Cooler Master Mobius 120 Fan

[VSG]

Today we examine Cooler Master's new Mobius 120 fan that uses a "ring blade" design aimed to produce more stable and efficient airflow across different applications: case fans, heatsinks, even radiators. It features a zero RPM mode and a long PWM control range in addition to good build quality and a long 5-year warranty.

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[Solidstate89]

Lmao these cost as much as a Phanteks T30. More if you buy the three-pack of T30s that drops the price per fan even lower.

 

[Jack1n]

It's mobin time

 

[Testsubject01]

Not a material science guy, but nothing on these looks like it is anything but “run-of-the-mill” plastic, bearings, motor, manufacturing tech. Why try to go for 30+ buck premium league like Phanteks T30 / Thermaltake ToughFan 12 / MSI MEG Silent Gale P12 / Noctua NF-A12x25 / be quiet! Silent Wings Pro 4 / EK-Vardar 120? (not saying they are all totally worth that either)

Kinda doubt they wouldn't still have a good margin at 50% of the current price, while undercutting the competition with “ok-ish” specs to boot.

 

[zlobby]

Not a material science guy, but nothing on these looks like it is anything but “run-of-the-mill” plastic, bearings, motor, manufacturing tech. Why try to go for 30+ buck premium league like Phanteks T30 / Thermaltake ToughFan 12 / MSI MEG Silent Gale P12 / Noctua NF-A12x25 / be quiet! Silent Wings Pro 4 / EK-Vardar 120? (not saying they are all totally worth that either)

Kinda doubt they wouldn't still have a good margin at 50% of the current price, while undercutting the competition with “ok-ish” specs to boot.

No need to know material science, you only need to know your cliantelle.

 

[TechLurker]

The ring seems a bit odd, in the context of speed and airflow performance given that those were normally used on fans trying to retain a degree of thinness (> 30mm thick) while also having a higher RPM, such as with the higher end GTs; AP-29, AP-30, and AP-31, being the best examples, given their use for awhile as Scythe products and later as OEM-only options for certain ATI AIO GPUs (Fury, Pro Duo, Vega 64 all having a 120mm radiator with an attached AP-30 or AP-31 fan), or to reduce blade deformation while using a softer plastic material.

I wonder if the ring inclusion was due to the latter; plastic used for the fan blades + blade design. Many of the fans on the list can go at or higher speed than the Mobius 120, but don't need a ring, while providing similar performance.

 

[mechtech]

I like the graphs. I try to aim to limit noise to 35dba and looks like 120mm is about 1300rpm typically.

 

[SpartanM07]

Only thing I got from this in depth review is the Phanteks T30 is an excellent radiator fan

 

[VSG]

The ring seems a bit odd, in the context of speed and airflow performance given that those were normally used on fans trying to retain a degree of thinness (> 30mm thick) while also having a higher RPM, such as with the higher end GTs; AP-29, AP-30, and AP-31, being the best examples, given their use for awhile as Scythe products and later as OEM-only options for certain ATI AIO GPUs (Fury, Pro Duo, Vega 64 all having a 120mm radiator with an attached AP-30 or AP-31 fan), or to reduce blade deformation while using a softer plastic material.

I wonder if the ring inclusion was due to the latter; plastic used for the fan blades + blade design. Many of the fans on the list can go at or higher speed than the Mobius 120, but don't need a ring, while providing similar performance.

Or it could be CM trying to use this as a marketing feature, plenty of companies have added things for no practical reasons in the past.

I like the graphs. I try to aim to limit noise to 35dba and looks like 120mm is about 1300rpm typically.

Depends on the fans chosen and the performance you wish to get.

 

[mechtech]

Depends on the fans chosen and the performance you wish to get.

Noise
Strictly noise

 

[damric]

$30? For a little more you can get a 5-pack of Arctic P120s. CM needs to go back to the days of good sickleflow fans for $7 and calendars of girls sitting on computer cases.

 

[VSG]

Noise
Strictly noise

Might as well not run any fans at all then, that would be the quietest any fans can ever get. There is always performance to be considered too, you just mean that noise is more important to you. In this case, look at the likes of the be quiet! Silent Wings 4 fans: https://www.techpowerup.com/review/be-quiet-silent-wings-pro-4-120-mm-pwm-fan/

 

[zlobby]

TPU should open their OnlyFans page.

 

[Ferrum Master]

TPU should open their OnlyFans page.

IMHO VSG had a personal one.

 

[TechLurker]

Or it could be CM trying to use this as a marketing feature, plenty of companies have added things for no practical reasons in the past.

Fair, after all, NoiseBlocker got a lot of consumers buying into their NB e-Loop Bionic fans, which did have an integrated ring (although it was at least shaped to help with a bit of airflow direction and provide a nice idle visual aesthetic).

 

[VSG]

Fair, after all, NoiseBlocker got a lot of consumers buying into their NB e-Loop Bionic fans, which did have an integrated ring (although it was at least shaped to help with a bit of airflow direction and provide a nice idle visual aesthetic).

I still use those fans for my radiator testing so at least I can vouch for their reliability and decent performance/noise.

 

[mechtech]

Might as well not run any fans at all then, that would be the quietest any fans can ever get. There is always performance to be considered too, you just mean that noise is more important to you. In this case, look at the likes of the be quiet! Silent Wings 4 fans: https://www.techpowerup.com/review/be-quiet-silent-wings-pro-4-120-mm-pwm-fan/

Thanks. I have some old scythe 900 rpm fans in there now, but they are voltage controlled but start at about 5v. However gigabytes hysteresis doesn’t seem all that great and I had to flatten the curve to avoid constant rpm shifting. Maybe some new PWM fans will be better?

 

[sLowEnd]

"Loop dynamic bearing" sure is a fancy way of saying "rifle bearing"

 

[Gmr_Chick]

$30? For a little more you can get a 5-pack of Arctic P120s. CM needs to go back to the days of good sickleflow fans for $7 and calendars of girls sitting on computer cases.

I used the green ones in the first PC I ever built!

 

[VSG]

Thanks. I have some old scythe 900 rpm fans in there now, but they are voltage controlled but start at about 5v. However gigabytes hysteresis doesn’t seem all that great and I had to flatten the curve to avoid constant rpm shifting. Maybe some new PWM fans will be better?

Yeah if your motherboard has 4-pin PWM fan headers then go that route.

 

[Chrispy_]

"Loop dynamic bearing" sure is a fancy way of saying "rifle bearing"

For the same reason monitor manufacturers don't say "TN Panel" and instead use nondescript rubbish like "SPLENDID view" and "ComfortBright technology".

Why plainly state that your product is cheap and basic when you can lie about it by inventing some fancy marketing guff. Lies sell products because 99.x% of their customers are too ignorant to care or find a review.

 

[Mussels]

It's mobin time

One of the fans of all time

 

[Udyr]

The only marketing feature they added is the price. They're trying to capture the "if it's expensive, it's probably good" audience.

 

[damric]

I used the green ones in the first PC I ever built!

The green ones did look the best of them all. I did a build with them as well. Must have been 2010ish.

 

[Gmr_Chick]

The green ones did look the best of them all. I did a build with them as well. Must have been 2010ish.

I built my first rig on an FX 6100 Bulldozer with the green Sickleflows. And then I used them in an i3 Haswell build. I'm pretty sure they only came in red, blue, green, white and no LED versions. Great little fans back in the day.