be quiet! Pure Wings 3 120mm White Fans Review

Table of Contents

Introduction

Be quiet! is increasing its portfolio of white products and in that range, they have released the white version of their new generation Pure Wings 3 fans as well as Dark Base 901 and 701. I am taking a look at the Pure Wings 3 120mm PWM and Pure Wings 3 120mm PWM High-Speed white fans. Please note that we have already tested the Pure Wings 3 120mm PWM High-Speed fans. You can read our take here.

The common salient features of the Pure Wings 3 120mm PWM and PWM High-Speed White fans include:

Innovative closed-loop motor keeps the rpm no matter the resistance
Optimized fan frame for outstanding performance on radiators
Newly designed fan blades and re-arranged angle for extraordinary air pressure
Pure Wings 3 120/140mm PWM / PWM high-speed can be operated with very low minimum rpm for very quiet operation
Long-life rifle bearing gives an operating lifetime of 80,000 hours
Product conception, design, and quality control in Germany

The Pure Wings 3 120mm PWM and PWM High-Speed White fan have the same price tag of €13.90 and each has a 3-year warranty.

Pure Wings 3 Specifications

The above picture shows the specifications of Pure Wings 3 120mm PWM White fans.

The above picture shows the specifications of Pure Wings 3 120mm PWM High-Speed White fans.

Packaging and Unboxing

Both fans are shipped inside a black colored shipping box in a standard be quiet! Theme. Be quiet! defines this generation in three words; Performant, Progressive, and Quiet.

The specifications of the fans are listed on the backside of the main packing box. These fans are designed in Germany and made in China.

Accessories

Let’s take a look at what accessories are provided.

You will find 4x self-tapping screws in each box and this is all that you get. These are non-RGB fans so don’t expect a plethora of accessories.

Closer Look

Here is what be quiet! is saying about these fans. “Pure Wings 3 are the mainstream fans of be quiet! They offer everything demanding gamers need for their system. Be it high air pressure or quiet operation with very low minimum rpm: Pure Wings 3 suits both applications ideally. The PWM high-speed models feature closed loop motor technology that ensures the fan speed always stays on the same level, despite the resistance the fans are facing during operation. Pure Wings 3 are undisputed in their class.”

The dimension of both types of fans is 120x120x25mm. The above picture shows both fans from the front side. The Pure Wings 3 120mm PWM has 7x blades designed to accelerate airflow and they have a moderate speed range making them more suitable for case ventilation. However, you can use them over radiators as well. I will test their performance over the radiator to show how much of a difference we are talking about.

Whereas the Pure Wings 3 120mm PWM High-Speed White fan has 9x blades. This is essentially the same fan but in white that we tested earlier. The impellers of both fans have layered surfaces which helps in generating more airflow and reducing air turbulence.

There is a ring between the main frame and the blade assembly. It is a part of the frame with a distinction that blades spin inside this ring area. The center has be quiet! branding. There is a slope-down design from the mounting corners toward the ring. The frame of both fans is almost identical.

Please note that the Pure Wings 3 120mm PWM does not have a closed-loop function since it is only available on the High-Speed version.

I am showing the mounting corner of both fans. There are no anti-vibration pads on the mounting corners. The design is identical on both fans.

Looking at the sides of the main frame, you can see that there is a be quiet! branding on one side whereas there are arrow markers on another side. These markers show the direction of airflow through the fan and the direction in which blades spin.

Looking at the backside of the fan, we can see a 4-arms assembly. Each arm has a curvature design which helps to generate a focused airflow through the fan. Also, you can see a closed design from the back which is named sealed-off exhaust square design. It prevents the air from leaking through the frame area. The fans are made in China and have a manufacturing date of 22-11-23. You can see that the PWM version has a maximum speed of 1600 RPM whereas the PWM High-Speed version has a speed of 2100 RPM. These fans use Rifle bearings using a 4-pole motor making the fan’s MTTF 80,000 hours at 25°C.

