Phobya Nano-G14 PWM Black Silent Edition Fan
by Dark Mantis
This fan comes in the by now standardised and easilly recognised Phobya box bearing the company's logo and colours. It has a window in so that the fan itself can be viewed without having to open the packaging. On the reverse is printed the specifications and technical details in three different languages, English, German and French.
Removing the fan from the box and straight away I can see it is well designed and made. The cables are long at roughly 50 cm and braided with a black 1/8" braid finished on the ends with matching heatshrink. People that know me will understand that this is a good start for any review item! It is the attention to detail that can make or break a product.
The fan blades and casing are all made from a nice smoked polycarbonate material and makes a change from the usual black surround with red blades that Phobya usually goes for. The power is connected by a four pin PWM plug that would connect to either a motherboard fan header or an output on a dedicated fan controller. This would enable speed control with feedback. It has a total current draw of only 0.15A which for a fan of this size is quite low. The maximum flow of air that is possible is 60 cfm.
Once again Phobya uses the easy to clean pull off fan blade hub unit. This is a real bonus as far as maintenance goes as cleaning is so much easier. Instead of the normal four screws and wiring that has to be removed to clean away the dust and grime this is now a ten second job as the hub itself just pulls away from the housing. It can then be immersed in soapy water to clean before drying and replacing. The nano bearing and electronics are waterproofed anyway should you wish to wash the whole unit. This is also a bonus as far as the watercooling fraternity goes in the case of any leaks.
Unlike many of the other fans in Phobya's stable this one doesn't have any LEDs or other "bling" and relies on doing just what a fan does best - moving air. It is only a fairly slow moving fan that makes up for it's rotational speed with it's larger 140mm diameter. It will work from 7 to 12 volts giving an rpm range of 600 - 1100. Because of this the fan is quiet even under load and has a maximum noise level of 24 dB/A which is still very quiet. At the lower speeds it is noisless.
More of these 140mm fans seem to be hitting the market now and are certainly becoming more popular. This one comes with the necessary screws to fix it to the case included so you are ready to go.
This component is definitely more blending into the background than most of their fans and sometimes that can be a positive point. I like it and award it 9/10.
Supplier: CandC Central: http://www.candccentral.co.uk/ Price £11.99
