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Kingston recently introduced the HyperX
Fan to compliment their HyperX line of ram, but it can be purchased
separately for use with any ram, and they were kind enough to send
one over for review. Normally this kind of thing is not very useful
really, in my experience with ram coolers they tend not to work very
well, but the HyperX Fan is truly an exception. The HyperX Fan works,
and works very well, it's easy to install and the bright blue LEDs
will add a bit of color to your case. So read on to check it out and
learn just how well it performs...
Product
Name: Kingston
HyperX Fan
Author: Kristofer Brozio
Sponsor: Kingston
Tech
Specs,Features or the Basic Info:
Kingston
HyperX Fan
KHX-FAN
HyperX fan (stand-alone fan)
MSRP: $ 23.00
Memory cooling solution for
gamers and overclockers opting to create perfect memory environment
New Fan Keeps HyperX Memory
Cool While Looking Cool
The
dual 60mm fans optimize airflow around the modules helping memory run
at peak performance for longer periods of time. A video of the new
HyperX Fan has been posted on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKMtqL7pyQk.
"At LAN parties and
benchmarking events worldwide, HyperX enthusiasts told us they wanted
something cool looking to keep the memory cool," said Dara Sun,
HyperX product manager, Kingston. "We listened and thus
developed this fan as the perfect complement for both the standard
and taller HyperX T1 series modules. The hip blue lights give it a
bling factor that could be the difference between first and second
place in a system-build competition."
The HyperX Fan is made of
anodized aluminum and in the same familiar blue color as the HyperX
heatspreaders. When turned on, the fan blades are illuminated by
eight small blue LEDs. Power use is minimal and noise is not an issue
as the fan runs at a whisper-quiet 25 dBA*. The fan is available as a
standalone or bundled with Kingston’s 6GB 2000- and 1800MHz
triple-channel memory kits with the T1 heatspreaders for Intel Core
i7 systems.
The
HyperX fan is backed by a one-year warranty and free 24/7 technical
support. For detailed information please visit the Kingston Web site
at www.kingston.com.
* Maximum acoustical noise 28
dBA
About Kingston Technology
Company, Inc.
Kingston
Technology Company, Inc. is the world’s largest independent
manufacturer of memory products. Kingston designs, manufactures and
distributes memory products for desktops, laptops, servers, printers,
and Flash memory products for PDAs, mobile phones, digital cameras,
and MP3 players. Through its global network of subsidiaries and
affiliates, Kingston has manufacturing facilities in California,
Malaysia, Taiwan, China and sales representatives in the United
States, Europe, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, Australia, New Zealand,
India, Taiwan, China, and Latin America. For more information visit www.kingston.com.
A
Better Look at Things:
The Kingston HyperX fan comes in a
nice little sturdy cardboard box, at least that's how mine shipped.
Though mine didn't come with any instructions, but they're not needed
really, it's easy to figure out how to use it.
 
Opening everything up you'll find
the pieces individually wrapped, three main pieces, the center
section with the fans and two side pieces. There's also a bag of
thumbscrews included as well.
 
 
The HyperX Fan is made very well,
it's all aluminum except for the fans of course. The side of the main
unit has the HyperX logo and the side clips have the 'X' cut into
them.
 
 
The fans are 60mm, but I couldn't
find anything about the speeds they run at, I tried looking up the
model number but found no information, supposedly they run at about
28db.
 
The entire fan section just slides
out of the shroud, easier to clean that way I guess...
Installation
and Testing:
I don't have any HyperX ram so I
used my own of course, 8gigs of OCZ Fatal1ty DDR2 ram.
 
Installation
is fairly easy, for me I had a small problem because of the large CPU
cooler I'm using, the Thermalright
Ultra 120 Extreme,
it comes very close to the first ram slot, and the Kingston HyperX
Fan is rather large so it hit the side of the Ultra 120.
The HyperX fan mounts by sliding
the side clips over the clips on your ram slots, then tightening the
four screws down, this was fairly easy to do, though the screws are a
bit small and the one nearest the CPU cooler was hard to turn because
the cooler was in the way. Since the HyperX Fan is rather large it
hit the CPU cooler, this was easily this was easily fixed by just
sliding the HyperX Fan a little to the right, so it ended up being
mounted a little off of center really, but it is still secure, and
still covering the ram.
 
The blue LEDs are very bright and
add a bit of color to your case.
 
As I mentioned in the intro most
of these types of products don't work that well really, but the
Kingston HyperX Fan truly surprised me by how low my temps dropped.
Ambient room temperature during my
testing was 26.5C (+/- .3C).
For measuring temperatures I used
my Thermohawk200 infrared thermometer. Originally I was only going
to use one temperature from the center of the sticks of ram, but I
found that the temps varied from place to place, so I used three
temperatures for the measurements.
I ran my system just doing my
daily work for three hours and took temps with the Thermohawk200.
Then I installed the HyperX Fan and ran my system for another three
hours just continuing what I was doing. I took temperature
measurements from the Left center, Center and Right center of the ram
that was accessible, the last stick basically. In the following chart
you'll see the measurements I got before and after installing the
HyperX Fan.
The HyperX Fan is a great piece of
hardware, I was truly amazed at the temperature drop, I was expecting
maybe 1-2 degrees, but a drop of 8-10 degrees is amazing. The HyperX
Fan is the real deal, it will cool your ram.
The build quality of the HyperX
Fan is excellent and it looks great, it will be remaining in my
system for some time to come now, I'm very happy with the
performance.
The noise level though is a bit
loud, at least for me, I'm someone who likes to have a case that is
quiet. My case, a Cooler Master Black Label Cosmos, sits on my desk,
about 2 feet from me, I've done pretty much everything to make it as
quiet as possible, but the addition of the HyperX had noticeably
upped the noise level. When I'm here by myself I can really notice
it, but if I've got other background noises, such as my children it's
not as noticeable, but it might be worth the added noise to have the
ram that much cooler.
Summary
and Comments:
The HyperX Fan is a great little
product, it's an excellent addition to your system honestly. If
you're an overclocker, I'm sure you'll appreciate the temperature
drop the HyperX Fan will provide, it will allow you to get that much
more from your memory.
As mentioned, this will come
bundled with some HyperX ram, but it can be purchased separately as
well for those that desire the extra cooling potential.
The noise level is a bit much for
me, but I'm going to play with I a bit and see if I can adjust the
speeds, to lower the volume.
The size is a bit big, but it's
only a concern if you're using a large CPU Cooler as I am, so keep it
in mind if you're thinking about getting the HyperX Fan, and I would
recommend you do, even if you're not overclocking.
DragonSteelMods gives the HyperX
fan a 4.5 out of 5 score and our Recommended Award as well.
 
Pros:
+Works well
+Nicely made
+Fairly easy installation
+Bright LEDs
+Looks great
Cons:
-A bit on the loud side
-Large CPU coolers can get in way
of installation
I
would like to thank Kingston for the chance to review the HyperX
Fan and for their continued support of DSM.
review# 586
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