Does Anybody Know about Cooler Master MasterFan MF122R RGB??

blackd51th

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Hi everyone,

So I'm the market for some RGB case fans that I can use Aura Sync to control the colors. I came across CM MasterFan MF122R RGB on the CM website and they looked interesting. But I can't seem to be able to find any information about them on the net. Has anyone used these before? If so can anyone point me to a place where I can buy these(preferably in Asia).

Thanks...
 

blackd51th

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Thank you for the reply. Well I have a Chinese friend who can help me out. Just need to clarify if this store is legit(on the surface it does). So many 'look alike products' :)

Another quick question, if I were to use three of these, how can I hook them up together? I have only one RGB header on my MoBo(Asus Prime Z370-A)
 

blackd51th

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Thanks Aeacus for the reply. The reviews on that link you shared are not very positive. So I might try and see if these are available in US or somewhere else. But nevertheless thanks for the tip and the help. :)
 

Aeacus

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blackd51th

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I know there are lot of options. These caught my eye coz of the looks. :) and they were relatively unknown. I couldn't find alot of info on these so posted a question here. It seems that a lot of Aussie stores sell these. But they are a bit too expensive. So I'm on the hunt again and found these;

http://www.enermax.com/home.php?fn=eng/product_a1_1_1&lv0=4&lv1=121&no=384

Any thoughts on these?
 

Aeacus

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Those look like Thermaltake Riing RGB fans. Though, what caught my eye is that Enermax fans only come with 1 year warranty, showing that their build quality is low and they won't last long.
Fan review: https://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/8530/enermax-rgb-lighting-3-fan-pack-review/index.html
Enermax warranty length: http://www.enermaxusa.com/support.php
(pick Warranty tab)

In my Skylake and Haswell builds (full specs with pics in my sig), i have NZXT AER140 RGB fans in use to provide additional eyecandy due to the 8x addressable LEDs per fan. NZXT offers twice as much warranty than Enermax does (2 years vs 1 year) and NZXT also states that their AER RGB fan lifespan is 6 years (if not more). Downside is that you'll need NZXT HUE+ to control the LEDs.
Fan specs: https://www.nzxt.com/products/aer-rgb

Regardless the RGB fan you go with, you will pay premium price for it since that's the nature of RGB. Best example would be pricing between Corsair Strafe keyboard non-RGB and RGB versions,
pcpp: https://pcpartpicker.com/products/compare/dJbkcf,rHzZxr/
You're looking to pay extra $50 USD if you want to get RGB LEDs and Cherry MX Silent switches (oh, wrist rest too) over red LEDs and Cherry MX Red switches. With $50 USD, you'd almost get 2nd Corsair Strafe non-RGB keyboard.
 

blackd51th

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Well that is a good point you are making about the warranty. I saw quite a few customer reviews saying that the fans start making rattling noises after 90 days. The main reason reasons I picked the Enermax fans is because of the Aura Sync compatibility and those beautiful looking halo designs. :D. But one issue apart from the warranty is that these fans are not available in my country and if something goes wrong with them, I'm screwed for good.

Corsair LL fans and NZXT AER is available in my country but I'm hesitating to buy them because;
a) No Aura compatibility (I'm already struggling to get perfect syncing between Aura and RGB Fusion)
b) Way too expensive. Not just the fans but the other bells and whistles you need to get the full use out of the fans. Like you said RGB means premium price but I want make sure I have enough money pay my electricity bill :D :D

My only other option available is
https://www.amazon.com/Raidmax-NV-R120B-RGB-120mm-Case/dp/B07611NS1F

It's cheap, Aura compatible and have decent reviews too. But the downside is that there's no warranty for these.

What are your thoughts about these Raidmax fans?
 

Aeacus

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While those Raidmax fans do look very similar to NZXT AER RGB fans, they doesn't seem to have much build quality in them. They look like the bottom end of RGB fans,
specs: http://www.raidmax.com/cooling_nv-r120b.html

If those are all that you can afford then go with those. Maybe their color inaccuracy doesn't bother you.

Though, there's one more option how to get Aura Sync compatible "fans" in your system. And that is using RGB fan grille, e.g Silverstone FG121 or FG141,
FG121 for 120mm, specs: https://silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=740&area=en
FG141 for 140mm, specs: https://silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=741&area=en

With fan grille, you can put any cheapo fan behind it while your "fans" are still Aura Sync compatible. :D

For more high-end fan grille, you can look towards Phanteks Halos series,
Halos, specs: http://www.phanteks.com/Halos.html
Halos Digital, specs: http://phanteks.com/HalosDigital.html
Halos Digital Lux, specs: http://phanteks.com/HalosLuxDigital.html

Diff between the three is:
Halos - plastic frame, non-addressable LEDs (all LEDs show same color), 18x LEDs for 120mm, 21x LEDs for 140mm
Halos Digital - plastic frame, addressable LEDs (can set each LED in different color), 30x LEDs for 120/140mm
Halos Digital Lux - aluminum frame, addressable LEDs, 30x LEDs for 120/140mm, comes with extension wire
 

blackd51th

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So I did some more research and I stumbled upon this:

https://www.nzxt.com/products/aer-rgb-hue

This is affordable and I can add another fan at a later point. This bundle is not available in my country but I have a friend in China who'll be able to get it for me. Too bad no Aura Sync though but then again, you can't have everything you want right:D :D :D

Please let me know your thoughts on the NZXT fans. You have been such a great help during this whole time and I'm really really thankful for it. :)

I did look into fan frames also and that will be my backup plan in case buying the NZXT fans don't work out.

