Scythe Brings Out EX-FDB Bearing Kama Flow 2 Case Fans

Considering the multitude of coolers and cooling-related news that have been cropping up recently, it seems as though virtually any IT company is concerned with heat management, at least to some extent. As such, it is not really a surprise to see Scythe, as the cooling specialist that it is, unveiling a new set of case fans. Unlike previous products, however, which focused on aesthetic value through the use of LEDs, the newest series is more concerned with silence.

The newest set of chassis spinners from the Japanese cooling specialist bears the name of Kama Flow 2 and is made up of fans measuring 80mm, 92mm and 120mm. Most likely meant to shoulder the heavy burden of keeping high-end systems cool this summer, these case fans excel at a silent operation thanks to their special bearing.

EX-FDB (Extra Fluid Dynamic Bearing) was only recently developed and has “V”-shaped grooves that distribute the oil film in the shaft evenly. This drastically minimizes friction and, thus, significantly reduces both noise and wear. All in all, the Kama Flow 2 fans have a mean time before failure (MTBF) of 120,000 hours and produce less noise than other solutions.

To illustrate, the 80mm fan with the highest rotary speed of the lot (2,900 RPM) has a maximum sound output of 32.2dBA, whereas the fastest 120mm model (900 RPM) produces a noise of 33.8dBA. In high-end cases with even minor sound dampening, this makes them practically inaudible. Of course, those that want even better silence will be able to simply go for a slower fan, such as the 900 RPM 120mm model, which has an output of only 11dBA.

The 80mm, 92mm and 120mm case fans are already available and carry price tags of 6,25 Euro ($11.50), 6.75 Euro ($13.50) and 8.40 Euro ($14.80), respectively. They are all bundled with a 3-pin to 4-pin Molex adapter, for easy connection to PC power supplies. A list of all models may be found here.