I would love Lian-Li to come out with a more budget-oriented Unifan, without RGB but still having the interlocking connections. I think that would sell quite well, for people who don't really want RGB in their builds, such as myself.
Fan videos are totally necessary Jay. I know objectively it seems boring but the vast majority of us simply love your content. Thank you and your team for doing what you do!!!
Lian Li had to make the back of the fan look nice because it was super hard to find a nice looking fan for side-rad intake on their O11 cases. Makes sense since they created a market for fans with a nice looking back. Love the videos.
That sounds sick! The edge effect looks cool but having the rgbs on the fans is really good looking as well. Having both could give some awesome color setups
That’s what I’m looking for! They would look amazing.. Imo I think the Corsair fans look best, but the ones in the video are right on par with them and if they combined the 2 as you said it would blow them away
I don't find them boring, but what I would like would be more reviews of them since there are soooo many different ones out there, and as it has been pointed out in the past, you can't always rely on reviews from Amazon and such. So thanks Jay for doing reviews on them once in a while.
@@j.b.7133 Of course there are! But there are tons of people who do what Jay do, and some are subjectively better. We want Jay to do more because we trust Jay, like his personality, and enjoy his production quality. Nothing wrong with asking a content creator to cover something you enjoy, if they do it in a unique way.
Great video guys...I picked up a starter pack of the UNI SL120's a month ago and I love them. I actually prefer the SL edge-lit design over the new AL models as I think the SL's have a more unique look where it takes the emphasis of the fan blades themselves (that's just my preferred aesthetic).
Excellent choice banescar. Once the fans pull in enough dust you'd have a solid case made out of dust. Smart move. Also smoke a lot for that extra touch.
Thanks for going over these. These fans have everything I've been looking for, and now with the additional lighting, even better (for me). I'll definitely be getting the AL fans when I find them at the store. Glad I waited and didn't jump at the SL.
Pro-Tip: these individually addressable LED products are either a 'neopixle' like LED (specifically the WS2812) or a similar variant (sk6812, for instance). Individually addressable LEDs use a serial communication protocol that is widely available (check adafruit and the arduino/RPi community), and thus why they only need 3 wires (well, 4 if you want to continue daisy chaining). Power + - and serial in and out in needed. They can also self address, as in they can inform the program how many are on a string. If the manufacturer knows all of a given type of fans use a certain number of pixels, the software can assume which device its talking to. And this is probably where some odd addressing artifacts crop up such as mirroring, inverted progressing on color sweeps, etc. The biggest rub is usually the timing requirements of the signaling, but its still a simple serial communication. Corsair lightning (or whatever they were called) were WS2812s with a slightly faster baud rate than normal neopixles. You can absolutely control them directly with a proper serial device (which is all that little box is, its a USB to serial converter) such as an Arduino nano (RPis serial timing might have issues, since arduinos are microcontrollers clocking through instructions and not a linux OS with interrupts and such, the timing is much more predictable) connected to an internal USB port. Honestly these PC parts manufacturers are taking the piss when it comes to cost, neopixles are a dollar a dozen. Its a shitty move to charge so much for adding such a simple device to their products, and absolute anti-consumer to try implying a given companies lights are some how proprietary when all they did was set the serial communication rate slightly higher.....Like, really a fucked up thing to do to your customers just to lock them into your eco system. Especially using a FREE AND OPEN protocol..... The area I feel the lighting really falls down is the integration with events. Yeah some games do neat things like color schemes and hit indication. But what If I want a specific pattern on a specific set of LEDs for when....i dunno....my garage door opens or something. Integrating that is a pain in the ass because their little controller (which again, is JUST a usb to serial converter) is locked into their flashy but ultimately hollow program. With little to no out of the box linux support (which is another slap in the face, since they're using protocols primarily utilized in linux environments, and quite easily I might add....). Integrating a given effect should be as easy as 'if event do this thing to these leds'. But good luck getting their 'we assume what you need and lock out any possibility of anything more complex than the most basic of functions because we assume youre dumb, dont care, or will discover how much we ripped you off for' program/controller to do that for you.
You have to find better things to do with your time. No one asked and no one is gonna read that. You just typed a full essay in a 1 year old comment section that's been dead for 11 months.
I'm so glad I went back and looked at videos i missed, this fans are freaking awesome. It's so cool how they work in a series like that, why can't other companies be like this. Thanks Jay, even though i'm a little late to the party!
I think the edge light is what makes the SL so good and unique. Of course, having multiple options that have the interconnect is also a bonus. But I don't see how anyone could complain about the SL when it's exactly as intended.
Exactly. I always loved this particular design because its idea is "smooth, stylish accent lighting", as opposed to "shiny spinny wheel, woohoo!" of most fans with lit-up blades.
I agree! That’s the exact reason i got them because my pc sits on my desk and if the lights are too flashy, it’s kinda distracting and not so cute imo. The SL’s design is a lot more sleek and clean looking to me.
There is this guy called Kleo Yan he does all the LIAN LI fan he have a video showing u in depth how to work both of the software together with the new upgrade app
I'm sorry to hear the amount of hate that you guys get. I sometimes fall behind, but when I want to relax I love to sit down and watch your guy's videos. I just wanted to let you guys know that I've been loving the content lately. Especially the RTFM show. I deliver building supplies for work and it's nice to have something to listen too during the ride after listening to the same music playlists and radio stations constantly. Personally I like seeing the videos like the drone flying and the glass tube bending because it's something that's different and I get to learn about something I previously had little knowledge of. As for what videos I'd like to see I'd say just keep with what you guys have been doing. It's all great stuff. If I did have to pick, I'd say my favorite content is you guys just doing stupid stuff and having a good time like when you blew up the water loops with the air compressor or the build offs with the nerf guns. I'm not sure if you guys are gonna see this comment given this video is a bit old so I'm going to post it on a more recent video so that all of you know that there are people who appreciate your content no matter what the current situation is in the tech industry right now.
