If you are looking for fans, you have a huge selection of possible brands and models. But it’s not just the brands that are immediately associated with fans that are available. For example, the Taiwanese brand Silverstone, known as a case manufacturer, also has quite a good selection of fans. This includes the Silverstone Shark Force 140, a 140I mm fan with an interesting concept at an upmarket price. In the Silverstone Shark Force 140 test, we take a look at what the fan can do and whether the sharkskin-inspired fan delivers what you would expect from the price.
Specifications
| Fan size | 140 x 140 x 25 mm |
| Speed | 0 – 2,200 RPM |
| Max. air flow rate | 120 CFM, ~ 200 m³/h |
| max. static pressure | 4 mm H2O |
| max. noise level | 38.3 dB(A) |
| Cable length | 48 cm + daisy chain cable |
| weight | 210 g |
| Warranty period | 3 years |
| Price | € 29.99 * |
Packaging and scope of delivery
- Compact cardboard packaging with pull-out hanger
- Apart from screws and cables, there are no other accessories
What is striking about the packaging of the Silverstone Shark Force 140 is the use of classic brown cardboard, which can easily be recycled. The concept with the hanger that can be pulled out is interesting – this allows the fans to be packed compactly for shipping, but physical stores still have the option of hanging up the package. A clever solution. To pull out the tab, you first have to remove two adhesive strips. When you open the packaging, you first come across the supplied cables, which are not firmly connected to the fan. There is also a small plastic bag with the four obligatory fan screws for mounting the housing.
The fan itself is not padded any further, but was still quite easy to remove from the packaging. In short: The hanger will be irrelevant for end customers, apart from that it is a very simple package without any outstanding accessories.
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Design
- Structure of the fan blades inspired by shark skin
- Daisy chain cable is outside
- Double holes for mounting
At first glance, the design of the Silverstone Shark Force 140 appears unspectacular – they are black fans. It becomes interesting when you look at the details, because the fan blades have a special structure. This is modeled on the skin of a shark and is intended to reduce air resistance and ensure quieter operation. The seven fan blades are also slightly extended to the rear in relation to the part around the motor in order to increase the usable surface area.
The black plastic of the frame is textured, which gives it a high-quality, matt appearance. So you don’t have to worry about fingerprints or scratches.
The fans are daisy-chain compatible thanks to the small adapter cable supplied. In contrast to many other manufacturers, however, an internal solution is not used here, but these adapter cables are routed along the outside. Technically this works very well, but from an optical point of view it is not the cleanest solution. Nevertheless, it is still possible to conceal the cables if you pay attention to the mounting direction of the fans and connect them together before screwing them in.
The mounting holes look a little strange. These are designed as double holes. The outer hole corresponds to the standard that we know from all conventional 140 mm fans from the PC sector. But the inner holes? I can’t find a concrete explanation for this. In any case, the hole spacing is even larger than with 120 mm fans. However, this does not really simplify the installation of the fans – especially if you use long radiator screws, you have to be careful to keep them straight.
Build quality
- Robust workmanship
- Daisy-chaining possible
- Thin cables
The six-pole motor of the Silverstone Shark Force 140 already shows that the fan is oriented in the higher quality direction. Cheaper fans often only have four-pole motors. But you can also tell from the feel that you are dealing with high-quality fans here. The frame is fairly torsion-resistant and also makes a very good impression in terms of material.
The cable of the Silverstone Shark Force 140 proved to be very thin in the test, which offers advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that it is easy to manage and remains inconspicuous. The disadvantage is that it could be damaged more easily if it is pinched or pulled over sharp edges. At least it’s not a baggy cable – it’s easy to shape and not stubborn. It is therefore pleasant to work with. From an optical point of view, the cable is usually routed to the rear of the housing, although it should be noted that once the fans have been fitted, it is difficult to reach the socket in the housing frame with the plugs.
In addition to the PWM adapter cable, there is also the Y-split cable, which is used for daisy-chaining and is slightly longer than the width of a fan. This allows you to plug both connectors into two of the fans and connect the PWM cable at the other end to supply two fans via one header. As the fans can reach a high maximum speed and therefore a very high power consumption of up to 3.6 W for a fan, you should not operate more than three fans via one mainboard header.
Test setups
- Test as case and radiator fan
- Test against fans with comparable properties and a similar price range
- Explanation of temperature measurement
For the Silverstone Shark Force 140 test, I have selected three similarly priced models that also have certain similarities. The Noctua NF-A14 PWM fans come with a similar fan blade configuration and size and have been popular premium fans for years. The Thermaltake Toughfan EX14 Pro are also daisy-chain capable and are in a very comparable speed range. The be quiet! Silent Wings Pro 4 are also in a comparable speed range and also have a particularly structured fan blade surface.
The fans are tested in two setups and in three scenarios each. Firstly, they sit in pull configuration on the radiator of an Arctic Liquid Freezer II 280 and cool an overclocked Intel i5-9600K. This is fully utilized with Cinebench until saturation is reached and the temperature no longer rises, which is the case after 10 minutes.
The case fan is a Corsair 6500D Airflow with one fan at the bottom of the case front and one fan at the rear. The graphics card is set to a fixed, quiet speed (900 RPM) and the processor is cooled purely passively with a Noctua NH-P1, which is completely dependent on the case airflow.
The measurement results in the Silverstone Shark Force 140 test are given as a delta, i.e. as a difference to the room temperature. This compensates for errors caused by a fluctuating room temperature. If you see a result of 40 K in the table, you simply have to add the current room temperature (e.g. 22°C) and arrive at an actual processor temperature of 62°C. Lower results are therefore better. Lower results are therefore better.
