Introduction
Recently, SilverStone have released brand new and for the first time, fully equipped RGB lighting fans. So I took my chances and requested a sample for review. While fan grille has also developed to assist in RGB function, the new achievement in RGB category has marked their name in top RGB fan provider. Believing in high quality coupled with high performance, SilverStone has a proven record of high quality manufacturing in different product lines, in addition with brilliantly design-oriented product and of course, the performance.
Today, I am taking a look at the SilverStone FW142-RGB 140mm case fan. A professional PWM fan with 18 RGB LED soldered in it, offers more lighting top the fan. It’s a 140mm fan that only offers installation on 140mm rear slots, has a rated speed of 500 – 1500 RPM on a PWM design. Having airflow of 60.54 CFM, it offers adequate cooling in collaboration with low noise i.e. 23 dBA. A perfect ratio for gamers who loves to keep their PCs silent without sacrificing so much in performance. let’s head over to the offerings.
Specifcation:
The package:
We received the fan in 3x quantity. The fan set shipped in a brand new and surprisingly, colorful packaging. Saying brand new because we have done several reviews on their cooling solutions, but this time, we are surprised to see the RGB box. The box has an overall look to the fan, RGB printed on top left demonstrates a new change to design. Just below is the “Professional PWM Fan with RGB Lighting” written that represents their marketing line for this product. The lower part displays model and tiny specs. The fan itself being pictured in middle and its flashy look is taking attention, really.
The most part of backside is being covered with specifications and features plus, the available RGB color schemes on top. The bottom displays the bar-code stickers and safety certification icons. The right side is featured in multilingual. Overall, this is great lookingp packaging.
Inside the box, we see the fan is packed in a second layer with top side opened. We were expecting some extras and RGB accessories l, which apparently, not the case here. What we’ve is a fan (with integrated cables) and a plastic bag with installation screws and rubber mounts. Not that on part of extras, however, they equally not important here.
A close look:
Looking at the fan, the first glance is epic. This 140mm fan has 9 blade that exhibits a fabulous look from the top. The interesting aspect of this fan is transparent blades, which undoubtedly looks much better than the one with plain white blades. We’d admire their choice. The design of blades are engaging; it has 3 cut lines with bent over down the edges that looks interesting, to say the least. The middle of the fan has the SilverStone logo sticker with motor underneath. The fan easily be installed on 140mm dimension area, which probably most cases have that. However, it is not possible to mount 140mm on a 120mm AIO radiator, so make your choice accordingly.
The frame is not completely black neither white, but a mixer of both, of course, the white exaggeration help makes the RGB effects more visible hence it make them prominent. The corners have black mount slots on each end. There is more black frame though, as you can see from sides, apparently it increases the prominent look on the fan.
On the back, the SilverStone sticker in the middle, displays 12VDC, consuming ampere at 0.14 that makes the total power consumption 1.68W in total. It has a dual ball bearing design that offers low noise and longer lifespan. In terms of noise, fluid bearing is the best, but when it comes to long lasting, double ball bearing equipped fan has no rival.
The 4pin LED cable is leading out from the black frame suggesting the LED strip (carrying 18 LEDs) is glued right inside in it; on our rough measurement, the 4pin LED is 33-35mm long. The build work seems just fine. The main operational cable is true 4 pin PWM cable, is around 30mm in length. By that long, it can easily reach the power source, however, it still not very long to be reached at far distant header/controller. The LED cable is 4pin with one white wire, which suggest it should work by plugging into control box (probably one that SilverStone offers exclusively i.e. LSB01, but that’s not the only controller you will find out there (if you have anything already related to the said function, just use it).
Cables and Connectivity:
The fan comes with two cable connectors, one that has 4pin will connect with control box or motherboard to power up the fan. The one with 4pin and has a white sleeving is to operate the RGB LED. To power up the LED, it needs to be plugged on RGB header located on motherboard. The RGB header offers full control on fan via software. Note that, the RGB header is identified as a white header, having +12V G, R, B printed just beside it. A single RGB header can sustain about 3A on latest Z370 boards, suggesting at least 3-4 of FW142 fan RGB enabled (by using control box) at a time. The FW142 RGB takes about 0.14A on 12V, but rated power draw is 3.84W mentioned on specification list. In order to make it work, all you need to do is, to connect the 4pin RGB cable on motherboard’s RGB header, but you may also need to be very careful before you do that. As any mismatched configuration could result in damage or malfunction. Before plugging the cable, match the port definition on RGB header and RGB cable. The same precaution is applied in connecting with a control box.
Presentation:
After installing the fans, we tried to captured some of the clearer colors from many. The RGB has many deliveries of colors but Red, blue and purple are what our camera has captured well.
Video Presentation:
Beside the visual static show-off, we have also made a video on SilverStone RGB effects. The 18 RGB LEDs inside the frame offers the brightest and visually stunning outlook. Let’s video do the talking.
Tested Fan speed:
The rated fan speed of FW142RGB is ranging from 500-1500 RPM, that’s apparently a category for low noise fan. When we checked the SpeedFan software for fan speed, the default speed sit at 65%, which probably set by program; the specs tell as it starting voltage is 9.6V. The reported speed was 1100 (+/- 10). Upon tweaking the program for speed setting, we turned the fan configuration to manual and ramp it up at 100% which returned as 1470 (+/-10) RPM. So under our testing configuration, the FW142RGB replicated 1470 (+/-10) RPM on 100% settings.
Conclusion:
The RGB fan nowadays is trending and for some, the PC builds are incomplete without them. SilverStone has done a great job on FW142-RGB by maximizing the feature that any RGB fan should have. Having 1500 RPM max speed with reported 1470 RPM, the FW142RGB ensures silent environment to be maintained, which is a great plus for silence lovers. In fact, most of us fond of silent PC environment which SilverStone has delivered brilliantly. The dual ball bearing fan offers high durability added a quality build.
There is absolutely no complain on features this RGB fan is offering. There are multi-color effects followed by breathing simple and multi-color delivered an impressive work. We tested these fans on each color scheme and none has issues. The bright colors have made sparkling effect inside PC that can go off by setting to off-state, however, there is no remote control for quickest action, in case if you’re wondering. In terms of compatibility, consumer needs to understand a couple of things. First, these fans are not simple LED, but specifically designed RGB fans, which really needs a dedicated RGB header on motherboard to function, if you’re unlucky to have that, then you will need to arrange a capable RGB controller/control box, like LSB01. Second, not every board has many RGB headers, and because these fans do not come with any control box, and in absence of any GPU header, an external controller will be required for FW142RGB fans.
The good thing is SilverStone is also offering control box, LSB01, which features RGB maneuverability that accommodates at least 6 fans at a time. Therefore, it is advised to get a control box, and especially when you’re short of or having no RGB header on motherboard. We tested the fan with two control box; LSB01 for RGB and CPF04 for power the fan. Because we don’t want to mess of cables on front, we let the cables be managed at back of the case, which really ease things up for us. Overall, the RGB operation went smooth and we had zero complaint on part of RGB fans.
The FW142-RGB fan is priced at $29 on Amazon (at the time of writing). Having 1500 RPM the, the fan not only ensures low noise but offers a brilliant looking RGB colors. The FW142RGB offers refreshing, bright lightings and several effects including the most impressive, the breathing multi-color effect, simply amazing. We think these RGB fans are no less than any other in the competition and sometimes better in a few aspects. If you’re looking for RGB fan for your Gaming PCs, then try SilverStone FW142-RGB fans, believe it or not, they are really worth it.
Order on Amazon: Follow the below link
Thanks to SilverStone for providing this sample for review.