I bought the BR lite version as I needed the standard 4 pin for the motherboard I have and love these fans. They were very well priced as I'm a budget gamer and the RGB looks nice in my PC build. I would suggest them to anyone. I believe they are the BR120 and they came in a 3 pack for around $60cad. Plugged in and worked with the motherboard RGB to match without downloading anything.
Pre ordered a three pack and a single pack a couple days ago. I love them...when you can find them. I moved the badge to the push part of the fan on the SL. Glad they took my idea 😁 Glad they got version2 of their software straight.
Please do an updated video on 3 rd party fan controllers Jay! Speedfan is more or less dead so the only real choices I know is "rem0o fancontrol" and "argus monitor". I've used rem0o fan control for about a year now and it works and looks so good. Better than speedfan ever was tbh. And it's free!! Argus works (paid) but not as versatile, and it's not as modern or easy to set up. I still see people online asking for a speedfan replacement and don't know about these. Maybe a comparison between the two would be cool. Thanks
Great video Jay. I know the Graphics cards are the bulk of your vids, but I'm a hyoooge fan of your case customisation, water cooling and stuff like this
@@kagesong It is well known to be obscenely wasteful when it comes to cpu usage, and in my experience it is way too limited in what can be done with it, all accompanied by UI that feels like trudging through a bog.
@@AGuy-vq9qp We clearly used different versions of iCue. I mean, is 20 MB of RAM and .5 % of my CPU wasteful? We may have very different definitions... and as for the UI... there's tons more I can do with iCue that flat doesn't work with other solutions, including and especially integration into other components such as Wallpaper Engine.
I'm updating my pc with a lian li 011 dx and bought 9 QL 120s. After watching both of your videos on these and how much more simplified they are I returned the qls and bought 9 sl 120s. Looking forward to setting up my new pc especially with the 3080ti ftw3 I just bought as well! Thanks for sharing!
Jesus man you are lucky, I am doing the same build and can't find ANY SL120's anywhere in Canada. All major suppliers are out with no expected replacement date.
I’ve always liked their cases but couldn’t afford them back in the day. Now, I have to say I’m a total fanboy. Lancool 2, Uni fans, Lancool accessory light strips, Galahad 360. I like these AL120s, but I want to see what the Uni Infinity production units look like. I also see an O11 Evo in my future as well. Still need a set of Strimers too…
I feel like they should have just put hub lighting in the old style, then you would have the best of both world! I like having some light come from edge on of the fan and from the hub!
@@deandulong Oh yeah! Thats exactly what I wanted!!! I dont think ive ever been so excited over something as simple as a fan! I would just love to get get rid of my white Corsair LL 120s...they are beautiful and very powerful but MY GOD the cable mess is terrible!!!
As much as I love the cable management of these fans, the QL120's are just so much nicer to look at. Larger, yes. Pain in the arse to cable manage, yes. But they are just so damn nice.
I guess because I'm not one that normally cares for RGB lighting in a PC, I actually like the older SL fans with it being subtle lighting around the outside of the fans, rather than the hub in the fans glowing.
I completely agree with you. The new A L fans looks tacky like the rest in the fan market. Prefer the outset led lights around the frame and not in the actual fan blades.
just bought fans, friends kept recommending me to just buy the AL's because theyre newer but i went for my liking and bought the SL's i like having lighting on my pc but i still like that "stealthy" kind of look that adds a shade of silhouette to my pc hardwares inside the case.
Interesting, still missing the bearing information that is what I focused on when I went on a fan replacement spree. I wanted to make sure they could handle being in any position and remain running for a long time, spending it on Noctuas have served me well.
IF you need two of these (or any other device with internal USB), you could extract the pins from one plug and put them in the other. Each internal header has two USB connections, but the plug only needs one and has the slots for the other pins unpopulated (which blocks the second USB connection from easy use). A quick search didn't return any passive splitter, so that's a bit of fumbling around with the cables.
I really like the AL-120s. Wish I had those when I built my 1st computer back in March. Also, why doesn’t Lian-Li just sell a fully loaded O-11 dynamic that comes with their AIO and 10 unifans? I def would have preferred to buy that rather than getting all of the parts separately
@@kaldogorath generally i think motors with more of a range of speed is a sign of quality. You probably have to engineer them well, with better bearings for the fan to spin smoothly at a slow speed. It's also just quieter obviously.,
Yeah, my artic p12s (I got a five pack for $25 last year) spin at 200 before shutting off. Those on my radiator combined with the scythe kaze flexs on my case, I need to play muted to even hear them. Compared to the fans I used for my first build back in 2015, even if they ramp up during gameplay, it's been a year of blissful silence and I love it. c:
I have 10 of the SL120’s in my rig, and those, along with with the Lian Li strimers, give off quite a bit of light. These new ones look great, as well, though.
@@007Divider I get the frustration, but it's not Jay's fault the stock issues are the way they are. He's just a dude running a techtube business. If he stopped making content because of the stock issues, he'd go broke, and there'd be no more videos. He gets sick of hearing this, like anyone would in his shoes.
Great looking fans. Update: I now have the fans installed, attached to my 120mm radiator plus one intake fan. The Lian Li cable management system should be an industry standard.
I am currently thinking of picking up either Al fans or noctua fans for my o11 dynamic evo. I have a question regarding the noise of the Al fans, I want them as they are nice looking but I am unsure if just going no egp with noctua would be better since I do want a somewhat silent pc
For anyone who is interested, I have the sl fans connected to the motherboard using Asus's proprietary 3 pin argb connector which you can find cheap on ebay. Lian Li and asus use the same argb connectors so you can bypass the controller altogether. It is very important if you are going to hook up 3 or fans, use a 3mp fan header on the motherboard.
Just caught this a bit after the fact. Wow those look pretty! Using 16 fans, all Corsair HD120s or 140s and love the RGB edges on them (no hub lighting), but as you said, yep, just like Skunkworks, there are 32 cables going everywhere. Lian-Li's arrangement looks very elegant for sure. I'm also amazed you didn't nick or cut yourself from this video at all (that we see). Especially handling larger fans, the amount of holding and rotating them around scared me haha. Great video. Just now have to contemplate if I ever want to swap them all out with Lian-Lis....
