Today we take a look at NZXT’s next offering in the shape of two fans from their ‘Enthusiast Fan’ range. Follow the link to see how these powerful new fans perform!
Product on Review: FX-120LB and FX-140LB fans
Manufacturer: NZXT
Street Price:
– FX 120mm fan – £10.99 (Inc. VAT)
– FX 140mm fan – £11.99 (Inc. VAT)
NZXT have been regulars here at Vortez over the last couple of years. We’ve tested quite a few of their excellent cases, a couple of fan controllers and even one of their mice. Now it’s time to take a look at a couple of fans from their ‘Enthusiast’ range.
NZXT have recently impressed Vortez and the PC community with their excellent H2 and Phantom case designs. They have made it apparent that they understand design, cooling and their market very well indeed. This is doubly impressive since they themselves are a relatively new company having first established themselves in 2004
First let’s hear a little from the company themselves:
NZXT, a company built upon gamer’s dreams, hopes to create products that put consumers first. With the objective of designing unique products catered for hardware enthusiasts and gamers, NZXT has grown into a globally renowned brand recognized for dedication towards creating the next great gaming product. NZXT has won numerous awards from media and publications from across the globe with a product line spanning from gaming chassis, power, and gaming input devices. As a corporation formed by gamers, NZXT continues to expand into new horizons and push the limits further with each product unveiling.
The ‘Enthusiast Fan’ designation that these new NZXT fans have been given hints that some performance may be on offer. The reality is that these fans are the most powerful we have tested up until now.
Specifications
Today we have the 120mm and 140mm models on test – their specifications follow:
120mm – FX-120LB
Fan size – 120 x 120 x 25 mm
Bearing – Fluid Dynamic Bearing (FDB)
Life – 35,000 hours
Settings – Low Medium High
Current – 0.08A 0.15A 0.3A
Input – 0.96W 1.8W 3.6W
Speed – 1000rpm +/-10% 1800rpm +/-10% 2600rpm +/-10%
Air Flow – 35.8 CFM 64.5 CFM 96 CFM
Air Pressure – 0.75 mm-H20 2.4mm-H20 4.8mm-H20
Noise – 22 dBA 32.8 dBA 36.5 dBA
Connector – 3 pin
Silicone mount x 4, Metal screw x 4, Molex-to-3 Pin-adapter x 1
140mm – FX-140LB
Fan size – 140 x 140 x 25 mm
Bearing – Fluid Dynamic Bearing (FDB)
Life – 35,000 hours
Settings – Low Medium High
Current – 0.13A 0.25A 0.55A
Input – 1.56W 3W 6.6W
Speed – 1000rpm +/-10% 1500rpm +/-10% 2000rpm +/-10%
Air Flow – 49.1 CFM 73.8 CFM 98.3 CFM
Air Pressure – 0.56 mm-H20 1.3mm-H20 2.2mm-H20
Noise – 22.1 dBA 30.8 dBA 37 dBA
Connector – 3 pin
Silicone mount x 4, Metal screw x 4, Molex-to-3 Pin-adapter x 1
NZXT FX-120LB
NZXT have packaged their fans in a fairly simple but very attractive black and orange box design. This contrasts well with the white fan blades that can be seen through the windowed section of the box. Some specification data and useful info is highlighted at the base of the box including a 2 year warranty for peace of mind.
Box front.
The rear of the packaging includes more specific specification data. This is listed in four separate sections to cover English and a further three languages.
Box rear.
Once unpacked we can see the selection of bits and bobs supplied with the 120mm Enthusiast Fan. As well as the fan itself you receive a set of four standard metal case screws, four silicone mounts and a molex to 3 pin adapter which can be seen already connected to the standard 3-pin cable. The 3-pin cable on the fan is braded which is nice as it looks good and offers additional protection from snagging and damage during installation and use.
Fan and extras.
The design is a fairly standard 7 blade affair in a very tidy white livery that contrasts nicely with the black frame. I would also mention that despite the clean and simple looks the rotation of the fan suggests a considerable magnet assembly is present which goes some way to explaining those impressive numbers on the specification sheet.
The FX-120LB.
Cable wise you get the standard 3-pin power feed (seen with the molex adapter attached) and also an ‘Antec style’ 3 speed switch.
Power and speed control cabling.
The rear of the fan is neatly labelled with NZXT’s logo along with the product number and power information. It also advertises the Fluid Dynamic Bearing on board too.
Fan rear.
NZXT FX-140LB
The 140mm comes in packaging that besides physical size and some information is all but identical. A neat and effective design that shows off the fan nicely.
Box front.
The rear (shown for posterity) is again virtually identical with only slight adjustments in specification.
Box rear.
After unpacking you can see that the additional extras are again familiar… four standard metal case screws, four silicone mounts and a molex to 3 pin adapter which as with the 120mm is supplied connected to the fans standard 3-pin cable. Unlike the 120mm model the 140mm uses a 9 bladed fan design.
Fan and extras.
As you can see the blades are more densely packed so it will be interesting to see how this effects performance.
Densely packed blades.
Cabling is identical to the 120mm model with the standard 3-pin feed and molex adapter and the 3 speed switch.
Power and speed control cabling.
This switch allows the user to select the desired speed of the fan to tailor the unit to the users preferred balance of performance versus noise.
The three speed switch.
The rear of the fan again sports an NZXT label outlining the presence of the Fluid Dynamic Bearing along with additional model and specification information.
