Introduction
The SilverStone Technology was founded in 2003 on the principle of recognition that merely having innovative expertise within the industry is not enough. Their objective is to ensure that their expertise is delivered to all products with consistency, in response to user’s needs, and with maximum user satisfaction. SilverStone Technology thrives on challenges of rapid technological advancements and creating aesthetic standard for the industry. Their products are of high quality. Product lines include PC Chassis, PSU, Cooling Solution, Storage devices, etc.
SilverStone has recently released their white edition high-performance RGB fans and white color version of PF series coolers. They have sent us their new Air Blazer series 120RW fans for the review and the white build. These fans are in 120mm size and they are in the white color from head to toe. Even the connectors are in the white color. SilverStone is marketing these fans as optimized for radiator and heat sink use which makes sense given their high airflow and high static pressure rating. These fans pack brilliant A-RGB lighting though there is no controller included in the box. The lighting is compatible with any standard A-RGB 4-pin +5V, D, NP, G pin format.
Product: Air Blazer 120RW
Manufacturer: SilverStone
Price: US $18.99 [MSRP]
Specifications
Packaging and Unboxing
The fan is shipped inside a paperboard packing box in SilverStone design theme.
The A-RGB lighting is compatible with:
- GIGABYTE RGB FUSION 2.0
- ASUS AURA SYNC
- MSI MYSTIC LIGHT SYNC
- ASROCK POLYCHROME SYNC
- BIOSTAR RGB SYNC
The salient features of the fan are printed in 11 languages. The specifications are also printed here.
The EAN, UPC, and JAN label stickers are printed on the side.
Contents
Following are provided in the box.
A warranty information leaflet is included.
We have:
- 4x Long Screws for the radiator mounting
- 4x Short Screw for the chassis mounting
Closer Look
Let’s take a closer look at the fan starting with the salient features:
- PWM enabled and optimized for radiator and heatsink use
- Displays any color combination by use of an addressable RGB controller or capable motherboard
- Equipped with Hydro Bearing for long life and low operational noise
- Integrated rubber padding helps to further reduce vibrational noise
- Utilizes standard ARGB 4-1 Pin for compatibility with most ARGB-capable motherboards and controllers
Here is the specification table:
| Dimension | 120x120x25 mm |
| Air Flow | 25.62 ~ 93.97 CFM |
| Sound Level | 7.4 ~ 35.6 dBA |
| Air Pressure | 0.26 ~ 3.53 mmH₂O |
| Speed | 600 ~ 2200 RPM ±10% |
| Rated Voltage | 12 VDC |
| Starting Voltage | 6 VDC |
| Fan Rated Current | 0.32A |
| Fan Rated Power | 3.84W |
| LED Rated Current | 0.26A |
| LED Rated Power | 3.12V |
We have 9 translucent blades in a layer design with hive design on the trailing edges of the blades. The complete assembly is finished in the white color which gives these fans a beautiful touch. There is a SilverStone branded sticker pasted in the center. The center has relatively large diameter because it is housing A-RGB LEDs. The frame of the fan is sturdy. It has a slope downward design from the sides. The frame is not fully square nor circular.
There are cut-to-size white color anti-vibration pads pre-installed on the mounting corners to dampen the vibration noise.
Looking at the backside, we have a 4-arms assembly holding and securing the motor and blades to the main frame. One of the arms is wider and has latch to hold the wires from falling down. Speaking of the wires, they are also in the white color. I appreciate the attention to the detail from SilverStone design team. There is a SilverStone branded sticker pasted in the center with the power rating of the fan printed.
Green color PCB can be seen from the small cutout where the wires are coming out in the center. The frame has a same inlet design as is on the other side.
The SilverStone Air Blazer 120RW is using Hydro Bearings and they have a life span of 40,000 MTTF.
There is no SilverStone branding on any side of the frame. We could not find the arrow symbols on any side. These symbols help the novice users in identification of the direction of air flow and the direction in which the blades would spin. I actually appreciate the no-branding concept on the side particularly when the fans are installed on the radiator. The overall build quality is good.
As I mentioned above, the connectors of the cables are also finished in the white. This is exactly like saying, hey if we are doing it white, we are doing it complete white. Good job there SilverStone.
We have:
- A 4-pin PWM connector to power the motor
- A 4-pin RGB female connector
- A 4-pin RGB male connector
We have sufficient length of the cables here particularly the length of RGB cable is good enough. This will come handy when installing inside the large size chassis.