@@christophergriffis7019 missed the point I think.. What if we want to chain the different fans? I know I considered on my two tone computer alternating black and white fans.. But these fans look like putting one of the different ones in the middle would look nice..
@@nerdjournal it’s an edge case but still one nonetheless. But I think it’s safe to assume that if the old fans are already buggy then mixing in the old fans in the new would only be more buggy let alone not supported yet. This would at minimum, at the software level, require configuration for each fan model within each 4 fan block group. If there are two separate tabs for the old and new fans it goes to reason that you could not do this…. Yet… probably
I have 6 SL120 fans at the top and bottom of my case and 3 AL120 fans on my side mount AIO radiator and they work flawlessly through L Connect 2. The AL120s are perfect for showing more RGB on a side mounted radiator and the SLs look great for too and bottom fans for the more premium LED light bar look vs the AL120s fan rgbs.
@@JheemCongar Yeah the wires are a problem but I make custom animations for my fans and ram. Icue is the only program I have used that allows for stacking effects to create animations so I am kinda locked into it for now. I may just settle for the basics though if they are good enough
@@TheGXDivider Strongly disagree with you there. less than 1% while controlling 6 fans, 4 ram sticks, an AIO, keyboard and mouse. All of which are using layered lighting effects to create animations. Granted I am using a Ryzen 9 5900X
@@RRGreiner last time I used it was about last year back in november, with AIO, ram sticks, mouse and keyboard (cpu is 5800x). Horrible CPU usage, constant 5-8% after fresh W10 install, with high idle temps for the cpu (45-50). Maybe they updated their software since then.
I got 6 of these fans for my lancool 2 mesh case, im getting three more. When eventually attempt my first custom loop for my 3080 and my ryzen cpu, ill be using these fans they are awesome!
Yeah I've been skipping a bunch of his salt videos until I saw the fan title! Or maybe it's just because one of mine is making death noises and I need to replace it, so that means I have to replace all of them so they match, OCD FTW.
I'd be curious to see how they stack up to the Noctua NF-A12x25 fans in terms of radiator cooling. Like noise and liquid temp wise, how far it's from that. If it's close, I'd rather get these to light up my sfx build
The "old" unifans, the SL, are better because they are more understated, which makes them a bit classier, instead of the usual RGB fan with leds on the blades. Now they just look like any other RGB fan.
I see what you mean, I like th SL, they are elegant, but the AL don't look like "any other RGB", Lian li always put their own touch, they have a "soft glow" that no other fans on the market have IMO...
@@Blafard666 Oh they sure do, but I think the SL are way more classy, and "more" unique. But yeah, the AL are not exactly like any other RGB fan, it's just that Lian Li moved them closer to any other RGB fan in terms of looks.
In my setup I have a bunch of Arctic BioniX P120 ARGB fans that I have connected to a Razer Chroma ARGB controller. I am pretty happy with that setup and it is cheaper than going with the LianLi fans.
Jay got them all. My Microcenter still jokes that Jay gets all the fans sent to him. LOL. I literally bought a 3-pack of $25 fans just to get by. I finally found them on Amazon for
Uhhh…these are not the same size fan at all. A lot of these “120” fans really aren’t. The diameter of the fan blades themselves can differ a lot based on the thickness of the frame. Just because the frame fits a “120” slot doesn’t mean the blades will be the right size. RGB fans seems to be the most variable where they shrink the fan blades to fit more RGB. These fans are no different. The new fans have a noticeably bigger blade than the old one. This can affect your cooling. I replaced the “120s” that came on my GPU hybrid kit with basic Noctuas and both the difference in size and performance was noticeable.
I noticed that too. One of the reason's I didn't go with getting SL120 fans was that the blades were noticeable shorter and had thick walls that would block airflow. These newer AL120 look like the blades diameter is bigger and the frame is thinned to allowed for the larger blades. Video idea Jay? Get a pair of digital calipers and measure the difference of the SL120 vs AL120 blades, and maybe other manufactures like Noctuas and Corsair. "Not all 120mm Fans are the same Size"
Yea almost all fans manufactured are at most are about 115 to 118mm, as 120 would require no frame which kills static pressure. The SLs we're somewhere like 105 to 108mm which definitely saw a performance dip, while these are about 115 to 117mm which is big standard. The only fans I know of that are somewhere like 118ish is the Noctua A series and Arctic P12s but the performance benefit from them compared to regular fans is the polymer used for the blades and the clearance between fan and housing. For most folks most fans would be ok though unless you really need the max performance.
I'm running 18 Uni fans in a Dual Loop 480, 360-240. 1 Lian Li controller for the RGB along with some splitters, each radiator is set up separately and I'm running the fan speeds off a Corsair Commander Pro set up for temps cpu/gpu
They can’t autodetect but each fan has a standard amount of leds so that should mean that any effect should work on the fans regardless of how long the daisy chain. At least theoretically as long as each led channel is correctly configured to the device
I liked their original Bora series fans with the LEDs facing inward on the blades. I couldn't deal with the bearing noise in an otherwise quiet PC so I returned within a week and got the Corsair fans with mag lev bearings 🤷♂️
Damn these are exactly what I've been searching for. I've got the 011 mini and using Corsair fan and lighting hubs is a nightmare with the HDD bay being used and I'm only using a SFX psu and 4 hd140 fans. I loved the sl unifan one connection setup but the lighting just wasn't enough. These new al series fans are perfect for the 011 cases which need bulk light output and compact enough to fit the 011 mini case without any problems. Hopefully people don't go full stupid on buying them and Lian Li will release a 140mm fan soon
it seems like the usb connector of the controller only uses 1 usb out of the two you get from a usb 2.0 header, so i don't think you'll need two headers for your 2 fan controllers
I was thinking the same thing. Just pull out the pins from second one and combine them on the shell. *By pulling I am referring to safely and carefully extracting them from shell without damage to either side*
Hey Jay, Lian Li has a manual dedicated to updating the older controller to make the SL120/SL140 work together with L-Connect 2. It was quite straight-forward and easy.
