A couple of days ago Nanoxia launched its new series of fans - FX EVO and our today's guest is FX EVO 120mm PWM 1500 RPM (FX12-1500PWM).
Nanoxia is a German company founded back in 2006. It aims to provide only the best products to specific target groups of gamers, modders, overclockers and benchmarkers. The company is notable for quality fans but its offer includes other coolign, gaming and modding oriented products. Nanoxia strived for implementation of the best technologies but they develop a lot of them as well, aiming to use only the best materials available. Today, when manufacturers are looking to offer the lowest warranties possible, FX EVO fans' 10 year warranty is really something.
FX EVO series holds seven different fans. Two of newly launched fans use 4-pin connectors, i.e. use PWM tech (automatic speed adjustment), whereas the rest (with 3-pin connectors) use the supplied IFC - "Intelligent Fan Controller"
Back of the box shows a diagram that details the fan's response to voltage increases. In this case we see a linear curve, which means that the FX EVO 120mm PWM has good scalability for a wide operation range.
You'll find specs on the back. We noticed however that the specs claim the cable is a 50cm one, although our measurements revealed it’s only slightly longer than 43cm.
Specification: FX12-1500PWM
Air Flow (CFM): 24.2 - 58.5
Air Flow: 41.1 - 99.3 M^3/H
Bearing: Self-lubricating, longlife composite material
Cable Length (cm): ca.43
Connector: 4 Pin PWM
Fan Speed (RPM): 500 - 1500
Voltage Range: 3.5 - 12V
Rated Current: 0.08 A
Rated Power: 0.96 W
Noise Level (dBA): 9.6 - 18
Static Pressure (mmAq): 0.45 - 1.41
Warranty (years): 10
Weight (g): 107
Dimensions (mm): 120 (l) x 120 (w) x 25 (h)
Durabilty: 150.000 Hours
Each fan from FX EVO series comes with four anti shock bolts, four screws and a 10 year warranty. ICF „Intelligent Fan Controller“ can be found with the 3-pin connectors. As you can see, Nanoxia stuck to the green color of rotors.
The fans of the Nanoxia FX EVO series are manufactured according to the latest standards and with knowledge of the latest developments in science and technology. Frames and rotors of the Nanoxia fans are made by the high-tech polycarbonate Makrolon made by Bayer Material Science. The proven material allows the fabrication of very lightweight, unbreakable and extremely robust components.
For optimum cleaning, Nanoxia fans have a special axis mount that allows a detaching of fan rotor to clean it under running water.
The nanotechnology material allows the fabrication of solid bearing with minimal abrasion. Nanoxia rotors are balanced and tested to a tolerance of less than 0.2mm. The ECO traction allows a very smooth start and effective conversion of electrical energy into kinetic energy. The fans will start reliably with less than 4 volts and can be adapted to individual performances extremely well.
For testing we used Cooler Master 612S mounted on EVGA’s FTW3 motherboard in Corsair Obsidian 800D case (with three 900rpm fans) at 22°C room temperature. We measured temperatures at Core i7 930’s overclocked clock (3.6GHz). In our tables, we used average temperatures of all four cores. We used GC-Extreme thermal paste for all our testing.
Hyper 612S comes with one fan (A12025-13CB-3BN-F1, DC12V, 0.16A). The fan rpm can be decreased from 1300 rpm to 900 rpm with the adapter. The fan uses the 3-pin connector. As far as airflow noise goes, the fan is among the quieter we’ve tested thus far. In fact, when running at 900 rpm, you won’t hear airflow, but the fan engine produces a slight buzzing sound. Static pressure is 1.14 mmH2O (0.55 mmH2O @900rpm).
Mounting the fans on our Hyper 612S went well. All you need to do is take the plastic frames that come with the fans, tighten them with screws or anti-shock grommets to the FX12-1500PWM fan and strap the entire thing to the cooler.
We had a bit of trouble here as it seems that the screws we received with the FX12-1500PWM are really hard to screw in. Nanoxia's screw is on the picture below, on the right.
Nanoxia FX12-1500PWM comes with PWM technology and features a 4-pin connector. The fan rpm ranges from 500 – 1500 rpm (+/- 10%). We measured a maximum of 1470rpm and minimum of 470rpm.
The FX12-1500PWM fan electronically adjusts the engine's power according to the requirements. The PWM control of Nanoxia fans has a very linear control range, in order to make speed steps very gentle and hardly perceptible.
The voltage range is from 3.5V to 12V. For our testing, we connected the FX12-1500PWM to a Scythe three pin fan control connector without losing the option of manual rpm control. FX12-1500PWM ran very well in manual control mode as well as the automatic control on our motherboard, ultimately resulting in identical scores in both tests.
As far as loudness goes, the FX12-1500PWM is a quality fan. It's almost inaudible at about 1000prm, but its maximum of 1500rpm isn't very loud either and although you'll hear it, it isn't much different from other fans in the case.
The fan also runs very smoothly at low speeds without any disturbing bearing noise. The fan starts immediately after turning the computer on, regardless of whether you left it at below 4 volts before you shut down.
Our FX12-1500PWM fan scored better than the reference fan on our Hyper 612S. Note however that the reference fan is not a PWM and spins at 1300rpm. When running at maximum rpm, the FX's fan is slightly louder than that on the Hyper. However, thanks to PWM control, the FX12-1500PWM will remain inaudible most of the time.
Conclusion
Nanoxia launched its FX EVO series of fans and we tested the company's FX EVO 120mm PWM 1500 fan. Of course, the PWM in the name means that the fan supports automatic speed adjustment.
FX12-1500PWM boasts a quality build - frames and rotors are made of polycarbonate, it uses nano bearing technology, but most importantly it provides good performance without being too loud. In fact, we barely heard it until we turned on some CPU intensive tests. Nanoxia's fan has a well implemented linear control range, so that speed steps are very gentle and hardly perceptible. FX12-1500PWM fan would be a very good addition to your CPU cooler, seeing as how it has a 4-pin connector, i.e. PWM control. The fan is easy to maintain, as it is insensitive to enviroment influences such as water, dust or sand. The impeller can be removed and washed. Note that particles larger than a nanometer cannot penetrate into the bearing and damage it.
Nanoxia's web site is currently closed for maintenance, but their products can be found at pc-cooling.de, which at the same time offers support for Nanoxia products. Apart from the FX EVO series, Nanoxia launched a couple of other products recently. Among them you'll find the PWMX module, which allows for control of 3-pin fans via PWM signal. We'll soon review this module and a few more FX EVO series fans so stay tuned.
FX12-1500PWM can be found priced at €12, here, which includes a nice 10 year warranty.
