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Bahrain, Manama
1 Level
673 Review
42 Karma

Review on πŸŒ€ ARCTIC BioniX P120 A-RGB (3 pc Bundle with A-RGB Controller) - 120mm PWM Pressure-Optimized Fan, Cooler, Fluid Dynamic Bearing, 400-2300 RPM - Black by Robert Castro

Revainrating 5 out of 5

Great looks great cooling

I posted a similar review for arctic 140mm non led fans. They came as a set of three with a central RGB controller. When testing the fans on the dyno at full speed, I found that they are not noisy, have fairly strong airflow, and that the airflow has a very focused pattern. This makes them equally suitable for general housing cooling as well as for targeted cooling of individual components. They do NOT replace a heatsink for this, but they would be very helpful in facilitating heat dissipation from the heatsink. You have a bunch of cables to manage. They offer an amazingly clean install. I aligned all three as front air intakes and for that they match the body frame mounting points perfectly. There were no surprises during installation. So the three air intakes correspond to three 120mm exhaust fans blowing over the top-mounted heatsink. Because the heatsink restricts airflow somewhat (and uses a different brand fan that is slightly less efficient), the case is slightly over-pressurized. This is desirable as a little more air offers a slightly increased heat capacity while still maintaining a stable air exchange and dissipating heat efficiently. At the same time, they never reached full speed under the control of the mainboard - even under stressful loads, this was never necessary. So if the room is absolutely quiet I can hear any running fans in the case if I listen specifically to them, but I think they're mostly non-Arctic fans. As a further illustration; As I tried to listen to really see how well I could hear her, the grandfather clock, which is in another room on the other floor of the house, began to chime. I had to wait for it to be over before I could really hear these fans. I don't think it does anything to reduce the signal to noise ratio in the room. Installation is easy as I mentioned; the included screws tap their own threads into the ABS fan frames. It's not steel, so be careful not to over-tighten. The only other consideration is that the feedthrough connectors are a bit fragile. So you'll need to plan your installation order if you want to chain these fans together and then use them like a Tinkerbell rather than a King Kong. The instructions don't cover this detail - in fact the instructions (mainly for the wiring) are pretty much cartoonish and one should spend a little time interpreting what the artist was trying to convey. There are several ways to connect everything, but all of them are presented in the form of cartoons. Plan your install and take the time to understand the diagrams and the rest will take care of itself. They look great, they are currently cooling the system I am writing this on and I just had to listen now. 6 inches of it to determine if they affect ambient noise in the room (okay, I hit 60, so maybe my ears aren't the best tool to measure ;-). I am happy with this purchase and would buy them again under the same circumstances.

Pros
  • New to my collection
Cons
  • Appearance