Cooler Master SickleFlow 120 Black Case & Cooling Fan
Cooler Master SickleFlow 120 Black Case & Cooling Fan – Improved Air Balance Blades, 62 CFM, 2.5 mmH2O, 8 to 27 dBA – Black (Pack of 2)
 |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Key Feature | Case Fan | Hybrid Case/Cooler Fan | Quiet Case Fan |
| Modular Diameter(s) | 120mm, 140mm, 200mm | 120mm | 120mm |
| Lighting Options | LED, RGB, ARGB | LED, RGB, ARGB | N/A |
| Air Flow | 59 CFM ± 10% | 62 CFM ± 10% | 38 CFM ± 10% |
| Air Pressure | 2.14 mmH2O | 2.5 mmH2O ± 10% | 1.2 mmH2O ± 10% |
| Noise | 31 dBA max. | 8 ~ 27 dBA | 11 dBA max. |
| Bearing | Rifle Bearing | Rifle Bearing | Loop Dynamic Bearing (LDB) |
| Fan MTTF | 40,000 Hours (L-10) | 160,000 Hours | 160,000 Hours |
| Weight: | 312 g |
| Dimensions: | 12 x 12 x 2.5 cm; 312 Grams |
| Brand: | Cooler Master |
| Model: | MFX-B2NN-18NPK-R1 |
| Colour: | Noir |
| Batteries Included: | No |
| Manufacture: | Cooler Master Europe B.V. |
| Dimensions: | 12 x 12 x 2.5 cm; 312 Grams |
I have a hyper 212 plus from 2010 which I was putting back into use after several years of sitting in a box. I decided to change the fan for this V2 of the sickleflow fan. It has different fan blade profiles and is noticeably quieter than its predecessor. All you can hear is the whooshing of air, there is no motor noise or whine at all and for 6 quid it’s about the cheapest and best rifle bearing fan you will find. Keeps the Fx8350 that i put into my sisters old PC to replace an fx4300 cool and quiet. She’s delighted and given how much air these move I’m thinking I would also be happy to use them as case fans.
I have 3 of these fitted as intakes, 1 as an extract and 1 on the CPU heatsink. Installation was extremely easy.
First of all I will say that these are loud fans (x5) at 100% speed, with some bearing noise. Don’t let this discourage you though and please read on.
On my system, running an i7-9700k these keep CPU temps at a respectable ~30C at idle, and ~65C – 75C under load (please see pics).
These have standard 4 pin PWM connectors for fan power, and standard 3 pin (5v) connectors for ARGB. The ARGBs can be daisy chained to go to one header on the Motherboard, or ARGB hub in my case.
They give very good airflow and very good static pressure and keep my system well within temperature parameters.
The ARGB is nice and bright, and responds well to software (Armoury Crate) for tweaks. The pictures really don’t do them justice.
Initially all these fans were very loud running at high, & constantly changing RPMs. This is not the fault of the fans though and only proves their responsiveness really, which is a positive.
After some self learning and investigation, I found these fans were all set in the BIOS to follow the T of the CPU. The excessive noise was easily fixed by selecting the case fans to follow the mobo T instead of the CPU, leaving only the extract and CPU fan to follow the CPU. Once an additional step up and step down value (time delay) was changed from 0 seconds to 12 seconds for the intakes and extract fan, they now run nice and quietly until the CPU is under prolonged heavy load.
With a bit of fan curve adjustment, the CPU fan is the only one that ever runs at 100%, which has greatly reduced the initial noise and RPM problems. Noise is no longer an issue.
Only 1 star knocked off the rating for the slight bearing noise at full tilt, but on the whole I am very happy with these fans and would recommend them, and certainly can’t hold having to set them up in the BIOS against them.