Page Updated: January 2023
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Overview
Many people are looking for the best RGB fans because when it comes to PC cooling, performance is only one factor in choosing a case fan. Deciding on a theme for your build can be complex. You may want to change your design from time to time. One of the easiest solutions is to add RGB fans. These days there’s an incredible number of RGB options and standards. And, unfortunately, they don’t necessarily play nice with each other. We tested and analyzed 8 different RGB fans made by different leading manufacturers.
The ML120 RGB ELITE fan from Corsair have additional LEDs, can reach 2000 RPM and have new air channel fins to improve airflow.
Sales of PCs and PC components soared over the last year or two. There are more gamers and other prosumers of high-end PCs than ever before. But, having the most powerful computer isn’t the only consideration when buying a computer. Aesthetics plays a huge role in purchasing decisions related to computer hardware for many people. RGB fans can really tie the theme of your PC together. RGB, literally meaning Red Green Blue describes the incredible range of color that can add light to your PC via integrated LEDs.
While RGB lighting has been added to almost every PC component, the main source of lighting usually comes from RGB fans installed in the case. The issue with the RGB market in 2021 is that there are more than a dozen RGB ecosystems available. Unfortunately, these ecosystems are not always compatible with each other. For example, “I have an ASUS motherboard, but CORSAIR RAM…should I use ASUS Aura or Corsair iCUE? Or should I get Thermaltake fans, or Lian Li?” Because it can get tricky figuring out which RGB fans you should put in your case, we did the heavy lifting for you and found the Best RGB Fans for your next or current build.
If you’re open to spending a bit more money than the CORSAIR LL120 RGB fan, we recommend the new Lian Li SL120 fan. With their innovative snap-together frame, these fans minimize the number of cables required, removing case clutter. And best of all, the RGB lighting is visible on both sides of the fan. This is important because fans must be installed directionally to push air the correct way to maximize performance.
We love the Lian Li SL120 for its innovative cable management and great build quality. While more expensive than the competitors, Lian Li offers a great premium RGB Fan.
RGB fans can be expensive, especially if you need a bunch of them. There may be instances where you want to save a few bucks, but don’t want to sacrifice performance or visuals. We recommend the InWin Sirius Loop fan as our budget choice due to it’s wide range of compatibility with other RGB Ecosystems.
We like the InWin Sirius Loop for it's excellent value and wide compatibility.
Why You Should Trust Us
The two staff writers at TechSauce are passionate about PC gaming, technology, and performance cooling. Both are Aerospace Engineers with more than 15 years of experience building computers. Rich is an engineer at NASA and has spent more than 10,000 hours researching computers, cooling, and control systems. Chris is an engineering software consultant and specializes in detailed airflow analysis. Before writing this article, we spent over 75 hours digging through the RGB marketplace to research and analyze the best available fans. We deep-dove into 8 different models for this article. Then, we bought, tested, and installed the finalists in our own personal computers. In addition to our own testing, we spent more than 3 weeks reading hundreds of online reviews and customer comments. We’ve compared our findings to other online fan reviews like: PCGamer, IGN, Overclockers, and Gamers Nexus.
How We Picked the Best RGB Fans
When researching RGB fans, we carefully considered several factors to ensure that we recommend only high quality options to you. We looked at the following criteria:
Value: You can spend a lot of money on RGB fans – but you don’t have to. We considered the overall price and value of 8 different top selling RGB fans to determine which ones will give you solid performance without the premium price tag.
Cubic Feet per Minute (CFM): With all of the RGB hype, it’s easy to forget that your PC fans need to cool your computer. PC fans work by bringing cool air into your case and exhausting hot air out into the room. Higher CFM means more airflow – often at the expense of more noise. We looked for RGB fans that cool your computer and provide excellent performance.
Build Quality: Cheap fans are often more frustrating than they are worth. A fan with poor build quality has long term durability issues, rattles, whines, and scraping noises. If you’re going to spend money on a product, you should be confident that it will last. We only recommend fans that have high quality components.
Cool Factor: Buying an RGB fan is just as much about the lights, the look, and the wow factor as it is about the cooling potential. Because RGB technology is so new and so popular, there are lots of options available. We looked for RGB fans that will make your PC look incredible.
Software: Fan manufacturers often require software to configure RGB lighting and fan speed. Controller software is often not compatible with all RGB products (fans, light strips, RAM, peripherals, etc.) Therefore, it is an important factor to consider which RGB ecosystem(s) you want to use.
Noise: Poorly designed fans can be very noisy. We looked for fans that look great and cool your computer without being too loud. There are several ways that fan noise can be reduced. A good fan blade design minimizes the turbulence and noise generated. Many manufacturers claim highly advanced analysis and engineering to maximize laminar flow and minimize noise. Also, good bearings minimize the high pitched “hum” generated by the fan spinning. Lastly, a solid frame and vibration dampers between your PC case and the fan is important. A loosely installed fan without vibration dampening can “rattle” in your case and ruin the experience.
2023 Champ: CORSAIR ML120 RGB ELITE
The ML120 RGB ELITE fan from Corsair have additional LEDs, can reach 2000 RPM and have new air channel fins to improve airflow.
A new recommendation for this year, the CORSAIR ML120 RGB ELITE is a fantastic maglev (magnetic levitation) RGB fan that will be great in your next build. We feel that the increase from 4 to 8 LEDs in the ML120 series now makes this a premium RGB fan. We highly recommend the use of maglev technology over the LL120 hydraulic bearings because it increases cooling performance and longevity. Corsair has also added new fins on the fan blade to redirect and channel airflow.
