SilverStone FM83 & FM123 Fans

Performance:

We had tested out both the SilverStone FM83 and FM123 with a system that was using the SilverStone Temjin TJ09 and a SilverStone Olympia OP650 power supply. We had installed the FM123 into one of the top 120mm fan slots inside the EATX chassis while the FM83 was tested outside of the chassis itself to get a better idea for its noise level.

While the fan speed for both fans can be adjusted, when the FM83 and FM123 were maxed out, they were both very loud. While not quite as loud as the old Vantec Tornado case fans, they were much louder than the other SilverStone case fans installed in the TJ09 as well as an Arctic Cooling fan that was also installed; however, these new SilverStone fans had also pushed the most amount of air. Using the fan speed controller, we were able to find a point where the noise was manageable and still had pushed enough air through the system.

Conclusion:

From the plastic product packaging to the ability of having three variable speed fans per fan controller bracket, SilverStone has designed a great product offering for both the FM83 and FM123. However, it's not quite perfect. We would have liked to see all of the wires sleeved as opposed to just the wires that led to the fan controller. The ability to manually adjust the fan speeds is nice, but we would have rather liked it if SilverStone would have gone with a 4-pin PWM fan design to dynamically adjust the fan speed. Both fans had performed very well, but when they were both running at their maximum speeds, the system was rather loud. However, all in all the SilverStone FM83 and FM123 are great products if you are after computer case fans that have a performance edge and would like the ability to adjust their fan speed manually. The FM83 is currently selling for around $15 USD while the FM123 is about $17 USD.

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