Galaxy Tech Cold Cathode Fan

Manufacturer: Galaxy Tech
Retail: $14.95 (find on PriceGrabber)
Review Date: August 20th, 2003

Cold cathode fans are a perfect lighting solution for your case, especially if you do not want to fit a 12" tube inside. The cold cathode fan, not only provides cooling for your system but will fully light most cases. For those that might not know, a Cold Cathode Fluorescent Light (CCFL) is a neon light that produces very little heat and virtually no noise.

A CCFL fan uses a round cold cathode tube in the shape of a ring. The ring fits around the outside of the fan. A 360 lighting view is obtained with the ring as opposed an LED which is a focused form of light. This means that a CCFL will light a larger amount of space than a LED.

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Galaxy tech provided us with their blue CCFL fan, part number GC8CSCCB. The cold cathode fan provided comes securely packaged. This is important because the tube is very easy to crack during shipping.

Fan Specs:

• Dimension: 80 x 80 x 25mm
• Noise: 28.8 DB
• Air Flow: 32.5 CFM
• Speed: 2500 RPM
• Power: 1.6 Watt, 0.13 Amp, 12 Volt

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Galaxy Tech's CCFL fan includes a transformer and mounting screws. A transformer is needed to power the cold cathode ring. This transformer is powered separate from the fan, so that it can be attached to a switch or unplugged to to control the lighting. The transformer is soldered to the tube and cannot be changed out for another transformer. This could be a problem, because Galaxy's transformer does not provide a sound activation or on/off switch.

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The cold cathode ring is built into the fan and not attached. With some other CCFL fans this attachment allows only one way to mount the fan. Building the tube into the fan protects the tube from possible damage and provides multiple ways to mount the fan.

Never touch the exposed leads of the cathode tube. The leads on this fan are exposed a little bit. Touching them by accident would be very unlikely. It still could happen and will give you a nice jolt if you do.

Installation:

Fan installation is very simple. It takes a bit of effort to screw the fan to the case. This is because the screws will score and dig into the plastic as they are screwed. This methode securely fastens the fan to the case.

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Galaxy's CCFL is very bright and provides lighting for the entire fan except the upper corner where the end of the tube is. This is very obvious in the picture but does not take away from its ability in lighting a case.

The fan is quiet and moves a solid amount of air. I would say it is a tad noisier than a Panaflo Medium or the last fan I reviewed, Sunbeam's Quad LED fan. Sometimes a transformer can whine and get very annoying. The transformer of this fan cannot be heard.

The light is semi-warm, nothing out of the ordinary for a cathode light.

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The cold cathode fan is brighter than the 4 Quad LED fan by Sunbeam but the light is not as blue. If you are looking for a deep blue lighting effect, do not purchase this fan.

Conclusion:

Galaxy Tech's CCFL fan is a solid case mod. The fan moves a good amount of air and produces little noise. A strong plus is that it can be mounted to the case from either side.

The only negative that I can see with this fan is no sound activation and no on/off switch. To accomplish either of these effects, another piece of hardware is needed.

Pros:

• Very bright
• Quiet
• Can be mounted either way.
• Professional looking

Cons:

• Leads are exposed in the fan
• Transformer does not include a sound control or power switch
• Transformer soldered to tube

Rating:
Very Good

(Ratings Possible Terrible, Very Bad, Bad, Fair, Good, Very Good, Excellent)