Hardware Bistro

Product: Wing & Silent
Manufacturer: Gelid Solutions
Supplied by: Gelid Solutions
Price: USD12.5~16.4 (Wing) & USD4.15~10.8 (Silent)
Launch Date: August 2008

Cooling is playing an important role for a stable and reliable computer. Most of the computer will have two kind of cooling systems; active and passive cooling. Today we are going to bring you an active cooling review from a new cooling company which based in Hong Kong; Gelid Solution and we will look into their Wing & Silent products which were just officially launched recently.

 
Company Profile

GELID Solutions Ltd. is a Hong Kong based company with Swiss Management and founded in 2008 by Gebhard SCHERRER and VC TRAN. Both have worked in the PC Cooling industry for a number of years and successfully built up an  IT company with their expertise.  The English word "gelid" is derived from the Latin word “gelidus” (extremely cold, icy).  

GELID designs and manufactures thermal solutions, CPU coolers, fans, and other computer hardware for both gamers and silent enthusiasts. Gelid Solution provide computer hardware distributors, retailers and system integrators with innovative, virtually silent, high- performance and top quality thermal solutions. Quality and innovation are key. And, being Swiss, Gelid leave nothing to chance. That's why Gelid Soliton provide a total solution – from bearings to thermal compound, from design to shipping, from the moulding of the fan to the print on the box – with state-of-the-art machines and experienced staff.

As their latest venture, GELID Solutions Ltd. is a privately owned limited liability company with a registered share capital of HKD 1’000’000. Strategically based in Hong Kong, “Asia’s World City”, it enjoys an unrivalled location at the geographical and economic centre of Asia. For our customers, this means easy and quick access to our vast manufacturing base in mainland China. 

Features/ Specifications

 

 

WING 8	WING 9	WING 12
Air Flow (CFM):	28.1	39.8	64.3
Bearing:	Nanoflux Bearing (NFB)
Cable Length (mm):	500	500	500
Connector:	3 Pin Molex
Current (A):	0.1	0.14	0.22
Dimension (mm):	80 x 80 x 25	92 x 92 x 25	120 x 120 x 25
Fan Speed (RPM):	2000	2000	1500
INCLUDED:	4 Fan Mounts, Fan Speed Control
Nanoflux Bearing:	Yes	Yes	Yes
Noise Level (dBA):	21	22.5	25
Safety Approvals:	UL, CUL, CE, RoHS Compliant
Static Pressure(mmAq):	2.05	2.15	1.925
Voltage (V):	12	12	12
Warranty (years):	5	5	5
Weight (g):	68	75	119

 

	SILENT 8	SILENT 9	SILENT 12
Air Flow (CFM):	20.72	31.32	37
Bearing:	Hydro Dynamic Bearing
Cable Length (mm):	500	500	500
Connector:	3 Pin Molex
Current (A):	0.08	0.1	0.08
Dimensions (mm):	80 x 80 x 25	92 x 92 x 25	120 x 120 x 25
Fan Speed (RPM):	1600	1500	1000
INCLUDED:	4 Rubber Fan Mounts
Noise Level (dBA):	18	20	20.2
Safety Approvals:	CE, RoHS Compliant
Static Pressure(mmAq):	1.05
Voltage (V):	12	12	12
Warranty (years):	5	5	5
Weight (G):	55	76	130

 

	SILENT 8 TC	SILENT 9 TC	SILENT 12 TC
Air Flow (CFM):	27	37.89	58
Bearing:	Hydro Dynamic Bearing
Cable Length (mm):	500	500	500
Connector:	3 Pin Molex
Current (A):	0.13	0.18	0.18
Dimensions (mm):	80 x 80 x 25	92 x 92 x 25	120 x 120 x 25
Fan Speed (RPM):	900 (22C) - 2000 (42C)		750 - 1500
INCLUDED:	4 Rubber Fan Mounts
Noise Level (dBA):	10 - 21.5	11-23.5	12-25.5
Safety Approvals:	CE, RoHS Compliant
Sensor Cable Length:	300mm
Static Pressur(mmAq):	1.65	2	1.6
Voltage (V):	12	12	12
Warranty (years):	5	5	5
Weight (G):	55	76	130

 

	SILENT 8 PWM	SILENT 9PWM	SILENT 12 PWM
Air Flow (CFM):	27	37.89	58
Bearing:	Hydro Dynamic Bearing
Cable Length (mm):	500	500	500
Connector:	3 Pin Molex
Current (A):	0.13	0.18	0.18
Dimensions (mm):	80 x 80 x 25	92 x 92 x 25	120 x 120 x 25
Fan Speed (RPM):	900 - 2000	900 - 2000	750 - 1500
INCLUDED:	4 Rubber Fan Mounts
Noise Level (dBA):	10 - 21.5	11-23.5	12-25.5
Safety Approvals:	CE, RoHS Compliant
Static Pressure(mmAq):	1.65	2	1.6
Voltage (V):	12	12	12
Warranty (years):	5	5	5
Weight (G):	55	76	130

