Corsair Intros LL Series RGB Fans With Dual Lighting Zones

By Kevin Carbotte
published

No matter your opinion of the RGB lighting trend, one thing’s for sure: component makers love it. In the last few years, addressable RGB lighting has permeated the entire PC industry. Peripherals of all kinds, including mice, keyboards, and headsets, are available with RGB lights. Every major motherboard manufacturer, including Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, and even Biostar, offers RGB lighting on their motherboards and the same can be said for most graphics card makers, too. If you really want to go all out, you can find power supplies, water cooling equipment, cases, and memory modules with RGB lights. There is also an abundance of RGB fans the choose from, and Corsair just added another option to the mix.

Corsair’s new LL Series RGB fans stand out from the rest because they offer two independent lighting zones. Corsair offers other RGB fans, which have LEDs in the hub and another line with LEDs in the outer ring. The LL series has LEDs in both in the hub and outer ring, and you can set different colors in each zone to create a unique look.

The LL Series RGB feature fins made of a diffuse translucent material that spreads the light evenly. The inner hub and the inner edge of the outside ring are also made of the same diffuse material, which helps create a vibrant glow. Each LL Series fan includes 16 RGB LEDs; four in the hub, and 12 in the outer ring.

Corsair’s LL Series RGB Fans are compatible with Corsair Link software, and they support PWM control, which enables you to control the fan speeds. And if you plug the fans into a Corsair Lighting Node Pro, the Corsair Link software can control and synchronizes the LEDs in each fan. The software will also let you synchronize the fans with other Corsair Link compatible RGB components.

Corsair offers the LL Series RGB fans in 120mm and 140mm variants. The 120mm fans are available in packages of three for $120 or individually for $35. The larger fans come in packs of two for $100 and individually for $40. The multipacks also include Corsair’s Lighting Node Pro controller, which is a $60 value.

Kevin Carbotte

 Kevin Carbotte is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware who primarily covers VR and AR hardware. He has been writing for us for more than four years. 

7 Comments Comment from the forums
  • thundervore
    I read the article and I love the new fans because they can be changed to match the theme of rig they are in but instantly laughed out as the scenario below played out in my head:


    Marketing - Customer are going crazy over the this RBG thing we need more!

    Engineers - Well we already milked their pockets by making them choose between HD120/HD140, SP120/SP140 and ML fans. I don't think they will fall for more of the RGB gimmick.

    Marketing - Well how about we combine the SP and HD lighting zones creating a new 2 zone lighting fan so they can have twice the RGB?

    Engineers - Shall we also put the ML maglev technology in it as well?

    Marketing - Hell no! We will add RGB to ML fans after E3 2018 and say its new!

    Engineers - Shall we make those dual lighting zones as well?

    Marketing - Hell no! Make 2 models. One model will have an outer ring with individual addressable LEDs and the other will be an inner ring with 1 colour.

    Engineers - But that doesn't make any sense, the customers wont fall for it.

    Marketing - They will. They will indeed.
    Reply
  • radio1981
    Why would I buy a dual pack of 140mm for $99 when I can buy individual ones for $40? Shouldn't the multipack be LESS expensive than buying the fans individually?
    Reply
  • ShadyHamster
    20266312 said:
    Why would I buy a dual pack of 140mm for $99 when I can buy individual ones for $40? Shouldn't the multipack be LESS expensive than buying the fans individually?

    Did you not read the very last sentence? It says 'The multipacks also include Corsair’s Lighting Node Pro controller, which is a $60 value.'
    The 120mm 3 pack is also more expensive then buying 3 individual fans.
    Reply
  • jimmysmitty
    20265911 said:
    I read the article and I love the new fans because they can be changed to match the theme of rig they are in but instantly laughed out as the scenario below played out in my head:


    Marketing - Customer are going crazy over the this RBG thing we need more!

    Engineers - Well we already milked their pockets by making them choose between HD120/HD140, SP120/SP140 and ML fans. I don't think they will fall for more of the RGB gimmick.

    Marketing - Well how about we combine the SP and HD lighting zones creating a new 2 zone lighting fan so they can have twice the RGB?

    Engineers - Shall we also put the ML maglev technology in it as well?

    Marketing - Hell no! We will add RGB to ML fans after E3 2018 and say its new!

    Engineers - Shall we make those dual lighting zones as well?

    Marketing - Hell no! Make 2 models. One model will have an outer ring with individual addressable LEDs and the other will be an inner ring with 1 colour.

    Engineers - But that doesn't make any sense, the customers wont fall for it.

    Marketing - They will. They will indeed.

    There is more to it than that. A lot is about R&D and cost vs return. I doubt it would have been the same price when the HD/SP fans came out.

    Of course they do have the options because some people do not like RGB, that's where the MLs come in, and some like the way the SP look vs the HD. I personally think the HDs look vastly better than the SPs in the 570x.

    But you are correct. They and all companies should stop making new products others might like and continue making the same old stuff.

    Or, they release new products that may or may not sell well depending on how good they are.

    Personally I am waiting to see what the specs are on these vs the HDs.

    20266312 said:
    Why would I buy a dual pack of 140mm for $99 when I can buy individual ones for $40? Shouldn't the multipack be LESS expensive than buying the fans individually?

    Because it includes the fans AND the Pro Node controller. So if you buy it all separately you would pay $140. It is like getting a free fan.
    Reply
  • thundervore
    20271269 said:

    There is more to it than that. A lot is about R&D and cost vs return. I doubt it would have been the same price when the HD/SP fans came out.

    Of course they do have the options because some people do not like RGB, that's where the MLs come in, and some like the way the SP look vs the HD. I personally think the HDs look vastly better than the SPs in the 570x.

    But you are correct. They and all companies should stop making new products others might like and continue making the same old stuff.

    Or, they release new products that may or may not sell well depending on how good they are.

    Personally I am waiting to see what the specs are on these vs the HDs.

    It would be funny if the released 3 versions of the LL fans creating more segmentation in their product line.

    1 High Performance edition (2400 RPM)
    1 Quiet edition (1500 RPM)
    1 model that comes with AIOs that spin faster than the performance model (2700 RPM).

    This makes 9 different fan models on there website.

    What I don't like is that they force Corsair link on the customer to control the fans which is terrible software. Coolermaster went about the right way and used the 4 pin RGB header on the motherboard to let the motherboard control the RGB eliminating extra hardware, software and cost.

    I can say 1 thing though, they finally gave customers what they have been asking for years. The ability to stop the fans at 0RPM via corsair link but they top out at 1500RPM. And I love the frosted hub and frame as it spreads the light more evenly as opposed to the clear plastic on the HD models. As for me, I'm not willing to update my 4 SP120L (2700 RPM) fans or Corsair Commander Mini until 2020. By then they should have the product line all smoothed out lol.

    Waiting to see the radiator performance reviews on the LL fans vs the SP fans.



    Reply
  • samer.forums
    anyone here hates the LED Hysteria like me ? come on people this is a PC ...
    Reply
  • thundervore
    20283645 said:
    anyone here hates the LED Hysteria like me ? come on people this is a PC ...

    Everyone hates something, I'm sure you have something you like to do that others hate as well....

    Reply