Introduction
On our workbench today we have the Thermaltake SWAFAN EX12 RGB White fans (CL-F161-PL12SW-A) to take a look at and get our first impressions of them. We’re presenting this as a quick write up but we’ve done a video where we’ll fire them up to see how they sound and take a look at Thermaltake’s software for controlling them so you can get a good feel for how they would perform in your rig.
Overview
The Thermaltake SWAFAN EX12 RGB Series fans are available in both 120mm and 140mm sizes and come in either white or black. They are currently sold as three packs weighing in just over $100 in e-tail at the time of writing.
One of the highlights of the SWAFAN is the ability to SWAP the fan blades out to reverse the direction of the airflow so you don’t have to put the ugly side in view to get your rig cooled the way you want it cooled (Ed: I see what you did there.).
Additionally, they use the power of magnets to connect to each other so that you only need to have a single fan cable running to them to power them which will help you a good bit from a cable management perspective.
Photos
We took a look at the SWAFAN EX12 RGB White fans which are equipped with a Thermaltake label in the center hub for the pretty side and a standard fan sticker on the not-so-pretty side. Taking a look at the fan with the blade removed, we see the motor and its 6-center RGB lights used to light it up.
Here we have the reversible fan blade that can be dropped in to change the airflow direction and the fan lit up in its full RGB glory.
SWAFAN EX12 RGB Specifications
| FAN DIMENSION | 120 x 120 x 25 mm |
|---|---|
| INTERFACE | USB 2.0 connectors (9 Pin) |
| SYSTEM COMPATIBILITY | Windows 10 /11 |
| STARTED VOLTAGE | 9.0 V |
| FAN STARTED VOLTAGE | 12 V & 5V |
| FAN RATED VOLTAGE | 12 V & 5V |
| RATED CURRENT | 12 V – 0.21 A , 5 V – 0.7 A (only one fan) |
| POWER INPUT | 12 V – 2.52 W , 5 V – 3.5 W (only one fan) |
| FAN SPEED | 500 ~ 2000 R.P.M (2510-4Pin) |
| MAX. AIR PRESSURE | Standard Fan Blade : 2.39 mm-H2O (only one fan) Reverse Fan Blade : 2.02 mm-H2O (only one fan) |
| MAX AIR FLOW | Standard Fan Blade : 57.11 CFM (only one fan) Reverse Fan Blade 2 : 56.26 CFM (only one fan) |
| NOISE | Standard Fan Blade : 30.6 dB-A (only one fan) Reverse Fan Blade : 32.5 dB-A (only one fan) |
| BEARING TYPE | Hydraulic Bearing |
| LIFE EXPECTATION | 40,000 hrs,25℃ |
Final Points
The Thermaltake SWAFAN EX12 RGB series has a couple of interesting features as far as fans go – the magnetic coupling capability and the ability to change the airflow direction by swapping fan blades out. From an overall noise perspective, we did not find them to be offensive and the Thermaltake RGB Plus software appears to work well, especially if you have other kit from the Thermaltake ecosystem. The main downside to these fans is their proprietary nature which requires the Thermaltake controller to get them to work. That being said, if you’re looking at fan upgrades, we’d suggest keeping these on your list.