Question 1

Is the airflow on this item listed as CFM or M3/H?

Accepted Answer

The airflow on these fans are great. I've bought five of them. They are quiet, powerful, have PWM. Have used them for years now and will keep buying them until they stop making them. Yes, get them. Hope this helps.

Question 2

is this a 3 or a 4 wire fan?

Accepted Answer

This is a PWM fan, so it is a 4 wire / 4 pin connection. PWM allows good control of the fan speed. Due to the universal fan connections used nowadays, it can be wired to a 3 pin (non-PWM) connector and run on only full power.

Question 3

How silent is this? Does it really seem near 19.2 dBA? How does it stack up against NF-A14s?

Accepted Answer

I have these fans setup as a push-pull for the liquid cooling I use. I have owned them for over a year, keep them clean and the noise lever is a whisper. I have been satisfied with the performance and would highly recommend these to anyone needing good cooling airflow and a quiet environment. Unfortunately, I can not compare them to the NF-A14s

Question 4

Does this work well on a Kraken x60?

Accepted Answer

I haven't used it on a kraken x60, but I do have two of them in my case at the moment.  They have impressive airflow, and are very quiet.  I'd say the fractal fans are a little more silent, but lack the power that the cougars deliver.  Also, the cougar fans have an interesting blade design that is said to channel airflow more directly.   Really don't think you can go wrong with this fan.  It's a great fan at a great price.  Make sure you check your motherboard so you don't buy a bunch of 4 pin fans if you only have 3 pin connectors, like I did.

Question 5

Has anyone mounted one on Cooler Master Gemin heatsink?

Accepted Answer

Both models of Cooler Master Geminii heatsinks use 120mm fans, so this size fan is too large and simply will not fit.  I have only used this Cougar PWM fan as a case fan, not as a heatsink fan.  Although I've read about people who have installed this fan on other heatsinks with good results, I advise you to migrate your search question to the Cougar V12HP Vortex fan.

Question 6

can this thing go as low as 600 with PWM?

Accepted Answer

Probably not. The one I benched would go as low as 750RPM at a ~40% PWM duty cycle before cutting out.

Question 7

What is the air pressure rating of this fan?

Accepted Answer

The air pressure rating for the 140mm fan @ 12V is 1.38 mm/H20 (max), and 2.2 mm/H20 for the 120mm version.

Question 8

Does anyone know what these look like under any of UV, black, or blue lighting?

Accepted Answer

Green

Question 9

What is the distance from the screw hole to screw hole Vertically or horizontally?

Accepted Answer

125 mm center-to-center, pretty standard

Question 10

How does Cougar come up with the 300,000 hours lifetime?

Can you let me know how you calculate lifetime?

Thank you

Accepted Answer

Short Answer: Complex math formulas to determine the fans half-life subtraction factor.

Fan Life Estimation
The life of most fans is limited by the bearings. Bearing life is generally limited by the greaselife, which is primarily a function of temperature. Grease life is affected by the type of grease, percentage of grease fill, operating environment, load, and bearing design. The Booser grease life equation is based on grease life tests on electric motor bearings, but it holds true for any rolling-element bearing. The equation for the bearing grease life in the application is.

logL10=-2.6 +(Kt/Tbrg)-0.301S [5]

where

S=SG+SN+SP

SN=0.86DN/(DN)L

SP=0.61DNP/C2r

PEquivalent Dynamic Bearing Load, lbf
NSpeed, rpm
CrBasic Dynamic Load Capacity, lbf
DBore Diameter, mm
(DN)LSpeed Limit, rpm-mm
SHalf-life Subtraction Factor; for S = 1, the life drops 50%
SGGrease Half-life Subtraction Factor, typically 0 for many greases
SNSpeed Half-life Subtraction Factor
SPLoad Half-life Subtraction Factor
KTGrease Temperature Factor = 2450 for acceleration factor of 1.5 for each 10°C
TbrgBearing temperature, K

This equation, however, does not account for the effect of grease quantityand may not cover all greases on the market, particularly modern greases whichuse synthetic oils. For these new greases and depending upon the operatingconditions, the results from the Booser equation may be conservative. Therefore,unless adjustment factors are available for a certain fan type, it is best touse the Booser equation to obtain a qualitative comparison of two fan designsrather than an absolute life estimate.

Example 1 The following information was obtained from a fan vendor.

P = 960 g (2.116 lb), Cr = 57 Kg (125.66 lb),
D = 3 mm

N = 2200 rpm, (DN)L = 270,000 rpm-mm,
Tbrg = 42°Cwhen Tamb = 25°C

The half life subtraction factor is calculated as: S = SG + SN + SP= 0 + 0.021 + 0.540 = 0.561,

and the resulting life estimate is L10 = 102,000 hours.

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