The Previous Champ: CORSAIR LL120 RGB Fan
We like the Corsair LL120 RGB Fan due to it's impressive performance, great visuals, and reasonable price.
If you’re in the market for RGB computer fans, our analysis finds the CORSAIR LL120 to be the best RGB fan that is readily available. This fan not only looks great, but is also built well, and is from a company with a solid track record in the PC component market. It delivers excellent cooling performance and remains reasonably quiet via good design and full Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) control of fan speed.
The LL120 RGB fans from CORSAIR are easy to use and are compatible with many other RGB ecosystems. They also have a very low noise profile (24.8 dBA) compared to the amount of airflow, which at max speed is around 43CFM.
The LL120 RGB fans have a very minimalistic design. Corsair provides their own hardware controllers (such as the Corsair Commander and Lighting Node Pro) that only needs one USB 2.0 Internal Header wire on your motherboard to control all of your RGB fans. The 3-pack of fans bring additional value by including a Lighting Node Pro which has two independent RGB lighting channels that control up to 12 CORSAIR RGB fans or lighting strips. The upgrade pick is the Commander Pro that allows you to include separate temperature monitoring as well as providing two additional internal USB headers.
The RGB lighting of the LL120 fans offers dual light loops and 16 individually addressable RGB LEDs on the inner and outer edge of the fan frame. The best part is that the lighting schemes within the free CORSAIR iCUE software are expansive and very easy to use. CORSAIR iCUE’s software is extremely customizable – giving you lots of options to play with. And, these controllers can daisy chain to include as many fans as you want. Whether you have a small mini-ITX case or a massive full tower E-ATX case, CORSAIR iCUE can keep your RGB fans in sync.
The Grand Champion: Lian Li SL120 RGB Fan
We love the Lian Li SL120 for its innovative cable management and great build quality. While more expensive than the competitors, Lian Li offers a great premium RGB Fan.
If cable management is your main criteria for RGB fans and don’t mind spending a few extra bucks, we recommend the Lian Li SL120 fans. These fans have a unique interlocking design feature that allows individual fans to be connected together. This significantly reduces the number of cables required to use your fans. This is especially useful in cases where three or four fans may be used together on one radiator.
While we really like the Lian Li fans, they are a little more expensive than the Corsair LL120s. We assume that most fan cabling will be done behind the motherboard tray where cables are less visible. However, not all cases have an area to hide cables so if this is a priority to you, we definitely recommend the Lian Li SL120 Fans. They also have lighting on both sides of the frame. Whether you need these as intake or exhaust fans, the lighting scheme will not suffer as a result.
The Runner-Up: InWin Sirius Loop RGB Fan
We like the InWin Sirius Loop for it's excellent value and wide compatibility.
The InWin Sirius Loop fans are compatible with all of the big ecosystems known today such as ASUS Aura, Gigabyte RGB Fusion, ASRock Polychrome, and MSI Mystic Light Sync. They also have great airflow. InWin is primarily known for having high-end cases, however they also offer some excellent fans. While a bit on the budget end from a build quality perspective, they are still great for your next build due to their relatively low noise and high airflow. It’s also worth mentioning that there’s no dedicated software controller for these fans. So, you’ll have to rely on the software that comes with your motherboard.
Some users find this advantageous, especially if utilizing other RGB strips or AIO lighting that supports those standards. These fans also have a dual-looped lighting design. This allows you to use these fans as either as intake or exhaust. If you’re worried about RGB breaking the bank, these fans are a great choice and will keep your components cool without sacrificing lighting quality.
The Contenders
We also compiled a list of some other RGB fans beyond our leading recommendations. While these are not our top contenders, they’re still fans we recommend as alternatives.
The Thermaltake Riing Plus fans are quite unique. You can control them with a smartphone app or with voice commands. At just 28dBA, they push a decent amount of air (47 CFM). This is good news if you plan to have many of these fans in your build.
Cooler Master Masterfan MF120 Halo fans are a fantastic choice. They have rifle bearings which are more reliable than sleeve bearing fans, and also are much quieter. The MF120 Halo pushes 59CFM of air while only producing 30 dBA of noise. These are great for builds that are focused on quiet operation.
We also liked the Antec Prizm fans as they have 18 independent RGB LED beads, and have hydraulic bearings. Additionally, they have shock absorbing pads to ensure a low noise profile. Since these fans have a dual aperture design, they can be flipped to be either intake or exhaust fans. Regardless of which way they’re installed, the addressable LED array is visible from both sides.
The NZXT AER RGB2 fans are powered by NZXT’s CAM software, which, if you have an NZXT case or AIO, would work seamlessly within the rest of the ecosystem. Sticking with one ecosystem makes it much easier to sync colors/themes together. The NZXT AER fans also have fluid dynamic bearings to ensure a long lifespan.
Last but not least, the Phanteks SK120 fans are known to work with just about every ecosystem out there (ASUS Aura, MSI Mystic, Razer Chroma, etc.) and are compatible with most mainstream and enthusiast motherboards on the market.
While this certainly isn’t a fully exhaustive list of RGB fans on the market, these met all of our most important criteria which include noise, build quality, value and performance. That being said, there are a number of relatively unknown brands of fans on Amazon that do bring some additional competition to the space. We plan to look at some of these fans in the future to see how they hold up.
