analysis of these PC fans

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analysis of these PC fans

analysis, Fans

If be quiet is characterized by something! It’s about manufacturing the highest quality components, focused on silence but always with excellent performance. In the case of fans, the manufacturer has always lived up to its name, offering high-performance and, at the same time, ultra-quiet products. Today we will see the evolution of its star fans which also feature a renewed lighting system.

Be quiet! Light Wings LX, technical specifications

Be quiet! LX Light Wings
Bearing type Rifle bearing
Dimensions 120x120x25mm
Operating voltage 5 – 13.2 V
Speed 1600 rpm
Noise 25.5 dBA
Air flow 51.5 CFM
static pressure 1.34 mm/H₂O
Consumption 3.8W (maximum)
Lightning ARGB
Connector 4 pin PWM + ARGB
Guarantee 3 years
PVPR $18.90 (120mm)

These new fans of Be Quiet! They are 120mm x 120mm in size, so we can mount them on virtually any tower, radiator or heatsink. The blades have an optimized design, which allows for a very powerful airflow that expels heat from inside the tower. Concretely, it is capable of generating an air flow of between 51.5 and 87.5 CFM/m3/h, and an air pressure of 1.34 mm H2O.

As for the bearings, shut up! has opted for rifle-type models which, in addition to being silent, have excellent reliability, guaranteeing a useful life of at least 60,000 hours. Thus, this new model can reach a speed of up to 1600 RPM, with a maximum sound volume of 25.5 dBA.

Be quiet! LX LIGHT WINGS

RGB lighting is another important point of these fans. These Light Wings LX feature a 16 LED ARGB lighting system that gives the cooling system a unique and special design. Additionally, to simplify wiring, these fans are designed to be able to be connected together, so we can have all the fans in series connected to a single ARGB port on the motherboard.

Concerning the connections, these fans have a 4-pin PWM cable, which allows the motherboard to very precisely control the revolutions per minute. And, what’s more, each fan comes with a 3-year manufacturer’s warranty.

Let’s see what they look like.

Unboxing and external analysis

Be quiet! The Light Wings LX are delivered in a black cardboard box. We tested the 3-pack of fans, so all three units came in the same box. On the front of the box we can see a photo of the fans working with their LED lighting, while on the back we will have another, more detailed photo of the fan.

We open the box and find the fans in question. Two of the fans simply come inside the box, while the middle one, to protect against possible damage due to friction with the other two, is placed between two cardboard boxes. We also have the warranty paper, and three small bags with the screws.

Be quiet! LX LIGHT WINGS

The screws are typical fan screws.

Be quiet! LX LIGHT WINGS

As for the fans, the design we find is very simple, and at first glance they don’t stand out in anything.

We find fans with 7 white blades, with a black body (at least, in the model analyzed). The blades have markings to improve airflow, and thanks to their design we can see the light effect when in operation.

If in doubt, on one side of the fan frame we have two marks, one that tells us which direction the fan will spin, and another that will show us where the airflow will go.

Be quiet! LX LIGHT WINGS

The two cables come out from one side of each fan. One of them is of the PWM type, and will be responsible for providing the current necessary for the operation of the fan, while the other will be of the ARGB type, since it will be responsible for controlling the lighting of the fans.

A detail that we really liked is that you can connect the ARGB lighting in series. That is, we can connect the 3 ARGB cables of the 3 fans one after the other and connect only one to the motherboard or RGB controller we are using. And so the three fans will have synchronized lighting.

Be quiet! LX LIGHT WINGS

As for the measurements of these fans, we see that they measure slightly less than the 120 mm that they are supposed to measure (nothing important), and their thickness is 25.4 mm.

I’ll probably shut up! LX Light Wings

The gathering of fans has no mystery. What you need to do is find a space compatible with the 120mm and mount them using the screws provided. The screws are self-drilling, that is to say that by tightening them, they pass the thread inside the hole, as on practically all fans on the market.

We put them up in the be quiet tower! Pure Base 501, one of the latest models that this manufacturer has put on sale. We removed the two supplied 140mm fans and opted to mount these units. Additionally, since this tower has its own fan controller, we connected all three fans to it, controlling them all through a single PWM port, and we also connected the ARGB cable to it.

We can mount them with any orientation we want. In our case, what we did was put the three together by blowing the air outwards. The reason is very simple: the hot air tends upwards, and logically the fans at the top must evacuate the air. And the same at the rear, to dissipate the heat generated by the liquid cooling pump itself.

With everything connected, we just booted the computer and the fans started working. The speed at which we want them to run is given (in our case) by the UEFI profile we have configured. Instead, we control the lighting through the motherboard’s own software, using the same effect for everything (for liquid cooling, a be quiet! be quiet! Light Loop, and fans).

Be quiet! LX LIGHT WINGS

Conclusion and verdict

Without breaking with its aesthetics and its principles, shut up! launched a new version to his fans. These new Light Wings LX manage to renew the manufacturer’s range of fans and offer users a very good quality product, as expected of them.

Generally speaking, these are the typical fans from this manufacturer, with all the good things (great performance, low noise, etc.), but with some additions to make them even better. On the one hand we have an ARGB lighting system that allows us to give a touch of color to our configuration without having to spend a fortune, and on the other hand we liked that, unlike what we find in other fans, that each 1 It has its own cables and must be connected individually, in this case the ARGB lighting goes in series, simplifying the wiring.

We missed a few extra features, for example, instead of having to connect each fan to a different PWM port, we could have a daisy chain connection like with ARGB lighting. But, for now, we’ll have to wait to see this feature among be quiet fans!

For all these reasons, we have decided to ask fans to keep quiet! Light Wings LX our gold medal and our recommendation for its design.

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