Fans are everywhere, cooling down sensitive to heat electronic devices. They are often overlooked unless noisy because they just do their job for long periods until they stop spinning.
The most popular bearing types used in PC cooling fans are the following:
● Sleeve bearing
● Rifle bearing
● Double ball (DBB) bearing
● Fluid dynamic bearing (FDB) and hydro dynamic bearing (HDB)
● Magnetic bearing
We named our fan performance standard Phi after the Greek letter «Φ,» which represents the golden ratio.
All fans are tested under 25 dBA normalized noise output, and we take into account these results to rank them in the following categories. Why did we choose this specific noise level for our standard? Because at 25 dBA, a fan can spin fast enough to achieve decent performance, while this noise level isn’t high enough to annoy the majority of users. Anything higher or lower than this noise level would be too noisy, or performance would be hugely affected.
What about the fans that don’t even reach 25 dBA noise output? Unfortunately, we cannot rate them, and these fans are not performance-oriented anyway, so there is no need to have a performance badge. Our fan database only includes a handful of fans that cannot reach 25 dBA noise output.
PFPS – 120mm Fan Airflow Levels/Requirements – 25 dBA Normalized Noise Output
| Performance Levels | Requirements
|
|---|---|
| Bronze | ≥34 CFM & <38 CFM |
| Silver | ≥38 CFM & <42 CFM |
| Gold | ≥42 CFM & <46 CFM |
| Platinum | ≥46 CFM & <50 CFM |
| Titanium | ≥50 CFM & <55 CFM |
| Diamond | ≥55 CFM |
PFPS – 120mm Fan Static Pressure Levels/Requirements – 25 dBA Normalized Noise Output
| Performance Levels | Requirements
|
|---|---|
| Bronze | ≥0.8 mmAq & <1.0 mmAq |
| Silver | ≥1.0 mmAq & <1.25 mmAq |
| Gold | ≥1.25 mmAq & <1.5 mmAq |
| Platinum | ≥1.5 mmAq & <1.75 mmAq |
| Titanium | ≥1.75 mmAq & <2.0 mmAq |
| Diamond | ≥ 2 mmAq |
PFPS – 135/140mm Fan Airflow Levels/Requirements – 25 dBA Normalized Noise Output
| Performance Levels | Requirements
|
|---|---|
| Bronze | ≥45 CFM & <50 CFM |
| Silver | ≥50 CFM & <55 CFM
|
| Gold | ≥55 CFM & <60 CFM |
| Platinum | ≥60 CFM & <65 CFM |
| Titanium | ≥65 CFM & <70 CFM |
| Diamond | ≥70 CFM
|
PFPS – 135/140mm Fan Static Pressure Levels/Requirements – 25 dBA Normalized Noise Output
| Performance Levels | Requirements
|
|---|---|
| Bronze | ≥0.7 mmAq & <0.9 mmAq |
| Silver | ≥0.9 mmAq & <1.1 mmAq |
| Gold | ≥1.1 mmAq & <1.3 mmAq |
| Platinum | ≥1.3 mmAq & <1.5 mmAq |
| Titanium | ≥1.5 mmAq & <1.7 mmAq |
| Diamond | ≥1.7 mmAq
|
Since we don’t want to confuse users, we used the highly familiar metal and carbon ratings that we already use for our PSU efficiency ratings: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Titanium, and Diamond.
There are two fan categories, the most popular ones: 120mm and 135/140mm. There are also two badges for the fan’s main performance factors: airflow and static pressure.