Corsair ML120 Pro - First look and my opinion.

[Senzelian]

So when Linus uploaded his video about the new Corsair ML120 Pro I became very excited, like a lot of people.

I guess everyone has seen one of the older Corsair SP or AF 120mm fans by now and knows roughly how they perform. And while they were fine for most people, they were just not good enough for the enthusiasts under us.

My expectations were high, but not unreachable. I thought these should perform roughly the same as my good old be Quiet Silent Wings 2 and then I finally got the fan in and ... 

 

got massively disappointed.

 

They did everything right - a sturdy frame; great looks, awesome paint job and it seems to perform really great - but, it's just as loud as the old AF120 / SP120 fans.
It feels like they didn't do anything to the motor or the bearing and it feels like a missed opportunity for Corsair.

I tried them at various speeds and until 1200RPM they were relatively silent and probably inaudible in a case with sound dampening like the Fractal Define R5, but as soon as I increased the speed to roughly 1400RPM it became simply too loud for my personal taste.

And those things go up to 2400RPM... At that point I wasn't sure if this was a reference R9 290X or a Corsair case fan.

Now, would I recommend them?
It really depends on your use case. If you want to let them run at a low RPM - fine! They will look great and they will be dead silent, but if you want to get not only a good looking, but also great performing and quiet fan, then I think you should look out for something else.
 

 

[NinjaJc01]

The only reason I'm not planning on buying one, is the price. They look good, but are just too much.

[DrM]

honestly seems like just a ripoff of noctua industrial fans. they were first with sso2 and chromax. some of those reach 2000 rpm or higher, all around the same price (at least in the us)

[Senzelian]

14 hours ago, DrM said:

honestly seems like just a ripoff of noctua industrial fans. they were first with sso2 and chromax. some of those reach 2000 rpm or higher, all around the same price (at least in the us)

I wouldn't say its a ripoff just because of a their bearings are very similar to those in the Noctuas.

 

To give interchangeable rubber corners a name purely for marketing purposes seems kina silly to me. 

 

Nontheless, Noctua fans are much better.

[unholy_walrus]

I don't know what you're smoking but 1) these are the best fans I've ever seen and 2) how the hell is this ripping off Noctua? Please explain that.

 

I'm glad Corsair decided to work with Sunon on these fans, they have long had experience with maglev bearings. I replaced 3 Noctua NF-F12 IPPC PWM fans on my 360 rad with these and I couldn't be happier. I've never been satisfied with any fan, and I've been through every decent quality one. GTs, Venturis, FP120s, eLoops, Vardars, NF-F12s etc. I ended up with Noctua because they had the least amount of noise issues, good low-speed performance and a nice sound signature. And that warranty service. Too bad even the Noctuas had some ticking issues.

 

Now that I have these ML120s, I'm not going back. These fans have ZERO bearing noise and no motor noise at low speeds. Performance wise they're as good as any fan I've ever had - just quieter. Plus, they have by far the best sound signature I've ever heard. Bitching about these fans being loud at 2k+ rpm is just special kind of stupid. Please do show me a fan that isn't loud at high speeds. 

 

I ended up setting the upper rpm limit at about 1300rpm, after that the noise of air ripping through a rad starts to get too much for me. If you want a fan that combines no bearing noise at all, no ticking, great rad/heatsink performance, incredible MTBF, 5 year warranty and probably the best noise-to-performance ratio available, these are your fans. Pro tip: get the dual pack and suddenly they're pretty cheap. I bought dual packs for 24€ each which IMO is dirt cheap for fans like these.

 

Meanwhile, Noctua are sitting on their asses releasing nothing new. I'm glad SOMEONE came up with this. I'm Noctua fanboy but I'm done paying a premium for fans that are no longer that special.

 

FYI; you MUST use pwm control with these fans. With voltage control the maglev bearing won't work properly which will cause noise issues

[Senzelian]

6 hours ago, unholy_walrus said:

I don't know what you're smoking but 1) these are the best fans I've ever seen and 2) how the hell is this ripping off Noctua? Please explain that.

 

I'm glad Corsair decided to work with Sunon on these fans, they have long had experience with maglev bearings. I replaced 3 Noctua NF-F12 IPPC PWM fans on my 360 rad with these and I couldn't be happier. I've never been satisfied with any fan, and I've been through every decent quality one. GTs, Venturis, FP120s, eLoops, Vardars, NF-F12s etc. I ended up with Noctua because they had the least amount of noise issues, good low-speed performance and a nice sound signature. And that warranty service. Too bad even the Noctuas had some ticking issues.

