Scythe Kaze Flex 120mm Fan, Quiet Case/CPU Cooler Fan, PWM 300-1200 RPM

Update: after setting a fan curve, these fans are near silent and performing very well. 5 stars.TL:DR: if you want decent priced addressable RGB fans, these are a good buy.I have a fuma 2 CPU cooler which I really love, so I figured I'd go back to scythe for some case fans. These fans look and feel premium.Pros:-RGB looks nice, can use JRGB headers to sync with mobo lights-price isn't bad-Move a fair amount of airCons:-a bit noisy. Maxing out at just 1200 RPM, I expected these to be virtually silent, but they are not. Not terrible, but not great.-the 4-pin fan cable is really short. The pics show the RGB cable and the fan cable at the same length, but the RGB cable is significantly longer. Had to buy some extensions.

i picked up this 2,000rpm model to replace the 1200rpm pwm version that came with my fuma 2. i had swapped out the front fan that came with it with a noctua a12 and wanted to upgrade the center fan as well to semi-match rpm's and static pressure. but i wanted to keep the alternative air thing scythe has going on with the fuma 2. since i couldn't find any other fan that spin clockwise like the kaze flex does, and since scythe doesn't make this version as pwm, i went ahead and just bought this one.this fan at 2000rpm really puts out a lot of air and a solid amount of static pressure through my fuma 2. its a really nice upgrade over the 1200rpm version. it is loud at 2000rpm, much louder than my a12, but its not a motor noise. its just the sound of moving air. in terms of voltage control, my motherboard appears to have no issue controlling its rpm via voltage. i have it sit at 30% at 30c, and ramps up to 100% at 55c which is very rare. it mostly sits around 30-70%. but its definitely not as smooth in rpm switching like a pwm fan is. i really wish scythe made a pwm version of this fan. with how high it can run at, i don't know why they didn't. i was interested in picking up their 1800rpm kaze flex rgb pwm version, but i can't find it at all for sale here in NA. so this was the only option. i would still buy it again, but if scythe released a pwm version i would grab it.

You should know going in that a near constant speed 2000 RPM fan is going to be loud, not for the fan itself as much as the sound of air. The fan itself is surprisingly quiet, between the padded contact points and quality of construction, there's no whine or rattling to be found. That being said this is one of the most underrated case fans I have ever used. Have a mediocre case that was in desperate need of help reducing internal and component temperatures. This thing alone has decreased CPU and GPU temps significantly operating as a rear case exhaust fan. I'm pretty blown away (pun definitely intended). If you need a fan that is easier on the ears I would say some of their PWM models are likely to be winners as well, or potentially some of their lower RPM DC variants. I haven't tested it in a static-pressure dependent position but it seems to be highly rated on that front as well (confined intake and/or radiator applications). If you need a 3-pin fan that moves some serious air and do not care about excess noise, this is your fan, bar absolutely none.

Scythe is practically the only company that makes fans that rotate the opposite direction of everyone else, which is the only way to get any actual additional airflow by stacking fans. It's still only a 15-25% increase over a single fan (depending on fan speeds and pressures), but if that's what you need, this is the fan for you. It's quiet, inexpensive, and well-made. It's not super high-performance, but there are tons of fans out there that are (I recommend Be Quiet! fans) and this is a good way to eke out a little more airflow from one of those.