I'm kinda on the "hate RGB" train - But damn, this is done so well I can't help but appreciate it. If they respond well to lower brightness I might just have to try this RGB shit out for real
@@corroded companies seriously need to spend more time refining software. It feels like they release it and never touch it again. Lightning software spesifically, ive never had rpm issues, but lightning issues i have plenty of. Corsair said "fuck you" and decided to change the entire iCue so i had to learn everything again, super annoying. Corsair, why not fix the freaking flicker issue that so many people like me have had issues with instead of making the software more inconvinient with a modern skin that noone asked for.
@@DainHunter some do. Some are always tinkering. Software is still shit though. The great thing about software is it can be the best thing ever when it was written but leave it in use long enough it becomes shit. Even if we get software designed by AI, some muppet somewhere is going to have to tell it what to do. And it will still be shit.
Anyone know if these come in an airflow optimized variant? I'm really digging the minimal cabling of those fans, but would honestly like something that's going to be a bit more quiet.
![Blox Fruits Dragon Rework Update [Full Stream]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EqDAp8udhm0/mqdefault.jpg)
I would love Lian-Li to come out with a more budget-oriented Unifan, without RGB but still having the interlocking connections. I think that would sell quite well, for people who don't really want RGB in their builds, such as myself.
There's gonna also release an Upgrade version of UNI Fans Infinity, can't wait.
You’re missing out on so much performance without RGB…would not recommend
Definitely agree, fans are where I cut all RGB. The way these connect is great.
It's expensive because of the interlocking, not the rgb lol
Uh, I’m pretty sure there are options in rob software to turn it off.
Fan videos are totally necessary Jay. I know objectively it seems boring but the vast majority of us simply love your content. Thank you and your team for doing what you do!!!
Every time my wife hears your intro she knows it's going to cost money
😂😂😂😂 mine knows that too
Well it’s your money to spend how you want
"What's up guys? Jayztwocentz here..."
*from the other room* "Oh god more like Jayztwothousanddollars."
did you ask her boyfriend if he's ok with it ?
Bnnnb
Lian Li had to make the back of the fan look nice because it was super hard to find a nice looking fan for side-rad intake on their O11 cases. Makes sense since they created a market for fans with a nice looking back.
Love the videos.
Havent built a pc in like 10 yrs, and came across these and was amazed by the design and how they connect together
They've also got "infinity" fans planned that combines the 2, giving bith edge and blade rgb
140mm versions in black and I'm sold for next build
That sounds sick! The edge effect looks cool but having the rgbs on the fans is really good looking as well. Having both could give some awesome color setups
That’s what I’m looking for! They would look amazing.. Imo I think the Corsair fans look best, but the ones in the video are right on par with them and if they combined the 2 as you said it would blow them away
And then they can release L Connect 3.... Dumb
This THIS is all they needed to do.
I don't find them boring, but what I would like would be more reviews of them since there are soooo many different ones out there, and as it has been pointed out in the past, you can't always rely on reviews from Amazon and such. So thanks Jay for doing reviews on them once in a while.
There are so many reviews on these fans dude… look a little
@@j.b.7133 Of course there are! But there are tons of people who do what Jay do, and some are subjectively better.
We want Jay to do more because we trust Jay, like his personality, and enjoy his production quality.
Nothing wrong with asking a content creator to cover something you enjoy, if they do it in a unique way.
@@candinmuniz3225 Yes... video reviews of the Unifans exist lol. Use the search function
this needs to be the standard for all case/radiator fans moving forward
True... Minus the RGB
@@d0x360 agreed as long as removing RGB dramatically lowers the price, otherwise i dont mind just turning it off
@@d0x360 'Just turn off the RGB' -Albert Einstein
Great video guys...I picked up a starter pack of the UNI SL120's a month ago and I love them. I actually prefer the SL edge-lit design over the new AL models as I think the SL's have a more unique look where it takes the emphasis of the fan blades themselves (that's just my preferred aesthetic).
i love the shape of the al much better cause it’s a circle but love that light touch of rgb on sl120, it’s not so in your face..
The software supports up to 64 fans, build a case out of fans!
THIS!!!!!!
PLEASE!!!
This should be a pinned comment!!
Excellent choice banescar. Once the fans pull in enough dust you'd have a solid case made out of dust. Smart move. Also smoke a lot for that extra touch.
Software is garbage
Thanks for going over these. These fans have everything I've been looking for, and now with the additional lighting, even better (for me). I'll definitely be getting the AL fans when I find them at the store. Glad I waited and didn't jump at the SL.
@@007Divider not in canada and I had to build a new system so SL fans it is
I just ordered Lian Li's 3 Unifan and controller pack for $80 a couple days ago. So excited to get them hooked up.
You paid $80 for three fans? Are you on drugs?
@@TheGreatSatan_ for rgb fans I think that’s about right, plus it comes with the controller box. For non rgb that’s very pricey, that’s noctua level
Pro-Tip: these individually addressable LED products are either a 'neopixle' like LED (specifically the WS2812) or a similar variant (sk6812, for instance). Individually addressable LEDs use a serial communication protocol that is widely available (check adafruit and the arduino/RPi community), and thus why they only need 3 wires (well, 4 if you want to continue daisy chaining). Power + - and serial in and out in needed. They can also self address, as in they can inform the program how many are on a string. If the manufacturer knows all of a given type of fans use a certain number of pixels, the software can assume which device its talking to. And this is probably where some odd addressing artifacts crop up such as mirroring, inverted progressing on color sweeps, etc. The biggest rub is usually the timing requirements of the signaling, but its still a simple serial communication. Corsair lightning (or whatever they were called) were WS2812s with a slightly faster baud rate than normal neopixles. You can absolutely control them directly with a proper serial device (which is all that little box is, its a USB to serial converter) such as an Arduino nano (RPis serial timing might have issues, since arduinos are microcontrollers clocking through instructions and not a linux OS with interrupts and such, the timing is much more predictable) connected to an internal USB port. Honestly these PC parts manufacturers are taking the piss when it comes to cost, neopixles are a dollar a dozen. Its a shitty move to charge so much for adding such a simple device to their products, and absolute anti-consumer to try implying a given companies lights are some how proprietary when all they did was set the serial communication rate slightly higher.....Like, really a fucked up thing to do to your customers just to lock them into your eco system. Especially using a FREE AND OPEN protocol.....
