CORSAIR AF120 RGB ELITE 120 mm Fan

[VSG]

CORSAIR has updated its AF120 ELITE fans with RGB lighting. The new AF120 RGB ELITE comes in single or triple pack versions (w/ included lighting hub) offering extensive lighting options and higher max performance while retaining the handy zero-RPM mode and quiet fluid dynamic bearing too.

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[Vayra86]

30+ bucks for a fan? Lmao

 

[usiname]

"The CORSAIR AF120 RGB ELITE 120 mm PWM fans come in black or white color options and release the day this review goes live. They cost $34.99 individually or $119.99 for a triple pack"
Buy pack of 3 on the price of 4

 

[farmertrue]

"The CORSAIR AF120 RGB ELITE 120 mm PWM fans come in black or white color options and release the day this review goes live. They cost $34.99 individually or $119.99 for a triple pack"
Buy pack of 3 on the price of 4

And they limit their supply online to a 2 fan maximum per customer. I was going to buy 3 individuals of the 120mms since they are a near 20cfm higher per fan than my current SP120 Elites. That would net over an entire fan extra of airflow. I would not be using them on a radiator, so I figured I'd try them out as I like the AF120 Elite (non rgb model).


But they lost out on a purchase entirely as I refuse to pay an extra $15 for a lighting node when I have several Corsair Commander Cores to control my fans. And after reading this review, I don't see myself buying them even if I had the option to get 3 individual fans.

 

[AnarchoPrimitiv]

It's funny this article mention those Capellix LEDs....when Corsair originally released those, I had looked up ANY information on them looking for patents, white papers, etc....anything to find some technical info on what distinguishes them from generic addressable LEDs, and I couldn't find a single thing.

 

[Udyr]

"The CORSAIR AF120 RGB ELITE 120 mm PWM fans come in black or white color options and release the day this review goes live. They cost $34.99 individually or $119.99 for a triple pack"
Buy pack of 3 on the price of 4

You thought the hub was free? How dare you!

 

[VSG]

It's funny this article mention those Capellix LEDs....when Corsair originally released those, I had looked up ANY information on them looking for patents, white papers, etc....anything to find some technical info on what distinguishes them from generic addressable LEDs, and I couldn't find a single thing.

Corsair Capellix LED Technology to Increase "Resolution" of RGB LED Setups

Capellix is the second of Corsair's two big innovations unveiled at CES 2019, the other being the Slipstream wireless technology. Capellix is a new LED that is considerably smaller than a conventional surface-mount (SMD) RGB LED, with a volume of just 0.2 mm³ versus 2.8 mm³ of SMD LEDs. Such...

www.techpowerup.com

They are much smaller but unfortunately also far more expensive to manufacture and implement clearly.

 

[farmertrue]

It's funny this article mention those Capellix LEDs....when Corsair originally released those, I had looked up ANY information on them looking for patents, white papers, etc....anything to find some technical info on what distinguishes them from generic addressable LEDs, and I couldn't find a single thing.

It seems the capellix LEDs require less power as well as the fans that use those opposed to other RGB lights use about half the power...

 

[SLObinger]

I read this entire review and concluded that Phantex T-30s are really great fans

 

[Nostras]

What are these prices even. I know the Arctic fans are done to death by recommendation but how can you, in any shape or form, motivate a 250% price hike for some RGB bling and Corsair branding?
35 bucks is what I'd expect for a 180mm RGB fan or something, good lord. I guess I'm just not the target audience for these things.

 

[Vayra86]

It seems the capellix LEDs require less power as well as the fans that use those opposed to other RGB lights use about half the power...

Well yay, and now ?

They're still highly overpriced yet rather mediocre fans with all those fantastic innovations

I mean if you need excuses to spend 35 bucks on a fan, stop fooling yourself, just buy them. Fools and money parted, its undeniable no matter how fantastic the marketing is.

 

[TechLurker]

For 35 USD a fan, I could buy an equivalent number of proper server-grade fans, a frequency-selectable PWM controller, and some 18 AWG wiring and still come out on ahead on cost and performance. Or just get some Phanteks T-30s that are still slightly cheaper in both single and triple packs.

But again to be fair to Corsair, kudos for bringing in another stator vane fan into the 25mm consumer market space. I'm interested in their pure airflow and airflow in pull config behind a filter performance, where the stator vanes would theoretically shine in focusing and throwing the air further. I'd also like to see what Noctua, Be Quiet, or Phanteks could do with stator vanes, or if Silverstone would modernize their Air Penetrator line with stronger performance.