Introduction

It's been a while since I last tested fans—in fact, nearly a year ago owing to a move across oceans that seemingly took forever. I am still setting up my full system for fan reviews, including a long overdue audio measurement, but CORSAIR decided it waits for no man and marches on relentlessly with a fervent pace of product releases this month. Today, we take a look at their latest addition to the popular SP series of airflow-optimized fans, and thanks again to CORSAIR for sending review samples to TechPowerUP!


The CORSAIR iCUE SP RGB ELITE fans come in both 120 and 140 mm size offerings, and CORSAIR sent over both for me to check out. The performance section of this review will stick to only the 120 mm fans to fit in with the rest of the test database, but given these fans are probably all about looks over performance, it made sense to showcase them together. These are the same fans that shipped with some of their cases recently, and there has clearly been enough demand from customers about buying replacement fans for there to now finally be a retail solution for purchase. The SP RGB PRO fans are nearly identical in having the same eight addressable RGB LEDs per fan, but these are 3-pin voltage-controlled fans that are even more airflow-optimized. It may seem unfair that we are going to test these as radiator fans for watercooling, but it was that or nothing, so let's forge ahead with that caveat in mind by starting with a look at the specifications for both fans in the tables below.

Specifications

Packaging and Accessories

Corsair operates a web shop in the USA. However, the fans used in this review came from a shipping hub, so we begin by taking a look at the product packaging, which adopts their newer black and sickly yellow colors and combines those with textured triangles on the box. Taking off the plastic wrap, we see printed illustrations of the fans on the front that do an excellent job of showing how these SP120 RGB ELITE fans can look when powered on. This SKU of a triple pack with the controller for the fans has a fairly large box to accommodate the contents inside, and a note mentions the number of fans inside, along with any salient marketing and technical features on front. This continues on the back and sides, where we see more specifications and the marketing features in multiple languages. Seals at the top and bottom keep the contents inside in check, and a hang tab at the top makes for a nice addition to the packaging.


Opening the box, we see that the items inside are packaged separately, with the three fans at the bottom (or top, depending on how you opened it) and the accessories in their own yellow box above (or underneath). Alongside the fans, Corsair includes a multi-language quick-start guide, an FCC compliance sheet, and documentation on safe disposal. Assuming you want to use these as case fans, three sets of four self-tapping metal screws are also included.


We also see included here the CORSAIR Lighting Node CORE, which combines the company's previous set of RGB fan LED hubs and the Lighting Node PRO. Bundled in with their SP120 and SP140 RGB ELITE multi-packs, it is a more compact solution that will be appreciated by most. It is a cost-saving measure first and foremost for CORSAIR, however, as there is now only one LED channel that is in turn taken up for the fans. So you will still need another compatible controller if you have different CORSAIR RGB-lit products, or simply another controller with more channels for use with these fans. The Lighting Node CORE has six headers for up to six SP RGB ELITE fans (or any other CORSAIR dRGB fan with eight centrally located LEDs) and requires an internal USB 2.0 header for connection and a full-size SATA connector for power.


The fans come in a cardboard blister inlay packaging that will further protect them during shipping and handling. The cables are tucked into a lower compartment. The SP140 RGB ELITE twin pack comes packaged similar to the SP120 RGB ELITE triple pack, but is slimmer given the accessory pack fits in alongside the two fans rather than on top.