One more question; can I use the Hue+ and 3 140mm Aer fans with an Asus Prime Z370-A Mobo. It has only one RGB header.
 

Aeacus

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With HUE+ and AER RGB, you don't need any RGB headers on your MoBo since they are completely independent. My Z170 chipset MoBo (Skylake build) and Z97 chipset MoBo (Haswell build) doesn't have any RGB headers whatsoever, yet, i have HUE+ with AER RGB fans and LED strips in both of my builds. Full specs with pics in my sig.

When it comes to the AER140 RGB fans (140mm), they have very good airflow of 91.19 CFM, which is one of the highest (if not the highest) airflow for a RGB fan. Their static pressure is also good, 1.52 mmH2O, though, they are designed as airflow fan. I have 3x AER140 RGB fan per build and i have them as top exhausts in both of my builds.

As far as controlling the LEDs go, you'll need to download NZXT CAM software which also shows your system info and contains in-game overlay (e.g FPS, GPU usage, temps etc) that you can toggle on/off, change it's position or completely turn it off. Oh, NZXT CAM also monitors your in-game FPS which you can look within CAM software to detect FPS drops.
Oh, at current time, it's not possible to connect LED strips and AER RGB fans on the same channel. That's why there are 2x channels for HUE+.

Though, do note that while HUE+ has 2x channels and support for 4x LED strips or 5x AER RGB fans per channel, if you go with HUE+ & AER RGB set you linked above, with hopes to buy LED strips separately,
LED strips, specs: https://www.nzxt.com/products/hue-plus-extension-kit
you will miss out on the LED connection wire to connect LED strips to your HUE+. I made that mistake when i bought HUE+ & AER RGB set for my Skylake build. I had to contact NZXT and they shipped me the missing wire. It looks like so:
UvosV9t.jpg

For a far better setup, go with HUE+ and AER RGB fans separately,
HUE+ specs: https://www.nzxt.com/products/hue-plus
AER RGB specs: https://www.nzxt.com/products/aer-rgb
Reason behind this is when you go with HUE+, you'll get 4x LED strips with it while LED extension kit only contains 2x LED strips. I went the smarter way with my Haswell build where i bought AER RGB fans separately without the HUE+. HUE+ also contains all the cables needed to connect AER RGB fans if you buy them separately.

To put it short:
With HUE+ & AER RGB combo, you'll get:
HUE+ (black controller with white indicator LED)
2x 140mm AER140 RGB fans
no wire to connect LED strips
LED expansion kit contains only 2x LED strips

But going with HUE+ and AER RGB fans separately, you'll get:
HUE+ (you can choose either black controller with white indicator LED or white controller with purple indicator LED)
4x LED strips
all wires to connect AER RGB fans as well
with the option to buy up to 5x AER RGB fans to expand your RGB lightshow
 

blackd51th

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Well as much as the Hue+ and Aer fans separate sound great, it's going bit above my budget. So I'm going for(I have to go for) the Fan+Hue combo. Since I won't be using my RGB header, maybe I'll get some LED strips that can connect directly to the Mobo.

One question I do want to ask you though is that when you purchase a aer fan by itself, do you get the daisy chain cable as well? Because I'm thinking of buying(when I'm rich again) another 140 fan to connect with the combo I'm buying now. and are those daisy chain cables long enough? I have a CM Mastercase 6 Pro and I want to mount these fans on the top of the case and another as the exhaust fan.

Thank you again for the valuable information. I think I learned more on this thread than all those damn YouTube reviewers I've been watching. :D :D

Forgot to ask this, My Mobo (Asus Prime Z370-A) can support four fans right? I already have one that came with the case in front of the case plus need to add these three. It may sound like a stupid question but just need to make sure. :)
 

Aeacus

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HUE+ & AER RGB set has plenty of cables to daisy-chain several fans together. And if you buy one AER RGB fan separately, you'll get these with it;
From left to right:
cable to connect AER RGB to HUE+
long daisy-chain cable (50 cm)
low noise adapter (if you want to cap your fan RPM)
short daisy-chain cable (6 cm)
4x mounting screws
FG02CNX_155927_800x800.jpg

Oh, HUE+ & AER RGB set also includes long and short daisy-chain cables and on top of that a medium daisy-chain cable as well that is 10cm long.