Each fan has a 460mm flat cable that has a 4-pin PWM connector. The specifications are as under:

	Pure Wings 3 120mm PWM White	Pure Wings 3 120mm PWM High-Speed White
Dimension	120x120x25mm
Connector	4-pin PWM
Speed	1600 RPM	2100 RPM
Airflow	49.9 CFM	59.6 CFM
Static Pressure	1.45 mmH₂O	2.41 mmH₂O
Noise	25.2 dB(A)	30.9 dB(A)
Rated Voltage	12VDC
Operating Voltage	5 – 13.2VDC
Current	0.10A	0.13A
Input Power	2.4W	3.6W

Closed-Loop Motor Control

The main concept behind the Pure Wings 3 High-Speed PWM fans is the closed-loop motor control which is different than the mainstream PWM regulated fan control. In PWM fan control, the speed of the fans is regulated using %age that is mentioned as the PWM Range. There is always a variance in the PWM range. This variance could affect the actual speed of the fans.

Since speed and airflow are linked directly, the airflow would also be affected accordingly. This variation could become more significant in a long run. This implies that we are compensating for speed. Be Quiet! has taken a different approach with the Pure Wings 3 PWM fans.

These fans are still PWM but they are regulating the speed using the Tachometer signal from the fan itself. This way we have a closed-loop whereby the motor gets regular feedback about the speed of the fan instead of the PWM range factor and adjusts the current and RPM of the fans ensuring that the fans would continue to spin at the set speed for its target. This way we can ensure the same performance and the same airflow regardless of the resistance to the airflow.

Thermal Testing

The following configuration is used for the thermal testing: –

AMD Ryzen 7950X [PBO Advanced]
GIGABYTE X670E AORUS MASTER
Kingston Fury Renegade 32GB DDR5 Kit 6400MHz CL32
EK-AIO Nucleus CR240 DARK
Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus 2TB NVMe SSD
ASRock Phantom Gaming RX 7600 OC [For Display]
CORSAIR AX1200i Platinum PSU
Open-air Test Bench

Here is the settings table for testing:

All Cores	Auto
VCore (V)	Auto
PBO	Advanced
PPT	200,000mW
TDC	408,000
EDC	640,000
Boost Clock Override	+75Hz
Platform Thermal Throttle	Auto
Efficiency Curve	-20mV All Cores
Thermal Paste	Noctua NT-H1
Test Run Time	30 minutes CINEBENCH R23.2
Idle Time	10 minutes
Fan/Pump Speed	100% PWM Duty Cycle
Monitoring Software	HWInfo64

Let’s first take a look at the PWM range and sound profile of these fans:

PWM (%age)	Pure Wings 3 120mm PWM White Speed (RPM)	Pure Wings 3 120mm PWM High-Speed Speed (RPM)
10	146	266
20	347	421
30	498	647
40	657	849
50	824	1076
60	975	1280
70	1130	1506
80	1271	1704
90	1409	1896
100	1541	2089

The Pure Wings 3 120mm PWM White fans were operating at 39.3 dBA whereas the Pure Wings 3 120mm PWM High-Speed White fans were doing 43.7 dBA sound level at full speed or 100% PWM.

I have used arguably one of the best performing 240mm AIO on the market which is EK-AIO Nucleus CR240 DARK for the thermal testing.

I have used EK-Loop FT 120mm and Noctua NF-A12x25 PWM fans in this comparison. The below table compares the specifications of these fans for ready reference.

	EK-Loop FT 120	Pure Wings 3 120mm PWM White	Pure Wings 3 120mm PWM High-Speed White
Dimension	120x120x25mm	120x120x25mm	120x120x25mm
Speed	550~2300 RPM ±10%	1600 RPM	2100 RPM
Airflow	72 CFM	49.9 CFM	59.6 CFM
Static Pressure	2.7 mmH₂O	1.45 mmH₂O	2.41 mmH₂O
Max Volume	36 dBA	25.2 dBA	30.9 dBA
Bearings	Fluid Dynamic	Rifle Bearings
MTBF	60,000 @ 25°C hours	80,000 @ 25°C hours
Voltage Rating	12VDC	12VDC	12VDC
Power Consumption	3W	2.4W	3.6W
Current Rating	0.25A	0.1A	0.13A

I have used the AMD AM5 platform where the CPU will operate at 95°C to provide maximum clock boost headroom. It was of no use testing at stock hence I setup an advanced PBO configuration (mentioned above) to test the fans by still pushing them to the boundary but getting comparable results for graphs.

