Do you realize that not too long ago, cooling wasn’t necessary for computers? Okay, so it was like 30 years ago, but still… I can’t imagine running my machines with only one or two fans, and back then it wasn’t even required that one be on the CPU’s heatsink. Now if you don’t have proper cooling, the heat inside a case is enough to melt wires and cause an electrical fire. I’ve never seen it myself, but it happened to a cousin’s best friend’s cousin once.
NZXT hooked me up with some fans that could help alleviate my fears of waking up to a Full ATX inferno. In my hands I hold two of their enthusiast fans, a 120mm and a 140mm, each with a rating of 37 dBA or less. So how well do these things push air? And are they really quiet? How great is the fan control? Is Obama responsible for crop circles? We’ll attempt to answer some of these questions in this review. But here’s some info on these fans:
FX-120LB Features
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FX-140LB Features
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Out of the box, each one is classic NZXT. Black frames with white fans set inside. The 140mm fan has a total of nine blades, while the 120mm fan has seven. Each fan comes with a little baggie of screws and another bag with the screwless rubber fasteners. There is also a 3-pin to molex adapter included in each box. I really like that NZXT included both a standard 3-pin for those who want to control their fan speed via software as well as the capability to run directly from the PSU. Each fan’s power cable has a three speed control switch on it.
Installation is about as straight forward as you can get with fans. If you don’t know how to put a fan in your computer, then you really need to go back to PC Kindergarten. I opted for the rubber screwless mounts, as I intended on taking them back out after I was done. I actually had the fan mounted and connected in less than 30 seconds using these. But they are old news, and we’re reviewing the fans here.
On the next page we test these fans…
I tested the decibels of the 140mm fan first. I tested each fan on each speed from a distance of one inch. I also disabled all other fans on my system with the exception of the CPU fan. On the lowest setting (5v), I got a 26.4 dBA rating at a distance of one inch. At the medium (7v) setting, my meter registered 32 dBA. On the highest setting (12v), I got a reading of 34.6 dBA. The airflow was also quite powerful on the highest speed. The medium speed was nothing to sneer at, either, and was a tad quieter. The lowest speed, while the quietest, felt like a light breeze. Maybe good for low power units, but for gaming I would go for a higher setting.
I removed the 140mm and connected the 120mm in its place. I used the same meter and the same distance of one inch to test on all three settings. At 5v I got a 22.8 dBA reading on my meter. On medium at 7v I got 30 dBA. And finally, on high at 12v I got 33 dBA. As with the 140mm fan, the speeds for the medium and high settings were good for a regular consumer or gamer machine, but the low setting should be reserved for a low power machine such as a home theater PC.
The noise differs slightly between the two fan sizes, but the airflow remains pretty linear at all voltage settings. At the lowest setting (5V), the FX-120LB produced 36 CFM (cubic feet per minute). At medium settings, the same fan produced 65 CFM and 89CFM at the highest setting. The larger FX-140LB moved more air at the same settings: 49 CFM, 73 CFM, and 98 CFM respectively. Both fan sizes seem to have the same efficiency; if you can handle a tad bit more noise then you’ll get a little bit more airflow.
My findings were that these fans are pretty much excellent all-around chassis fans. The multiple speeds on the fan are very handy when connecting to the PSU directly, although having to take the side of the case off to change the speed would be a nuisance for those who like to tinker. Most of us prefer fan controls on the front of the case, or at least a rear control. Other than that, I could find nothing bad to say about these fans. Good performance, adjustable, and the price is right.