When it comes to choosing a case fan your options certainly aren’t limited. There’s options a plenty in the world of PC case fans, so can this 120mm fan from Hiper stand out from the crowd?

Introduction
There are many PC fans, some are good, some are OK and some are downright terrible. Sure they only cost a few pounds each to buy but if you end up buying 4 or 5 duds before you get the one you want it can still be a costly affair. So reading some good reviews is always helpful.

The spec of the fan is stated on the rear of the packaging as follows:

• Dimensions : 120 x 120 x 25 (mm)
• Rated Voltage : 12 V
• Operating Voltage : 10.8 to 13.2 V
• Air Flow : 49.7 CFM
• Input Current : 0.22 A (Max)
• Speed : 1500 rpm (± 10%)
• Noise : 19 dB(A)
• Operating Temperature : -10 to +65 °C

Packaging, Box and Contents
It’s certainly an attractive neat box, tells you all the info that you need to know and holds the fan securely. As for the contents, you get the 120mm fan, a 3-4 pin plug adapter, a set of four screws and a set of four rubber pads to aid in eliminating noisy vibrations.

My one concern in relation to the details on the box are the use of the phrase ‘Ultra Silent System Fan’. I’m not making comment on how noisy or un-noisy it is but surely it’s impossible to have ‘ultra silent’. Silent means ‘to make no noise or sound’, so a fan cannot make any less noise or sound than ‘none’. By all means state that it’s ‘ultra quiet’ if that is indeed the case but please don’t use ‘ultra silent’ or ‘super silent’ etc.

Installation
Just like any case fan the Hiper Hiperflo Chrome fan is simple to install. Just screw the screws through the case and into the plastic fan frame. The screws do take a bit of effort to screw in as they create their own thread in the plastic as they go in (self tapping). If you want to use the rubber pads then just sandwich them between the fan and the case.

Of course there’s no reason not to use an alternative mounting solution such as rubber fan mounts like these XThermal Fan Mounts

Performance
So what are they like when they are up and running? Well they are certainly not noisy and I run 3 of them in my main desktop PC without being able to hear them at all, I do however run them on a motherboard with fan control built into the BIOS. Like all things that make noise in your PC it really depends on where you have the PC in relation to where you sit and in relation to other things that make noise in the same/next room. If you have the PC on the desk, your room is almost silent, nothing else in your PC case makes more noise and you want to run these at full speed then you might be able to hear them. For most people though these will appear to be as the packaging says ‘ultra silent’ or maybe that should just be ‘silent’!

You don’t buy blue LED fans with chrome blades just to silence your PC though. A major function of these fans must surely be the way they look and in this they really do excel. The chrome blades make the fan look the part even when your PC is turned off and then when you power up you get a brilliant bright blue glow.

Conclusion
As mentioned I have three of these in my main desktop PC and I didn’t order them all at once, in other words I was so impressed by the first one that I bought two more. If you are in the market for a blue LED fan then I cannot recommend any more highly than these, however if blue is not your thing then you are out of luck as they are not available in any other colour.

At under £5 a piece they are competitively priced, especially as they are a branded product. The only downsides are that they don’t come with rubber mounts as an alternative to screws and that they are only available in blue LED.

Overall Score: 9/10

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