Packaging

 

Gelid Solutions Wing is a gamer performance fan so it is not surprise that it comes with a luxurious packaging with glossy surface to attract the customer especially gamer and PC enthusiast. All the features and specifications are well printed on the packaging. Gelid Solutions Wing comes with fan speed controller & cable, 4 silicone fan mounts, 3M double sided tape and a Gelid logo label.

  

Gelid Solutions Silent does not come with as luxury packaging as Wing but it still comes with standard packaging, gelid logo label and 4 rubber fan mounts which is still better than screws. Gelid Solutions Silent has three different models; standard Silent, Silent TC and Silent PWM. All of them have the same packaging but front and back packaging have indicator to differentiae them.

 
You might have heard about Five years warranty for a hard disk but have you came across with five years warranty for a fan? Yes, both Gelid Solutions Wing and Silent comes with 5 years warranty which show that Gelid Solutions products have achieved certain level of good quality else they will not commit such long warranty period for customer. Besides that both of these fans are RoHS and WEEE qualified. 

 

Gelid Solutions Wing

 

Before we start with the Gelid Wing, let us talk about patented Gelid’s Nanoflux. Nanoflux is a clever magnetic design which produced by a very high precision manufacturing and runs frictions-frees or called frictionless which will produce a fan that will operates noiseless. Electromagnetic fields are exploited to keep solid parts from touching and the load is carried by a magnetic field. The Nano-technology composite ensures lowest abrasion and extreme durability Mean Time to Failure (MTTF) 100’000 hours.

   

Currently in the market, there are two major types of fan; conventional sleeve and ball bearing. Sleeve bearing fan have low noise emission but it is costly and not so long lasting. In the other hand, ball bearing fan can last longer but costlier, nosier and can get damage more easily. Gelid’s Nanoflux bearing uses magnetic flux to limit contact and friction between the bearing and the shaft. Besides that high precision self lubricated POM material can reduce oil leakage problem which found on sleeve bearing fan.

Wing is a premium quality fan from Gelid which is UV reactive, ultra quiet, water & dust-proof fan which is targeting for gaming enthusiasts. Gelid Solutions Wing have three size; 80mm, 92mm and 120mm where it should fulfill almost 99.9% computer users except those computer freaks which are using 160mm cooling fan but I believe it will be quite costly and noisy for that size.
 

  

Gelid Solutions Wing consists of two colors; glossy solid black for fan body and transparent green for fan blades which are UV reactive and extremely suitable for PC modding users. Gelid Solutions Wing does not come with UV LED which is good as UV LED will affect the pretty of UV reactive. The UV reactive for Gelid Solutions Wing can be just lighted up by a standard UV CCFL. Gelid Solutions Wing is water and dust proof which mostly contributed by the glossy case fan body and fan blade where the dust can be easily cleaned up.

If you look close for the Gelid Solutions Wing, you will find that the fan blade is different than standard fan blade and this is the first time I saw it; Gelid Solutions called them Winglet Blade. It will help to concentrate the air flow, provide greater air flow (CFM) and greater static pressure.

 

 

Same as standard fan, Gelid Solutions Wing have fan rotation and air flow indication on the case fan body. However both of them are seperated and are hid at the edge of the fan body. It would be better for Gelid Solutions to locate them in more obvious place for next generation of Gelid Solutions Wing which is good for newbie else they might install the fan at wrong orientation.

 

Sleeved cable is good for cable management and protection where most of the PC enthusiats are looking for especially those PC Modder. If the sleeving has UV reactive as wel then it will be much better.

 

Fan speed controller is just a voltage regulatory for an engineer. Basically it plays around with the resistor inside the voltage regulator; V=IR. This voltage regulator regulates between 5V and 12V and this will control the RPM of the fan. The controller knob is a bit small which is not good for those have big thumb like me.

  

Gelid Solutions Wing comes with 4 fan mounts with high quality ultra soft UV reactive silicone material which replace the standard screws and this fan mount will help to reduce the shock & vibrant of the fan and generate lesser noise. A piece of 3M double sided tape is given but I believe user will prefer those double sided tape which can be tear and stick back; greater flexibility. 

 

Gelid Silent

 

After went through Gelid Solutions Wing, now it’s time to talk about another great product from Gelid Solutions; Silent which is more affordable for midrange enthusiasts. As stated earlier, Gelid Silent comes with three version; standard Silent, Silent TC and Silent PWM. Each of them has slightly different function and purpose.  

