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General |
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| Overall, the Fractal Design Kelvin T12 is a solid product with
a nice color scheme and decent manufacturing quality. Black and white
suite niceley to almost
any build. Cooling performance, in combination with the two 120mm PWM fans included
with the system is on a good level. The radiator on the Kelvin T12 is quite a bit thicker
than what you usually get with AIO systms - they only measure 27 to 30 mm in thickness - while
Fractal Design decided to go for a 46 mm one. It also comes with two fans in push-pull configuration and
with both of them
running, the system is quite noisy, especially at 12V. |
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- Cooling capacity
- Quality
- PWM |
- High frequent pump noise
- Noise levels
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Installation |
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| The installation is simple an pretty straightforward although we recommend having a look at the manual. With two mounting kits in the delivery, one for Intel and another for AMD sockets this unit is compatible to the vast majority of sockets available. Unfortunately the mounting is not completely tool-less, which means you need screwdrivers for installing the fans as well as the CPU block. The thermal compound needs to be applied by yourself and it comes in a 1g
syringe. |
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Compatible Intel and AMD
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- Installation without tools impossible |
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Performance |
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| Compared to other 120mm AiOs the Fractal Design Kelvin T12 offers good cooling
performanace in all our tests. With fans driven at 7V and 12V, we find this cooler in the center of our charts and
it is pretty much the same story in PWM mode as well. |
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- Cooling
performance |
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| Noise Levels |
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| Our tests show that the fans included in the bundle are almost inaudible at 7V and noisy at 12V.
Rotation speeds at 7V and 12V are at 420 and
1'800 RPM, respectively. In PWM mode the noise level is at a reasonable 34.1 dBA
under load conditions, while the rotor is spinnng at 1'200 RPM. This dBa value can be categorized as silent. We suggest not
to use both fans unless absolutely necessary. The usual issue with push/pull configurations is, that you will hear the second fan "cut the air". |
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| Recommendation /
Price |
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| Checking Geizhals.eu we find the Kelvin T12 listed
for 98 Euro, which is acutally quite a bit more expensive than similar
models from other manufacturers. Nevertheless, should you be looking for
a compact AiO with black and white color scheme, then you might want to
have a look at the Fractal Design Kelvin T12. |
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- Gaming PC
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High-End
- Enthusiast |
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Rating |
| The Kelvin T12 from Fractal Design receives good 4 out of 5 stars. |
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