DeepCool UF120 120mm Case Fan Review

Deep Cool UF120 Retail Packaging

Here we see the front of the box of the UF120 showing off the fan and it’s key features along with Chinese sub-text. The main marketing points are:

• 2 Ball Bearing (also called Dual Ball Bearing or 2BB/DBB for short.)

• Dual Ball Bearings are good because they have a high Mean Time Before Failure (MTBF) and eliminate one of the negative sides of normal Ball Bearing Fans which is noise.

De-Vibration

• This is a lost in translation point; but it more or less is trying to tell you that this fan comes with plenty of anti-vibration accessories and built in features. Which we’ll see if they really work.

Super Silent

• Self explanatory, this fan is supposed to be quiet. And we’ll see if that’s true or not.

P.W.M. Control

• This fan is Pulse Width Modulation based in it’s speed control. Pulse Width Modulation relies on just a 12v signal being sent to the fan in bursts, instead of the voltage being reduced by a resistor, to reduce fan speed. This is superior to voltage method as it allows more average fans to go down to 50% fan speed with ease. And generates almost zero excess heat.

Here’s a back picture of the box with plenty of different which list fan specifications in many different languages and talks about the main anti-vibration method of this fan. Which is the T.P.E Coating on the fan.

From the box:

“The main structure of the UF Fan Series is made of normal PC Plastic to maintain a strong structure.
The extraordinary part lies with the outer plastic frame. It is made of super soft and elastic TPE Material, which can absorb operation vibration maximumly.
This TPE cover technology and 2 ball bearing can keep the fan operating quietly and smoothly.”

What is PC Plastic you may ask? Well it’s ABS Plastic which you can read more about online. To make a long statement short; it’s a cheap, rigid, and durable plastic used in most PC Components like your standard fan frames and such.

Now the question is, what is their T.P.E. Material? Well it’s a Thermoplastic that’s like a combination of plastic and rubber. While it’s durable and strong, it’s also flexible. And like stated by Deep Cool is one of their primary methods of reducing vibration since the TPE Coating absorbs some of the vibrations of the fans operation.

Here is actually a photo taken from Deep Cool’s website which covers their marketing point about the Plastic Inner Frame with the TPE Outer Coating. This photo was not taken by me, but used to illustrate just how thick the rubber coating is. And how they actually implemented this feature.

Though, because of the TPE coating. Using regular fans crews is not recommended as the threading could tear up the TPE Material and cause problems in the future. Stick to rubber fans screws. Or screws that are non threaded rods besides t he tips.
The inside cover of the box. Nothing fancy but a nice logo. The backside of this box is white and thus nothing worth showing.

The inside cover of the box. Nothing fancy but a nice logo. The backside of this box is white and thus nothing worth showing.

This is the inside lid of the box; and as you can see the fan itself as well.
The graphs on the inside are just your standard Airflow to Sound Pressure graphs. It also details how to install the fan and accessories included.

A larger picture of the inside lid. It’s rather simple. Written in both Chinese & English. It covers the whole UF Fan Series. And mounting instructions are only different for the UF 140, while it’s the same for the UF 92, UF 80, & UF120. The Graph for the UF 120 states that at 70CFM this fan will have a static pressure of 1.8mmH20 which while low, it’s rather on the high side of things for what’s sold as a quiet or low noise fan.