PC Components

Seasonic MagFlow 1225 PWM review – a new player

Seasonic has long been one of the most popular manufacturers of high-quality power supplies. Away from this highly specialized field, this brand has only launched a few products, such as a small selection of cases. Now Seasonic is venturing into a new product field. The Seasonic MagFlow 1225 PWM brings 120mm fans to the market, but they are not meant to be just any fans. Some development work has been invested and so the Seasonic MagFlow are supposed to be particularly easy to handle and simplify the cabling. Now we take a look at the new fans and their application and performance in the Seasonic MagFlow review.

Specifications

Size 120.4 x 124.2 x 26.6 mm
Weight 212.7 g
RPM 600 – 2000 RPM (+ / – 10%)
Maximum Airflow 63.33 CFM
Maximum static pressure 2.61 mm H2O
Fan bearing Fluid Dynamic Bearing
Warranty 3 years
Price (set of 3) € 67.99 *

Packaging and scope of delivery

  • Large cardboard box
  • Three individual fans including accessories each in a plastic package

The packaging of the Seasonic MagFlow 1225 PWM is larger than you would expect for three fans. On the front of the blue-black box you can open a flap. This gives you a view of the fans and a few features are visualized on the flap.

When you open the pack from the top, you can see that there are three plastic packs sitting inside. These three sleeves each hold a fan along with a magnetic short connection cable. Along with that, there is a PWM extension cable and a pack of fan screws. In the middle pack, there is also a magnetic extension cable that can be connected between two fans.

Design

  • Various blue color accents
  • Subtle details

The fans are finished in dark gray, while the fan blades have a slight blue tint and otherwise there are a few blue details on the frame. The rubberized edges and fan blades come in slightly different color tones. And the center of the fan bearing in the front is textured black with Seasonic logo. On the back, there is a blue border around the fan bearing.

Since the fans are to be connected in series wirelessly, contacts are found on the side. And the namesake magnetic connection sticks out on one side, while a corresponding indentation is found on the other.

Workmanship

  • Very high quality workmanship
  • Good magnetic strength

I was very pleasantly surprised by the build quality when I tested the Seasonic MagFlow 1225 PWM. These fans have a high-quality feel all around, and their relatively heavy weight makes them feel full in the hand. The frame is torsion-resistant and the rubberized corners stand out haptically well. The fan blades don’t just look good either, they feel like it. Especially when the Seasonic MagFlow click together through the magnetic mechanism, it feels solid and they hold firmly without wobbling or rattling. Overall, these fans make some of the highest quality impression of any fan I’ve used.

Assembly

  • Very simple principle
  • Fans can be wired individually if needed
  • Extension cables are included
  • You can connect the three fans directly to each other

By connecting the fans directly, you can connect three fans in a row and they will sit so tightly together that you can save a few screws when mounting them. Whether you put them on the radiator or on the case, one screw on each side is enough in principle. Thus, you get three fans securely fastened with two screws. Of course – for stability reasons you should not necessarily do this on the case. And also on radiators you have a better seal if you also screw the middle fan. But in principle it is possible. Even in the middle you don’t have to worry about vibration transmission thanks to the rubberized contact surfaces.

In short, in the Seasonic MagFlow 1225 PWM review, I could not find any criticisms of the build quality. Impressive. However, it’s not only the build quality that matters when it comes to operation. Let’s move on to the practical application test of the Seasonic MagFlow 1225 PWM.

Test procedure

  • Test in the case, on the radiator and on the air cooler
  • Temperature reading as difference from room temperature

The fans are tested in three situations. Once as a case fan in the DeepCool CH510 Mesh Digital. Then as a radiator fan on an Arctic Liquid Freezer II 240 mm. And lastly on a DeepCool AK400 air cooler. In all tests, the fans are tested once each at a uniform 1100 RPM, once at a uniformly low 31 dB(A), and once at maximum power. All other fans in the system are set to fixed speeds so as not to influence the test with automatics.

For the case fan test, one fan is placed at the bottom front of the case and one at the back. For the radiator fan test, the 240 mm radiator for two 120 mm fans is installed in the front of the Fractal Design Pop XL Air and the fans are accordingly also located in the front behind the fan grille. Only one fan is used at a time in the air cooler fan test.

The results are adjusted by the room temperature as a delta. Thus, this does not influence the results. The ambient temperature has to be added to the temperature in the table. So, if the table shows a processor temperature delta of 40 Kelvin and the room temperature is 25°C, the measured CPU temperature is 65°C.

