be quiet! Light Wings 140 mm PWM High Speed

[testman78]

Introduction

RGB is on everyone's lips, so be quiet! has now presented its own RGB fans aka Light Wings. This PWM-controlled 120/140mm fan is equipped with 20 addressable RGB LEDs at the front and rear, is sold individually or in a pack of three with controllers, and it is the latter that is on our test bed. This fan integrates A-RGB LED lighting through 20 LEDs placed in the outer ring of the blades that will give an incredible and attractive aesthetic to the whole. In fact, these LEDs have quite a lot of light power as we see in the images, and it looks very good as it has black blades that prevent the light from being reflected and therefore more widespread on the surface.



Specifications.




Packaging & Contents

The fans come in a black colorful cardboard box that is sturdy enough to protect them well. As you can see it was sent to us a 140mm high-speed triple pack for evaluation purposes.



The stylish box shows a picture of the ARGB fan on the back.



All important features on several languages data and a QR code are shown on the left side of the box.



be quiet! Light Wings 140 mm PWM High Speed specifications on the right side of the box.



The fans are each placed in three cardboard boxes, and the rest of the equipment is in a separate cardboard box.



An ARGB Hub with six connectors in total is included.




There are also a user’s guide, self-adhesive tapes for fixing the A-RGB controller to the housing, screws for the controller, then screws for the fans themselves, but also connector for serial connection of fans when placed next to each other.








A Closer Look

be quiet! Light Wings 140 mm PWM High Speed fans have an housing of 25 millimeters, while the other two dimensions are standard - 140 x 140 millimeters. The housing, ie the fan frame, is made of solid plastic of solid quality and weighs 209 grams.



Both the housing and the rotor are black, but a milk plastic insert is placed around the rotor, under which are A-RGB LEDs. The Light Wings fan has an optimized surface design, which can further upgrade the effect of airflow introduction. The white ring features 20 LEDs, which can be managed via the controller. The be quiet! Light Wings 140 mm PWM High Speed fans are compatible with the common A-RGB standards of the main motherboard manufacturers for a more simplified use.



The frame on the back of the fan has reserved grooves for arranging the wires, allowing users to better tidy up the wires after installation.



The most important technical data are again on the immovable back.



Coming off of each fan is a set of wires which include a 4-pin PWM connector, 3-pin ARGB connector, and a 3-pin ARGB pass-through. This means that you can easily daisy-chain the fans together or even to other ARGB devices.



The rotor is composed of nine blades with a high degree of curvature for higher static pressure. In the middle of the rotor is a plastic be quiet! sticker.



The manufacturer has had the detail of placing anti-vibration rubber feet in all corners, and also includes four screws for installation in the chassis, something unusual in this type of product.



We have not yet mentioned the technical specifications of the be quiet! Light Wings 140 mm PWM High Speed. It consist of a motor with a rifle bearing and rotating between 400 and 2200 RPM. It has a static pressure of 2.3 mmH2O, 121 CFM maximum airflow and generates a noise of approximately 31 dB.



Good figures to use it both in chassis and cooling systems. It also has a very high service life, which can reach 60,000 hours.




Performance

So much for theory, let's see how the fans look can be installed in practice and what cooling performance they achieve. Depending on the area of ​​application, the be quiet! Light Wings 140 mm PWM High Speed is attached to the housing or the radiator with the enclosed screws. The cable length is also sufficient to mount the fan in larger cases without any problems. 20 addressable RGB LEDs are integrated in the Light Wings 140 mm PWM High Speed, which can be used to create beautiful, powerful lighting effects. I find the thin light ring to be are aesthetically pleasing and giving you a vantage point to see a similar ring through the fan blades along with a much larger glow as the light bounces through the fan blades.






The colors and effects will all depend on your motherboard’s RGB software or what device you have the ARGB hub plugged into.






Test system
CPU: Intel Core i5 9600K @ 4.9 GHz 1.32 Volt
MB: MSI MPG Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon AC
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 3000 MHz 2x8GB
GPU: Integrated iGPU
CPU Cooler: Corsair H110i GTX
PSU: Sharkoon SilentStorn Cool Zero 650W - Zero RPM mode
Chassis: Dimastech Bench Table Easy V2.5
Sound level meter: Sauter SU 130

Thermal tests: instead of detecting the static pressure and the air flow, data not understandable to everyone, we prefer to record the final performance in real use situations. In short, let's see how the fans in analysis behave, compared to those supplied with the CPU coolers listed above.
Acoustic tests: we detect the noise emitted by the single fan, powered by a PSU in fanless mode and without any component that emits noises. In order not to affect the data, the fan is not installed inside a case. In normal usage scenarios, the emissions we detect should therefore be mitigated.
In our tests, be quiet! Light Wings 140 mm PWM High Speed were specially compared to high-end fans, optimized to work with the kits they are supplied with. Overall, they deliver powerful cooling results on a water cooler radiator. If you are looking for the right compromise between performance and silence, you will have to adjust the Light Wings 140 mm PWM High Speed around 1450 rpm. At maximum rotation speeds the fans get noisy.





Final Thoughts

RGB is hipper than ever – if you’re looking for a stylish fan to beautify your PC, you’ll inevitably stumble upon the Light Wings PWM. be quiet! did a great job with the Light Wings 140 mm PWM High Speed fans as they offered solid build quality, great lighting, good performance and ultimately more ways to connect. Plus, it's compatible with motherboard software, so it's easy to sync all the glowing hardware in the case. If you have an older board, the included A-RGB controller with also many effects will come in handy. The new fans be quiet! Light Wings offer impressive lighting. They are certainly an important step in trying to win over other enthusiasts, who want performance but also ARGB LEDs. The build quality is good, the frame of the fan is rigid and has no flexing. The rubber pads applied on both sides of the corners have no marks on the surface or unevenly applied adhesive. The cables are not covered by sleeving, which, at this price point is a drawback, fortunately the wires are black and will blend with the rest of the system. No manual ARGB controller is provided with the single packs. So be sure your motherboard has an ARGB port.



Fans are sold individually, but also in this bundle in three pieces, and be quiet! is asking for €55 for them. The price especially of the bundle is also competitive. The be quiet! Light Wings fans are available at the following suggested retail prices:

Single-Packs:
Light Wings 120mm PWM: $26.90 / £22.99
Light Wings 120mm PWM high-speed: $26.90 / £22.99
Light Wings 140mm PWM: $29.90 / £24.99
Light Wings 140mm PWM high-speed:$29.90 / £24.99

Triple-Packs (includes ARGB hub):
Light Wings 120mm PWM Triple-Pack: $79.90 / £59.99
Light Wings 120mm PWM high-speed Triple-Pack: $79.90 / £59.99
Light Wings 140mm PWM Triple-Pack: $84.90 / £65.99
Light Wings 140mm PWM high-speed Triple-Pack: $84.90 / £65.99

Overall, they deliver powerful cooling results on a water cooler radiator as well as on an air cooler and convince with chic bling, bling and their modular concept. They operate via PWM so their speed depends on the temperature inside your case. With this great overall result, the Light Wings 140mm PWM high-speed Triple-Pack fans naturally receive our Great Job Award.

[xytrius]

Nice detailed review. Very clear! Thanks!

Will definitely recommend to customers.