Page 2 - Physical Look - Hardware
Taking a look at both the Cooler Master Mobius 120 OC, we have what appears to be a regular fan. The design shares a very similar appearance to the Mobius 120 I previously reviewed. The Mobius 120 OC has a black frame and dark blue blades. Despite being like many other fans, Cooler Master decided against placing their logo on the center of the impeller. Around the mounting holes for both fans, there are nice large pads on both sides to help dampen any vibration, allowing you to mount them in either direction. The fan is slightly thicker at 27mm.
Internally, the Cooler Master Mobius 120 OC uses what they call two ball bearings or double ball bearings. These bearings are similar to regular ball bearings, but utilize two ball bearings, as the name implies. Cooler Master claims this method reduces friction to a minimum for silence and an extended life span. While I cannot confirm the lifespan, you should not be worried as these loop dynamic bearings are rated for 200,000 hours. In addition, Cooler Master does provide a lifetime warranty, so I am not too concerned about its longevity at all. This lifetime warranty is awesome, and it shows Cooler Master’s faith in their “perfect engineering”. We will see how much noise the Mobius 120 OC output when we test them later on in this review.
Taking a closer look at the blades of both fans, you can see many similarities it shares to its predecessors. The blades of the fan are connected to an outer rim that Cooler Master calls the Ring Blade Design. This design is to reinforce the fan and eliminate vibration. There is a gap in between each of the fins with no overlapping blades. The angle each blade sits in comparison to the rotating middle is about 30 degrees. The curvature of the blades is about average. There are a total of nine blades on the impeller. The blades of the Cooler Master Mobius 120 OC are all quite smooth.
On the output side for the fan, four arms are attached to the frame with a straight arm seen in the image above. These arms will obstruct minimal amounts of air passing through. The Mobius 120 OC has two cables attached to the fan for power and for fan speed toggling. The power and control cable is a 4-pin PWM controlled header. The fan cable is about 300mm, and the speed toggling cable is about 250mm. These two cables are held together using a clip. This should be long enough to maneuver around most cases, but it will be quite tight. I could see the potential in not being able to properly route cables in a larger case. In future iterations, I would greatly appreciate a longer cord, as I found my general testing process was quite difficult with this length. The cables are quite flexible and they are braided. A braided cable is desirable as it enhances its durability.
Looking at the specifications of the Cooler Master Mobius 120 OC, we have a set of three different levels given the three different speed toggles. For simplicity, I will list the specifications from low, medium, and high in that order in regard to each specification. For the fan’s airflow, we have a maximum CFM or cubic feet per minute rating of 42.2, 65.5, and 88.1 CFM. These values are quite high for a 120mm fan. In terms of static pressure, the Mobius 120P ARGB specifies about 1.10, 2.76, and 4.75 mmH2O maximum. Note that these values are achieved by the fan spinning at their capped speed, which is 1500, 2400, and 3200 RPM for the three levels of the Mobius 120 OC. As for noise, the Mobius 120 OC has a rated noise level of 17.4, 2.76, and 4.75 dBA. As the Mobius 120 OC is able to scale down to 0 RPM, it is possible to achieve 0 dBA.
Taking a closer look at the fan speed toggle, you will notice the separate cable that is attached to the regular fan cable. This toggle has three different levels indicated by the three circles. It is barely noticeable, but the circles are displayed in different sizes to indicate which level you are using. The largest circle refers to the highest speed and the smallest circle refers to the lowest speeds. I personally think that this toggle can be improved as part of the PCB is exposed.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Hardware
3. Performance Tests
4. Conclusion
