FAN DESIGN

The fan which Thermaltake has chosen for the Big Typhoon is the TT-1225 model A1225L12S. This fan is 120x120x25mm thick, has 7 orange blades and is made by Hong Sheng of China. This fan is rated to run at a nominal 1300RPM (ours ran at nearly 1400rpm) at which rotational speed it produces 54.4CFM of air and a very impressive 1.87mmH20 of static pressure. To put this last figure in perspective the Noctua NF-P12-1300 fan (which as the name suggests runs at 1300 RPMs) only makes 1.68mmH20 worth of static pressure. Needless to say our worries on the closed spaced fins of the heatsinks is for naught as Thermaltake obviously thought of it and went out and selected the Mac truck of 120mm Fans!

For anyone who doesn’t understand what the big deal is about static pressure and why it so much more important than CFM numbers should read Matthew Fogg’s Static Pressure Theory which outlines exactly why it is so important Overclock3D.Net :: Review :: Scythe Ultra Kaze 120mm Fans :: Static Pressure Theory

The Hong Sheng fan exhibited very little shaft “slop” or forwards and backwards motion to the fan blade assembly and felt very tight. More importantly the fan displayed no angular slop what so ever when pushed/tapped on only one side of the fan. Just as importantly it was extremely quiet and didn’t create much felt vibrations and was way below the noise levels produced by Scythe E’s. If forced to be more precise than this we would waffle a bit and say it’s not quite as quiet as a Noctua NF-P12, but the difference was more in the tone of noise it created rather than the amount (though it was also slightly louder). The Hong Sheng fan makes more of a tonal “whirr” sound than that of the Noctua. For the majority of people this fan will be the quietest fan in their system and unless you run 6 Noctua’s or Scythe D’s you should never hear this fan. It really is that well mannered and is a very nice fan to work with.


One interesting thing about this fan is the fact that it uses the older style 3 pin fan header. It is understandable why this was done since it enhances compatibility with older systems but it also limits fan speed regulation to variable voltage only. This is certainly not a big deal, as this fan is easily controlled via voltage changes. Also on the positive side, the fan cable is completely sleeved in a white mesh material. It really is nice when the manufacturers take the time to do this as it does make for a both a cleaner/neater install while also helping to keep air flow restrictions to a minimum.

Rather than rely on MTBF numbers, an easier and better way to get a “feel” for what the manufacturer thinks is the real length of time a product should last is too simply look at the length of warranty provided. The length of warranty has been calculated to be long enough so that customers feel secure in purchasing it BUT still short enough that it will be “out of warranty” when most fail. Taken for what its worth, the Big Typhoon comes with a 3 year warranty.