Antony Leather is Custom PC’s modding editor @antonyleather
The best of CES
Hands on with
Corsair’s QL fans
I hit the CES trade show in Las Vegas this
year to check out the latest PC hardware,
so I thought I’d share a few of the more
interesting items on show. First up were
Alphacool’s new Eiswolf GPU all-in-one
expandable liquid coolers. They come
with AMD or Nvidia illuminated logos
and they look fantastic in the flesh, giving
the rather plain-looking original GPX
Pro GPU AIO coolers a much needed
aesthetic boost.
Another interesting concept was
Lian Li’s modular fan system. The
fans simply click together and don’t
require cables to control their speed orFans are becoming an increasingly
important part of our PCs’ aesthetics.
We’ve moved on from single-colour LED
fans to RGB models, and even digital RGB
technology that allows you to control the
colour of individual LEDs in an array.
Thanks to its memory and cases
being a part of the same ecosystem,
Corsair is in a rather enviable position
when it comes to RGB lighting. It already
has a range of RGB fans, but the QL
series takes the range a step further, and
addresses one glaring issue with RGB
fans – how they look from the rear.
The fans are available in both
120mm and 140mm sizes, withindividual packs available, as well as
120mm triple packs and 140mm twin
packs with Corsair’s iCUE Lighting
Node Core USB controller. There are 34
individually addressable LEDs in each
fan, equipping a pair of inner and outer
lighting rings, as well as the hub, with
Corsair’s usual vibrant RGB lighting.
The addition of a rear lighting ring
means the view of them from any
angle should be roughly the same,
which is great news. These fans aren’t
particularly powerful, though, topping
out at 1,500rpm with 1.55mm H20 static
pressure, but they’re fantastic if you need
your fans to look great from all angles.There are 34
individually
addressable
LEDs in each
fan, covering the
inner and outer
lighting rings, as
well as the hubCorsair’s new QL RGB
fans have lights on both
the front and backlighting. A control board at one end has
single cables for those signals, which
are controlled using software. It’s an
ingenious idea, so as long as the fans
perform well, they seem like winners.
Phanteks, meanwhile, showed off
a universal 120mm distribution plate
that can be installed in practically any
120mm fan mount, as well as some
new LED strings. These flexible strips
can be secured to any surface, and
look more like neon lighting strips
than RGB LEDs, wrapping around
your hardware to create some
seriously funky lighting.Alphacool Eiswolf
GPU AIO coolerPhanteks’
universal
120mm
distribution
plate can be
installed in
practically
any 120mm
fan mountPhanteks’
new LED
strips can be
secured to
any surfaceLian Li modular fan systemAntony Leather is Custom PC’s modding editor @antonyleatherThe best of CES
Handson with
Corsair’s QLfans
I hit the CES trade show in Las Vegas this
year to check out the latest PC hardware,
so I thought I’d share a few of the more
interesting items on show. First up were
Alphacool’s new Eiswolf GPU all-in-one
expandable liquid coolers. They come
with AMD or Nvidia illuminated logos
and they look fantastic in the flesh, giving
the rather plain-looking original GPX
Pro GPU AIO coolers a much needed
aesthetic boost.
Anotherinterestingconceptwas
LianLi’smodularfansystem.The
fanssimplyclicktogetheranddon’t
requirecablestocontroltheirspeedor
Fans are becoming an increasingly
important part of our PCs’ aesthetics.
We’ve moved on from single-colour LED
fans to RGB models, and even digital RGB
technology that allows you to control the
colour of individual LEDs in an array.
Thanks to its memory and cases
being a part of the same ecosystem,
Corsair is in a rather enviable position
when it comes to RGB lighting. It already
has a range of RGB fans, but the QL
series takes the range a step further, and
addresses one glaring issue with RGB
fans – how they look from the rear.
The fans are available in both
120mm and 140mm sizes, with
individualpacksavailable,aswellas
120mmtriplepacksand140mmtwin
packswithCorsair’siCUELighting
NodeCoreUSBcontroller.Thereare 34
individuallyaddressableLEDsineach
fan,equippinga pairofinnerandouter
lightingrings,aswellasthehub,with
Corsair’susualvibrantRGBlighting.
Theadditionofa rearlightingring
meanstheviewofthemfromany
angleshouldberoughlythesame,
whichis greatnews.Thesefansaren’t
particularlypowerful,though,topping
outat1,500rpmwith1.55mmH20static
pressure,butthey’refantasticif youneed
yourfanstolookgreatfromallangles.Thereare 34
individually
addressable
LEDsineach
fan,coveringthe
innerandouter
lightingrings,as
wellasthehubCorsair’s new QL RGB
fans have lights on both
the front and backlighting. A control board at one end has
single cables for those signals, which
are controlled using software. It’s an
ingenious idea, so as long as the fans
perform well, they seem like winners.
Phanteks, meanwhile, showed off
a universal 120mm distribution plate
that can be installed in practically any
120mm fan mount, as well as some
new LED strings. These flexible strips
can be secured to any surface, and
lookmorelikeneonlightingstrips
thanRGBLEDs,wrappingaround
yourhardwaretocreatesome
seriouslyfunkylighting.Alphacool Eiswolf
GPU AIO coolerPhanteks’
universal
120mm
distribution
plate can be
installed in
practically
any 120mm
fan mountPhanteks’
new LED
strips can be
secured to
any surfaceLian Li modular fan system