The Corsair SP (Static Pressure), AF (High Airflow) 120/140mm Fan Review
by E. Fylladitakis on November 25, 2015 8:00 AM ESTCorsair's 120mm Performance
The AF120 Performance and AF120 Quiet Edition
First one up is the 'High Airflow' variant of the 120mm line (non-LED), which comes in Performance and Quiet modes. This is the Performance variant pressure/volume response at 12V and 7V:
Whereas the quiet model has this response - note the axes are the same for both AF120 models in this case.
While both AF120 fans in the graphs above share the same shape and design, with the only difference being their rotational speed, the performance curves are of similar shape but different magnitude. The performance of the AF120 fans is low when the impedance is very high but their volume flow capacity greatly increases when the airflow impedance falls below medium levels.
The SP120 Performance and Quiet Edition
As we move onto the Static Pressure line of fans, featuring fewer but wider fan blades (only 7 vs 11), the expectations lie in higher airflow in high-impedance (dense liquid cooler) scenarios. First up, the Performance model at 12V and 7V:
The Quiet model has reduced fan speeds, which gives a very different graph:
The performance of the SP120 is obviously much different than the AF120, as expected, but is also very different from the performance of the SP140 LED as well. The Performance Edition of the SP120 has an outrageous maximum speed of 2300 RPM and our instruments recorded an outstanding static pressure of 3.42 mmH2O at that speed. The curve declines sharply, with the SP120 displaying mediocre airflow gains as the airflow impedance decreases. It also has a significant stall area within the medium airflow impedance region.
The SP120 Perfomance and AF120 Performance Comparison
As the speed of the SP120 Performance Edition at 7 Volts and the maximum speed of the SP120 Quiet Edition coincide, it can be noticed that the two fans have an almost identical performance curve when operating at the same speed. This is natural as only the rotational speed of the fans differs, the design of the fan itself is identical. But when we compare the SP120 and AF120 variants to each other, we get the following (again, at 12V and 7V)
And in the Quiet versions (note, different axes):
The above two comparisons between the Performance and Quiet versions of the SP120 and AF120 respectively are somewhat unfair. From just a quick look at the graphs, it appears that the SP120 outperforms the AF120 under almost any conditions when both fans are operating at their maximum stock speeds. That however is not correct, as the SP120 versions have a much higher top speed are are in both cases louder. With both the AF120 and the SP120 running at the same speed (and similar noise profiles) we got the following performance curves.
With both fans running at the same speed, the advantages and disadvantages of each design become more apparent. The AF120 provides higher air volume flow in low airflow impedance setups while the SP120 can maintain higher air volume flow levels when the airflow impedance is high. Strangely, even though the SP120 is moving considerably less air while entirely unobstructed, it generates about the same level of noise as the AF120. We can only assume that the large blades of the SP120 generate a very turbulent air flow.
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E.Fyll - Wednesday, November 25, 2015 - link
The word impedance is by no means limited to electrical resistance. Actually, electrical resistance and electrical impedance are different things to begin with.I can only assume that you are a new student if you have never heard of mechanical impedance. You definitely need to read more about it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanical_impedance
The resistance of a system to airflow is called impedance. Drag is the force that opposes airflow, generated by this impedance.
https://www.google.gr/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&am...
Hulk - Wednesday, November 25, 2015 - link
Interesting. I have a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Rutgers and never heard the term impedance used to describe resistance to fluid flow. Not even in Fluid Mechanics where we spent about 5 weeks deriving the Navier-Stokes equations, which as you know completely describe all fluid behavior. Of course there isn't a closed form solution to these equations so complicated (real life) situations much be modeled via numerical computation.I have a feeling mechanical impedance is an older term that is rarely used anymore.
