Introduction
The English word “Gelid” comes from the Latin word “gelid us” (very cold, icy). As the name indicates, the GELID Solutions are primarily focused on the thermal solutions as they design and manufacture CPU and VGA coolers, chassis fans, thermal compounds, accessories and other equipment for computers and electronic devices. The company also supplies a range of products for international OEM and ODM clients. They are based in Hong Kong and has multiple manufacturing facilities in Mainland China and Taiwan. The company believes in Quality, Reliability, and Efficiency as the main driving force behind the product ideas and execution.
Radiant is to shine or glow brightly and this is exactly what the Radiant named fans from GELID Solutions do. They glow and performed as well. There are two variants of the Radiant series RGB fans:
- Radiant
- Radiant-D
The Radiant RGB fans are using 12V RGB lighting whereas the Radiant-D packs digital RGB LEDs using 5V. Each fan packs 9 LEDs RGB/ARGB depending upon the model of the fan. These are 120mm fans. The LEDs are placed in the center which is why the diameter of the central hub is larger than the standard fans. Both types of fans feature 3D optimized shark-tooth designed blades for higher airflow and less turbulence. The specifications of both fans are the same with the only difference coming from the type of RGB LED lighting solution.
Product: Radiant RGB Fan
Manufacturer: GELID Solutions
Price:
| Product | MSRP | Buying Link |
| Radiant RGB Fan | USD 17.99 / EUR 15.80 | Amazon.de |
| Radiant-D RGB Fan | USD 17.99 / EUR 15.80 | Amazon.de |
Specifications
Packing and Unboxing
The fans are shipped inside a paperboard packing box.
The model of the fan is printed on the top giving a user hint which type of RGB lighting does this fan has. Each fan packs 9 LEDs and designed for extreme performance. They feature a noiseless motor coupled with double-ball bearings.
The specifications of the fan are printed at the bottom.
Both sides have an identical layout. The difference is the type of fan on the box.
The fans are placed on the transparent container.
Contents
Following are provided in the box:
- 1x GELID branded sticker
- 4x Self Tapping Screws
- 4x Silicon Mounts in black color
Closer Look
The Radiant/Radiant-D RGB fans are high-performance lighting fans from the GELID Solutions. After testing their SIROCCO CPU cooler, my expectations are higher from the manufacturer. The SIROCCO comes with the Radiant RGB fan and it intrigues me to test these fans individually. They sent a fan in each category for the testing and here I am, writing content. Here is what GELID Solutions are saying about their cooler, “Brewed with top technologies and passion, the Radiant/Radiant-D RGB Fans are a special craft for modders and gaming enthusiasts. It adds nonprogrammable/programmable Digital-RGB control with individually addressable RGB (ARGB) LEDs that enable variable color settings for each of the 9 LEDs installed to the fan and fosters a stunningly vivid RGB lighting experience. Along with the extreme performance profile and bold design, all that makes the Radiant/Radiant-D a perfect ingredient for gaming rigs and custom PCs. Just try it, ignite full colors of life inside your PC!”
Since both fans have the same design and the same specifications, I will show only one fan in the pictures. Let’s take a closer look at the design.
The dimension of these fans is 120x120x25mm. Each fan weighs 188gm. Each fan has 7 shark-tooth designed 3D optimized blades. These blades are translucent for even diffusion of the RGB lighting. This particular design helps in generation more airflow on the leading edges which is sustained by the large size cutouts in the same design on the trailing edges. This design also reduces turbulence. The central hub has a diameter of approximately 54mm which is larger than the standard 120mm fans. This is due to the fact that 9 LEDs are housed inside the center.
There is a sticker pasted on the center with the model of the fan printed in the white color. This sticker gives a subtle touch to the looks under lighting.
The frame of the fan is made of plastic and finished in the black color. The frame is rugged and sturdy. There are no anti-vibration pads on the mounting corners but GELID has made up for this with the provision of silicon mounts which can be used to install these fans on the chassis (not on the radiators).
There are two arrow symbols on the side of the frame where the cables are coming out. These are there to provide a visual help to the user in determining the direction of the airflow (horizontal arrow) and the direction in which the blades spin (vertical arrow).
