Performance Testing

Please refer to the dedicated test setup page as it applies to this review as well and I did not want to go over it separately to save on review space.


be quiet! rates the RPM response of the Light Wings 120 mm high-speed fan as fairly linear from 2500 RPM at 100% PWM duty cycle to ~550 RPM at 20% duty cycle. Of course, there will be variations between samples, and airflow resistances will play a big role, too. But I am happy to report that all three samples went from an average of 2479 RPM at 100% PWM down to just 180 RPM at 1%, with a change all the way below 10%. This is a massively long RPM range of control, and the response is fairly linear, too. What's more, the standard deviation between these samples is ~4%. All this is very good news for those who prefer to set a custom fan curve, and it makes the regular version seem all the more redundant even before the design change with the impeller enters the picture. Context is needed to talk more about the fan's relative performance and noise, so I have below comparison charts for some fans tested at set RPM values, or as near as they can get to those. I can already say that these too follow the RPM response plot very well.


I have included fans in charts where the rated RPM is within 50 RPM of the chart cutoff point and removed fans either too old or simply redundant with the introduction of an updated version. In addition, I have removed two 140 mm fans that had 120 mm fan-hole spacings since those are not really suitable for watercooling on radiators. The chosen RPM values reflect usage scenarios most popular with watercooling even though some fans go higher, including this one. The charts are to be considered for comparison within this result set only and are not to be compared with results from another test elsewhere owing to different testing conditions.


Instead of having CFM/dBA charts that can potentially be taken for more than they really offer, I am going back to my old roots and showing just three fans as a comparison—no more, no less. More would clutter up things I spent years trying to unsuccessfully solve with static images. This time around, I have two such comparisons, with the first to the two top-performing and tested 120 mm, 25 mm thick fans in the form of the Noctua NF-A12x25 and Thermaltake TOUGHFAN 12. The Phanteks T30-120 does better overall, but is also 30 mm thick. The be quiet! Light Wings 120 mm high-speed fan isn't a strong performer, often among the worst as a radiator fan for airflow through the radiator, but it is one of the quietest fans I have ever tested. This is its saving grace on a performance/noise basis, with an admirable showing here that ultimately falls short the faster it spins. The extended range does help, but there is also a faster-speed version of the TOUGHFAN 12.

In the second comparison, I have two recently released RGB fans from CORSAIR and Cooler Master. The SP120 RGB ELITE is CORSAIR's best fan currently tested in this metric and comes close to the be quiet! Light Wings. The Cooler Master MF120 Halo, on the other hand, is generally a bad radiator fan with rounded frames and a rotor design that is more in line with case fans. I had separately examined a couple of other RGB fans which also performed worse than the be quiet! Light Wings.

Given the embargo and limited time available, I was not able to do a sound recording of the fans this time around. Hopefully, I will be able to do so with subsequent fans, but don't hold your breath for recordings of fans tested thus far since I don't have most of them anymore.