want to be quiet. I thought the case side was going to fly off with the force this fan was pushing.
The Next section has the videos so continue onward…
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The Videos:
Ok, here are a few videos of this thing in action, six videos in all, three per page. This fan is a powerful little sucker, let’s see your 80mm fan do that without any modifications!
Oh, and give the videos a minute or so, apparently YouTube is a bit slow tonight…. I uploaded them over an hour ago..
The first video is starting it up, it easily pushes itself away from the box
Here’s a clip of me putting it back up against the box and it jumping away..
And a video of it ‘running’ away from the box…
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The Videos Continued:
Here’s another one of it moving across the table..
Another video of it moving away from the box…
Here’s a cool video of me dropping the Windstorm and it standing itself back up…
Find More Cooling Fans at Shopzilla!Summary:
The only complaint I could have is the noise, but then again to push that much air you are going to have lots of noise. The Windstorm is not marketed as a silent fan, the name Windstorm brings images of strong, gusty blowing winds, nothing quiet there. The Vizo Windstorm is a fan that the overclocker in all of us can appreciate, this thing can move quite a bit of air and keep any hot component cool.
DragonSteelMods gives the Vizo Windstorm a 5 out of 5 score.
Pros:
-Moves A LOT of air
-Will keep most anything cool
-Drops temps
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Cons:
-Very loud
I would like to thank Vizo for the chance to review the Windstorm and for their continued support of DSM.
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