 

Gelid Solutions Silent TC does not have fan speed controller like Gelid Solutions Wing which has build in temperature sensor to control the fan speed by providing necessary airflow accordingly with the temperature that it is detected by not generate unnecessary noise. Basically Gelid Solutions Silent TC is embedded with an intelligent in the fan PCB allows smart variable fan speeds. The external sensor can be positioned at anywhere to control the Gelid Silent TC fan speed.

Besides standard and TC version of Gelid Solutions Silent; Gelid Solutions Silent PWM is another model which has integrated an intelligent IC in the fan PCB to exploit the motherboard’s BIOS software in order to adjust the case fan speed; RPM according to the CPU work load. Basically it is much easily for those users don’t like to manually adjust the fan speed through fan speed controller. Basically Gelid Solutions Silent PWM will calculate the appropriate cooling performance according to CPU and system temperature. There will not generate heat by PWM which is unlike fan speed controller where the heat will be generated by the voltage regulator.

This is PWM cable where it will provide signal and communicate with motherboard BIOS to control the fan speed of the Gelid Solutions Silent PWM fan. This cable is not sold in the same bundle of Gelid Solutions Silent PWM fan so if user doesn't or forget to purchase this cable then the user will not able to utilize the PWM function.

Gelid Solutions Silent also comes with sleeved cable which looks nicer and great for cable management. Gelid Solutions Silent does not come with UV reactive silicone fan mounts but it still come with standard rubber fan mounts. Gelid Solutions Silent does not have any fan rotation and airflow direction indicator which should be improved.

Testing & Performance

 

After some testing, I would say both Gelid Solutions Wing and Silent are pretty silent although running in full speed and for the airflow, of course Gelid Solutions Wing produce higher airflow than Gelid Silent; you may refer to the specification. Higher current for Gelid Solutions Wing will definitely will produce greater speed; V=IR concept. Basically Gelid Silent TC and PWM have the same performance as they have same specification and the difference between them is the way that how user would like to control the fan speed; by thermo sensor or through motherboard BIOS. 

Result Updated on 10/30

Test Bed
Processor : Intel Core 2 Duo E8300
CPU Cooler : Tuniq Tower 120
Memory : 4GB 800MHz DDR2 Memory
Hard Drive : 250GB 7200RPM 8MB Seagate HDD
Graphic Card : Nvidia GeForce GTX280
Power Supply : GlacialPower GP-AL650A
Optical Drive : 16x DVD RW
System BIOS : F7
Operating System : Microsoft Window XP SP2
Benchmark Software : HD Tech 3.0
Ambient Temperature : 28 Degree Celsius

 

Updated on 10/30 - After received some other popular case fans from other brands like Nanoxia, Noctua and Xthermal, we have updated the performance result and compare with Gelid Wind and Silent in order to provide clearly picture for readers. For the testing, we used Tuniq Tower 120 and this is one of the giant CPU cooler that is using 12cm fan.

 

 

Base on the results above, it is clearly show that Gelid Wing with lower fan speed; 1658 RPM but able to beat all the rest of the 12cm case fans including the Tuniq stock fan which is running at 2083 RPM. This is really amazing as we didn't expect a slower fan speed fan will able to beat a much higher fan speed fan with 3 degree lower. Gelid Silent TC and PWM are having same performance and PWM will running at high speed during full load but the rest of the fans will remain the same fan speed; this is one of the advantages of Gelid Silent PWM.

 

Pricing

 

 

MSRP (USD)	8cm	9cm	12cm
Wing	$12.50	$13.50	$16.40
Silent	$4.15	$5.05	$5.75
Silent TC	$7.80	$9.20	$10.80
Silent PWM	$7.50	$9.00	$10.50

 

Conclusion

 

Overall Gelid Solutions Wing and Silent series fans are great features and high quality cooling fan especially Gelid Wing is really outstanding with its silent operation with great performance. There are available in 80, 92 and 120mm. For the pricing, Gelid Solutions Wing and Silent are not really expensive if you compare the price at Amazon, however it will be expensive for most of the end users expect those hardcore users. If you would like to get these fans as the CPU cooling fan for certain supported heatsink which be much reasonable rather than just purchase them for normal case fan usage unless money is not an issue for you.

Pros:
* Good Performance especially Wing
* Fan mounts
* Auto or Manual fan speed controller
* Cable sleeved
* UV reactive for Gelid Wing

Cons:
* A bit expensive

 

 

Thanks to Gelid Solutions for providing these samples for us to review.


For Gelid Solutions Wing


For Gelid Solutions Silent

 

 

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