Alphacool Announces Apex Stealth Metal Fan

[kapone32]

This is what sucks about liking Alphacool if you live in Canada. There is no distributor in Canada so you are forced to buy from Aquatuning. If you think the shipping costs from Europe are high the conversion and shipping costs from the US can be even higher. This means that this fan will easily be at least $80-90 CAD when all costs are applied and that is just too much money to pay for a fan. We definitely need our own distributor in Canada. I don't mean a retailer like Canada Computers that would still charge you through the nose for this. This makes me order several products when getting anything from Alphacool. My one consolation is ordering from a German etailer that ships World wide but they use DHL and they are a den of thieves with murky shipping+ costs.

 

[somedude.]

This link will give you the dimensions:

https://download.alphacool.com/datasheet/ENG_13824_Alphacool_Apex_Stealth_Metall_Power_fan_3000rpm_chrome_(120x120x25mm)_datasheet.pdf

 

[EddyAlphacool]

May I ask the cable length of the production model ?

An additional 50cm PWM extension is included in the scope of delivery.

@kapone32
Isn't it cheaper to shop in the US than in Europe from Canada?

 

[TheLostSwede]

Pricing appears to be around $30 a pop, based on pre-order pricing in Sweden.

 

[EddyAlphacool]

MSRP is 29,98€ for all versions. I cannot say how the prices will turn out in the individual countries due to the exchange rate, sorry. But... a sample for Sweclockers was shipped yesterday ;-)

 

[Crackong]

An additional 50cm PWM extension is included in the scope of delivery.

I see.
May I also ask if the gap between the metal frames is enough to hide the 4pin connector ?

This is very specific to my use case since I am using external rads (MO-RA 3).
Being the nature of a 3x3 fan config, the middle fan does not have any room to hide the bulky 4-pin connector.
Therefore I had to find fans with really long cable by default.
It will be much easier if there is enough space within the frame itself to hide the 4-pin connector.

 

[Nephilim666]

Do. Not. Preorder. Fans.

 

[EddyAlphacool]

May I also ask if the gap between the metal frames is enough to hide the 4pin connector ?

Yes it is and that is also one of the things we have been looking at.

 

[kapone32]

@kapone32
Isn't it cheaper to shop in the US than in Europe from Canada?

Not from Aquatuning for Alphacool. If you put a Canadian Shipping Address you will pay at least $50 for shipping. The conversion rate is also around 35% currently. If I buy directly from the Alphacool store I save about $15-20 on average vs ordering it from them and the price is adjusted for my rate. With Aquatuning I also have to pay Customs but that is included with the Shipping I choose from Alphacool. It really is too bad as I can go on the Corsair website and order a rad or pump/res and pay less in shipping as they provide free shipping from the US. It is the reason I have been using Corsair rads for the last little while. Trust me even on Amazon Alphacool products are a premium. As an example the D5 pump/res is $257 on Amazon or you can get the Quick connect cables for about $15-19 on Newegg but shipping is $60 for both because they come from Aquatuning in the US. Of course you have Water cooling vendors in Canada but those prices are not even worth mentioning.

 

[EddyAlphacool]

Water cooling vendors in Canada but those prices are not even worth mentioning.

Why? Are the prices so high that it is cheaper to buy things directly from Europe or other countries?
But I really would have thought that the costs are lower if you buy from a US shop like ModMyMods, Titan Rig or Performance PCs.

 

[kapone32]

Why? Are the prices so high that it is cheaper to buy things directly from Europe or other countries?
But I really would have thought that the costs are lower if you buy from a US shop like ModMyMods, Titan Rig or Performance PCs.

Yes because the vendors pass on the costs that I am talking about to the consumer. In every instance it is cheaper to buy from Alphacool directly. Like I mentioned before the one silver lining is Groovesland with their free shipping. The catch though is they rarely have new products. Anyway I was looking at getting the Core 1 and some quick connect cables soon and maybe a 360 rad to save on shipping.

 

[Heiro78]

No time to review a fan twice, it takes so long as it is to test multiple times in the anechoic chamber and then again for CFM after having mapped out the fan RPM and ensuring it's the same during all the individual tests. I've told Alphacool I'll wait for the final versions.

Thank you. Definitely best to wait for the final retail version of products whenever possible. And with it seeming to be an extra 3 weeks of wait time, it;s worth it.

Why? Are the prices so high that it is cheaper to buy things directly from Europe or other countries?
But I really would have thought that the costs are lower if you buy from a US shop like ModMyMods, Titan Rig or Performance PCs.

For me in the US, it is certainly more cost effective to buy direct from you. With shipping for 9 fans and a 10x 4pin PWM splitter from alphacool direct, it is about 17.70USD cheaper than the same without a splitter from the US vendor with leadtime of late 2023 early 2024. I believe I will be purchasing directly from you. But maybe only 6 fans and wait for the 140mm to get the last 3.

edit: forgot to convert euro to USD so it's not a 30USD difference.

