Sharkoon SilentStorm 140 RGB test - large fans with interchangeable corners

Sharkoon is a German manufacturer of gaming equipment with a very wide range of products. Having already tested the 120 mm version of the Sharkoon SilentStorm, we are now testing the Sharkoon SilentStorm 140 RGB. What can these affordable 140 mm RGB fans offer? Are they worth buying? What performance can you expect from them? We look at all of this in the Sharkoon SilentStorm 140 RGB test.

Specifications

The size	140 x 140 x 25 mm
Speed	400 – 1400 RPM
Weight	168 g
RGB connection	Standard ARGB (50 cm long cable)
RGB LEDs	9
Max. Airflow	121.9 m³/h
Max. Air pressure	1.47 mm H₂O
Price	€ 15.60 *

Sharkoon Sharkoon SilentStorm 140 PWM, RGB Lüfter

€ 15.60

Auf Lager

Buy now* Amazon

Sharkoon Sharkoon Lüfter 140*140*25 Silent Storm PWM RGB

€ 12.50

N/A

Buy now* Mindfactory

Sharkoon RGB SilentStorm PWM, 140mm

€ 12.53

Zentrallager: verfügbar, Lieferung 3-5 WerktageFiliale Wilhelmshaven: nicht lagernd

Buy now* Mindfactory

Sharkoon RGB SilentStorm PWM, 140mm

€ 12.54

Lieferzeit 6-8 Werktage

Buy now* voelkner.de

Packaging and scope of delivery

Glossy packaging
Exchangeable corners as special accessories

The glossy packaging of the Sharkoon SilentStorm 140 RGB is not too big, but a little longer than usual. Why this is the case becomes clear when you open it: Apart from the fan and the typical fan screws, there is another black box in the scope of delivery. This contains differently colored corners for the fans. This allows you to change the appearance of the Sharkoon SilentStorm 140 RGB at a later date. But we’ll come to that later.

Sharkoon SilentStorm 140 RGB Verpackung Vorderseite — Sachlich, klar und dennoch farbis: Die Verpackung der Sharkoon SilentStorm 140 RGB.

Sharkoon SilentStorm 140 RGB Rückseite der Verpackung — Die Rückseite ist mehrsprachig beschriftet.

Sharkoon SilentStorm 140 RGB in der Verpackung — In der Verpackung finden sich nicht nur die Lüfter selbst, sondern auch eine kleinere Schachtel mit den Wechselecken und Lüfterschrauben.

Design and workmanship

Simple build quality
Thin cable with multiple RGB connections

The workmanship of the Sharkoon SilentStorm 140 RGB doesn’t stand out from the crowd. However, I wouldn’t have expected premium quality in the fairly affordable price range anyway. Overall, however, they do have some interesting features. For example, the corners are rubberized to reduce vibrations, which is not found on similarly priced models such as the Arctic F14 or be quiet! Pure Wings.

Frontansicht Sharkoon SilentStorm 140 RGB 140mm Lüfter mit weißen Ecken — Ab Werk sind an den Sharkoon SilentStorm 140 RGB die weißen Ecken montiert.

Rückseite eines unbeleuchteten Sharkoon SilentStorm 140 RGB — Zwei Kabel werden an derselben Stelle aus dem Rahmen geleitet.

Lüfterecken mit Kabeln — Die Ecken der Sharkoon SilentStorm 140 RGB besitzen gummierte Auflageflächen.

Motor Rückseite des Sharkoon SilentStorm 140 RGB Lüfters — Die Beschriftung auf der Rückseite findet man zwar auf den meisten Lüftern, aber sonderlich schön ist das nicht.

Kabel mit PWM und, VGD und ARGB Anschluss — Die Kabel sind dünn und bieten neben dem üblichen PWM-Lüfteranschluss RGB-Anschlüsse mit einem VDG-Stecker und einem Standard-ARGB-Anschluss.

Sharkoon SilentStorm 140 PWM RGB von der Seite — Dass die Ecken wechselbar sind, sieht man auch aus der Nähe nicht wirklich.

The RGB connections on the Sharkoon SilentStorm 140 RGB fans can be found in two versions on the cable. One is a regular standard ARGB connection and the other is a VDG connection, which is rarely found nowadays.

The cables of the Sharkoon SilentStorm 140 RGB are quite thin and were therefore easy to lay in the test, but of course they are not as well protected as sheathed cables.

Leuchtender Sharkoon SilentStorm 140 RGB mit grauen Ecken — Die Beleuchtung der Sharkoon SilentStorm 140 RGB ist schön, aber die Intensität nimmt zum Rand hin ab.

Leuchtender Sharkoon SilentStorm 140 RGB Lüfter von schräg hinten mit Blick auf die LEDs — Je nach Blickwinkel sieht man von hinten direkt auf die LEDs.

Glänzende Rahmeninnenseite eines RGB Lüfters — Die Innenseite des Rahmens ist glänzend ausgeführt und kann Licht reflektieren.

The RGB lighting of the Sharkoon SilentStorm 140 RGB is quite nice in terms of color, although it suffers from the typical weakness at the tips of the fan blades that affect many 140 mm fans. However, you can see the individual LEDs quite directly from behind at an angle.

Playing with corners and edges

Robust attachment of the corners
Can be changed with some effort
The usefulness of the change is questionable

The special feature of the Sharkoon SilentStorm 140 RGB is the ability to change the fan corners. And the fans still look homogeneous – the corners are already very tight and neat. So you don’t immediately notice that the corners are not one piece with the rest of the frame. If the corners hadn’t been supplied in a different color, I wouldn’t have thought that they could have been changed.