I think a much more descriptive term for this article would be to use the term "head" to quantify and describe the resistance to airflow through various computer systems as it relates to cooling. ie maintaining a certain rate of airflow though a case with a filter would have greater resistance (head) than one without a filter and thus require a different pump curve. Sizing pumps, which is what we are really talking about here is all about matching pump curves.
http://www.pricepump.com/pumpschool/psles2.html
But I think what most of us really want to know here is how much air a certain fan can move in a high head (resistance) situation and how much noise is makes, as well as in relatively low head situations. I think perhaps testing through a case with no filter would be a low head situation and though a filter would be a high head case. Perhaps testing though a relatively constrictive radiator would also be useful unless results were similar to the filter case. But once tested we'd know if both tests would be useful in the future.
Anyway, how much air flow (cooling)? How quiet? How long will it last? That's the bottom line.
Hulk - Wednesday, November 25, 2015 - link
Also I think most readers would better understand the term "head" for fluid resistance because it can be quantified as the height of a certain air column. ie pushing air case "x" with a filter is akin to pumping air an air column of "y" height, whereas removing the filter reduces the head (air column) height by z.E.Fyll - Wednesday, November 25, 2015 - link
Well, I can only assume that it depends on the school or the professor. Mechanical impedance is a very widely used term. You could run a Google Scholar search and you'd find thousands of papers published only this year.I think that I mentioned that already, but resistance and impedance are different figures. Resistance includes only Real parts. Impedance accounts for the Reactive parts as well.
Head is not resistance. Head is a measure of performance that is based on pressure. Practically, it can be converted from the left axis directly. Head = Pressure/404.3 for air, where head is in ft and pressure is in mmH20. It should generate a similar graph with a different Y axis.
Hulk - Wednesday, November 25, 2015 - link
Head is a measure of performance based on pressure and performance is exactly what you are trying to determine here. That's why I said head may be a better parameter rather than impedance. If you've worked in industry you've probably noticed no one (at least on the US East coast when it comes to pipelines or flow) talks about impedance but rather refer to "head loss." It's a working term, not a school/theory term.Oxford Guy - Thursday, November 26, 2015 - link
"It's a working term, not a school/theory term." That doesn't make it better. It just makes it common.Cold Fussion - Thursday, November 26, 2015 - link
I too have mechanical engineering degree and have never seen the term impedance used like how you use it in the fan curve graphs. Whenever I hear impedance used in a fluids context, it's normally electrical people trying to explain the resistance of a flow due to pressure. In the text books I've studied, what you describe as impedance in the curves is what would have normally described as the system curve or the system head or something along those lines.On a side note I find it pretty ridiculous that you guys have to actually do testing in order to get the fan curves instead of manufacturers providing a datasheet that has the fan curves on it (like they should be doing). I guess that shows the state of PC industry. I appreciate you guys doing real fan testing though and providing this data.
Erazor51 - Thursday, November 26, 2015 - link
E=mc2Freaky_Angelus - Friday, November 27, 2015 - link
LoL, let's throw titles as arguments...I've heard of impedance being used in fluid dynamics and, like the used mmH2O instead of Pascal, it's an older term used mainly by the 'old guard'. I would however recommend Anandtech to next time use Pa. as a term as you'll not find high tech fan-curve sheets using mmH2O (anymore).
On a side-note, if fan reviews are going to be used.. I would like to suggest a push-pull efficiency review on liquid coolers.
In the industry we almost always use pull configurations through heat exchangers as underpressure draws more evenly through an exchanger than otherwise possible with the momentum of the air. I don't have enough liquid coolers systems to be able to make a review, but my own pc is a degree lower. Considering some people might like to know these kind of things and I enjoyed to read something this close to my actual work, who knows.
Ohw, and just for bs argumentation and to be part of this thread: MSc.
mctylr - Wednesday, December 23, 2015 - link
I want to echo [Freaky Angelus]'s comments; mmH2O (millimeter of water) is a dated unit of measurement that isn't the preferred unit in any context as far as I know. It was essentially a metrication variation of inches of Mercury (inHg) that should be left to the history books. Pascals (Pa) would be the unit used for scientific literature in US and abroad. I'm not familiar with US engineering / commercial preferences for fluid dynamics and air flow/fan measurement to be sure, but I suspect they would prefer Pascals over mmH2O as well.