Do. Not. Preorder. Fans.

I think it is a pretty safe bet to preorder these though. Atleast from Alphacool directly. They have a good return policy and by the time they arrive (10-12 weeks) there will be reviews in which we can cancel or keep them. Still there are heavy doubts on whether preordering such products is a good industry practice. I suppose I am part of the problem.

 

[Chrispy_]

If the metal frame has enough mass and the silicone decoupling ring is soft enough, this could be a winner.

As someone with at least a year's background in acoustic engineering, I'm not sure regular, relatively firm silicone rings will be enough to provide meaningful decoupling; It'll be almost as useless as those rubber corner pads on fans to decouple the fans from the case, which are then totally circumvented by recoupling the rigid fan frame directly to the case with a steel screw.

For the silicone to decouple the fan frame from the metal housing in any meaningful way, it needs some travel, and that will be near zero unless these are very soft silicone rings and small forces such as those from an imbalanced impeller are able to deflect the rings through a good fraction of their cross-sectional diameter.

Call me a sceptic on the isolation/decoupling feature, and it shouldn't be necessary if the impeller is balanced properly in the first place. As for the rest of the fan, the motor and performance metrics look pretty decent on paper, here's hoping that is true in independent reviews as well.

 

[EddyAlphacool]

The decoupling alone through the O-rings between the fan part and the frame do not make the fan quiet alone, of course.
First and foremost, of course, the fan part must be very well balanced, which we naturally paid attention to.
But apart from the whole decoupling, there are still quite other factors that make the fan quiet and perfomant. Interesting that hardly anyone talks about it.
The edges of the fan frame on the side of the fan blades, provide a clean airflow. Here, almost all plastic fans have flat sloping surfaces towards the fan blades. This is largely due to the production process of injection molding. But this is not an advantage, but a disadvantage for fan noise. Because the whole fan frame works like a tube, we also generate more pressure and volume flow. The gap between the ring around the fan blades and the frame is extremely small. This also means that we lose less pressure and volume flow. And there is much less noise or unnecessary turbulence. It's the whole package, not just the decoupling, that makes the fan quiet.

Some of the points were not planned by us at all, but were effects that we could only explain to ourselves at the end of the development. We were surprised ourselves about some things. We were also lucky with some things during the development. When we first had a finished sample.... at that time still a 3D printed part whose suspension was still very soft... nor the first variants of the fan blades (I think we had a dozen versions... we were amazed ourselves. We quickly realized that we had overshot our actual goal. Much more than planned and wanted. Fortunately in a positive sense.

Now I'm not the fluidic engineer or the developer for all of this, so apologies if I'm not being too technical here.

 

[Chrispy_]

The decoupling alone through the O-rings between the fan part and the frame do not make the fan quiet alone, of course.
First and foremost, of course, the fan part must be very well balanced, which we naturally paid attention to.

Yeah, IMO good fans are quiet even without any decouplers at all. The decoupling is just a crutch to help alleviate any vibrations through imbalance.

 

[Waldorf]

@ymdhis
thats the thing, all those things arent needed to run an arctic fan at listed specs.
i dont need adapters, as the fans do 200/300-1200rpm, even if using the fixed rpm units,
the fans are balanced enough and have a silent bearing, so decoupling is making zero difference,
i get at least 6y warranty, some have 10y (not a single Noctua has that),

and any of the ones going bad in the past 15y (5 pack, likely bad batch), made noise from the beginning,
and were replaced for free after contacting support.

i paid 6-12$ per unit, and while i like quality and willing to spend more, i wont shell out double that, to gain 10, maybe 20% perf,
as the few Noctuas i used, didnt show any noticeable difference.

 

[Chrispy_]

@ymdhis
thats the thing, all those things arent needed to run an arctic fan at listed specs.
i dont need adapters, as the fans do 200/300-1200rpm, even if using the fixed rpm units,
the fans are balanced enough and have a silent bearing, so decoupling is making zero difference,
i get at least 6y warranty, some have 10y (not a single Noctua has that),

and any of the ones going bad in the past 15y (5 pack, likely bad batch), made noise from the beginning,
and were replaced for free after contacting support.

i paid 6-12$ per unit, and while i like quality and willing to spend more, i wont shell out double that, to gain 10, maybe 20% perf,
as the few Noctuas i used, didnt show any noticeable difference.

The cheap P12 5-pack fans from Arctic aren't great fans, they're great value fans. IME the balance of the impeller varies from 'ok' to 'perfect' but the QC and tolerances aren't high enough to ensure that they're all well-balanced.

