Cooler Master MasterFan SF120M: Blades must be framed

Cooling, Extra tests, Fans | | Ľubomír Samák

Evaluation

In HWCooling tests, there will no longer be uninteresting fans that serve “only” to build benchmarks. We have passed this phase. From now on, database building will have a different character and each additional fan will enrich the knowledge significantly. We’ll get right into the thick of it, with Cooler Master’s most expensive fan already riding the wave of the framed rotors that are coming in strong. And do you know why?

Evaluation

I cannot begin other than with this question: When will Cooler Master finally stop handicapping its fans with non-aerodynamic motor noise? After the abnormally rattling SickleFlow 120 ARGB, there is now the MasterFan SF120M with a sort of mix of rattling (the peak at 1.6 kHz) and a sort of “buzzing”. These are different, higher tones around 4.2 kHz, and while the sound of the MasterFan SF120M is considerably more pleasant than that of the SickleFlow 120 ARGB, the parasitic components have less intensity, in this price class we shouldn’t be talking about such things at all.

MasterFan SF120M sounds a bit like a broken toy car and it’s not a fault of this sample, in short Cooler Master has it this way as standard and doesn’t care too much about the details of this type. But just because of this then the MasterFan SF120M is hard to compare with some other high-end fans. It does sometimes get into the most pleasant resonant frequencies, but it’s still an aerodynamic component and not a mechanical one. The vast majority of manufacturers can neatly eliminate this, especially with more expensive fans.

Performance-wise, this is an average fan that, like the Akasa Alucia SC12, doesn’t take advantage of the potential of efficient geometry. But there are more reasons involved than just the “softness” of the material. It doesn’t restrict the fan that much, although the plastic (who knows what kind, Cooler Master avoids specifying it and talks about “industrial” quality) could have been stronger. Especially with this design with long blades, which also have a relatively heavy frame at the end.

The result is that even through the rubber corners quite intense vibrations are transmitted. And not only at maximum performance, but also around 1250 rpm (42 dBA mode). At least the MasterFan SF120M never gets to critical speeds that would be accompanied by unpleasant resonant frequencies. The aerodynamic sound is balanced on all obstacles, with no noticeable peaks. These are, at worst, the same as those of competing fans.
So on a hexagonal grille, 380 Hz is stronger, but no more than, for example, BeQuiet! Silent Wings Pro 4. But it’s worse in the performance comparison.

It is the airflow through a grille that the MasterFan SF120M underperforms in. In other situations, performance is generally above average. This fan is most effective on thicker radiators with thinner fins, where it is in the top five so far and outperforms, for example, even the BeQuiet! Silent Wings 3. Apart from unnecessary collisions with nylon filters, the MasterFan SF120M is not to be dismissed as a system fan either. However, it should be taken into account that you will not achieve extremely quiet operation with it. That’s because of the combination of parasitic motor sounds and higher minimum speeds. That’s why the results from the quietest mode “31 dBA” are missing in our tests.

It’s a bit of a shame that this fan has too many various shortcomings for us to be able to evaluate the contribution of the frame on the rotor. However, we are confident that Noctua will never come up with one on any fans. Technically, its contribution can be replaced in much more elegant ways, as we’ll see in fairly short order.

The energy efficiency of the MasterFan SF120M is quite high, making the cooling performance per unit of power draw above average as well. What is worse is the look at the airflow per euro. This one, if it isn’t the worst of the fans tested so far, is on the tail, just above the controversial SilverStone AP123 fan.

However, the practical system of serial connection of multiple fans is definitely worthy of praise. You can plug these in, nicely, neatly, after connecting the right cable. Considering the price, however, it is not a big band-aid. If the MasterFan SF120M were sold at half the price, the review would certainly be more positive. But this one costs 33 EUR, folks.

English translation and edit by Jozef Dudáš




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Comments (4) Add comment

    1. Thanks for the heads up, it’s now corrected.

      In some of the older articles in English, imperfect processing techniques combined with a lack of focus resulted in incorrect paths to the spectrograms being left in the source code. If you should come across something like that again, the original language version (there are graphs with EN descriptions anyway, you can get to it by clicking the flag in the upper right corner of the page) is always correct. Alternatively, the spectrograms of the individual fans can be accessed by entering the URL according to the format “name-of-the-fan-g***”, where the *** a number from the interval 233 to 244. Of course, this is only a temporary solution until we fix it (after you reporting it). But otherwise it must always work without such complications. 🙂

      Reply

      1. Thanks, I will keep it in mind if I encounter such an issue in the future and report it so that everyone can have it fixed.

        I wanted to see the frequencies because of Noctua NF-A12x25 which has a highly disturbing peak right before 400 Hz. The frequency response of SF120M looks so much better at “33dB” in comparison. That’s why it would be great to have at least 1 sound sample per fan at 33dB, to judge the noise according to personal preference.

        Reply

        1. This is true, but the reason for this is that the SF120M has an overall “dropped” aerodynamic noise spectrum in this mode due to the higher tonal peaks of the motor and bearings. This is also why it achieves a lower airflow. If the test modes were aligned for equal airflow (i.e., the SF120M would have higher RPM), I expect that the NF-A12x25 might not be noisier even at 380 Hz.

          Reply

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