The area I feel the lighting really falls down is the integration with events. Yeah some games do neat things like color schemes and hit indication. But what If I want a specific pattern on a specific set of LEDs for when....i dunno....my garage door opens or something. Integrating that is a pain in the ass because their little controller (which again, is JUST a usb to serial converter) is locked into their flashy but ultimately hollow program. With little to no out of the box linux support (which is another slap in the face, since they're using protocols primarily utilized in linux environments, and quite easily I might add....). Integrating a given effect should be as easy as 'if event do this thing to these leds'. But good luck getting their 'we assume what you need and lock out any possibility of anything more complex than the most basic of functions because we assume youre dumb, dont care, or will discover how much we ripped you off for' program/controller to do that for you.
You have to find better things to do with your time. No one asked and no one is gonna read that. You just typed a full essay in a 1 year old comment section that's been dead for 11 months.
I read it. I understand half of it. Lol
I'm so glad I went back and looked at videos i missed, this fans are freaking awesome. It's so cool how they work in a series like that, why can't other companies be like this. Thanks Jay, even though i'm a little late to the party!
I wonder if Lian Li has a patent on it? it would have been smart to do so
I can't believe I watched a twenty-five minute video about fans, and was actually quite engaged whilst doing it. Good vid, Jay.
I think the edge light is what makes the SL so good and unique. Of course, having multiple options that have the interconnect is also a bonus. But I don't see how anyone could complain about the SL when it's exactly as intended.
Exactly. I always loved this particular design because its idea is "smooth, stylish accent lighting", as opposed to "shiny spinny wheel, woohoo!" of most fans with lit-up blades.
I agree! That’s the exact reason i got them because my pc sits on my desk and if the lights are too flashy, it’s kinda distracting and not so cute imo. The SL’s design is a lot more sleek and clean looking to me.
Fans aren't boring. I like good fans. Keep it coming!
Wow just looked them up and the black ones have a black frame with white blades.. I’m sold!
There is this guy called Kleo Yan he does all the LIAN LI fan he have a video showing u in depth how to work both of the software together with the new upgrade app
I like the frame of the SL120's way more.
I personally prefer the low ambient glow from the SL Fans. I love it when there are just a few light accents in the case!
I’m impressed Jay didn’t zip a single fingertip in any of the fans lol.
After editing though, lol
@@nickpickerwi7787 hahaha right!
I zipped twice into these fans and they broke down
I'm sorry to hear the amount of hate that you guys get. I sometimes fall behind, but when I want to relax I love to sit down and watch your guy's videos. I just wanted to let you guys know that I've been loving the content lately. Especially the RTFM show. I deliver building supplies for work and it's nice to have something to listen too during the ride after listening to the same music playlists and radio stations constantly. Personally I like seeing the videos like the drone flying and the glass tube bending because it's something that's different and I get to learn about something I previously had little knowledge of. As for what videos I'd like to see I'd say just keep with what you guys have been doing. It's all great stuff. If I did have to pick, I'd say my favorite content is you guys just doing stupid stuff and having a good time like when you blew up the water loops with the air compressor or the build offs with the nerf guns. I'm not sure if you guys are gonna see this comment given this video is a bit old so I'm going to post it on a more recent video so that all of you know that there are people who appreciate your content no matter what the current situation is in the tech industry right now.
I bought the BR lite version as I needed the standard 4 pin for the motherboard I have and love these fans.
They were very well priced as I'm a budget gamer and the RGB looks nice in my PC build.
I would suggest them to anyone.
I believe they are the BR120 and they came in a 3 pack for around $60cad.
Plugged in and worked with the motherboard RGB to match without downloading anything.
Pre ordered a three pack and a single pack a couple days ago. I love them...when you can find them. I moved the badge to the push part of the fan on the SL. Glad they took my idea 😁
Glad they got version2 of their software straight.
What site did you get them from? Got a link?
@@PovZ123 twitter.com/GlobalLianli/status/1410947012623745027?s=19
Jay - "These are absolutely the prettiest fans on the market, yeah they're pricy"
So they're Pretty Pricy?
I hate you so much
Get out!
Lol
Slow clap
Love this.
Please do an updated video on 3 rd party fan controllers Jay! Speedfan is more or less dead so the only real choices I know is "rem0o fancontrol" and "argus monitor". I've used rem0o fan control for about a year now and it works and looks so good. Better than speedfan ever was tbh. And it's free!! Argus works (paid) but not as versatile, and it's not as modern or easy to set up. I still see people online asking for a speedfan replacement and don't know about these. Maybe a comparison between the two would be cool. Thanks
Great video Jay. I know the Graphics cards are the bulk of your vids, but I'm a hyoooge fan of your case customisation, water cooling and stuff like this
I like the Cooler Master 120 Halo. There's a ring around the whole fan plus the blades are lit.
When they bring out a 140mm I'll be interested
SL140's exist
Me too. They said AL 140 will be released a little bit later. Let's hope in availability.
Same here
@@JamaiiQ they would have to make it just as expensive so it's useless
140s do nothing
When this video 1st started up I almost went digging around for an old pair of red and blue glasses so I could watch this video in 3D. =p
16:33 Every iCue user about every other RGB solution.
iCue is shit.
@@AGuy-vq9qp Said literally nobody? You've had a bad experience though I take it.
@@kagesong It is well known to be obscenely wasteful when it comes to cpu usage, and in my experience it is way too limited in what can be done with it, all accompanied by UI that feels like trudging through a bog.
@@AGuy-vq9qp We clearly used different versions of iCue. I mean, is 20 MB of RAM and .5 % of my CPU wasteful? We may have very different definitions... and as for the UI... there's tons more I can do with iCue that flat doesn't work with other solutions, including and especially integration into other components such as Wallpaper Engine.
