The value of good fans - Corsair SP120 Review

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Well I finally decided to invest in a decent fan, I decided to pick up a Corsair SP120 when I ordered Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm because well, I felt like it. I've always neglected fans in my case really, the Enermax Everest Twister (blue LED fan) was really for show more than for cooling.

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The SP120 is heavy. It is well built and definitely a quality product. At first I was a little hesitant at spending £14 on a fan, but the results speak for themselves.

Setup: (image is with Corsair SP120 as intake into case and push fan, the Enermax fan as pull) (click for large)

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Results (measured using Core Temp):

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Overall, money well spent. Nearly 10 degrees off! I decided to use the resistor cable, as at full speed it was running at 2200 RPM, and sounded a little bit like a jet taking off. However I don't mind the noise really, and I'll be using a fan controller when I order it next week, probably getting the Lamptron FC5 V2.

Next upgrade is probably getting 2 Corsair AF120s for the top of my Corsair 650D case, after the fan controller.
 
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I've the BitFenix Recon fan controller with 5 Corsair AF120 for case fans and 2 SP120 for the heatsink, all fans are Quiet Edition and the temperature is very good
 
These Corsair fans are really good. I have2x AF120 and AF140 and they are really great not just in performance, but noise. They create barely any:D
 
All my fans in my current rig are Corsair Air-series.

4 x AF120 Quiets - 2 intake, 1 on the back of the HDD caddy blowing over GPU and 1 rear exhaust - All on a NXZT Sentry LXE fan controller

2 x SP120 Performance - both mounted on H100i rad in push exhausting out of the roof, controlled by PWM using Tealc's PWM-DC converter
 
I had these for a few months, excellent fans for the money, especially the twin pack.

The thing is, do you think I would see a performance increase by getting another SP120 for my H70? I was tempted to buy 2 but I don't really feel I need it when I'm getting less than 50 degrees now.
 
Not really a fan of these fans pretty loud and expensive

They're only loud at 12v tbh. I have mine running via PWM and they're near silent at around 1000rpm. With the 7v adaptor which is included with the fan I estimate they'd be running around 1100 which is still quiet. I only notice mine when they hit about 14/1500.

As for expensive, if you know where to look you can pick up the twin pack like I did for around £20 and since getting these fans I'd say £10 each is a good price for decent fans. I used to think anything over a fiver for a fan was daft, till I splashed out on these.

If you look at other high-end fans such as Noctua, Scythe etc, you're talking £14-£20 PER fan.
 
I've got 4 sp120 on my h100.

Really quiet fans which has vastly improved the temp on my i7 920.

Well worth the £34 I paid for all 4 fans :)
 
That is a lot of fans... When are you expecting to get the 900D? And what other hardware will you be using?

June on release day, H100i with AX860i psu using corsair link 4 fans will be on the H100i for push pull anther two on roof, two behind the front stock fans and four on the bottom grill :p:eek::eek::eek:, overkill indeed it is.
 
June on release day, H100i with AX860i psu using corsair link 4 fans will be on the H100i for push pull anther two on roof, two behind the front stock fans and four on the bottom grill :p:eek::eek::eek:, overkill indeed it is.

If you PSU goes bang I guess you can blame the amount of fans you have :D
 
June on release day, H100i with AX860i psu using corsair link 4 fans will be on the H100i for push pull anther two on roof, two behind the front stock fans and four on the bottom grill :p:eek::eek::eek:, overkill indeed it is.

Sounds great, I'll be expecting some good temps! And it'll look great! What will you be cooling? 3770k?
 
They're only loud at 12v tbh. I have mine running via PWM and they're near silent at around 1000rpm. With the 7v adaptor which is included with the fan I estimate they'd be running around 1100 which is still quiet. I only notice mine when they hit about 14/1500.

As for expensive, if you know where to look you can pick up the twin pack like I did for around £20 and since getting these fans I'd say £10 each is a good price for decent fans. I used to think anything over a fiver for a fan was daft, till I splashed out on these.

If you look at other high-end fans such as Noctua, Scythe etc, you're talking £14-£20 PER fan.

Coolermaster Sickleflow offers nearly the same specs for £5. Four fans for £20 anybody? ;)
 
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