My take on Arctic 5-packs is that they're some of, if not the best option on a budget and - if you're lucky - they'll be quiet enough for even a discerning SilentPC enthusiast. But you do need luck, and I'm saying that as someone who's likely bought more than a thousand P12 fans in 5-packs. Currently the only fans that are better quality for the money are the Thermalright 3-packs (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BKJGSWPM) and at £3.50 a fan they're incredible - fluid-dynamic bearings, PWM instead of 3-pin, rubber corner grommets (not that they're much help with case screws) and sold direct by Thermalright EU. The only downside is the 2 year warranty, but they cost less than the return shipping you'd need to put in for a warranty claim anyway.

I suspect this Alphacool fan is going to be priced, and quality-checked to compete in an entirely different league. The BOM alone means that there's no point in Alphacool even trying to compete with budget fans - I suspect they'll be pricing these like the Phanteks T30, Noctuas, and other LCP offerings on the market. edit: yes, pre-order pricing for these is €30.

 

[Heiro78]

Do. Not. Preorder. Fans.

I decided not to preorder even with the free cancellation direct from Alphacool. I'll wait until it's proven out. Probably in December.

 

[Waldorf]

@Chrispy_
true, and while i should have worded it differently, i never said they were great fans.

but they are good enough, that i know not to waste money on noctuas or even noiseblocker fans,
and that's with me wanting inaudible at idle/low load (2ft distance).

i never bought P-5 packs, so cant tell, mine are all F pwm/silent and P DC/silent.

never had to return any defective arctic fans (thus no cost), so no valid argument,
and at 10y warranty, its equal to buying five fans (at 2y rate), so still better off with the arctics (non 5-pack).

btt:
never expected these to be cheap in any form or price, but before i get those, i rather get some Bionix,
and have clean fan blades "forever" (no dust build up after +1y of use).

 

[Turmeric]

at this point we do not need quieter fans, noctua fans in my case, 3 intake and 2 exhaust is not the limiting factor but you hear the airflow not the fans.
maybe only way to reduce noise is the reduce the turbulent air created by the fan.

 

[Waldorf]

@Turmeric
should we also stop making pink kiddie bikes, because you dont need them?
maybe you dont, but that doesnt mean noone.

and its easy btw: LC for cpu and gpu removes +90% of heat (from the case),
so any case fans can be throttled to almost nothing without having thermal problems,
and as long as you have a strong enough pump, the rad+fans/res etc can go into a plastic container sitting 6ft away.
thats what i did almost 20y ago to have an inaudible rig (idle/low load).
or even better, get a Resorator, if you can find one cheap, and have no fan noise (as there isnt one).

and no, dont care about gaming load/noise, as ppl usually have audio running (speaker/HP).

 

[FoulOnWhite]

@Turmeric
should we also stop making pink kiddie bikes, because you dont need them?
maybe you dont, but that doesnt mean noone.

and its easy btw: LC for cpu and gpu removes +90% of heat (from the case),
so any case fans can be throttled to almost nothing without having thermal problems,
and as long as you have a strong enough pump, the rad+fans/res etc can go into a plastic container sitting 6ft away.
thats what i did almost 20y ago to have an inaudible rig (idle/low load).
or even better, get a Resorator, if you can find one cheap, and have no fan noise (as there isnt one).

and no, dont care about gaming load/noise, as ppl usually have audio running (speaker/HP).

Custom loop is not cheap, but is the best imo, and like you say, it takes the heat out of the case instead of dumping it into it. I will be interested to try these fans on my radiator certainly.

 

[Waldorf]

depends on how you define "custom".

start with Alphacool Eisbaer 280 (copper rad) 130$, even the AIO alone will be a major impact on case/gpu temps,
if setup as exhaust.
cpu block (XSPC clone) 30$, D5 clone + res 30$, tubing 10-30$,
connectors depending on layout etc 10$.

make sure to try push config first, iirc only Arctics like pull (or push/pull).

 

[FoulOnWhite]

depends on how you define "custom".

start with Alphacool Eisbaer 280 (copper rad) 130$, even the AIO alone will be a major impact on case/gpu temps,
if setup as exhaust.
cpu block (XSPC clone) 30$, D5 clone + res 30$, tubing 10-30$,
connectors depending on layout etc 10$.

make sure to try push config first, iirc only Arctics like pull (or push/pull).

Alphacool core 1 cpu block, EK GPU block, EK XE 360x60mm radiator, AQ ultitube res/pump with D5 pump, mayhems clear tubing, AQ high flow next flow meter. About £5-600 quid iirc

 

[onemanhitsquad]

Im sorry I put the wrong speed it actually is 2000 RPM. That CFM is just as high as my Noctua 3000 RPM fan and that is a 140MM.

Their website says that they have a 3000 rpm model