Corsair RS120 MAX Fan Review: Finally, a Good Fan from Corsair!

The Corsair RS120 MAX is expensive, it doesn’t support daisy-chain, and it has increased thickness, so it might have compatibility issues in some cases. Does it worth bothering with it? Read the review to find out, no spoilers!

Corsair thought a 5mm thickness increase in the RS MAX series fans could improve performance while keeping the noise output low. In the RS140 MAX, I found that airflow is high, but the same goes for noise output, which is not the desired outcome. Will this be the case for the RS120 MAX, too? Although at the time I was writing these lines, I knew the answer to this question; I will pretend that I didn’t, so I will give you a chance to read the corresponding review section! One thing is for sure: the Magnetic Dome bearing these fans use is highly resilient to increased operating temperatures, while it doesn’t have the bearing noises that double ball bearings have at low speeds.

Briefly, the key features of the RS120 and RS140 MAX fans are the following:

• 30mm Thickness: An increase of 5mm over standard fan thickness allows for a larger fan blade, improving cooling performance.
• PWM Controlled Speeds:
  a.  120mm: PWM-controlled fan speeds from 425 to 2,000 RPM, pushing up to 72 CFM of air with 4.2mm-H2O of static pressure.
  b.  140mm: PWM-controlled fan speeds from 400 to 1,600 RPM, pushing up to 104 CFM of air with 2.4mm-H2O of static pressure.
• Liquid Crystal Polymer Construction: Strong and durable with excellent rigidity, reducing blade vibration and increasing performance.
• CORSAIR AirGuide Technology: Anti-vortex vanes direct airflow at your hottest components for concentrated cooling, whether used for intake, exhaust, or mounted to a radiator or heatsink.
• Quiet Operation with Magnetic Dome Bearing: CORSAIR’s Magnetic Dome bearing minimizes noise and reduces friction for greater longevity.
• Zero RPM Mode Support: Supports Zero RPM PWM signals to eliminate fan noise at low loads.

Specifications