Conclusion
So be quiet! comes to the North American market with a very interesting product here. They present us with an obviously well thought out fan. It comes in very nice packaging, and with an acceptable amount of accessories. The Silent Wings 2 are easily installed and they can be mounted in a number of sound isolating ways. And they are just that, extremely silent wings.
Unfortunately they do not meet the claimed RPM, not even with above 12V of power. This may result in low airflow all around, or they may not move much air even at 1000rpm.
I think these fans can be an excellent choice for anyone looking for a truly silent fan, but not for a system that is going to be creating that much heat. I wouldn’t recommend these in a highly overclocked system, in fact they may even struggle in a moderately overclocked system. However they will excel in any system you don’t want to be heard. These have media center and bedroom PC written all over them. I would also like to see a higher speed/static pressure version as well. Given their mounting system and sound dampening, they could stand a few db gain in exchange for some higher cooling capacity.
Overall I was very impressed with the Silent Wings 2. Assuming they make it to the North American market, and do so around the $10-15 USD price point I think they will do well.
ThinkComputers gives the bequiet! Silent Wings 2 Fans an 8 out of 10 score.
Pros:
– Well constructed
– Easy to work with
– Very quiet
Cons:
– Don’t move a lot of air
– Fall short of the claimed speed rating