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We are impressed with the Corsair Air Series SP120 fans. They have been cleverly designed to help keep noise to a minimum while providing high static pressure for water cooling radiators. We admire Corsair's choice to brand their static pressure and airflow fans differently as most manufacturers don't make this information so obvious and readily available.
When we consider the performance of the SP120 fans with the H100i, we would say that the optimal configuration is four SP120 Quiet Edition fans in a push-pull configuration. This configuration offered great cooling performance while remaining pretty much inaudible.
We wouldn't say that the high performance edition fans are a worthy upgrade on the H100i unless you're particularly concerned with the aesthetics of your system and wan't the coloured rings. The stock fans can spin faster and are therefore better for those who want the best performance, irrespective of noise. They are still impressive fans, though, and are definitely worth considering for use on other radiators.
The Corsair Air Series SP120 fans are available from Scan in various different bundles here. The single packs are available for aorund £12, with the dual packs costing around £20. At these prices we think the SP120 fans offer good value, especially the Quiet Edition versions.
Pros
- Customisable colour rings.
- Impressive performance.
- Quiet fans are very quiet.
- Good value for money.
Cons
- Performance fans aren't ideal for the H100i.
KitGuru says: An impressive range of fans from Corsair.
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.