Both fans were shipped to me in standard carton boxes with a see through plastic cut, through which you can see the fan structure, and a carton part covering the accessories, which I will discuss a bit later. Inside the package both fans looks very similar but are they really?

Yes, they look almost the same, but they work in totally different manners. Both of the fans are rated with airflow 181.2 cubic meters per hour (of course I will check if that’s true a bit later) but the first model, Reeven Coldwing 120mm Performance (RM1225S20B ) works as standard fan, while Reeven Coldwing 120mm Performance PWM (RM1225S20B-PS) works with a switch to change modes between High and Low.

After I took the first model out of the box I just realized that this model offers a standard plastic frame painted in black and a propeller with 11 blades all painted in yellow. Apart from that the fan is powered and regulated by a 3pin power connector and is sleeved in black.

A closer look to the propeller shape

And seen from the back:

So its about time to check the other sample:

Reeven Coldwing 120mm Performance PWM (RM1225S20B-PS) offers a slightly similar structure. The second model has absolutely the same black plastic frame and a yellow propeller with 11 blades. But this model is powered and regulated by 4 pin PWM power connector and is sleeved in black. The additional thing about the model is that there is a switch with 2 options – high (works in rpm range 500 – 2000rpm)  and low (works in rpm range 500 – 1300rpm).

Both of the fans come with absolutely the same following accessories:

1. Four metal screws
2. 4-to-3 Pin power adaptor with additional 1 pin connector to be attached to the motherboard tachometer
3. A Reeven company advertising sticker

The tests will be conducted in my standard way. I will mount the samples and test both of them at 5V/7V/9V/12V and my goal will be to check the authenticity of the technical characteristics given by the manufacturer. The products will be tested under close-to-perfect conditions, not taking into account any external factors. The results achieved during the test can in no way be the same if the fan is mounted on a cooler or on the case fan hole of any modern computer case. I will measure the amount of air going through the fans for one hour and its speed. For this I use a fan controller, a voltage meter, an anemometer and a stand made specifically for this purpose.

The test results are shown in the following charts:

Airflow through the fans at 5V, 7V, 9V, 12V.

Propeller rpm during the tests at 5V, 7V, 9V, 12V.

The anemometer showed the following airflow levels at 5V, 7V, 9V, 12V:

After mounting the fans to the stand and leaving them to run for about 30 minutes at maximum speed, it was time for the tests to begin.

As with my all other tests, again I started with a gradual increase of the voltage through the Lamptron FCT starting at 0V and the Reeven Coldwing 120mm Perf. (RM1225S20B ) made one full revolution at 5.5V, while the Reeven Coldwing 120mm Performance PWM (RM1225S20B-PS) made one full revolution at 6.2V. In order to conduct the first test I had to decrease the voltage to 5V of both of the fans.

Test at 5V:

After leaving the fans to run at 5V for a while, I conducted the first test. The first model reached an airflow level of 109.44 cubic metres per hour at 1180 rpm, while the second test sample was a bit slower with 930 rpm and airflow level of 89.04 cubic metres per hour. Both of the fans were silent.

Test at 7V:

The second test was conducted at 7V, where the fans reached a speed of 1500 rpm and 1365 rpm. The airflow level was 144 cubic metres per hour and 132 cubic metres per hour. Of course the noise level of both of the fans increased.

Test at 9V:

The third test at 9V made me believe that I got really powerful models that made a record in performance between all of the fans I’ve tested so far. So the models reached airflow level of 170.88  and 156.96 cubic metres per hour and rpm levels of 1750 and 1660 rpm. Both fans could be heard now at a much bigger distance.

Test at 12V:

The last test at 12V made me scream – WOW. The fans reached rpm level of 2100 and 1995rpm and airflow level of 199.68 and 189.6 cubic metres per hour. An absolute record for my tests! Yes, they were noisy, but who really cares with that performance.

After I took a look at these samples, it is time for me to give my personal opinion.

1. Performance: What can I say except – WOW. Both of the fans provide bigger airflow than every other model I’ve tested so far. Great performance at around 2000 revolutions per minute. That is a great accomplishment!
2. Noise level: Well both of the fans were a bit noisy powered with more than 5V. After all both of them work at around 2000 rpm at 12V and everybody knows that fans close to 2000 rpm can’t be silent. At least I never saw such a fan. After all with that performance, personally I don’t care about the noise, because these fans provide many options.
3. Vision: Both of the test samples look like standard fans and they have a pleasant appearance. The effect is boosted by the black/yellow colours which could be really good especially for modding projects in such a colour scheme. Personally I like the black / yellow colour scheme a lot.

There are two disadvantages I could mention about both of the fans.

1. Lack of rubber screws, which could reduce the noise a bit and kill possible vibrations that may pop up after some months of work.
2. At tests made at 9 and 12V according the fan controller and the noise level both of the fans were constantly changing the revolutions in 50-100 rpm range. I guess that the engines of both of the fans could perform even better but they are limited in some way. Of course this is just a guess and the only way to find this out is to break the fans, which I want to avoid, since I am planning to use them in the future.

Last but not least I can say that both fans can perform really great cooling heatsinks at normal, overclocked and extreme overclocked processors and improving the case airflow mounted on different fan holes.

I think that both of the fans deserves the following reward:

Both fans have been added to the 120mm fans catalogue.

I thank Reeven for the samples!

Tags: 120mm, Fan, Reeven Coldwing, Reeven Coldwing 120mm Performance, Reeven Coldwing 120mm Performance PWM, review, RM1225S20B, RM1225S20B-PS, Test