The component market is increasingly filled by RGB elements on various components – to make a case shine from the inside, Antec also offers an RGB set, which consists of three RGB fans, two LED strips and a controller. We have tested this set for you and checked how it actually performs. In addition to this set, you can also order the Antec Prizm ARGB fans as a set of five fans incl. controller, two fans incl. controller or as single pack.
Specifications
| Dimensions | 120 x 120 x 25 mm |
| Air flow rate | 1.28 m³/min. |
| Static pressure | 2.56 mm H2O |
| Speed | up to 2000 rpm |
| Noise development | 32.6 dB(A) |
| Connections | 4-Pin PWM / 3-Pin ARGB (5 V) |
| MTTF | 40.000 h |
| Type | hydraulic |
| Scope of delivery (Set) | 3x fan, ARGB controller, 2x LED strips, 12x case screws, RGB adapter cable for Gigabyte mainboards |
| Price | € 79.96 * (Prizm 3+2+C), € 134.04 * (Prizm 5+C) |
workmanship and design
The complete set comes in a sturdy and functional cardboard box, printed with all relevant data and product images. To our delight the products inside are beautifully and individually packaged – each part of the set is individually packed in a smaller, labeled box. The tidy appearance gives a pleasant feeling, because nothing flies around in the box and if necessary it can be neatly repacked.
Fan
The body of the fan is made of black, quite solid plastic. This is, in contrast to budget fans, very torsion resistant and stable – this is also a point we hoped for with the rather high price. In the middle of the fan is a sticker with the Antec logo. On our specimens, this sticker is used up in the middle of the fan and therefore hardly “eggs” when used. Outside the rotor blades, in the body of the entire fan, there is a white ring. This ring is present on both sides, so that the RGB lights are visible from both sides. If you want to mount the fans as suction, the lighting is still completely visible.
Rubberized pads are located at the screw holes to minimize vibrations that are transmitted to the case and thus enable low noise levels. Basically, it can be said in advance that the fans are neither surprisingly loud nor really quiet – in an everyday scenario with roughly 800 RPM the airflow is minimally audible from close proximity.
Since the fans are connected to the mainboard or the controller with a PWM connector, you can adjust this according to your own requirements and thus achieve a suitable compromise between volume and airflow – however, this is quite different depending on the case used.
The connection cables (3-pin ARGB and 4-pin PWM) are about 40 cm long and are kept in a plain black – a sleeve or similar was not used.
RGB strips
In addition, two RGB strips are included in the set. These are about 30 cm long and are also connected with an about 40 cm long 3-pin ARGB cable. Nothing new awaits us here, the RGB strips of various brands differ only slightly or not at all – but on the positive side, they can be magnetically attached and a double-sided adhesive tape is also pre-mounted.
Controller
Last but not least an RGB controller is included. This is clean workmanship and very light. Fortunately, a SATA power cable is used for the power supply – many competitors unfortunately still use the MOLEX connector, which is rather impractical and meanwhile a bit outdated.
The controller primarily serves as a PWM and ARGB splitter – up to 5 fans can be connected to it. Since on most mainboards only a few ARGB connectors are available, this is a nice thing – so you only use one connector at a time. But if there is no connector at all, the controller also has a small RGB controller built in.
It is praiseworthy here that Antec uses standardized connectors. So it would be no problem to run the fans without the controller and use splitter cables or multiple connectors if the controller gets lost or broken.
RGB functionality
There are two buttons on the controller – one to switch between different RGB modes, the other controls the speed of the RGB effects. There are some pre-programmed RGB programs you can play through – besides simple colors there are also some running patterns of the lighting.
But if you want to have more precise settings and even more options, you should use the RGB software of the mainboard. With MSI Mystic Light, GIGABYTE RGB FUSION, ASUS AuraSync, ASRock Polychrome Sync and even Razer Chroma RGB you have the free choice. We have used Mystic Light as an example for the test – of course the options vary greatly depending on the software used.
In the software the known functions are available – besides rainbows, gradients, pulsating and solid colors there are a lot of other programs available.
The LEDs of the fans are individually quite inconspicuous and do not stand out with bright, illuminated dots – in contrast to cheap LED fans. The colors are richly displayed and create a nice overall picture inside the case.
Because of the individual LEDs of the LED strip, they are much more noticeable – but this is a general problem of the RGB strips. If you want to reduce this, ideally mount them in invisible areas and use the effect of indirect lighting.
Performance test
In order to be able to compare the fans with those of our competitors, we let them compete against the Alpenföhn Wing Boost 3 ARGB on a NZXT Kraken X73 . Antec itself states the fans as pure case fans, but since AiO watercooling is becoming more and more popular, we would like to test this possibility as well. To create a comparable test scenario, we heated a Ryzen 5 3600 with Prime95 and measured the temperature after 30 minutes.
| Fan | CPU temperature |
| Antec Prizm 120 ARGB, 50% PWM | 69°C |
| Antec Prizm 120 ARGB, 100% PWM | 63°C |
| Alpenföhn Wing Boost ARGB, 50% PWM | 67°C |
| Alpenföhn Wing Boost ARGB, 100% PWM | 62°C |
Basically it can be said that the Prizm 120 ARGB performed solidly at a reasonable volume. The high static pressure moves a lot of air through the radiator and thus ensures good heat dissipation. Up to a speed of about 1300 RPM the fans are perceived as noise, from about 1600 RPM on it gets disturbingly loud – even through a headset.
Conclusion
The workmanship and the product itself are convincing. A double-sided RGB ring, good stability and a useful controller are plus points that should definitely be emphasized. It is compatible to the usual mainboard RGB system and can also be used as CPU or radiator fan without any problems.
The RGB ring is a nice addition, but realistically it is not really something special. The little “Wow” effect is missing, because these RGB strips are already available in large quantities on the market. Together with the rather high price of almost 80 € (current: € 79.96 *), there are some smaller prints from us – nevertheless the set deserves the Silver Award. The price of the set with five fans and the controller is much more attractive – about 70 Euro (current: € 134.04 *).
Antec Prizm 120 ARGB 3+2+C
Workmanship
Features
Cooling
Volume
Value for money
83/100
Nice RGB set, unfortunately a bit expensive in this version. Nevertheless a solid quality with a convincing workmanship.