Fan rear.
Testing
The NZXT Enthusiast fans will be compared to a selection of fans tested here at Vortez in the past.
I used the sound pressure level meter below to test the db rating of the fan at 12v, 7v and 5v.
SPL meter.
Due to the sound level meter only registering a db rating of 50db+ I will have to adjust the sampling distance to allow the fan to register on the meter.
Originally I decided to test the fan at each rated voltage at a distance of 2cm but since this can introduce some proximity based noise issues I have changed my testing method.
I will instead identify the distance at which the fan (running at 12v) produces a 50db reading. Once a reading is taken I will then identify the distances for the same decibel rating at 7v and again at 5v.
When the data is complete I will use a ‘damping of sound level with distance’ calculator to work out the db rating for a listening distance of 2m. This will give a clearer understanding of the actual volume of the fans we have here.
For testing I used a hotwired ITX PSU which is a fanless silent model. This will provide power for the fan’s without producing any noise interference itself.
Results
120mm
Running @ 12v and recorded @ varying distances
50 db @ 28cm
After conversion the results @ 2m are as follows
33db
Running @ 7v and recorded @ varying distances
50 db @ 16cm
After conversion the results @ 2m are as follows
28db
Running @ 5v and recorded @ varying distances
50 db @ 9cm
After conversion the results @ 2m are as follows
23db
140mm
Running @ 12v and recorded @ varying distances
50 db @ 28cm
After conversion the results @ 2m are as follows
33db
Running @ 7v and recorded @ varying distances
50 db @ 22cm
After conversion the results @ 2m are as follows
31db
Running @ 5v and recorded @ varying distances
50 db @ 14cm
After conversion the results @ 2m are as follows
27db
Summary of fan performance
As ever I like to begin my summary by explaining that your first consideration should be that the db rating doesn’t tell the whole story. Tone, resonance and other factors can and in many cases are more important than pure sound levels.
Motor wine, speed related clicking and bearing noise may not show up on the sound meter but when present I can confirm that they are very apparent and can be annoyingly intrusive. On the flip side you could have a fan that made no discernable whining or clicking but registered a high decibel count! In that scenario I’m sure most users would prefer that kind of sound profile over a low decibel rated fan that clicked and whined.
The NZXT fans in each case delivered a smooth sound presentation despite the higher than normal decibel ratings. Resonance, chuffing and motor whine are nonexistent with only minor chuffing apparent at high RPM’s.
Both fans are rated to run at a relatively conservative minimum speed of 1000RPM when the onboard switch is set to ‘Low’. At this setting both fans successfully spun up from a stopped position. This speed is actually fairly close to the 12v speed of the average quiet fan. At this speed back pressure is surprisingly powerful and certainly the equal of any standard quiet fan I’ve used. The 120mm NZXT is understandably a touch quieter than the 140mm when running at this RPM since it’s physically smaller and pushes less air. Both fans produce a fairly similar smooth sound profile although the 120mm shows the very slightest hint of clicking at this low speed which is only apparent when I placed my ear right next to the fan during testing.
Upping the onboard switch to ‘Medium’ we get a pretty noticeable surge in performance. Indeed, even at this setting these fans are rotating faster than any of the other fans I’ve tested at Vortez. The sound profile of the fans retains the same smooth presentation with just an increase in wind noise. The db ratings are high but that smoothness of presentation gives the impression they’re running quieter than the SPL meter would suggest. Once again backpressure is very impressive indeed – the increase here is considerable and airflow can still easily be felt a distance away.
Full speed mode was selected in each fan by flicking the switch to ‘High’. It is here that the high performance nature of this enthusiast fan really lets itself be known. At this setting the 120mm fan runs at 2600RPM and the 140mm at 2000RPM. This is now completely out of the ball park compared to any other fan review conducted here at Vortez. By now the physical movement of air is reaching pretty epic proportions and to a certain extent the noise output is following suit. You certainly wouldn’t miss a case full of these but again that noise signature is smooth and both click and whine free. Backpressure is absolutely excellent here too – certainly much better than any other 120mm or 140mm fan I’ve tested. These are truly performance fans!
Conclusion
Well this is certainly a different offering from NZXT.
Whilst capable of fairly unobtrusive running when set at the lowest controller setting the medium and high settings really do unleash a tidal wave of performance. For power users looking for high CFM and high pressure running these two fans provide excellent performance that can’t be ignored.
Of course not every user will want blazing performance (and to a certain extent noise) but 1) I don’t think that’s what these have been designed specifically for and 2) in that event I’d consider running these off an additional fan controller.
NZXT should be commended for producing such a high performance fan that seems nicely designed and flexible enough to be used in a fairly large range of setups at the enthusiast range of the spectrum.
Pros
+ Massive performance from the Medium and High speed settings
+ Excellent airflow and pressure at Medium and High
+ Good airflow and pressure at Lowest setting
+ Resonance and largely click free performance
+ Braided cabling
+ Useful speed switch
+ 2 Year warranty
Cons
– Not the quietest but unsurprising considering raw performance
– Very slight clicking at Lowest speed setting
+ Massive performance from the Medium and High speed settings
+ Excellent airflow and pressure at Medium and High
+ Good airflow and pressure at Lowest setting
+ Resonance and largely click free performance
+ Braided cabling
+ Useful speed switch
+ 2 Year warranty
Cons
– Not the quietest but unsurprising considering raw performance
– Very slight clicking at Lowest speed setting
