Thermaltake SWAFAN EX 12/14 RGB PC Fan Review

Oct 17, 2023

Thermaltake is back with a revision of their popular SWANFAN 12 & 14 line-up we’ve reviewed previously on the site. Let's dig deeper into their changes and what remains the same…

As usual, Thermaltake has packaged up the SWAFAN EX 12 & 14 kits in their familiar black box fashion with a good photo of the product and highlighted selling points. Overall, the box does a great job of product promotion and looks premium. More importantly, it does a great job of making sure the product itself arrives safe and sound.

Internally, the three SWAFAN fans, additional reverse flow fan blades, and all other accessories are packaged neatly. However, we would have preferred to see those plastic fan trays replaced with cardboard trays or boxes, even if it increases the cost marginally due to the extra complexity.Unboxing the accessories: we find three sets of case and 30mm radiator mounting screws (individually bagged), a 4th generation Tt fan controller, with a power cable with a MOLEX connector (disappointing), a USB internal header to dual Micro-A connector cable, and a separate bridge cable, which is used to daisy chain fan controllers. Finally, a syringe of shaft lubricant is included to lubricate the fan shaft when needed.

Looking closely at the 4th generation fan controller, we can see a stamped logo on the top of the unit and three of the five fan connectors on the top edge. The opposite side has the latter two fan connectors. The left side houses the USB Micro-A connector and the 4-pin bridge cable connector. This connector is used to connect to an additional controller with the ability to bridge 16 controller boxes in total. The right side has the power connector, which uses the "old-school" floppy connector and terminates at using a MOLEX connector, which is a disappointing connector choice as SATA power connectors have been the go-to for a while now.The bottom of the box reveals the dip switches which are used to set the controller box number when more than one is being used. Refer to the manual which clearly guides you on what switch to set for the box number you wish to use. What's great here is you can daisy chain up to 16 controller boxes, wow!

Taking a closer look at the SWAFAN 14 and 12, we can see three addressable LED light rings, with a pair on the outer edge as well as one around the fan bearing which lights up the fan blades. The corners all have anti-vibration rubber mounts as standard, which help stop vibrations from being passed on to radiators or the case. Something now found on all of Thermaltake's premium fans. With the SWAFAN EX 12 & 14 RGB fan kits being Thermaltake's new flagship product, it's time to discuss the point of the SWAFAN branding. The highlight of the SWAFAN EX kits is that the fan blades themselves are swappable. Thermaltake includes two sets of fans which are very easily swappable to change the direction of the airflow through that fan instead of removing and rotating a fan like usual. It also has the added benefit of being able to clean the fan blades easier once they are removed from the housing.

The detachable hydraulic fan bearing is clearly visible here as well as the fan motor. Thermaltake recommends using the included shaft lubricant every 3 to 4 times the fan blades are exchanged.Turning over the fan itself shows the fan shaft itself. It has a satisfying click letting you know you’ve installed the fan correctly however removing the blades for cleaning or swapping does require a bit of force which can risk damaging them if not done carefully.

Thermaltake has completely changed the way the fans connect to the 4th Gen controller box, and what's so great is that it uses a magnetic connector! The connector is a square box with 8 power and data pads and has a positive and negative magnetic field so it will mount the correct way every time, as shown in the photos above. It uses the traditional USB 2.0 connector at the other end of the cable that connects to the controller, so there's nothing new there.

One side of the fan has 8-pins and the other has 8-pads, which connect together magnetically so a single power and data cable can be used to power all three fans should you wish. Nice!

With the fans being able to connect together magnetically this will make attaching them together, as well as to a radiator or case very easy as you wish.

The LEDs are magnificently bright and clear as usual, which will delight "unicorn puke" lovers to no end.

Having used the SWAFAN EX 12 and 14 PC fan kit in our test bench for the last week we’re pleased to report they work fantastically well, and that these have been re-optimised to use as either case or radiator fans.The build quality is solid, with a strong matt black or white plastic that contrasts the LED strips/diffusers and fan blades perfectly. The LEDs are some of the brightest we’ve ever seen and light up the entire fan.

These fans excel in the cooling department too. Even when ramped up under load and whilst certainly being audible at the full 2000rpm they were not at all loud. The PWM and Performance profile was used in the Tt RGB Plus software to control the fan speed depending on CPU load which made the fans much more quieter.

The Thermaltake SWAFAN EX 12 and 14 RGB PC fan kits perform well in the cooling department and have a decent software package designed around them that is simple and easy to use.It's fair to say that these are some of the nicest looking and brightest RGB fans money can buy.

Let's not forget that the new flagship product can change the fan blades to control the direction of the airflow. This also has the added benefit of not having to remove the fan at all, the blade is easily removable, so you may find you won't have to remove radiators during maintenance making life just a little bit easier.

It also gives you the added flexibility of being able to easily control airflow in the case to fix issues with positive and negative air pressures, again without having to remove the entire fan.Finally, the fans can now also be installed in a less traditional pull configuration inside the case attached to a radiator but still show off all the RGB goodness you’d typically only get on the front of the fan. Simply put the reverse fan blades on to pull air through the radiators and still get awesome RGB inside the case. Win, win!

Of course, the updated EX fan connector is a real plus here. Being able to use a single magnetic connector to daisy-chain three fans together, as well as being easy to use, and a dream for cable management!

With all these premium features comes a premium price, and at £114.98 for the SWAFAN EX 12 black and white kits and £119.99 for the SWAFAN EX 14 black and white kits at Scan UK they’re around the premium price range Thermaltake has asked for before (with other fan ranges) but with better value features than ever before. Making these premium fan kits a justifiable purchase.

Finally, onto awards, and the Thermaltake SWAFAN EX 12 and SWAFAN EX 14 kits walk away with our Gold award which is well deserved. Both kits work perfectly and the fans look and perform to the highest standard, as well as improving on the SWAFAN kits we reviewed previously.

Big thanks to Thermaltake for sending in the SWAFAN EX 12 and 14 kits for today's review!

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