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Aside from the speed at which they spin, the Air Series SP120 Quiet and Performance editions are identical. We will therefore be looking at them together. Corsair have supplied us with four Quiet Edition and four High Performance edition fans for review today.
We have been sent the dual-pack versions which contain two fans in each packet. These can be purchased cheaper than the single fans so are preferable for those buying multiple units. The front of the box features a large window which gives us a glimpse of the fan within.
Turning the box over reveals a list of the features and specifications of the fans as well as a promotional blurb. There is also a small area at the bottom advertising the other fans available in the Air Series range. The boxes are fairly sturdy and should provide the fans with a good level of protection during transit.
There are a number of accessories included with the fans. These include replacement coloured rings in red and white, four screws to secure the fan and a low-noise adapter.
The coloured rings can be easily interchanged to make the fans fit in aesthetically with the rest of your system. This is a nice touch and is sure to excite those enthusiasts who care about the aesthetics of their system.
The SP120 fans feature integrated rubber grommets on all four corners to suppress vibrations, with the aim of reducing the noise level to a minimum. These don't feature on the H100i's stock fans. Other than these and the coloured rings, the fans look more or less identical.
Corsair claim that the Quiet edition fans generate 37.85 CFM of airflow, 1.29 mmH20 of static pressure, spinning at 1450 RPM and generating 23 dBA of noise. The High performance edition fans, however, generate 62.74 CFM of airflow, 3.1 mmH20 of static pressure, spinning at 2350 RPM and emitting 35 dBA of noise. Both variants of the fan feature standard 3-pin fan connectors.
That is quite a lot of testing Henry, much appreciated. Very useful too. I might get 4 of the quiet fans after christmas. Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas to you too!!
Excelent review! I was wondering the difference in performing between these two Corsair. This is much more that I was looking for. Thanks! Now I know which one to buy and what coolers have to go with it.
Great review Henry!:)
Question though, when you say “Performance” regarding the stock H100i fans, does that mean you have it set to “performance” mode in the Corsair Link software? If so, those RPMs on that mode are only around 16xx, if you put them on ‘maximum’ they are around 2600 RPMs. I usually have mine on “maximum” because I want the best cooling I can get, but after reading this, should I just keep them on “Performance”?
I just replaced the stock fans on my H100i with SP120 Quiet Editions, and now my cpu pump led is constantly changing colour – even though I have it set to change on colour temperature. It seems to have thrown out the H100i’s ability to monitor the cpu temp accurately. Is this a known issue? As I’m tempted to go back to the stock fans. It might be because the SP120 has a 3 pin tail, rather than a 4 pin one?
Air Series SP120 High Performance Edition will only spin at very high speed on the h100i at 1600rpm lowest so they are hard to control and keep quite. I had to connect them to mobo headers.