Corsair RX120 RGB Fan Starter Pack Review

Early in this review I mentioned that fans have become more than just cooling devices.  With the advent of Addressable RGB and the advancement in RGB controller complexity they have become a canvas for elaborate light shows where the actual performance of the fan really doesn’t matter.

The Corsair RX120 RGB Fan Starter Pack is your window into a much larger world comprised of an entire Corsair based ecosystem that encompasses fans, waterblocks, pumpblock reservoirs, digital screen modules, AIO watercoolers and even GPU waterblocks.  The iCUE LINK doesn’t change the overall performance of these products but does give you a digital link to connect them all together. 

In a standard ARGB setup, you will have to contend with 3-pin or 4-pin RGB headers that will either connect to a motherboard controller or integrate into a third-party system.  Overall, this will give you control over the lights but rarely allows you the option to cascade lighting patterns making the unification of your RGB lighting more difficult than it should be.

With the Corsair iCUE Link Smart Components Ecosystem you give up the ability to choose your own components but are rewarded with a single system that not only will control the lighting and performance profiles but will clean up the rat nest of wiring you would normally have to deal with.   Instead of a wire to control the fan and another wire for the RGB, you get a single connector that can daisy chain across devices.  This removes the multitude of extra wires, making installation cleaner, and much simpler in the end.

As a system builder I see the iCUE LINK system being a starting point for a new build.  You can select the iCUE Products you want to use and match up the required hardware to make everything work.  However, in the real world, most enthusiasts have components already and is where you can get creative using the RX120 and RX140 fans in a creative way to build your lighting ecosystem while keeping existing AIO. DIY and current coolers.

In my testing and usage of the RX120 Starter Kit I found the new iCUE LINK to be stupid simple to use.  Simply install the required parts, connect your fans and away you go.  It wasn’t until I started using the software that things went a little sideways.

ARGB lighting is solid, there are plenty of profiles to choose from, and if you are into the edgy, you can try out the new Murals that will change the lighting based on a randomly moving graphic similar to the game lighting you could enable with Far Cry 5 back in the day.

The part I took issue with was the default fan profiles.  These were intended to be silent profiles and was reinforced by how the fan curves were configured.  As with most PWM fan profiles there is a temperature target followed by an RPM “ramp”.  This ramp will cause the fan to spin faster and, faster spinning fans cool better.  I feel that the default configuration doesn’t engage quick enough and will keep the fans spinning at their lowest 400rpm setting.  This setting provides absolutely no airflow and doesn’t even move enough air to engage the stator vanes, causing all of the air to “cone out” and not go where it should. 

I was able to create a profile that was more to my desires by sliding the activation temperatures such that the fans would engage sooner.  This provided the airflow I was expecting and almost tripled the noise output.  So, it would seem that while the RX120 fans look great and have an amazing iCUE LINK system they are only effective in their upper 2400rpm range which also appears needlessly loud, which is documented at around 37dBA.

Overall, the RX120 Starter Pack is a nice place to start if you are looking to build up a new system.  The iCUE Link Smart Component Technology ecosystem makes the assembly and control of your new components extremely easy while also giving you a single place to monitor and configure your components.  Unlike other systems, the iCUE LINK is a true closed ecosystem meaning that only compatible products can be used which helps establish a level of quality which can be clearly seen in the iCUE software.  I did find the default fan profiles to be inadequate for my liking but, rather enjoyed spinning through the multitude of customizations available.

Great RGB Lighting
iCUE LINK Connections
Removable Translucent Side Panels
Central Control Hub
Available with White or Black Frames
140mm and 120mm Sizes
Closed Ecosystem

Default fan profiles inadequate
Quite loud and annoying when running full tilt
Closed Ecosystem