AVC Fans - Why are these fans so different?

[GotNoRice]

I have this one AVC Fan, model number DA12025B12L that has been a VERY reliable fan for me over the years. I recently had a chance to buy a pack of fans with the same model number for fairly cheap. I like to have spare fans on-hand so I bought them. When they arrived, I was surprised to see that they had almost nothing in common with the fan I already had, despite having the same model number.

Any guesses at the reason? Could it be that I got counterfeit fans? Maybe they changed their design over the years? But would they do that without changing the model number?

In the image below, the old used fan is on the left, one of the new fans is on the right. You can see the fan on the left has a much bigger motor. The fan on the left is much heavier. Everything about the fan on the right pretty much feels cheaper though it still seems like a decent fan. The fan on the left is ~10 years old and still works like it is brand new. I love that level of reliability as I hate fans that I have to replace after 1-3 years.

 

[aigomorla]

The fin geometery is completely different between the two fans as well.

To be honest tho, the one on the right has a better fin geometery which can be traced to Yate Loons.
They were pretty much were the OEM makers of Nexus fans which were quite good in most conditions including static pressure.

The one on the left reminds me of old server fans.
The kind where reliability was important more then performance.

So its no doubt it has a bigger motor, but both have near the same current draw, so i dont know how big of an impact it will be.

Which do you feel is pushing more air tho? im willing to guess at the same current the one on the right will be a better performer although it feels cheaper, due to the more updated fin geometry.

 

[EXCellR8]

Appears like a typical reduction of materials used in production scenario, where companies are forced to use less resources to make the same product.

If you take fans from 10 years ago and compare them, I can almost promise that most of them will feel more rugged. The last batch of fans I bought were so flimsy that I ended up giving them away and not using them. While I support resource reduction in products, I also believe that companies should improve on designs and not cut corners but it's a delicate balance.