Corsair ML120 RGB Pro Series Magnetic Levitation Fan Review - Article Page 2 - The Quick test

Corsair Link

So with Corsair's Link software, you can control the fans RGB wise. The Fan RPM we regulate through the motherboard.

Basically, search for Lightning Node PRO, then you select the channel you use and then assign the right fan profile. I used LL fan here, as ML fan was not yet supported by the software. However, LL modus worked 100% fine.

 Once done, you can select your RGB colors, preferences, and animations as shown above. Really simple stuff. I do with that Corsair would add LINK towards Cue though, we really need one centralized software hub for all Corsair components.

Magnetic Levitating Fans - A quick test

So, we are not a website that tests fans (at all). If you are deeply and profoundly into airflow measurements, by all means, find a website that does spend time on it. I do care about aesthetics and basics though, fans must last, must be silent must offer good enough airflow and the ML fans do offer all that if you grant it the right conditions. And that does mean you'll need to seek a sweet spot on fan RPM.

  

Seeking the right conditions - if you are about silence, you MUST RPM control these fans, either directly with say the motherboard PWM Fan control, or alternatively you can use the version with Commander unit and thus regulate the fans in software (CUE). Your sweet spot will be running to up-to 1000 RPM max.

On the motherboard simply connect the fan towards whatever you want it used for. In the BIOS you can set profiles based on PWM for these fans. After testing for about 10 minutes I decided that up-to 40% RPM (max 1000~1300 RPM) the ML Pro series are silent, after that value you can hear them.

Examples of Sounds Levels

At ~1300 RPM we reached ~34 DBa of measured noise. But at a totally silent level, say 1000~1100 RPM / 31 DBa the airflow these things create still is pretty amazing. Maxed out they are loud. When you crank them all the way up I swear it though, you can cool an entire room as I can feel a breeze from one 120mm fan like one and a half meters away. But they do become too loud.

Let me show you something:

 
Now let me first state clearly that there is nothing scientific about this little test other than to serve as a demo to show the effect of the fan. Above you can see a thermal image of a graphics card Radeon R9 Nano + max GPU volt + max power allowance and maxed out temperature limiter) in total stress. It is running 3DMark FireStrike Extreme looped in scene 1. Have a close look at the temperatures that the PCB areas reach, in specific you can see that the PCB M5 zone reaches 74 Degrees C. Now we simply place a 120mm ML Pro fan on top of the graphics card, it's running 40% RPM which on our motherboard results towards a silent 1000 RPM - check out what happens after a few minutes of airflow:

 
Above the same card and same conditions. Compare the thermal images back and forth a little and you will notice that the increased (silent) airflow manages to cool down the same PCB (M5) area by roughly 12 Degrees C. Again, this is a worthless in terms of validity test, but a plausible to show the effect of the proper airflow these fans offer while remaining silent. 

Concluding

That is all the time I have for this petite mini review on the ML Pro RGB series fans. These fans truly are impressive, but also pretty expensive - I'll acknowledge you that. Corsair backs them with a 5-year warranty though and with a design that has virtually no friction, they could probably last a lifetime.

When configured at just the right RPM level, these fans are totally silent whilst offering proper airflow. There is, however, one downside, wires .. lots of them. Each fan has two sets, one for RGB and then one for Fan power/RPM. So three fans sum up to six wires, these lead to your mobo or fan controller, and the RGB wires towards your RGB HUB and then controller. That is a lot of wires, it comes with the territory, but yeah you do need to factor that in okay? 

That's it for this quick write-up. Reviewing fans is not my thing, but I do know that the ML series and the ML120 Pro RGB as shown today fans are hugely impressive. I am sure other media outlets will have in-depth airflow tests etc. That's just not my cup of tea, so please see this article as a bit of an informative read on Corsair's latest and greatest fans. Highly recommended.

- H to the H out.