NZXT FX Enthusiast 120mm and 140mm Fans

Product(s): NZXT FX Enthusiast 120mm and 140mm Fans
Provided By: NZXT
Price: ~$12.00 - $18.00 Online

Introduction:

Today we have a couple of case fans from NZXT on our bench. These case fans are from their "Enthusiast" series which are built for gamers or anyone else who wants some high quality fans. The NZXT FX-120LB and NZXT FX-140LB case fans come with some cool features that you just don't see in other case fans. NZXT is well known for building all kinds of PC components like PC cases, PC case fans, fan controllers and many other PC peripherals.

Box Front

Box Back

A Closer Look:

The NZXT Enthusiast case fans are packaged as you would expect. They are in your standard cardboard box with some minimal graphics on them. Once you remove them from the box, you immediately notice they are not your usual fan. They have an extra wire, which contains a fan speed switch. NZXT has also given extra flexibility as the fan power wire can connect to either a 4 pin Molex or a three pin motherboard connector.  These cables have some nice sheathing on them.

Cables & Connectors

The NZXT fans do come with a couple different options in terms of mounting hardware.  You have a choice of the standard screws or the rubber anti-vibration fasteners. The NZXT FX-120LB case fan comes with seven blades - a standard for 120mm fans I have seen. The NZXT FX-140LB case fan comes with nine blades - also a standard for 140mm fans.

12cm Fan Bundle

12cm Fan Front

The NZXT Enthusiast series 120 and 140mm fans have a three position fan speed switch built in. It can be set to L(low), M(medium) or H(high). You can choose the setting best for where it is mounted and how much air flow is desired. This can be done without using a separate fan controller thanks to this innovative design. The 120mm fan can be ran on the low setting at 1,000rpm on medium at 1,800rpm and on high at 2,600rpm. The 140mm speeds are a little different. The 140mm fan runs on the low setting at 1,000rpm on medium at 1,500rpm and on high at 2,000rpm.

Specifications:

As you can see above, both fans have a very similar maximum airflow rating (CFM = Cubic Feet per Minute).  The difference is the 120mm fan runs at 2200rpm in order to achieve this and makes more noise than the 140mm fan which runs 200rpm slower. 

On the next page we'll take a look and try and "test" a fan before we wrap things up with some final thoughts.