Time for some quick maths! Three individual AF120 RGB ELITE fans will cost you $105, so the incremental extra for the triple pack SKU of $15 is effectively for the Lighting Node CORE LED hub that, used with CORSAIR's iCUE software suite, helps you make the most of the RGB functionality on board. While there are no doubt going to be complaints about iCUE in the comments section, I personally think it's one of the more user-friendly and feature-rich programs on the market today. I just wish CORSAIR gave us the option to decide whether or not to use it with these fans as with its Hydro X line of water blocks which now ship with an adapter cable to use with more standard 3-pin, dRGB LED headers. The Lighting Node CORE cannot be purchased separately at this point but it's safe to say the triple pack is getting a subsidy even if the days of a free controller in addition to further cost savings per fan with multi-packs seem to be behind us when it comes to CORSAIR RGB fans.

I know this review doesn't cover the AF140 RGB ELITE fans but somehow there the price increment for the same accessory appears to be $20. Then there's the part where the AF120 ELITE (non-RGB) costs $25 per fan making the AF120 RGB ELITE an eye-watering $10 more per fan. This is the same with the 140 mm sizes too and note that there is no multi-pack SKU for those non-RGB versions. You do get a higher max fan speed in addition to the obvious RGB lighting feature but I can't really jive with these price increases coming in one on top of another. The AF120 ELITE was already a fan that I deemed quite expensive and not the best fit for watercooling—it's better off as a case fan based on some tests I did separately—so these AF120 RGB ELITE fans go further down the road of offering worse value for money unless...well, unless you are interested in seeing what one of the very few RGB fans that perform on par with the non-RGB versions would be like. That's about it really, CORSAIR needs to do better for the money for its fans in a market where you can get products with seamless/stealth connectivity or even swappable fan blades for a lower cost while also performing better on more airflow-restrictive scenarios.