Scythe Minebea Silent IC (4710KL-04W)
Overclockers know the Japanese Scythe Company not only as a manufacturer of highly efficient CPU coolers, but also as a widely spread fan brand embracing a lot of models of different sizes and types. Today we are going to talk about three sets of Scythe fans. The first one to begin with will be Scythe Minebea Silent IC represented by three pairs of 120-mm fans.
This fan line-up includes three models with 1100RPM, 1600RPM and 1900RPM fan rotation speeds that care shipped in transparent plastic boxes:
Low (4710KL-04W-B19-VB2)
| Mid (4710KL-04W-B19-V54)
| High (4710KL-04W-B29-V52)
|
The fans are bundled with a 3-pin-to-Molex adapter and four retention screws:
There is a cable for fan rotation speed monitoring coming out of the adapter. So, if you don’t want to or simply can’t use regular connector for some reason you can still monitor the fan rotation speed even when the fan is connected directly to the system power supply.
The fans measure 119 x 119 x 25mm and are made of smooth black plastic. They look very serious. There are no LEDs, bright colors or transparent blades:
Nine fan blades seem quite simple at first glance but in reality they are very well optimized to ensure lower noise:
The blade inside and outside edges are a little beveled, which should not only improve the fan efficiency but also guarantee better acoustic comfort. Although in reality practice shows that the main peculiarity of this fan series is a good balance between air consumption and air pressure, which have been increased to the maximum without increasing the level of generated noise.
The rotor sticker indicates that the fans are made by Minebea-Matsushita Motor Co.:
Low (4710KL-04W-B19-VB2)
| Mid (4710KL-04W-B19-V54)
| High (4710KL-04W-B29-V52)
|
According to the specifications, the fan rotation speeds are 1100 (±110) RPM, 1600 (±160) RPM and 1900 (±190) RPM respectively. But in reality it turned out that the fans of two last models rotate at 1690RPM and 2010RPM, while the first one works at exact claimed speed of 1100RPM. The generated noise of these fans corresponds to their rotation speeds and equals 18, 27 and 31dBA, but you can hear the rotor working even by the slowest model: you hear slight rustling of the plastic. As we discovered it is a native peculiarity of the NMB ball bearings used in these fans. However, despite this rustling sound, the fans boast a record breaking life-time of 180,000 hours.
The fans weigh 180g each (I have to admit that they are unusually heavy). Their static pressure is not record-breaking at all and is comparable to that of similar solutions from Scythe’ competitors. The cable is 300mm long, with another additional 150mm provided by the Molex connector part. The fans are pretty expensive and their retail price is set at around $18-$20. In conclusion I have to say that Scythe Minebea Silent IC have been already discontinued, although they are still available in retail and online.