 

Now that I have these ML120s, I'm not going back. These fans have ZERO bearing noise and no motor noise at low speeds. Performance wise they're as good as any fan I've ever had - just quieter. Plus, they have by far the best sound signature I've ever heard. Bitching about these fans being loud at 2k+ rpm is just special kind of stupid. Please do show me a fan that isn't loud at high speeds. 

 

I ended up setting the upper rpm limit at about 1300rpm, after that the noise of air ripping through a rad starts to get too much for me. If you want a fan that combines no bearing noise at all, no ticking, great rad/heatsink performance, incredible MTBF, 5 year warranty and probably the best noise-to-performance ratio available, these are your fans. Pro tip: get the dual pack and suddenly they're pretty cheap. I bought dual packs for 24€ each which IMO is dirt cheap for fans like these.

 

Meanwhile, Noctua are sitting on their asses releasing nothing new. I'm glad SOMEONE came up with this. I'm Noctua fanboy but I'm done paying a premium for fans that are no longer that special.

 

FYI; you MUST use pwm control with these fans. With voltage control the maglev bearing won't work properly which will cause noise issues

I appreciate your post, but don't be butthurt.

[IcEWoLF]

The pricing on these fans are just wow...I'll pass for now until they offer better pricing.

[Dschijn]

On 15.7.2016 at 1:39 AM, unholy_walrus said:

FYI; you MUST use pwm control with these fans. With voltage control the maglev bearing won't work properly which will cause noise issues

 

Did you get the Pro or non Pro? I think the non Pro in the twin pack are a good deal, because the rubber corners should make a big different at low rpms, right?

[unholy_walrus]

On 26.7.2016 at 4:14 PM, Dschijn said:

 

Did you get the Pro or non Pro? I think the non Pro in the twin pack are a good deal, because the rubber corners should make a big different at low rpms, right?

Non-pros as they were very affordable. I ended up paying about 14€/fan with the dual packs whereas ML120 Pro's would have been 30€ each. I really don't think the colour scheme and rubber corners justify that kind of added cost. I do use my own anti-vibration setups anyway though so I can't say if the non-pros suffer much from not having the rubber corners.

 

These are definitely my new go-to fans. First time I've ever recommended a Corsair fan.

[Senzelian]

16 hours ago, unholy_walrus said:

Non-pros as they were very affordable. I ended up paying about 14€/fan with the dual packs whereas ML120 Pro's would have been 30€ each. I really don't think the colour scheme and rubber corners justify that kind of added cost. I do use my own anti-vibration setups anyway though so I can't say if the non-pros suffer much from not having the rubber corners.

 

These are definitely my new go-to fans. First time I've ever recommended a Corsair fan.

Where in Europe do you live that you had to pay that much for a pro version fan? 

[unholy_walrus]

On 28.7.2016 at 6:12 PM, Senzelian said:

Where in Europe do you live that you had to pay that much for a pro version fan? 

Finland. Tech prices here are beyond ridiculous.

 

Looks like you can get ML120 Pros for 27€ right now, but the LED versions are 30€ each.

[Senzelian]

44 minutes ago, unholy_walrus said:

Finland. Tech prices here are beyond ridiculous.

 

Looks like you can get ML120 Pros for 27€ right now, but the LED versions are 30€ each.

Couldn't you just order from Germany?
Shipping shouldn't be too expensive.

[unholy_walrus]

3 minutes ago, Senzelian said:

Couldn't you just order from Germany?
Shipping shouldn't be too expensive.

Works for larger purchaces (Mindfactory always charges 20€ shipping per order, unless it's way large) but quite often shipping makes it almost as expensive as here. Sucks to be us, huh.

[Nickflana]

I just got 2 red ML140 Pros and I couldn't be happier. They do get noisy ifor you crank it all the way up but at 1200rpm they are completely silent in my right. 1250-1300rpm you can start hearing them but it's not bad at all. Now they are a bit expensive but because of my job, I got an accommodation from Corsair and got a good discount plus free shipping. Now these fans are supposed to provide better performance and sounds vs the competition at the same rpm's but I have no way of testing it. I'd definitely love to see a more in depth review/comparison video from Linus testing these fans!!! (Hopefully they see this post and make it!)