We have previously reviewed the Vardar ER and Vardar Vanilla and found it to be not quite as good as EK’s marketing hoped when compared to the Gentle Typhoon. However they were still great performing fans and are easier to get and in a wider variety of colors than the Typhoons. They’ve also since been updated/recalled to solve some of the low RPM noise problems. The new Vardar EVO adds 0dB technology aka a start/stop function that ensure the user a true 0dB noise environment if desired. If the PWM curve is set so that the PWM duty cycle is below 25-30% PWM (depending on the motherboard model) the fan will simply stop spinning. If the PWM duty cycle is raised by the fan control software, the fan will spin up once again. EK-Vardar EVO ER models also feature Hydro-Dynamic bearing which EK claims is superior to double-ball bearing due to less friction, wear and vibration and consequently less noise. Here’s our editor’s personal take on this: “Personally I love the 0dB start/stop tech on my EVGA GPUs with air cooling – in low power modes (everything but gaming) the cards are truly silent and there is zero dust build up. However I’ve never had much luck when turning off fans with a water cooling loop because the coolant gets quite warm quite quickly and so the fans constantly need to cycle on and off. Now that is partly how I run my CPU overclock, but it’s also because a CPU doesn’t usually power down when you’re doing light tasks as much as a powerful GPU could. I much prefer to run my water cooling loop fans at a minimum of ~500rpm which can keep temps reasonably low and in check while still providing a ‘pseudo silent’ behaviour i.e. the noise is so far below ambient noise that you can’t hear it anyway. These Vardar EVO fans therefore would be mostly suited to low power builds e.g. a quad core without hyperthreading that still has all the power saving features turned on.” – Stren Other key marketing characteristics of EK-Vardar EVO fans are:
 Pricing and availability. Black EK-Vardar EVO ER fans are already available for purchase through EK Webshop and Partner Reseller Network. EK-Furious Vardar EVO and white EK-Vardar EVO fans are going to be available in the next few weeks. The EK-Vardar fans were first announced and released nearly three years ago to the day. It was a time when PC fans, especially for watercooling, were not the best from a performance point of view, and the venerable Gentle Typhoon was no longer to be found since Scythe had parted ways with Nidec-Servo. EKWB promised not only an alternative in the same mindset, but an even better performing one at that. The original Vardar fans all had dual ball bearings, and they came in the 140 mm size range as well, which helped a lot too. Then came a batch of bad ball bearings that caused a lot of issues to customers and the company alike, while others improved upon their own offerings. The Gentle Typhoon made a comeback, and we even have magnetic levitation bearings in this market now. EKWB has revised their fan series under the Vardar EVO name, and this includes the Vardar EVO 120ER, today's review subject. As the name might indicate, the EK-Vardar EVO 120ER is a 120 mm fan with an extended range (hence the -ER in the name) of control. It comes in all black or white color options, which is nice to see, and for those who care about it let me mention right away that there is no built-in lighting whatsoever here. These color options aside, the Vardar EVO aims to tickle your performance bone solely. Indeed, even the name is fitting then given Vardar is, and I quote, "a type of the cold northwesterly wind blowing from the mountains down to the valleys of Macedonia. It is a type of ravine wind, enhanced by a channeling effect while blowing down through the Moravia-Vardar gap, bringing cold conditions from the north to the Thessaloniki area of Greece." Thanks again to EKWB for the review sample, and let us begin the review with a look at the specifications below. SpecificationsEK-Vardar EVO 120ER FanDimensions:120 x 120 x 25 mmRated speed:350-2200 (+/- 10%) RPMMax airflow:77 CFMMax static pressure:3.16 mm H2O Noise:33.5 dBA Fan control:4-pin/PWM control Current draw:0.18 A peak Warranty:Two years |