The backside of the fan shows a 4-arms assembly holding and securing the fan blades and motor to the frame. There is a sticker pasted here showing the power rating of the fans. The fans are made in China. One of the arms has inset forming a channel through which the cables routed. These fans are using the double-ball bearings coupled with a noiseless motor drive IC.
There are two flat cables per fan. One is the 4-pin PWM connector cable to power the fan’s motor and a 4-pin RGB/ARGB connector cable. The length of each cable is 500mm. Both fans are using a similar LED connector. This may cause confusion. Make sure to use the Radiant-D fan’s LED connector on the digital lighting header of the motherboard (5V) whereas the Radiant fan’s LED connector on the 12V lighting header of the motherboard.
Here is the detailed specification table for these fans:
| Radiant | Radiant-D | |
| Dimension (mm) | 120x120x25 | 120x120x25 |
| Airflow (CFM) | 77.2 max | 77.2 max |
| Fan Speed (RPM ±10%) | 500~2000 | 500~2000 |
| Noise Level (dBA) | 40.4 max | 40.4 max |
| Static Pressure (mmH₂O) | 3.39 | 3.39 |
| Power Draw (W) | 5.4 | 5.4 |
| DC Voltage (V) | 12 | 12 |
| Bearing | Double-Ball | Double-Ball |
| Number of LEDs | 9 | 9 |
| Fan Connector | 4-pin PWM | 4-pin PWM |
| LED Connector | 4-pin 12V | 4-pin Digital 5V |
| Warranty (Years) | 5 | 5 |
| Weight (g) | 188 | 188 |
RGB Lighting
The Radiant RGB fans are to be used with 12V lighting sources whereas the Radiant-D RGB fans are to be used with 5V lighting sources. This is the only difference between them. The lighting solution is compatible with ASUS AURA SYNC, ASRock RGB LED, MSI MYSTIC LIGHT SYNC, and GIGABYTE RGB FUSION READY. This information is not mentioned on the packing box but on their website. I have tested the GELID Solutions Radiant RGB fan on the ASUS ROG Rampage V Edition 10 and Radiant-D RGB fan on the AORUS Z390 Pro WIFI. There is no dedicated lighting controller included in the box so the users who don’t have compatible motherboards would not get any lighting out of the box.
Here are some pictures of the lighting effect.
Testing Methodology
Testbed configuration is:
- Asus Rampage V Edition 10
- Intel i7 6850k
- Thermaltake Water 3.0 120 ARGB Sync
- CORSAIR Vengeance 4x8GB @ 2666MHz
- Gigabyte GTX 1060 6GB
- Samsung 840 EVO 250GB SSD
- CORSAIR AX1200i
- Custom open-air test bench
The following software was used for testing and monitoring.
- AIDA64 6.20
Here is the settings table for testing:
| OC Voltage (V) | 1.350 | |
| OC Clock (MHz) | 4300 | |
| Turbo Boost | Disabled | |
| C-States | Disabled | |
| Speed Step | Disabled | |
| Thermal Paste | Noctua NT-H1 | |
| Test Run Time | 60 minutes | |
| Idling Time | 15 minutes | |
| Fan Speed | Manually set to run at 100% speed.
Auto PWM |
|
| Pump Speed | Manually set to run at 100% speed. | |
We are using Noctua NT-H1 on our test benches for all the coolers testing. This will ensure the standardization and mitigate any performance benefit that may come using the supplied thermal paste. Delta temperatures are reported on the graphs (Delta Temp = Average of all cores’ max temps – ambient temp). The testing is done on an open-air bench system. Once inside the chassis, the temperatures are expected to rise and would largely depend upon the optimal airflow inside the chassis.
Not every run of the stress test may yield the same result. This could well be due to many factors like mounting pressure, thermal paste application, varying ambient temperature. Not to mention the silicon differences even among the same category of the chips. Hence, it is pertinent to mention the testing methodology along with the specifics.
Before we could test these fans, we needed to establish a reference data against which the results could be compared. For this purpose, the stock fan provided with the Thermaltake Water 3.0 120 ARGB Sync was used. After its installation, the chip was stressed for an hour followed by a system shutdown for 30 minutes. This was done to give time for the thermal paste bonding. An alternate method would be to change the thermal paste for each fan. The stock fan is rated for speed of 500~1500 RPM at 56.45 CFM airflow and 1.59 mmH₂O static pressure. A quick look at these specifications is enough to tell that we should expect a powerful and better performance from the GELID fans. Is that the case? Let’s find out.