Lüfter mit geöffneter Wechselecke — Mit einer ziemlichen Kraft können die Ecken in zwei Teilen abgenommen und gewechselt werden.

Sharkoon SilentStorm 140 RGB mit grauen Ecken — So kann man die weißen Ecken gegen schwarze wechseln.

Zwei Sharkoon SilentStorm 140 RGB Lüfter mit unterschiedlichen Ecken — Damit kann man die Ecken hell betonen oder auch zurückhaltend einstellen.

Ein Lüfter mit zwei unterschiedlichen Ecken — Natürlich kann man auch beide Typen an einem Lüfter kombinieren.

The change requires a certain amount of force, so I was initially afraid of breaking something, but even with multiple changes over the course of the test period, there were ultimately no problems. I have to admit that I’m surprised by the decision to include gray corners with the RGB fans. Black frames are not planned for the SilentStorm 140 RGB ex works, although they would be easier to combine with most color concepts. Medium gray? Hmmm… not exactly a widespread brightness level in modern PC construction.

One problem with the corners is that you obviously have to store the interchangeable corners somewhere in case you actually want to replace them at some point. But to be honest, in most cases you will choose a color combination and a future change is rather unrealistic.

Performance and volume

Test in the case and on a radiator
Less impressive performance with no real advantage over the 120 mm version

Let’s move on to the Sharkoon SilentStorm 140 RGB test in the area of everyday life, i.e. performance and volume.

Test procedure

The Sharkoon SilentStorm 140 RGB is tested in two scenarios. On the one hand, on a fairly thick radiator of an Arctic Liquid Freezer II 280 in the front of a Fractal Design Pop XL Air. In addition to the 38 mm thick radiator in push configuration, the rather narrow fan grille in pull configuration is a resistance that the fan has to overcome.

Leuchtender Sharkoon SilentStorm 140 RGB mit Wechsel-Ecken — In the Sharkoon SilentStorm 140 RGB test, we check the performance against other 140 mm fans and the 120 mm version of the series

A DeepCool CH510 Mesh Digital is used as the case fan in the Sharkoon SilentStorm 140 RGB test. All fans in the system apart from the case fan used – on the air cooler and the graphics card – are set to a fixed speed. The air cooler is set to 25% PWM and the graphics card fans to 35%. In this way, the fans are quiet enough not to influence the measurements any further and errors in the temperature measurements are also avoided by automatic settings.

Test on the radiator

In the large radiator fan test (140 mm), the performance is mediocre. In other words, not very impressive, but certainly okay. At a standardized speed of around 800 RPM, the Sharkoon SilentStorm 140 RGB is pretty much in the middle of the field and is not too loud. In the test at a uniform volume, however, a reduction of around 100 RPM already results in a considerable loss of performance, so that this 140 mm fan is only just in the midfield.

In the other direction – i.e. at maximum speed, which is around 1300 RPM for the Sharkoon SilentStorm 140 RGB – the performance is certainly okay, but overall in the lower range. And the noise level is mediocre.

In short: The Sharkoon SilentStorm 140 RGB can certainly be used on radiators, but it is unlikely to be a useful replacement fan and for custom water cooling systems I would also point to other fans. The Arctic P14 PWM PST ARGB, for example, is also inexpensive, has comparable lighting and a better volume/performance ratio.

Test as a case fan

The Sharkoon SilentStorm 140 RGB always takes one of the last places in the large case fan test (140 mm). Here, the smaller 120 mm siblings of the Sharkoon SilentStorm perform no worse and would therefore be preferable as case fans. In short, most of the other 140 mm fans from our tests are better suited as case fans.

In the test at a uniform 800 RPM, the Sharkoon SilentStorm 140 RGB just came last in terms of performance/noise ratio, putting it in the same league as the Inter-Tech Argus RS-14, which costs a similar amount in a pack of three, but comes with an RGB controller and offers much more intensive lighting.

The situation is similar when set to a uniform volume. Once again, the Argus fans are the closest competitors in the lower performance range of the comparison fans. Too bad. Even the Sharkoon SilentStorm 120 RGB performs better in a direct comparison at an identical volume, so the additional size does not provide a direct advantage in this case.

Leuchtender RGB Lüfter — The Sharkoon SilentStorm with RGB can provide decent lighting in the case

At maximum performance, a few slower fans from be quiet! and the previous competitors from Argus are beaten in terms of performance – which is mainly due to the fact that the Sharkoon SilentStorm 140 RGB rotates much faster in this case at more than 1400 RPM. The 120 mm version is now also narrowly beaten, although the 140 mm fans are significantly louder.

Conclusion

As with the 120 mm fans, I see the most outstanding feature here as also being the biggest weakness of the Sharkoon SilentStorm 140 RGB. Changing the corners is something special, but usually you choose a color combination and leave the fans as they are. Rarely will you change the colors of the corners in the future and then of course you would have to store them somewhere and find them again when needed. Personally, I have to admit that I would have liked the fans to be a bit cheaper and I could have done without this feature. I would have preferred the route that other manufacturers have also taken: Two color variants without the option of changing them.

Apart from that, the Sharkoon SilentStorm 140 RGB fans are not really suitable as case fans and the only alternative is radiators. And here, too, there are many better options. Too bad. I see the primary use as filling up with cheap RGB fans if you want a little more light in the case, but even for this there are better candidates.

Overall, I can’t really recommend the Sharkoon SilentStorm 140 RGB, as there are generally better fans for every application. However, if you are specifically looking for RGB fans with VDG connectors or 140 mm fans with RGB lighting at a fairly low price for a full configuration, you can still use them, as they are relatively easy to keep under control. Visually, however, the white and gray corners make it difficult to combine them with other fans.