I own white SL120 Uni fans.. Love them... glad they worked on improving RGB. I need to buy another set..
I'm updating my pc with a lian li 011 dx and bought 9 QL 120s. After watching both of your videos on these and how much more simplified they are I returned the qls and bought 9 sl 120s. Looking forward to setting up my new pc especially with the 3080ti ftw3 I just bought as well! Thanks for sharing!
Jesus man you are lucky, I am doing the same build and can't find ANY SL120's anywhere in Canada. All major suppliers are out with no expected replacement date.
Use the frame of the SL and the core of the AL - win, win.
That would be really cool indeed
They have those fans coming, they will be called Infinity Fans
Check out QL120 from Corsair for that combo
I love the Lian Li stuff. They have picked up where Thermaltake let me down.
I’ve always liked their cases but couldn’t afford them back in the day. Now, I have to say I’m a total fanboy. Lancool 2, Uni fans, Lancool accessory light strips, Galahad 360. I like these AL120s, but I want to see what the Uni Infinity production units look like. I also see an O11 Evo in my future as well. Still need a set of Strimers too…
I feel like they should have just put hub lighting in the old style, then you would have the best of both world! I like having some light come from edge on of the fan and from the hub!
wait for it the UNI SL 120 infinity fans are coming ruclips.net/video/5ZXy3af82Wc/видео.html
@@deandulong Oh yeah! Thats exactly what I wanted!!! I dont think ive ever been so excited over something as simple as a fan! I would just love to get get rid of my white Corsair LL 120s...they are beautiful and very powerful but MY GOD the cable mess is terrible!!!
I don't know who else needed this video but damn this answered so many questions I couldn't google. Thanks Jay!!!!
Just did my first build and used the SLs. I like the more subtle approach
As much as I love the cable management of these fans, the QL120's are just so much nicer to look at. Larger, yes. Pain in the arse to cable manage, yes. But they are just so damn nice.
every tastes are in nature, for me, cooler master prismatic looks awesome ;)
100% these new lian li are nice but QL is the best looking fan out there
@@24zer0nd Corsair software is dog shit and you know it. Along with their 1500 cables for 3 fans lmao.
I guess because I'm not one that normally cares for RGB lighting in a PC, I actually like the older SL fans with it being subtle lighting around the outside of the fans, rather than the hub in the fans glowing.
I completely agree with you. The new A L fans looks tacky like the rest in the fan market. Prefer the outset led lights around the frame and not in the actual fan blades.
Agreed! I have the SL and they look so unique with the lighting position, and it looks more clean as well!
just bought fans, friends kept recommending me to just buy the AL's because theyre newer but i went for my liking and bought the SL's i like having lighting on my pc but i still like that "stealthy" kind of look that adds a shade of silhouette to my pc hardwares inside the case.
Interesting, still missing the bearing information that is what I focused on when I went on a fan replacement spree.
I wanted to make sure they could handle being in any position and remain running for a long time, spending it on Noctuas have served me well.
IF you need two of these (or any other device with internal USB), you could extract the pins from one plug and put them in the other. Each internal header has two USB connections, but the plug only needs one and has the slots for the other pins unpopulated (which blocks the second USB connection from easy use). A quick search didn't return any passive splitter, so that's a bit of fumbling around with the cables.
bought these yesterday, mi first ones (6x fans = 4 cables needed what a bless)🥰
I really like the AL-120s. Wish I had those when I built my 1st computer back in March. Also, why doesn’t Lian-Li just sell a fully loaded O-11 dynamic that comes with their AIO and 10 unifans? I def would have preferred to buy that rather than getting all of the parts separately
Marketing. If they put a case on the market as you suggest the cost would be astronomically higher than all other cases.
My opinion of LianLi never seems to stop growing.
We mostly build in Lian Li cases.
Thermaltake & Fractal Design are choose 2nd and 3rd. CHECK US OUT! 🎮🤓💯
800 RPM is the lowest?
My Noctua Chromax fans still spin at 250 RPM when idle.
They're noctuas, of course they are higher quality and can spin slower. Noctua is famous for its silent fans.
Congrats on having slow fans?
You can't hear them at 850. Then I just turn them off beneath that
@@kaldogorath generally i think motors with more of a range of speed is a sign of quality. You probably have to engineer them well, with better bearings for the fan to spin smoothly at a slow speed. It's also just quieter obviously.,
Yeah, my artic p12s (I got a five pack for $25 last year) spin at 200 before shutting off. Those on my radiator combined with the scythe kaze flexs on my case, I need to play muted to even hear them. Compared to the fans I used for my first build back in 2015, even if they ramp up during gameplay, it's been a year of blissful silence and I love it. c:
I like the fact you can ignore the connector and use the motherboard. Mystic is just so simple and saves alot of headaches
I have 10 of the SL120’s in my rig, and those, along with with the Lian Li strimers, give off quite a bit of light. These new ones look great, as well, though.
Sweet, can’t wait to not be able to find another PC Component in stock.
Yeah, we get it.
Jay probably hasn't heard this enough, why don't you keep saying it, and maybe he will still be able to do nothing about it.
@@007Divider I get the frustration, but it's not Jay's fault the stock issues are the way they are. He's just a dude running a techtube business. If he stopped making content because of the stock issues, he'd go broke, and there'd be no more videos. He gets sick of hearing this, like anyone would in his shoes.
I ordered 9 black ones and got them in a week
@@nickpickerwi7787 Dude.. it's an observation, chill out
@@joshualaird5303 way to necro
Great looking fans.
Update: I now have the fans installed, attached to my 120mm radiator plus one intake fan. The Lian Li cable management system should be an industry standard.
I am currently thinking of picking up either Al fans or noctua fans for my o11 dynamic evo. I have a question regarding the noise of the Al fans, I want them as they are nice looking but I am unsure if just going no egp with noctua would be better since I do want a somewhat silent pc
@@Ficohaker noctua will be more silent, to bad they don't make RGB or even white fans.