Results
Our first test run was with these fans set to run at a 100% duty cycle. The results are as expected. There is a marginal difference between both Radiant fans which is well within their ±10% tolerance range. Both fans provide over 5°C improvement in the thermal performance over the Thermaltake stock fan.
Next, we run these fans on their Auto PWM function to determine if they pack good and tight PWM regulation or not. The Auto PWM function was running the GELID fans in the 1400~1500 RPM range whereas the Thermaltake fan was in 1000 RPM range. All fans were utilizing up to 75% (approximately) of their speeds. Approximately, 3°C has increased per fan as compared to running them at full PWM duty cycle but this has come at a much better noise level.
Both fans were connected to the CPU Fan header of the motherboard one by one and on each PWM Duty cycle %age their maximum speed was observed for 5 minutes before recording the reading. The above picture shows the maximum speed against the respective %age of the PWM cycle. Both fans met their rated specification.
The airflow of both fans was also validated using PerfectPrime Anemometer.
Noise
The sound meter was showing the noise level of the GELID fans to be 50 dB(A) with an ambient sound level of 32 dB(A). The fans were loud at their full speed though not teasing.
Conclusion
The GELID Solutions Radiant and Radiant-D RGB fans are Extreme performance RGB fans. The dimension of these fans is 120x120x25mm. The specifications and the design are the same for both fans. The only difference is in the lighting department where the former is using standard 12V RGB lighting and the latter is using digital lighting using 5V. Both fans pack some stunning and vivid lighting effects which look that good in person. These fans are rated for 500~2000±10% RPM at 12VDC using a 3.39mmH₂O static pressure rating and 77.2CFM airflow. Clearly, the rated specifications are too good to ignore for the enthusiast and regular users alike. Seldom have we found a balanced fan in the market in terms of the good looking RGB lighting and the performance. These GELID fans are an exception to that.
The noise level is rated at 40.4 dB(A) max. The combined power draw of each fan is 5.4W at 12VDC. There are two cables per fan. One has a 4-pin PWM connector to power the fan and the other is 4-pin RGB/ARGB LED connector. The fan has 3D optimized shark-took edges to ensure maximum airflow as well as noiseless motor drive IC. The fan is using double-ball bearings and is rated for 100,000 MTFF at 40°C. There are 9 RGB LEDs in the center of the fan to create some vibrant, vivid and stunning visuals. There are no anti-vibration pads on the mounting corners but GELID has provided 4x silicon mounting to install these fans in the chassis which would make up for the lacking. They have also provided 4x self-tapping screws to install these fans on the radiator as well in the chassis.
Both fans are using a similar LED connector. This may cause confusion. Make sure to use the Radiant-D fan’s LED connector on the digital lighting header of the motherboard (5V) whereas the Radiant fan’s LED connector on the 12V lighting header of the motherboard. The lighting solution is compatible with ASUS AURA SYNC, ASRock RGB LED, MSI MYSTIC LIGHT SYNC, and GIGABYTE RGB FUSION READY. There is no dedicated lighting controller provided in the box. Also, there is no compatibility information provided on the box.
The GELID Solutions Radiant/Radiant-D RGB fans have MSRP of USD 17.99/EUR 15.80 at the time of the review. I have tested these coolers on the Thermaltake Water 3.0 120 ARGB Sync liquid cooler and both fans have performed superbly in our thermal testing. They were able to lower the temperature by a minimum of 5°C over the stock fan. The PWM regulation is tight on these fans. On Auto PWM function, these fans were rotating in the speed range of 1400~1500 and on a few occasions they peaked to 1900 range RPM. Their good performance is coming at an elevated sound level which could be lowered using a custom fan curve or Auto PWM function.
Given the very good thermal performance, 5-years warranty and wallet-friendly price tag, the GELID Solutions Radiant/Radiant-D RGB fans have won our Performance Award.
We are thankful to GELID Solutions for giving us the opportunity to review their Radiant/Radiant-D RGB fans.