RGB Lighting
The addressable RGB lighting on these fans is on the money. They are not overly done to my personal liking and can be controlled with any standard A-RGB 4-pin controller is a wise implementation. The lighting is compatible with:
- GIGABYTE RGB FUSION 2.0
- ASUS AURA SYNC
- MSI MYSTIC LIGHT SYNC
- ASROCK POLYCHROME SYNC
- BIOSTAR RGB SYNC
I have tested the fans’ lighting on the MSI MAG Z490 Motherboard using MYSTIC LIGHT SYNC software. Here are a few pictures:
Testing
Following test bed is used:
- Intel i7 10700k
- MSI MAG Z490 TOMAHAWK
- T-Force NightHawk RGB DDR4 2x8GB @ 3200MHz CL16
- SilverStone iCEGEM 240P
- Addink S70 256GB NVMe SSD
- GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1060 6G Gaming G1
- bequiet! Straight Power 11 850W Platinum
- Open-Air Test Bench
Speed and Air Flow testing
We have measured the speed attained by the fan at various PWM duty cycles and measured the airflow on each duty cycle as well. Fan was connected on the CPU Fan Header. One observation we noted was that on other system fan headers these fans were running at roughly 2000 RPM range at 100% duty cycle. This is within stated 10% margin but connecting the same fan on the CPU Fan header, we saw the maximum attained speed of 2185 RPM. This has nothing to do with the fans and their PWM regulation. This observation is for the motherboard as it seems like only CPU Fan header has better/effective PWM control. The anemometer was placed roughly 2” away from the fan.
Here is the table:
| PWM Cycle %age | Speed (RPM) | Air Flow (CFM) |
| 20% | 646 | 18.77 |
| 30% | 924 | 32.36 |
| 40% | 1188 | 41.9 |
| 50% | 1398 | 48.67 |
| 60% | 1576 | 57.35 |
| 70% | 1768 | 62.19 |
| 80% | 1878 | 69.95 |
| 90% | 2000 | 74.67 |
| 100% | 2185 | 82.82 |
Thermal Testing
AIDA64 6.30 Extreme is used for testing and monitoring.
Here is the settings table for testing:
| OC Clock (MHz) | 5100 |
| OC Voltage (V) | 1.344 |
| Turbo Boost | Disabled |
| C-States | Disabled |
| Speed Step | Disabled |
| Thermal Paste | Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut Extreme |
| Test Run Time | 60 minutes |
| Idling Time | 15 minutes |
| Fan Speed | Fans on 100% Speed
Fans on Auto PWM |
| Pump Speed | Connected to the AIO Pump header to run at 100% speed |
The testing is done on an open air bench system. Once inside the chassis, the temperatures are expected to rise and would largely depend upon the optimal airflow inside the chassis. Not every run of the stress test may yield the same result. This could well be due to many factors like mounting pressure, thermal paste application, varying ambient temperature, temperature sensor of the die. Not to mention the silicon differences even among the same category of the chips. Hence, it is pertinent to mention the testing methodology along with the specifics.
Let’s take a look at the results.
Full PWM Cycle
Auto PWM Cycle
Thermal performance is quite good on these fans as these are optimized for the radiator and heat sink use.
Acoustic
These fans at their full speed are quite loud and we measured them to be making 61 dBA with 34 dBA ambient sound level.
Conclusion
Recently we are seeing an influx of more white components from various brands and this is a good news for the white build lovers. SilverStone has recently released white edition of their Perma Frost series liquid coolers. In addition they have released the white color addressable ARGB fans in Air Blazer series named 120RW. The Air Blazer 120RWs are white color digital RGB fans. The frame of the fans is in the white color with translucent 9x blades designed specifically to generate more airflow. The good thing with the overall design is that these fans are in white color from head to toe. The cables are in the white color, the connectors are in white color so much so the cut-to-design anti-vibration pads are also in the white color. I appreciate their design team for this attention to detail.
These fans are rated for maximum speed of 2200 RPM ±10%. They are rated for maximum air flow of 93.97 CFM with 3.53 mmH₂O static pressure rating. They are optimized for use on the radiators and heat sinks. The sound level rating of these fans is up to 35.6 dBA. They are rated for 12VDC with 6VDC startup voltage. The fan’s motor takes 0.32A with total power consumption of 3.84W. The LED take 0.26A with power consumption of 3.12W. These fans are using Hydro Bearings and are rated for 40,000 hours life span.
There is no dedicated controller bundled with a single fan pack which is understandable. 2-3 fans pack with a bundled controller would make more sense from the packaging and pricing perspective. The fans are using the standard 4-pin (+5V, D, NP, G) pin format which makes them compatible with any standard A-RGB controller as well the digital headers on the motherboards. Speaking of the motherboards, these fans are compatible with GIGABYTE RGB Fusion 2.0, ASRock Polychrome Sync, MSI Mystic Light Sync, ASUS AURA Sync, and Biostar RGB Sync. We have dual connector cable per fan with plentiful length for one’s requirement. The dual connector allows the users to easily daisy chain the fans for connectivity with a single controller. I like the sublime and subtle addressable RGB lighting on these fans. The good aspect is that they are not overly done which has always been my personal liking.
The Air Blazer 120RW is listed at $18.99 MSRP for a single fan pack at the time of the review. We have tested these fans to check the thermal performance of Intel i7 10700k at 5.1GHz under load. They are serving their purpose effectively though at elevated sound level for which I would suggest setting up custom fan curve or using Auto PWM function. These high-performance edition fans in white color with stunning A-RGB lighting at reasonable pricing come recommended by us.
We are thankful to the SilverStone for giving us the opportunity to review their Air Blazer 120RW fans.