I really wish other companies would take up this interlocking fan idea.
They will before too long.
Corsair needs to stop sitting on their asses
@@592Johno Agreed
For anyone who is interested, I have the sl fans connected to the motherboard using Asus's proprietary 3 pin argb connector which you can find cheap on ebay. Lian Li and asus use the same argb connectors so you can bypass the controller altogether. It is very important if you are going to hook up 3 or fans, use a 3mp fan header on the motherboard.
Just caught this a bit after the fact. Wow those look pretty! Using 16 fans, all Corsair HD120s or 140s and love the RGB edges on them (no hub lighting), but as you said, yep, just like Skunkworks, there are 32 cables going everywhere. Lian-Li's arrangement looks very elegant for sure.
I'm also amazed you didn't nick or cut yourself from this video at all (that we see). Especially handling larger fans, the amount of holding and rotating them around scared me haha. Great video. Just now have to contemplate if I ever want to swap them all out with Lian-Lis....
If they made a version with both types of lighting they would be amazing
Haha congrats, they have one now
@@mayumideleon3454 what it called?
You showed Uni's, they sold out two hours later, two days later the price doubled. lol.
And they were being scalped. Also the price never want back to normal
He never showed us what happened when you daisy chain an AL and a SL in one block.
That's exactly the question I was going to ask. Well I was going to say do the work together in one chain?
I thought the same. They may have recorded it before they had to reshoot and just forgot as they focused on the software change.
Good experiment but probably unnecessary. If you’re paying for these fans you hopefully have enough to not daisy chain different fans
@@christophergriffis7019 missed the point I think.. What if we want to chain the different fans? I know I considered on my two tone computer alternating black and white fans.. But these fans look like putting one of the different ones in the middle would look nice..
@@nerdjournal it’s an edge case but still one nonetheless. But I think it’s safe to assume that if the old fans are already buggy then mixing in the old fans in the new would only be more buggy let alone not supported yet.
This would at minimum, at the software level, require configuration for each fan model within each 4 fan block group. If there are two separate tabs for the old and new fans it goes to reason that you could not do this…. Yet… probably
I have 6 SL120 fans at the top and bottom of my case and 3 AL120 fans on my side mount AIO radiator and they work flawlessly through L Connect 2. The AL120s are perfect for showing more RGB on a side mounted radiator and the SLs look great for too and bottom fans for the more premium LED light bar look vs the AL120s fan rgbs.
just did a build with the unifans. absolutely love them
That was someone’s million dollar idea and it was genius.
I would LOVE those SL fans if Icue could control them.
I dumped iCUE two weeks ago for the Uninfans. I cut the amount of wires (the rats nest!) in half.
@@JheemCongar Yeah the wires are a problem but I make custom animations for my fans and ram. Icue is the only program I have used that allows for stacking effects to create animations so I am kinda locked into it for now. I may just settle for the basics though if they are good enough
Icue is only good for for adding more cpu usage. It's close to bloatware.
@@TheGXDivider Strongly disagree with you there. less than 1% while controlling 6 fans, 4 ram sticks, an AIO, keyboard and mouse. All of which are using layered lighting effects to create animations.
Granted I am using a Ryzen 9 5900X
@@RRGreiner last time I used it was about last year back in november, with AIO, ram sticks, mouse and keyboard (cpu is 5800x).
Horrible CPU usage, constant 5-8% after fresh W10 install, with high idle temps for the cpu (45-50). Maybe they updated their software since then.
"Most out of date fans of 2020", yeah we all wish we could get the last year back :D
Man back in my day 2019 was cool
I got 6 of these fans for my lancool 2 mesh case, im getting three more. When eventually attempt my first custom loop for my 3080 and my ryzen cpu, ill be using these fans they are awesome!
Preordered my white AL120 starter kit today. Black kit already sold out from Newegg if you’re on the fence.
"PC fans are boring"
Me: You take that back, mister!
Yeah I've been skipping a bunch of his salt videos until I saw the fan title! Or maybe it's just because one of mine is making death noises and I need to replace it, so that means I have to replace all of them so they match, OCD FTW.
I'd be curious to see how they stack up to the Noctua NF-A12x25 fans in terms of radiator cooling. Like noise and liquid temp wise, how far it's from that. If it's close, I'd rather get these to light up my sfx build
The "old" unifans, the SL, are better because they are more understated, which makes them a bit classier, instead of the usual RGB fan with leds on the blades. Now they just look like any other RGB fan.
Have you seen the arctic bionix rgb? Similar in a way. Either way, interconnected fans is life
yeah thats why i went with the sl these ones look to tacky just like the rest
I see what you mean, I like th SL, they are elegant, but the AL don't look like "any other RGB", Lian li always put their own touch, they have a "soft glow" that no other fans on the market have IMO...
@@Blafard666 Oh they sure do, but I think the SL are way more classy, and "more" unique. But yeah, the AL are not exactly like any other RGB fan, it's just that Lian Li moved them closer to any other RGB fan in terms of looks.
I agree. The new AL has a big tradeoff.....no rgb around the borders now. I just bought the SL ones because I want rgb around the borders.
These go so well with my white Lian Li Mesh 2 and Gigabyte 3080 Vision. The white with metal accents are stupidly well-suited to matching that build.
In my setup I have a bunch of Arctic BioniX P120 ARGB fans that I have connected to a Razer Chroma ARGB controller. I am pretty happy with that setup and it is cheaper than going with the LianLi fans.
tried so hard to get some liam Li Fans for my build last year, couldn't find any
Bought 10 for 125 on Newegg
me too! i had to pay 50 bucks each for them on ebay...but the fans are really good for static pressure and airflow.
Jay got them all. My Microcenter still jokes that Jay gets all the fans sent to him. LOL. I literally bought a 3-pack of $25 fans just to get by. I finally found them on Amazon for
Uhhh…these are not the same size fan at all. A lot of these “120” fans really aren’t. The diameter of the fan blades themselves can differ a lot based on the thickness of the frame. Just because the frame fits a “120” slot doesn’t mean the blades will be the right size. RGB fans seems to be the most variable where they shrink the fan blades to fit more RGB. These fans are no different. The new fans have a noticeably bigger blade than the old one. This can affect your cooling. I replaced the “120s” that came on my GPU hybrid kit with basic Noctuas and both the difference in size and performance was noticeable.