Performance on the radiator
- Very good performance on the radiator
- The noise level in the high speed range is on a similar level to other premium fans
| Fan | Temperature delta in K |
Speed in RPM |
Noise level in dB(A) |
| Silverstone Shark Force 140 @ 100% | 39 | 1910 | 53,7 |
| 800 RPM | 43 | 800 | 31 |
| Audibility limit | 44 | 770 | / |
| Noctua NF-A14 @ 100% | 41 | 1500 | 50,5 |
| 800 RPM | 44 | 800 | 33 |
| Audibility limit | 45 | 700 | / |
| Thermaltake Toughfan EX14 Pro @ 100% |
39 | 1970 | 54,5 |
| 800 RPM | 44 | 800 | 31 |
| Audibility limit | 45 | 760 | / |
| be quiet! Silent Wings Pro 4 @ 100% | 40 | 2130 | 52,3 |
| 800 RPM | 45 | 800 | / |
| Audibility limit | 43 | 930 | / |
Uha – yes, the Silverstone Shark Force 140 definitely plays in the upper class of 140 mm fans! As radiator fans, they offer a higher maximum speed than the Noctua NF-A14, achieve the same performance as the Thermaltake Toughfan EX14 Pro, but remain slightly quieter and beat all comparison fans at 800 RPM. The be quiet! Silent Wings Pro 4 only offer an advantage at the audibility limit, but even here the differences are negligible.
Overall, I found the sound characteristics of the Silverstone Shark Force 140 to be quite pleasant – no aggressive noise or prominent frequencies were perceptible in the test.
Performance as a case fan
- Very high efficiency even at low speed
- Relatively loud at full speed, like other fast fans
| Fan | Temperature delta in K |
Speed in RPM |
Noise level in dB(A) |
| Silverstone Shark Force 140 @ 100% | CPU: 45.1 GPU: 48.2 |
1940 | 52,5 |
| 800 RPM | CPU: 55.9 GPU: 49.6 |
800 | / |
| Audibility limit | CPU: 55.9 GPU: 49.6 |
800 | / |
| Noctua NF-A14 @ 100% | CPU: 49.5 GPU: 45.8 |
1480 | 47,6 |
| 800 RPM | CPU: 56.9 GPU: 48 |
800 | 32 |
| Audibility limit | CPU: 58.5 GPU: Throttling |
710 | / |
| Thermaltake Toughfan EX14 Pro @ 100% |
CPU: 45.5 GPU: 47.6 |
1970 | 53,8 |
| 800 RPM | CPU: 56 GPU: Throttling |
800 | / |
| Audibility limit | CPU: 56 GPU: Throttling |
800 | / |
| be quiet! Silent Wings Pro 4 @ 100% | CPU: 44.9 GPU: 43.4 |
2170 | 52,8 |
| 800 RPM | CPU: 56.5 GPU: Throttling |
800 | / |
| Audibility limit | CPU: 55.2 GPU: Throttling |
900 | / |
The Silverstone Shark Force 140 fans also prove to be powerful fans in the case. And they were the only fans in this test setup that did not send the graphics card into throttling mode. The be quiet! Silent Wings Pro 4 still perform better at maximum performance – but you will rarely turn up high-performance fans to the limit for noise reasons.
Comparison with the other fans in the test
- Competitor fans mostly offer better features for the price
- Silverstone Shark Force 140 requires manual adjustment of the fan curve
You have to be careful with the Silverstone Shark Force 140 that you adjust the fan curve reasonably well, because a full load of fans could quickly become loud with prefabricated BIOS fan curves. There is no option for physical throttling as with the be quiet! Silent Wings Pro 4 and there is also no low-noise adapter supplied as with Noctua.
The Thermaltake Toughfan EX14 Pro fans basically have the same problem, but they have other advantages, such as direct daisy-chaining without external cables. The Thermaltake fans also have a magnetic cable attachment, which is easier to handle even when flying blind inside the case. In addition, the Thermaltake fans are a little cheaper and offer the option of changing the impellers for reversed operation, which are included in the scope of delivery.
The Noctua NF-A14 costs about the same, but these are limited to a more practical speed and come with a comprehensive accessory package consisting of a Y-splitter, the low-noise adapter, an extension cable, silicone brackets for tool-free installation and the usual fan screws.
The be quiet! Silent Wings Pro 4 are equipped with a switch for throttling and also come with interchangeable corners for different areas of application and these also come with plugs for tool-free installation.
In short: In terms of features, the Silverstone Shark Force 140 is delivered a little more compact. This doesn’t change the excellent general performance, but a few quality-of-life features are missing that you get with similarly priced competitor models.
Conclusion
The Silverstone Shark Force 140 was able to convince me in the test. Of course, the fan market is highly competitive and the competition is fierce. Nevertheless, these 140 mm fans, which are not as present in the media as those from Noctua, be quiet! or Corsair, definitely play in the upper performance league. The only thing missing is a certain variety of features, which the three comparison fans in this test offer. For some, these are just gimmicks that they won’t use anyway, for others, the features could well be the deciding factor in their purchase.
In terms of performance and the volume ratio, the Silverstone Shark Force 140 fans are completely convincing fans from the top segment. So if you are looking for high-quality fans that not everyone has in their computer, you can definitely go for it here. However, I would feel more comfortable with a purchase recommendation if the price were a little lower due to the limited features.
Silverstone Shark Force 140
Performance
Volume
Equipment
Processing
Price-performance ratio
90/100
The Silverstone Shark Force 140 is a powerful 140mm high performance fan with daisy-chaining capability.