I have included the noise output along with the attained speed and Cinebench R23.2 Multi CPU score in the graph in addition to the thermals. I have reported absolute temperatures since the variation in the ambient temperature during the tenure of testing was within 1°C.

Both EK-Loop FT and Pure Wings 3 120mm PWM High-Speed fans were almost at the same sound level but EK fans were better by 1.2°C over the PWM High-Speed version of Pure Wings 3 White fans. The Pure Wings 3 120mm PWM White fans were behind the EK-Loop FT fans by 3.2°C margin whereas they were trailing behind the High-Speed version by 2°C.

Conclusion

Be quiet! has released a white version of Pure Wings 3 120/140mm fans in both variants; PWM and PWM High-Speed. These are essentially the white version of regular Pure Wings 3 fans. I have tested the Pure Wings 3 120mm PWM and 120mm PWM High-Speed white fans in this article.

Pure Wings 3 is the next generation of mainstream fans that are capable of fulfilling the high air pressure and low noise application requirements. The specification comparison is as under:

	120mm PWM White	120mm PWM High-Speed White
Speed	2100 RPM	1600 RPM
Air Pressure	2.41 mmH₂O	1.45 mmH₂O
Noise	30.9 dB(A)	25.2 dB(A)
Airflow	59.6 CFM	49.9 CFM
Bearing	Rifle

These fans use a 4-pole fan motor. The main difference between the 120mm PWM and 120mm PWM High-Speed versions is the blade design. The PWM version has 7 blades with a large surface area per blade whereas the 120mm PWM High-Speed 9x layered blades. Both types of fans have layered blades that may aid in maximizing the airflow and reducing the air turbulence. There is a ring design in the interior of the main frame and the backside has a sealed-off exhaust square frame to prevent air leakage.

There is another key difference between both fans. The regular 120mm PWM fan does not have a Closed-Loop function since this function is only available on the 120mm PWM High-Speed white fans. 140mm PWM High-Speed fans also feature this function.

Instead of PWM regulation, the PWM High-Speed fans use a tachometer to provide an RPM of the fans to the motor hence the name closed-loop motor control. The smart motor then adjusts the current so that the same speed can be ensured at the set target by the users.

Tachometer or tach in short is nothing new and be quiet! has changed the mapping of speed regulation. By focusing on the speed of the fans, they have ensured that fans would continue to spin at the same speed and generate the same airflow regardless of the surface of use and its resistance to airflow. This way the variation in PWM regulation is also addressed.

Both fans are powered by a 4-pin PWM connector. Each fan’s box has 4x self-tapping screws. The MSRP of each type of fan is €13.90 which is a bit surprising for me as I was expecting a 120mm PWM fan to cost less. Anyhow, the Pure Wings 3 120mm PWM though can be used on the radiators are simply the best option for case ventilation whereas the Pure Wings 3 120mm PWM High-Speed fans are best suited for high-resistant surfaces like radiators. This main difference is coming from blade design on both and their rated specifications.

I have tested both fans on the EK-AIO Nucleus CR240 DARK liquid cooler and have used EK-Loop FT 120mm fans for stock comparison. There was a difference of 1.2°C between the Pure Wings 3 120mm PWM High-Speed fans and EK-Loop FT 120mm fans which may favor the be quiet! fans because they are rated for 2100 RPM while generating 59.6 CFM airflow compared to 2300 RPM and 72 CFM on EK fans. Both fans were almost at the same sound level. However, as expected, the Pure Wings 3 120mm PWM fans could not keep up with the other two fans but still provide an acceptable thermal performance on the radiator.

These fans come in a 3-year warranty which given the price tag seems reasonable though nothing wrong in providing a 5-year warranty and winning the trust of your customers. Also, I would like to feedback be quiet! to complete its white color ecosystem by launching the white PSU and white color coolers.

Pros