I noticed that too. One of the reason's I didn't go with getting SL120 fans was that the blades were noticeable shorter and had thick walls that would block airflow. These newer AL120 look like the blades diameter is bigger and the frame is thinned to allowed for the larger blades.
Video idea Jay? Get a pair of digital calipers and measure the difference of the SL120 vs AL120 blades, and maybe other manufactures like Noctuas and Corsair. "Not all 120mm Fans are the same Size"
Glad some one else picked up on this. New fans will perform slightly better
Yea almost all fans manufactured are at most are about 115 to 118mm, as 120 would require no frame which kills static pressure. The SLs we're somewhere like 105 to 108mm which definitely saw a performance dip, while these are about 115 to 117mm which is big standard. The only fans I know of that are somewhere like 118ish is the Noctua A series and Arctic P12s but the performance benefit from them compared to regular fans is the polymer used for the blades and the clearance between fan and housing.
For most folks most fans would be ok though unless you really need the max performance.
21:06 new Liam-Li RGB fans remind me of the X-men X steel door that Xavier opens to access Cerebro 😜😆😉👍
I love the look of the Thermaltake riing fans and the aorus 20 series gpu fans
I'm running 18 Uni fans in a Dual Loop 480, 360-240. 1 Lian Li controller for the RGB along with some splitters, each radiator is set up separately and I'm running the fan speeds off a Corsair Commander Pro set up for temps cpu/gpu
Fans are not boring! We're almost out of this mess. Things should get back to normal 🙃
Yes they are boring.
Major Hardware's Fan Showdowns are pretty sweet
@@Nunya58294 Say it with me: e-x-p-e-n-s-i-v-e
:(
These fans kinda look like the Corsair QL with that silver hub.
Good, we need alternatives since QLs make terrible rad fans. Will probably switch mine out for these
ARGB cannot "detect" how many lights are connected. You have to tell the software how long the chain is.
Sometimes they can like in Razer Chroma
They can’t autodetect but each fan has a standard amount of leds so that should mean that any effect should work on the fans regardless of how long the daisy chain. At least theoretically as long as each led channel is correctly configured to the device
I liked their original Bora series fans with the LEDs facing inward on the blades. I couldn't deal with the bearing noise in an otherwise quiet PC so I returned within a week and got the Corsair fans with mag lev bearings 🤷♂️
If you update the SL controller firmware, it works fine with L-Connect 2. It’s a 3-5 minutes update process and very easy.
Damn these are exactly what I've been searching for. I've got the 011 mini and using Corsair fan and lighting hubs is a nightmare with the HDD bay being used and I'm only using a SFX psu and 4 hd140 fans. I loved the sl unifan one connection setup but the lighting just wasn't enough. These new al series fans are perfect for the 011 cases which need bulk light output and compact enough to fit the 011 mini case without any problems. Hopefully people don't go full stupid on buying them and Lian Li will release a 140mm fan soon
Jay: "Let's go...2000rpm"
Phil: "It's like I'm in Wyoming!"
it seems like the usb connector of the controller only uses 1 usb out of the two you get from a usb 2.0 header, so i don't think you'll need two headers for your 2 fan controllers
I was thinking the same thing.
Just pull out the pins from second one and combine them on the shell.
*By pulling I am referring to safely and carefully extracting them from shell without damage to either side*
Hey Jay,
Lian Li has a manual dedicated to updating the older controller to make the SL120/SL140 work together with L-Connect 2.
It was quite straight-forward and easy.
I like the SL fans over the new AL fans. They look just like any other RGB fan on the market. SL120 look unique. I love them.
Been waiting on this video since they were announced
I'm kinda on the "hate RGB" train - But damn, this is done so well I can't help but appreciate it.
If they respond well to lower brightness I might just have to try this RGB shit out for real
Jay seems to be a massive fan of these, I wonder why?
There are less LED's in the AL fans, hence the light not reaching the end when using SL fans on the AL controller.
I use this controller with Corsair commander :) fans plugged directly into commander, rgb part into controller
I think Ivan Vanko said it best when he said "Software is shit!"
lol, I just watched that movie too.
This basically applies to all software.
Someone, somewhere always thinks ans piece of software is shit. On a deep and personal level.
@@corroded companies seriously need to spend more time refining software. It feels like they release it and never touch it again. Lightning software spesifically, ive never had rpm issues, but lightning issues i have plenty of.
Corsair said "fuck you" and decided to change the entire iCue so i had to learn everything again, super annoying. Corsair, why not fix the freaking flicker issue that so many people like me have had issues with instead of making the software more inconvinient with a modern skin that noone asked for.
Great fans, the issues with the software are horrible. Hub not detected, settings lost after reboot
@@DainHunter some do. Some are always tinkering. Software is still shit though.
The great thing about software is it can be the best thing ever when it was written but leave it in use long enough it becomes shit.
Even if we get software designed by AI, some muppet somewhere is going to have to tell it what to do. And it will still be shit.
The amount these companies charge just for fans with lights is ridiculous
Next time I build my PC, I'm definitely getting those fans!
SCREW CABLE MANAGEMENT!!!!
Hi J a idea for a video. Best setup for a gaming pc (elite) regardless of price and availability of parts and how to get close on a budget?
thanks for the review Jay
Great, last time Jay reviewed Lian Li fans, they were sold out for 8 months straight.
Jay: I’m not sure why you’d have more than 1 type of fan in your system, just run all the same..
Me: hold my logic!
Jay: 😒
Anyone know if these come in an airflow optimized variant? I'm really digging the minimal cabling of those fans, but would honestly like something that's going to be a bit more quiet.
confusing software and fan choices does make it less boring, great video
just graded 7 of these fans ( AL120) songlad i seen them on sale today , usually 170 for 3 pack but 107 today love these fans