Cougar Dual-X 120mm Blue LED Case Fan Review – Innovative Design With Powerful Performance

INSTALLATION AND PERFORMANCE

We will be installing the Cougar Dual-X 120mm case fan into the Cougar Spike mini-tower gaming case, which we previously reviewed here.  The next pair of images show the Dual-X securely screwed to the front fan mounting of our Spike mini-tower, and a close-up of one of the corner pads.  This feature may be just as important to quiet operation as the quiet air flow technology and the hydraulic bearing technology that are incorporated into the Cougar Dual-X case fan.

When it comes to discussing the relative “quietness” or “noisiness” of a case fan, we need to understand that there are two primary sources of noise production.  The first is the operation of the fan itself, including air turbulence, air volume, bearing-type, possible bent shaft, lack of lubrication, and physical damage all being possible noise production sources.

The second primary cause of a “noisy” case fan is the mounting itself, which often manifests itself in the form of resonance or vibration in the area of the panel that the fan is mounted to, or in the entire panel itself if it is able to vibrate against the chassis or an adjacent panel (as in a fan mounted in a removable side panel).

In reading customer reviews of case fans on e-tailers’ sites, it is sometimes a bit amusing to see the polar opposite experiences that some claim to have had with fan noise compared to other users.  One has to wonder how many of these situations were simply caused by an inadequate mounting.  How different would their review have been with the fan actually having been securely mounted?

Experienced builders often avoid this issue by slipping a thin flat rubber washer between the fan frame and the mounting area as they install the mounting screws.  There are even fan frame “gaskets” available (usually listed under “case accessories”) if you choose to go to that extreme and a few extra dollars of expense.

Or you could just purchase a Cougar Dual-X case fan.  The rubber pads on the mounting corners of the Dual-X eliminate any need or concern for additional vibration-proofing.  The amount of surface area of these pads that contacts the mounting surface is going to be substantial in most situations, as it is on the Spike case.  Once you have your Dual-X’s mounting screws tightened down evenly, you have a solid and securely mounted case fan on your hands.  This is one feature of the Cougar Dual-X 120mm where Cougar just plain got it right.

We connected the Cougar Dual-X 120mm to a (semi)infinitely variable fan controller, monitored with a multi-meter.  It took a little over 3 volts to get the fan turning, and operation is smooth and quiet all the way up to around 10 volts.  At this point there is a noticeable jump in fan speed, with another noticeable uptick at the full 12 volts.  Once we snap the cover of the Cougar Spike case back on, the noise level of the fan is inaudible at all but the highest rpms.  In a quiet room, even at a full 12 volts, the sound level is audible, but still surprisingly low-level.  In a room with any sort of ambient noise present, the Cougar Dual-X 120mm is as silent as they come.

When it comes to airflow, the Cougar Dual-X 120mm can push some serious air volume, or in the case of our “testing” scenario, some serious smoke volume. Each time we increase the fan speed, it takes 1-2 minutes for the smoke flow pattern to stabilize. With no drive cage in the lower part of the front of the Cougar Spike case, the fan is able to push air (smoke) steadily into the graphics card and memory areas of the motherboard.  At around 10 volts, the rpms pick up noticeably, and the smoke is pushed well into the case before the turbulence created by the CPU cooler fan and the rear exhaust fan began to disrupt the airflow. At over 64 cfm of rated airflow, the Dual-X 120mm is well into the upper tier of air flow for 120mm case fans.

And then there is the visual aspect of the Cougar Dual-X 120mm’s blue LEDs.  Cougar has achieved an appealing, balanced LED light output with the Dual-X.  Sufficiently bright without any excessive glare, the Dual-X looks as good in operation as it sounds (or doesn’t sound) and performs.  The above two images show how the blue LEDs appear in the Cougar Spike case.  The first one is from a fully lit room view, with the second being with a single lamp on.  Below we have the view with the room lights out completely, and for you LED freaks, the front-cover-off night view.