Thermaltake TOUGHFAN 14 Black PWM 140mm Radiator Fan

The two pack is good value. Comes with one splitter and two low-noise adapters. The fan cables are overlong and sleeved – which can be a great advantage as you can easily send it behind the MB tray to route it somewhere discrete, or cumbersome if you planned to plug it to a motherboard header that’s right there close to it in the middle of the board. Can run a good deal of its highest RPM without being especially noisy, is still exceedingly efficient at virtually silent levels.

I used both as exhaust fans in two builds with air coolers, and it really shines in such a role, but I guess it does real great with a watercooler radiator as well.

–Update 05.22.2024–
My first out of 6 fans failed. It’s been close to 3 years and 6 months, and entire year less than the advertised MTBF and that’s IF the computer is on 24/7 which this PC was not! Pretty crappy if you ask me!

–Original Review–
Thermaltake doesn’t exactly have the best reputation. They are known for ripping off of successful products and putting their own badge on it.

Noctua announced they would be releasing a Chromax version of their best fan, the NF-A12x25, in the recent past, I can’t point to the exact date. However, there are photos of prototypes being shown at CES, and it looks EXACTLY like this.

What Thermaltake CAN’T copy is:
1) The motor used. It will definitely be inferior to Noctua’s.
2) The overall design. The toughfan actually does not sit flush on a flat surface because of the anti-vibration pads. This creates a ~1-2mm gap between the fan and radiator that reduces static pressure. It DOES sit flat without the pads.
3) The blade tolerances. Despite them also using some sort of proprietary Liquid Crystal Polymer to manufacture the blades, I’m sure that Noctua’s tolerances are way, way higher, which will reduce turbulent noise further.
4) The MTBF. Only 40k hours. That’s a joke. However, that’s also 4.5 years of continuous operation. Although Noctua is 150k hours which is basically forever.
5) The warranty. 2 year for Toughfan, 6 for Noctua.
6) Accessories. The 2 pack does come with a splitter and screws, but that’s it. Noctua comes with anti-vibration mount, anti-vibration cover, an extension cable, a low noise cable, screws, and a splitter.

However, at $35 for 2? You can’t beat the value. The Noctua’s will surely cost that much for ONE.

Do I recommend this? HELL YES. They are QUIET. I will give this sentence it’s own paragraph because it CANNOT BE UNDERSTATED HOW QUIET THESE ARE. You’ve read other reviews of quiet fans? NO, THESE ARE IN ANOTHER LEAGUE. They are basically INAUDIBLE below 1200 rpm, and just a minor hum at 1500. They are RIDICULOUSLY quiet. Only the Arctic p12’s can be compared honestly, but those have other issues, so I can’t recommend those. I’m positive that the Noctua’s are just imperceivably better than these because honestly, if there is no noise, then there is no noise.

They push a ‘decent’ amount of air, not the most, but certainly not the least. However, they have excellent directional airflow and will perform very well on heatsinks and radiators. There are other fans that are far superior in moving more air. Consider this fan more of a “sniper rifle” than a “flame thrower”. Want a “flame thrower”? Get a Scythe Kaze Flex 2000 rpm. That thing moves so much air, it’s ridiculous. However, it’s also much much louder. I personally use the Toughfan for ALL my needs, including case fans, as I value low noise more than anything else.

The only other fans that might compete in value are the Arctic p12 fans, but those let out a high pitch whine sound as the fan ramps up and down that I couldn’t stand, so I returned them. Those were almost perfect.

These will certainly sell out as soon as Noctua releases the Chromax version of their fans, as these are nearly identical at a fraction of the cost. They look pretty much the same too!

الدفع في المراوح رهيب و قوي صوتها مزعج اذا كانت على اعلى اعدات غير ذالك فهي جيدا جداً

As someone who is budget conscious, I wanted to look for a fan that was similar in performance and quality to noctua NF-F12x25 (basically the best 25mm fan that uses the special polymer that makes the blades spin so close to the edges) but without spending $30 on a SINGLE fan. This product basically matches the Noctua fan but at a lower price point per fan. Its as quiet, and as powerful. its not as robust feeling as the Noctua fans, nor has the fancy packaging, but it gets the job done.

PWM changes do not sound, to my ear, like they are buzzing or emitting a high pitch wine. The consensus online was that it happened at around 1000-1100RM (50% fan speed). But my computer has a pretty relaxed fan curve. so it transistions between speeds much slower than normal, and I cannot discern any noise other than the air going through the fan.

My temperatures are excellent. in my current configuration, my CPU does not exceed 70°C and same with my GPU under full load. the airflow is from bottom to top, so the air is being exchanged in my system pretty quickly. the fans are dead silent at 30% so it keeps your system cool while staying silent.

Now did they get to the lower price point by tweaking Noctua’s homework? maybe, I mean the fan blades do look very similar. plus the open bearing in the middle of the fan doesn’t really strike me as original. But considering that the Phanteks T30 also looks like the NFa12x25 , but fatter, I don’t think it really matters all that much.

To get this level of fan performance for a lower cost per fan compared to the competition is unmatched. Two of these fans for the price of one Noctua? That’s crazy. However, the price is still on the high end for fans. I used to have a set of Arctic P12s that came in a 5-Pack. they were not as good, but were basically the same price as one Noctua fan.

Do I recommend them? Yes. Get these fans, you won’t regret it.