By: Jadon Lee
January 20, 2023
The other day, a friend and I were talking about the true hardship of sleeping. With that, I began reading about sleep further and found there to be a cyclical occurrence. In my reading, I have found that inability of sleep to cause stress and anxiety, which causes further difficulty in sleep, leaving an unhealthy cycle. This began the lack of sleep research rabbit hole. For context, my research was not simply the "research" done by attendees of WeChat University; rather, I found legitimate scholarly articles. It was found that reduced sleep causes a reduction in positive mood, and thus increasing negative mood. This mood is linked to a reduction in NREM slow-wave sleep or deep sleep. An interesting fact is sleeping beyond what is habitual can reduce measures of depression and negative mood. These were just some of the ideas being presented and they were quite interesting. Knowing this does not help me or my friend all too much, but recognizing this cyclical relationship is still interesting. I guess this process will just keep spinning and spinning, just like a fan. This week, we have a variety of fans to test out sent by SilverStone. SilverStone has sent us their Shark Force fan line, which includes the SF120B, SF120B-ARGB, SF160B, and SF160B-ARGB. These are high performance fans aimed to look good and provide optimal airflow. Will these fans blow me away? Keep reading to find out!
Today's review units of the SilverStone SF120B, SF120B-ARGB, SF160B, and SF160B-ARGB were shipped to us here in Calgary, Alberta, Canada via FedEx Ground from Chino, California, USA. The cardboard box was handled with care, as it arrived in relatively good condition with basically no marks or visible scuffs. I was not too concerned about the shipping because of the perfect condition of the retail boxes.
Taking a look at the boxes, you may notice how there are many similarities across them. Starting with the RGB variants, the SF120B-ARGB and SF160B-ARGB has SilverStone's logo on the top left, an image of the fan and its lights in the center, the name of the product itself below, and all of the RGB features listed at the bottom. These boxes are fully colored using SilverStone's typical white, blue, and golden brown. Moving to the non-RGB variants, the SF120B and SF160B have a generic brown box with all images placed in the same positions, while removing the RGB elements. The image of the fan appears to be a CAD render of the front of the fan. The back of the box lists some of the specifications for each individual fan. The designs are simple and have an appropriate layout. I would have appreciated some color on the box for the non-RGB fans, but the packaging serves its purpose.
Before we continue, here are the specifications for the Shark Force series, as obtained from the manufacturer's website:
SF120B
Material: Polycarbonate Fan Blades, PBT Frame
Color: Black
Bearing: Fluid Dynamic Bearing
Connectors: 4 Pin PWM Connector
Rated Voltage: 12V DC
Starting Voltage: 5V
Rated Current: 0.45A
Rated Power: 5.4W
Speed: 0 ~ 2500 RPM
Airflow: 0~ 100 CFM
Static Pressure: 0 ~ 4.66 mmH2O
Noise Level: 0 ~ 41.2 dBA
Dimension: 120mm (W) x 25mm (H) x 120mm (D)
Weight: 160g
SF120B-ARGB
Material: Polycarbonate Fan Blades, PBT Frame
Color: Translucent Fan Blades, Black Frame
Bearing: Fluid Dynamic Bearing
Connectors: 4 Pin PWM Connector + 4-1 Pin ARGB (5V LED)
Rated Voltage: 12V DC
Starting Voltage: 5V
Rated Current Fan: 0.45A
Rated Current LED: 0.36A
Rated Power Fan: 5.4W
Rated Power LED: 1.8W
Speed: 0 ~ 2500 RPM
Airflow: 0~ 100 CFM
Static Pressure: 0 ~ 4.66 mmH2O
Noise Level: 0 ~ 41.2 dBA
Dimension: 120mm (W) x 25mm (H) x 120mm (D)
Weight: 166g
SF160B
Material: Polycarbonate Fan Blades, PBT Frame
Color: Black
Application: 140mm
Bearing: Fluid Dynamic Bearing
Connectors: 4 Pin PWM Connector
Rated Voltage: 12V DC
Starting Voltage: 5V
Rated Current: 0.6A
Rated Power: 7.2W
Speed: 0 ~ 1600 RPM
Airflow: 0~ 160 CFM
Static Pressure: 0 ~ 2.21 mmH2O
Noise Level: 0 ~ 38.1 dBA
Dimension: 160mm (W) x 27mm (H) x 160mm (D)
Weight: 220g
SF160B-ARGB
Material: Polycarbonate Fan Blades, PBT Frame
Color: Translucent Fan Blades, Black Frame
Application: 140mm
Bearing: Fluid Dynamic Bearing
Connectors: 4 Pin PWM Connector + 4-1 Pin ARGB (5V LED)
Rated Voltage: 12V DC
Starting Voltage: 5V
Rated Current Fan: 0.6A
Rated Current LED: 0.43A
Rated Power Fan: 7.2W
Rated Power LED: 2.15W
Speed: 0 ~ 1600 RPM
Airflow: 0~ 160 CFM
Static Pressure: 0 ~ 2.21 mmH2O
Noise Level: 0 ~ 38.1 dBA
Dimension: 160mm (W) x 27mm (H) x 160mm (D)
Weight: 220g
Our packs of the SilverStone SF120B, SF120B-ARGB, SF160B, and SF160B-ARGB all arrived as single units. The fans fit nicely inside the box alongside the included mounting screws and cables. All packages contain some warranty information. Surprisingly, there is no manual, which is strange, but it is not the most useful document for a fan. SilverStone provides minimal packaging, which I personally appreciate, as I enjoy only having the essentials for single fans.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Hardware
3. Performance Tests
4. Conclusion
