Introduction

Cooling and good looks don't historically go well together but over the past year or so there has been a marked increase in the market for items that perform well and are aesthetically pleasing. Nowadays everything is given a facelift to please the eye as customers become more contientious of how there PC's are seen around the home. When it comes to fans there's not really much you can do to increase the viewers disposition, I mean it's a fan. However coloured fans, and LED fans are pretty common place now. This doesn't help if you're going for a clean look though, especially if the clean look is for an aluminium case. Step in Titan and there Aluminium fans. Big thanks to for sending in the review samples we have here today, the 120mm and 80mm Titan Aluminium Frame Fans.

Specifications

The obligatory 'thieved from there website' specs

TFD-A8025/12V (80mm)

Fan Dimensions : 80 x 80 x 25 mm

Rated Voltage : 12 V DC

Rated Current : 0.13 A

Power Consumption : 1.92 W

Rated Speed : 2,500 RPM

Max Air Flow : 32.40 CFM

Max Static Pressure : 2.48 mm-H2O

Noise Level : < 25 dBA

Tolerance : ± 10 %

Bearing Type : One Ball

Life Time : 50,000 Hours

 

TFD-A12025/12V (120mm)

Fan Dimensions : 92 x 92 x 25 mm

Rated Voltage : 12 V DC

Rated Current : 0.28 A

Power Consumption : 3.96 W

Rated Speed : 2,000 RPM

Max Air Flow : 79.14 CFM

Max Static Pressure : 2.8 mm-H2O

Noise Level : < 30 dBA

Tolerance : ± 10 %

Bearing Type : One Ball

Life Time : 50,000 Hours

Features :

Aluminum frame makes the fan more robust & improves heat reduction

Shiny bright silver color perfect appearance

Electro-plated fan can protect from EMI

Electro-plated fan improves heat transfer efficiency greatly and reduces the noise dramatically

No dust amassed, because of silken surface, extends the fan life time

First Looks

These things are so damn shiny, they really are, sunny days the reflection will blind you, I kid you not. Anyway, there shiny nature made the picture taking an adventure all of its own (where's David Bailey when you need him?) so I apologize in advance for the crappy pictures.

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When you look at the packaging you can see it isn't anything special but hey, it's whats inside that counts right? Thankfully, the fans themselves look a darn site better. Stunning is the first word that springs to my mind. Very much a personal statement that but they really do look great.

Despite being made from lightweight aluminium there a great deal heavier than a plastic fan (naturally) and are reassuringly solid. The frame is styled too, with some nice looking cut outs down the side to help break up the monotony and increase the natural good looks. The Titan logo is emblazoned in blue and red on one side with the pat number on the other.

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One thing that did disappoint me was the fact that the fan blades themselves are actually painted plastic. Once they're spinning you don't notice, and the paint colouring matches pretty much spot on with the frame (and reflects just as well too).

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Now this next bit I just don't understand. You make an aluminium frame fan, you paint the fan blades silver to match, and then on the backside of the fan you leave the plastic crossmembers white. I don't know what to say about that really, its just &&. Wrong.

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Being on the reverse side does mean you should be able to hide the fact well enough but still &.. Thankfully the good looks of the rest of the unit carries the pleasing aesthetic well enough for it to become a minor annoyance. Both units here (and I guess it must be the same across the range) are tailed with a 3pin plug. Yes even the 120mm.

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I don't think anyone would actually run the 120mm that way, but personally I prefer to buy ALL my fans like this. That way I can mod them to a 4 pin molex connector and still retain the speed sensing. If however you expect/need a 4 pin, you're out of luck since the fans don't ship with any extras such as an adaptor. Bear that in mind, as whilst the power consumption is pretty low on the 120mm fan, I personally wouldn't run it from a motherboard header.

In use

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Putting these fans to use they perform very well doing the job they are intended for. I did find however that the aluminium frame doesn't do anything to aid in extra cooling but who cares, they look great! Noise wise, both are very quiet, with just a noticeable background hum to them. I'm personally using the 120mm version on my Wet and Chilly Chips radiator, replacing the stock noisy fan. The appearance of the fan to my mind at least, does a lot for the overall appearance making more of a statement of the radiator than the plain black plastic fan that was on it previously. The 80mm fan would make for a great quiet cooling solution on the Swiftechs or Alpha's. I would imagine the sleek black of the Alpha would be very much accentuated by the silver of the fan. The Swiftechs silver and copper appearance matches well with the aluminium of the frame. Perhaps you might want to put it in a window?

Final Words

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Titan's idea for an Aluminium Framed Fan may not be unique and without flaws, but that doesn't detract from the fact that these fans function as intended and look good while doing it. The fans are more or less silent with just a background hum to them that will certainly be drowned out by anything else that creates noise in your PC. The blades, whilst clearly painted silver plastic, will look just like real aluminium once they're spinning and give off just as much reflection as the frame itself. One thing to bear in mind is that these are 3 pin fans, even the 120mm fan and that there are no adapter's included for 4 pin molex. It does mean you get the speed sensing wire but also means that a bit of modification might be needed by some to actually power the 120mm. Power consumption on both is pretty low but I wouldn't personally want to run a 120mm fan from a motherboard header. Whether or not the silken coating helps to prevent dust build up only time will tell (I'll let you know in the forums &.. eventually) but the EMI shielding might appeal to some. Price wise, are currently selling these at and which isn't all that bad considering the good looks of the unit.

Aluminium case owners will love these. Might be interesting to see a Coolermaster or Lian Li sporting these fans, and also one of the silver pcb'd motherboards with matching graphics card. Silver Dream Machine anyone? It wouldn't surprise me to see a lot of case modders using these as they really do look good. If you must have good looks from your fans then these are certainly worth a look. If your fans are not going to be on show then there is no point buying these over a normal black fan. Good looks are the main selling point here and they certainly don't disappoint in that department. All in all a great looking product that performs as intended. Thanks once again to for supplying the 2 review samples.

Pro's
Awesome looks
Nice solid feel
Low noise, low power consumption
EMI Shielded

Con's
No 3 to 4 pin adapter included
White crossmember on back of fan

Bottom Line
Low noise, low power, high on aesthetics, Aluminium case owners will love these. A great looking fan that performs as intended.

If you got any comments, be sure to hit us up in our forums.

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