Finally after quite some time of putting this type up off, here it is. True testing of the pimpin' filters for your fans available at MNPCTECH.

MNPCTECH currently has these filters available in 120mm, 92mm, and 80mm variations for a mere $3.50/each+shipping. Convincing yourself to buy these should easy enough once your computer has been running for about a month and then realising how much dust buildup has taken place.

After getting tired of cleaning huge dust bunnies and dog hair clumps out of my case month after month, it struck me that it was time to get some filters. After browsing around and getting some suggestions from Lokie on making some home made ones, I just decided to spend some cash on what appeared to be quality filters.

Before ordering these filters from Bill's site, I decided to give it a shot to see if he could ship these out via USPS to save some bux. The whole email process with him went well, although it turned out he was out of stock for some of the filters I needed. Without asking, he upgraded my order to standard UPS shipping for FREE and would have them out as soon as they were in. Good deal!

Two different methods of testing have been taken to see what these filters can actually do(or don't, if you're the pessimistic type). First the real world results that an average user can expect, and the Extreeem testing where the worst of conditions are used.







For the real world testing, I have installed [2] 92mm filters on my front intakes and [2] more filters on my 80mm side window filters. Not covered in this review is the 120mm filter installed on my intake heater core fan. The same results were collected though, all of these filters are of the same construction so they produce the same results.

Considering there are open stairs behind me and the case rests at my side, there is always crummy crud falling into the computation zone. This introduces plenty of enemies for the filters to stop, along with the regular amount of dust being produced in a room. My guess is that the average user will not be prone to this much microscopic waste, so perhaps you could even expect a better result than what I have.

Ideas strike me every now and then, and the UV light test was one of them for this experiment. UV light, in case you didnÂ’t know, picks up dust particles as if they were oranges on a coconut tree making them very easily spotted. Special lights like these also have the ability to tan your glow in the dark skin so people can actually look at you for a little more than the average .572 seconds they do now.

The following pictures could be quite disturbing if youÂ’re a clean freak, allergic to dust, or just plain weird. Please allow a moment of silence before looking at these pictures or just go ahead and have some jolly good fun.


Some few weeks after running my system 24/7, this is what we have encountered. The offcolor UV white is dust in case you didn't know.


Up close, don't get scared now...


Bottom side intake up close right here, almost clogged with dust! ACH.


Good riddens dust of evil, hello shiny aluminum UV metal. Props go to Mr. Swiffer rag for cleaning.

Now time for some front intake observations.


Same old, same old. If only dust was worth SOMETHING then I would've won.


Pretty pretty aluminum, now what happened again? Oh yeah, the Swiffer man cleaned the filters with ease.



The last picture of REAL WORLD* testing is of my QLA2200 Fibre Channel HBA and bottom of case. As you can see, after a few weeks only the smallest dust particles were able to make their way through the gates of meshed aluminum. No biggie, the Swiffer man can handle this in a matter of half a minute. [*REAL WORLD pertains nothing to that wannabe TV show on the wanna be TV channel that goes by the odd name of 'MTV' so please Mr. N%b, please don't go trying to hang me by my shoehorses in the gallows of northern Mexico and then bringing me to court.]

All in all, all I can say is that all I've take off managed to impress just about all of my eyes. This picture is of what these fantabulous filters have done for Mr. Swiffer, cutting his workload in approximately some fraction I cannot begin to imagine.


That wraps it up with the real world testing, now lets see what else is in store!




Extreeem testing consists of a mixed collection of crud that had fallen from the stairs and put in a bag, then being directly induced to the filter.


UV with the flash, thus cancelling the UV out!


Pure UV action!

Taping up a good seal to prevent any cross contamination would have been considered easy if the saran wrap wouldn't stick to itself. Got it to work though, and here are the pictures of the container and filter before being introduced to "The Mixture".

Now it's time, time for some good stuff!


Oh no, please spare the filter from this crap!


Ahhhh!!!! The fan, the air, what do we do!? Go to sleep and let it run for about 12 hours!


After some strenous testing, this is what the end result showed:







Definitely some good filtration we have here everyone, only small dust particles get past this thing! No hair or anything of the sort, looking good.


Bringing this review to a conclusion is probably going to seem much like bringing the end of a mud bath in the city dump to an end when the seagulls start attempting to eat you alive. So here I leave you with something, rather than nothing.

Hopefully you've enjoyed your stay, and if you would be so kind to recommend this to your friends, family, and acquaintances then all of joy be with you!

This is Kage, signing out of whatever I've signed in.

UPDATE

In response to the various questions asked after posting this review, here are the answers.

[Q] How much impact do these filters effect on airflow?
[A] From what I can tell, the CFM is decreased by a rather small amount. It will depend on how much air is being sucked in. Lower CFM fans will likely be less affected, although the higher CFM fans will show more of a difference due to the amount of air trying to be squeezed through the small holes in a small amount of time. This CFM drop is well worth the amount of crud being stopped from entering your case in my opinion, although some may think otherwise. Using a 120mm Evercool 80CFM fan, there was around a 5-10 CFM decrease. This measurement is my own personal guess since I'm lacking the proper tools for measuring CFM.

[Q] What about noise? Do these filters increase the dBA produced by the fan?
[A] Again, it all depends on the CFM being produced by the fan(s) you are using. With a 120mm Evercool fan pushing roughly 80CFM, I noticed around a 2-3 dBA increase in noise. Nothing noticeable for me until I was about a foot away from the fan or closer. Again, I measured this with a educated guess and not a sound sensor.

Now, on to a summary of these good guys.

The blow

-Prevents medium to large particles from entering your case
-Look good installed, although not everyone may think so
-Easy to install
-Simple to clean

The suck

-Decreases CFM output by a noticeable amount
-Increases dBA by just a weeee bit
-Not available in black or other colors from MNPCTECH
-Some people may not like the look
-Allows small dust particles to pass through, aka these filters are not magic and keeps out everything.

Overall, this product would receive a 8.93 rating since it saves on time, energy, and money(Tyme is money ).

Nice review Kage. Those filters may find a home in my PC as well now that I see how well they work.

A very good write up and excellent testing methods. I'm impressed.

Ditto the previous statements. Very nicely done Kage.

Excellent write up Kage.

Im getting a UV light bar today Nice writeup!

Whoa whoa wait a min, I can tan with my UV cathode? Sweeeet...

Really good review Kage. Creative and effective testing methods.

I have been using an aluminum mesh filter on my front 120mm forever. Very effective.

Great job, great idea with the UV.

Great review. Nice technique, very informative, well illustrated, fun to read. Plus, impressive use of UV! I look forward to more reviews from you.

There ya go...rep pionts and two thumbs up!

Great review Kage. Did you happen to talk about the impact on airflow though? Was there a noticeable impact on airflow or did the aluminum allow enough space for the air to travel freely?

I never noticed any decrease in airflow with mine Neo, but I must admit, I never tested objectively.

Review excellant my friend... Nice work indeed...
Mo' Rep Points fo joo!!!

Thanks everyone I'll test out the impact on airflow soon since I didn't think of that one during my whole testing. Once an idea strikes, it usually takes a while for my thinker to recharge.

Oh yeah, I'll be adding a Pros and Cons type section later too

Good job on testing the hell out of that thing dude

You definetly done a great job, I know MNPCTech is proud to have that review up for his filters.

^^^ you said it Lokie

Thank you for the outstanding review Kage

These are great ... I have a pic here of two of them under some wire grills on my radiator enclosure. I saw no noticable decrease in temps after I put them on.

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Awesometastical, I just bought a couple of these from there now I have reason to back my using of them

BTW your rig is beautiful...