Your MoBo has 6x fan headers which is more than enough. And even if you do run out of those, you can always use Y-splitter to connect 2x fans on single MoBo fan header, effectively doubling the MoBo's fan support amount.
 

blackd51th

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Well Aeacus, I'm thinking of changing the title of this thread to something more related to NZXT and Aer RGB Fans coz there's a hell of a lot of info on them on this thread and a lot of people might find it useful :) And once again thank you very much for sharing all this info and helping me out.

I guess in terms of fans, I'm all settled. My next step will be to replace the accent LED strip that comes with the Mastercase 6 Pro to a RGB one(right now it's static blue along with the back exhaust fan) which I can control the colors with Aura sync. Any thoughts you have on how I can do it will be valuable as there's not a lot of info about that online.

Once again thanks for everything. :) :) :)
 

Aeacus

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As far as RGB LED strips go, there are 3 main ways you can take: cheap, convenient and endless,
further reading: https://www.pcgamer.com/the-best-rgb-led-lighting-kit/

Or you can look from Aura Sync page (that i linked in my 3rd reply) which RGB LED strips are compatible with Aura Sync and buy one or two of them. All you need to do then is to connect LED strip directly to your MoBo RGB header and you're golden.
 

blackd51th

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I had a chat with a customer care agent from NZXT last night and they assured me that all the cables needed to hook up the Hue+ extension kit to the Hue+ is now comes with the box and in case something goes wrong, they'll send the cable to any country so I'm good with internal case lighting.

As far as the front accent light strip on the case, I referred to the user manual and it seems that it's a simple SATA powered light strip that is stuck to the case with some tape. All I need to do is find an Aura compatible LED strip(preferably cheap and short since my case width is just 8 inches) with SATA or Molex connection and I'm done. :) :)
 

Aeacus

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Aura Sync compatible LED strip connects directly to your MoBo RGB header and is completely powered by MoBo. The one you currently have is made to show only blue light when it receives power, that's why it uses SATA as power source.

Oh, you can also cut most LED strips into proper length if the one you buy is longer than needed. If LED strip can be cut, it has special markings on it at correct spot, e.g similar to this:
rgb_cut_tut.jpg
 

blackd51th

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So did a bit more research and I found these;
http://www.phanteks.com/PH-LEDKT.html

They are well within my budget and I can connect them directly on to my Mobo which is great.

I'll have to cut one strip in half as my case accent LED strip is only 20cm. So in my mind I'm thinking to connect one and a half strips(which will be inside the case) together and use one of the provided extension cables to connect it with the other half(in front of the case) and connect them all to the Mobo with the provided cable.

So what I want to know is:
a. Can I cut these cables?
b. Can I daisy chain them after I cut them?
c. Will the cable setup I mentioned above will work?

In addition, can a similar setup be achieved with the Hue+ Extension kit?

Thanks again. :) :)
 

Aeacus

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Oh, you can't cut NZXT HUE+ LED strips into size since they doesn't have any markings on them to know where to cut them. Same goes with those Phanteks LED strips that come as 2x 400mm LED strips in a package since LED strips doesn't have any markings on them either to indicate that they can be cut,
video unboxing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylNsHiJMics

Though Phanteks 1m and 2m LED strips do have the markings on them to know from where to cut them.

As far as setting up the LED strips go, you can daisy-chain them. Just leave the LED strip that is cut into size as a last item in the string. E.g: MoBo RGB header -> 1m Phanteks LED strip (e.g inside your case) -> 1m Phanteks LED strip that is cut into size (at your case's front bottom location).
 

blackd51th

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Well thats too bad. :( After seen this post I did some more research and found the Cablemod Widebeam LED strips which I can cut. But I'm not sure if there is an extension cable provided that is long enough to make the connection from the strip to the RGB header. And I don't know if I can daisy chain two pieces together and connect all of them to the RGB header. I contacted Cablemod regarding this and awaiting a reply from them. Finger crossed. :) :)

Please let me know if you know any solution for this problem.

Thanks...
 

Aeacus

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Good idea to contact CableMod since they can tell for sure what their products are capable of.

One solution would be going only with internal LED lightning (like my PCs have it) and either leave the external blue LED as it is or remove it completely. This method would give you the least amount of hassle.
With internal LED lightning, you can either go with NZXT HUE+ LED strips to sync your LEDs with your AER140 RGB fans or go with CableMod/Phanteks/Cooler Master etc LEDs to sync it with Asus Aura.
 

blackd51th

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Well I still didn't get a reply from Cablemod. The thought of turning off the front LEDs crossed my mind since that will spoil the color scheme completely. But I would really love to keep that strip and modify it if possible. If Cablemod or if I can get another compatible extension cable(if the cablemod ones are not enough), I don't mind using the Widebeam ones for the front and maybe pickup something for the inside of the case later.

Incase if the CableMod extension cables are not enough, is there another place where I can buy a standalone extension cable that's compatible with Widebeams?
 

blackd51th

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I think I might be able to pick one of these on ebay. This will be my last resort if all else fails. Still waiting for a reply from CableMod. I will update once I get that.