I’ve decided to test both models together because they look almost the same with minor difference in structure and probably performance. I won’t stop on the technical details which can be seen here: Enermax T.B. Silence 140 ( UCTB14B ) and Enermax T.B. Silence 140 Manual Speed control( UCTB14A ).
So, a few weeks ago I tested the smaller Enermax T.B. Silence 120 model and I am eager to find out how the 140mm models perform.
Enermax T.B. Silence 140:
The model arrived in a see through plastic box, through which you can see the fan structure, and a carton part in yellow covering the accessories. It’s absolutely the same package and appearance as the 120 model I tested before but a bit bigger. Again on the front part of the cartoon box you can read the main features of the product, while on the back you can read the full technical details of the model.
So, let’s check if the fan offers the same structure.
The structure is absolutely the same as the 120mm but this time it’s 140mm. The fan is build of plastic frame, painted black matt colour, with an aluminium border forming a cylinder around the fan with the name of the company cut in by laser. Apart from that the propeller is made of 9 semi-transparent blades again with shape of a bat wing for improving and focusing the airflow. Again this model doesn’t offer a backlight.
And seen from the back:
Enermax T.B. Silence 140 power and regulation is done via quite a long cable with a 3 Pin connector
The fan comes with the following accessories:
- Four metal screws
- 4-to-3 Pin power adaptor
Enermax T.B. Silence 140 Manual speed control:
As I said in the beginning of this article, both fans looks very similar with some minor, well not so minor differences.
The second model arrived again in a see through plastic box, through which you can see the fan structure, which is absolutely the same on first sight. The carton part is changed to blue and again is covering the accessories but still on the front part of the cartoon box you can read the main features of the product, while on the back you can read the full technical details of the model.
Actually both models looks similar but according to the technical details they are in different airflow range and with different performance. I will check that a bit later, but before that let’s see are those fans visually the same.
Enermax T.B. Silence 140 Manual speed control is made of standard plastic 140mm frame, painted in black and again with an aluminium border forming a cylinder around the fan with the name of the company cut in by laser. The propeller offers again 9 semi-transparent blades with shape of a bat wing and again the fan is powered and regulated via 3 pin power connector. The major difference between both models is that this one offers a second cable with knob for regulating the fan speed by reducing the voltage manualy.
And seen from the back:
The fan offers these accessories:
- Four metal screws
- 4-to-3 Pin power adaptor
- rubber glued pad for stick the control knob somewhere inside the case
The test results are shown in the following charts:
Airflow through the fan at 5V, 7V, 9V, 12V.
Propeller rpm during the tests at 5V, 7V, 9V, 12V.
The anemometer showed the following airflow speed:
After I’ve mounted both fans to the stand and leaving them to run for about 30 minutes at maximum speed, it was time for the tests to begin.
All of my tests in the past started with a gradual increase of the voltage through the Lamptron FCT starting at 0V until the fans make at least 1 full revolution and with these models it was absolutely the same. It was very interesting because Enermax T.B. Silence 140 started to rotate at 12V, while Enermax T.B. Silence 140 Manual speed control made 1 full revolution at 4.6V. It was an interesting result. So for the first model I had to do all tests at lower voltage than the rated, while for the second model it was absolutely normal behaviour.
Test at 5V:
Enermax T.B. Silence 140 – after I decreased the voltage to 5V the model reached airflow level of 23.04 cubic metres per hour at only 330 revolutions per minute.
Enermax T.B. Silence 140 Manual speed control – the model was rotating with 720 revolutions per minute and airflow of 63.36 cubic metres per hour.
Both of the fans were absolutely quiet.
Test at 7V:
Enermax T.B. Silence 140 – the model slightly increased his revolutions up to 450 and airflow level of 38.88 cubic metres per hour.
Enermax T.B. Silence 140 Manual speed control – the second model reached 940 revolutions per minute and airflow level of 82.08 cubic metres per hour.
Again both fans were absolutely quiet.
Test at 9V:
Enermax T.B. Silence 140 – the first test sample was rotating with 570 revolutions per minute and airflow level of 51.84 cubic metres per hour
Enermax T.B. Silence 140 Manual speed control – at this test the airflow level reached 101.76 cubic metres per hour at rotating speed of 1140 revolutions per minute.
The first model remained silent, while the second started to generate noise from the airflow passing the propeller.
Test at 12V:
Enermax T.B. Silence 140 – the last test was done on the starting voltage for this model on which it reached 66.24 cubic metres per hour at rotating speed of 720 revolutions per minute
Enermax T.B. Silence 140 Manual speed control – the second model reached his maximum rotating speed of 1380 revolution per minute and airflow level of 124.8 cubic metres per hour.
The first model was still silent, while the noise from the second model increased but was still at a normal level.
So I believe it’s about time to express my thoughts about of the fans.
- Vision: Both models offer quite a pleasant and eye-catching design that will fit in every case or every cooler. The structure offers a propeller with 9 semi-transparent blades with a bat wing shape for a better performance and a standard square plastic frame in black.
- Performance: Although both fans looks almost the same, they perform in totally different manner. Enermax T.B. Silence 140 is the typical case fan with its starting voltage of 12V, rpm max 750 and airflow level of around 70 cubic metres per hour, while Enermax T.B. Silence 140 Manual speed control is slightly modified and is the model suitable to support the case airflow or cooling CPU coolers. I can recommend Enermax T.B. Silence 140 to be installed only as a case fan, while Enermax T.B. Silence 140 Manual speed control as a case fan or a fan used to cool big CPU radiators.
- Noise level: Since both model performs differently I can say that the first sample was all the time absolutely quiet, while the second test model was quiet only on tests conducted at 5 and 7V, but at 9 and 12V there was noise from the air passing through the propeller.
The only disadvantage I could mention is the lack of sleeving kit which could improve the appearance of both models since they are both in black/transparent black colour scheme.
I think Enermax T.B. Silence 140 deserves the following reward:
and Enermax T.B. Silence 140 Manual speed control:
Both models have been added to the 140mm catalogue.
Official price (MSRP): unknown
I thank Enermax for the samples!
Excellent performance. And once again very good job.