Nzxt Aer Rgb 2 140mm Review

When attempting to showcase the new NZXT AER RGB 2 fan starter kit, you might enquire what better way to do and then than to include information technology in a build with lots of other NZXT RGB goodness? That'due south the conclusion NZXT came to… and so I did… so that's what happened!

NZXT AER RGB 2 Fan Starter Kit Closer Look

The AER RGB ii series of starter kits are designed to integrate into the HUE 2 setup from NZXT, compatible with all controllers and accessories in that range of products. At the middle of the kits are PWM fans in either 120mm or 140mm varieties, and come equipped with fluid dynamic bearings.

Add to that, NZXZ's customary lashings of RGB goodness all driven by the included controller, and what you have is an out of the box solution to give any build that extra footling something to make it a rig to be proud of.

The controller unit itself is powered by a molex adapter and connects directly to the motherboard, fans and other HUE ii accessories, such equally RGB light strips. With the ability to daisy concatenation the fans in your build with the included cables, you will never run out of ports on the controller.

NZXT AER RGB 2 Fan Starter Specifications & Features

Dimensions	Aer RGB two 120mm: 120 x 120 x 26mm Aer RGB 2 140mm: 140 ten 140 x 26mm HUE two Controller: 76 ten 100 x 15mm
Weight	Aer RGB two 120mm: 187g Aer RGB ii 140mm: 222g HUE two Controller: 741g
Cloth(south)	Aer RGB 2: Plastic, rubber, PCB HUE ii Controller: Steel, plastic, PCB
Output LED Quantity	8 LEDs each
Fan Rated Voltage	12V DC
Fan Airflow	Aer RGB ii 120mm: 17.48 – 52.44 CFM Aer RGB two 140mm: 30.39 – 91.xix CFM
Fan Air Pressure	Aer RGB two 120mm: 0.15 – 1.35mm-H2o Aer RGB 2 140mm: 0.17 – 1.52mm-Water
Fan Speed	500-ane,500 RPM
Fan Noise Level	Aer RGB two 120mm: 22 – 33 dBA Aer RGB ii 140mm: 22 – 33dBA
Fan Life	6 years
Fan Bearing	Fluid Dynamic Bearing (FDB)
Fan Connector	4-pin PWM
Warranty	2 years
Model Number	HF-2812C-D1 (Aer RGB 2 120mm 10 2) HF-2814C-D1 (Aer RGB 2 140mm x 2) HF-2812C-T1 (Aer RGB 2 120mm x three)
UPC	815671014481 (Aer RGB 2 120mm x two) 815671014498 (Aer RGB 2 140mm x 2) 815671014504 (Aer RGB 2 120mm x3)
EAN	5060301694785 (Aer RGB two 120mm 10 ii) 5060301694792 (Aer RGB 2 140mm x 2) 5030601694808 (Aer RGB 2 120mm 10 three)
System Requirements	PC with one available internal USB 2.0 header and Microsoft® Windows® x operating system with CAM installed (an internet connexion is required to download CAM). CAM is free to download and use; some features require a valid email address, acceptance of our electric current Terms of Service, and an active cyberspace connectedness

NZXT AER RGB 2 Fan Starter Kit Review: The Build

Complementing the AER RGB ii kit in our NZXT build is the Kraken M22 liquid cooler, and our selection of case was the H400i.

The Kraken 1000 series is the budget orientated option to the more premium X series of liquid coolers from NZXT, but crucially retains the aforementioned RGB lighting effects on the CPU block. What's more, this cake is also pretty low profile, cheers to the fact that the pump isn't contained within information technology like almost all other AIO liquid coolers. Instead, NZXT have mounted it on the radiator itself. Whilst the PWM fan doesn't feature whatsoever RGB lighting, it does retain the fluid dynamic bearings, and has a range of 500 – 2000 RPM.

For the example, we went with the mATX pick from NZXT'south H serial. Since their launch they have been hugely pop with buyers, and when my colleague Bo reviewed the slightly bigger H500i earlier this year, it walked away with our Platinum award… our highest accolade!

With all this kit collected, all that was required was to put it all together. Making up the residue of the build was as follows:

• CPU – Intel Core i3-8350k
• Motherboard – ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming-ITX/ac
• PSU – BeQuiet Dark Power Pro 11 1000w
• GPU – GeForce GTX 1050 TI 4GT OC
• Memory – Micron Ballistix Tactical Tracer RGB

The NZXT AER RGB 2 Fan Starter Kit Review: The Verdict

Every bit expected, the NZXT H400i was a dream to build in. The space and cable management options behind the motherboard tray brand it actually easy to become all the cables looking smashing & tidy with very little effort. The ability to mount the AER RGB 2 controller to an SSD subclass is genius, and by positioning apartment behind the motherboard makes it really easy to connect upwardly all the necessary cables.

Ideally I would take liked to apply an mATX motherboard in the build, only equally I didn't have 1 to paw so I went with an ITX lath… this caused a couple of headaches yet! The outset being that in order to non block the dazzler of the Kraken light show on the CPU cake, I was limited to where I could position the radiator. The second outcome (and much more serious) was that the Kraken blocked the first RAM slot on the ITX lath… something to be very mindful of if you are building a similar organization for long term apply.

Enough of all that though, this is a review of the AER RGB 2 Starter Kit after all! For the purpose of the build, I decided to mount both RGB fans in the front end air intake position, given that the H400i provided lighting from the tiptop & lesser of the build. The integration of the lighting in the build is flawless, and NZXT are really the forerunners in the market. There may be others that get shut or friction match them, but no one betters them. Even the CAM software seems to work these days, which wasn't ever the case in information technology's earlier versions.

1 tip for anyone cramming in this much RGB goodness though… each individual element requires to be powered by a USB2 header on the motherboard. My build needed three, yet the motherboard only comes equipped with one! The solution? An NZXT internal USB expansion hub… chore washed!

What'due south hot:

• Integrates seamlessly with other Hue 2 products
• CAM software is piece of cake to use (and finally works!)
• Supreme build quality

What's not:

• The kit isn't inexpensive… in fact, information technology'southward quite expensive

At the time of writing, the AER RGB ii Kit nosotros have featured hither, with two 120mm fans retails at around the £90 mark in the UK, and then y'all are really paying a premium if you want to go down the NZXT road for your lighting needs. Even so the design and execution is flawless, and given that our Platinum laurels is awarded irrespective of cost, that's what it gets. If money is no object, go this… if y'all are on a budget, in that location are cheaper options out there.

Thank you to NZXT for sending a sample of the NZXT AER RGB 2 Fan Starter Kit in for review.

Related Reading:

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• Cooler Primary MasterLiquid ML120R RGB Cooler Review
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• Cooler Chief MasterAir MA620P CPU Cooler Review
• What's The Best 120mm Case Fan For Your PC? – 120mm Fan Comparison 2017

Source: https://play3r.net/reviews/cooling/nzxt-aer-rgb-2-fan-starter-kit-review/

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