SilverStone FN and FW Series fans Review

Up Close

The fans we’re looking at today form the tip of the iceberg with regards to SilverStone’s full range and represent the newcomers to the FN and FW series.  They all come in the same rigid plastic packaging, which thanks to easy open tabs won’t shred your fingers in the process.  Multi language information with regards to specifications and key features are given on both the front and rear, the detail of which can be seen on the previous page.

     

 

Rather than bore you with the contents of each individual package we’ve chosen to highlight the FW121.  This is a slim (15mm thick) fan which comes with PWM functionality.  The pack contains screws for fixing to case panels as well as a set of rubber anti vibration mounts and a molex to fan converter cable.  The thicker version of the FW121, the FW122 also comes with a pack of adhesive rubber cut outs which can be attached to the corners of the fan further reducing vibration.

     

 

From left to right we have the FN123, the FW 122 and then the FW121.  As you can see from the images, at just 15mm thick the FN123 and the FN121 are slimmer than the FW122’s  standard 25mm.  Fan blade design varies between the models, with the cross bracing and centre hub of the thinner models reminding us strongly of the High speed all black Gentle Typhoons.  All of the fans have decent length cables although sadly they are not braided.

     

 

Turning now to look at the FW122 in more detail we can see that it is of the open corner design, meaning that it is more easily utilised with certain CPU cooler retaining mechanisms and gives better access for fixing in other situations.  With an nod to those of us who like to mod our fans we’ve peeled back the sticker to show that unfortunately although there’s a small lug there, the rear is sealed making it largely impossible to pop the fan blades off for painting.

       

 

The same goes for both the FW121 and FW123, again with open corners and sealed rear plate, so if you should want to paint these up to match the theme of your case you’d better head out and get some masking tape.