As always, low temperatures and low volumes are better. Accordingly, small results are to be preferred.

Comparison fan

  • Comparison against a similar fan class

For the comparison, I’m throwing four other fans into the test that are similarly situated. So all fans in the price range around 30€ (+ / – 10€) each, without lighting and designed as all-round fans, so no specialized airflow or high-static pressure fans. For this, I used the Noctua NF-A12x25 as a general reference fan, the Cooler Master Mobius 120 as a slightly cheaper competitor, the Corsair AF120 Elite as the cheapest fans in the comparison, and last but not least the be quiet! Silent Wings Pro 4 as the fastest fans in the comparison.

However, none of the tested fans in this review except for the Seasonic MagFlow 1225 PWM meet one point. And that is the daisy chain connection. So the other fans each have to be connected with their own cable.

Use as a case fan

The test of the Seasonic MagFlow 1225 PWM and the other fans are tested in a DeepCool CH510 Mesh Digital. The processor cooler fan and graphics card fan are set at a fixed speed and heated up with a constant 3DMark load for 10 minutes. So the only difference is the case fans and their speed. Three tests were performed here: A uniform speed of 1100 RPM, a uniform low volume at 31 dB(A) and the maximum speed.

Test at uniform 1100 RPM

Image Fan name Temperature delta dB(A)
Seasonic MagFlow 120mm fan Seasonic MagFlow 1225 PWM 36.6 (GPU) + 26.8 (CPU) 33.9
Noctua NF-A12x25 120mm fan Noctua NF-A12x25 37 (GPU) + 27.9 (CPU) 31
Cooler Master Mobius 120 mm fan Cooler Master Mobius 120 36.2 (GPU) + 26.5 (CPU) 31
Corsair AF120 Elite Fan Corsair AF120 Elite 36.4 (GPU) + 27.4 (CPU) 32.4
be quiet! Silent Wings Pro 4 120mm fan be quiet! Silent Wings Pro 4 36.6 (GPU) + 27.4 (CPU) 31

At 1100 RPM, the Cooler Master Mobius 120 is the most effective fan in the test. It is pretty much as quiet as the Noctua NF-A12x25 and be quiet! Silent Wings Pro 4, but the temperatures achieved are better. However, the Seasonic MagFlow 1225 PWM is only so close behind that it already falls within the range of the measurement tolerance. What falls outside the range of measurement tolerance, on the other hand, is the slightly higher noise levels of the Seasonic MagFlow. These are still not obtrusive, but still perceptible. Performance-wise, the weakest in this test is the Noctua NF-A12x25.

Tested at a uniform 31 dB(A)

Image Fan name Temperature delta RPM
Seasonic MagFlow 120mm fan Seasonic MagFlow 1225 PWM 36.9 (GPU) + 29.1 (CPU) 830
Noctua NF-A12x25 120mm fan Noctua NF-A12x25 37 (GPU) + 27.9 (CPU) 1100
Cooler Master Mobius 120 mm fan Cooler Master Mobius 120 36.2 (GPU) + 26.5 (CPU) 1100
Corsair AF120 Elite Fan Corsair AF120 Elite 36.4 (GPU) + 29.1 (CPU) 970
be quiet! Silent Wings Pro 4 120mm fan be quiet! Silent Wings Pro 4 36.6 (GPU) + 27.4 (CPU) 1100

Nothing changes for the Noctua NF-A12x25, be quiet! Silent Wings Pro 4, and the Cooler Master Mobius 120, as the results are identical. On the other hand, the Corsair AF120 Elite and Seasonic MagFlow 1225 PWM had to be turned down in this test to be just as quiet. The processor temperature in particular suffers in both cases. Overall, however, the change is not so huge that it would be dramatic.

Test at maximum performance

Image Fan name Temperature delta dB(A)
Seasonic MagFlow 120mm fan Seasonic MagFlow 1225 PWM 31.6 (GPU) + 22.1 (CPU) 49.4 @ 1950 RPM
Noctua NF-A12x25 120mm fan Noctua NF-A12x25 32.1 (GPU) + 22.7 (CPU) 47.1 @ 2050 RPM
Cooler Master Mobius 120 mm fan Cooler Master Mobius 120 33.4 (GPU) + 22.1 (CPU) 43.8 @ 1960 RPM
Corsair AF120 Elite Fan Corsair AF120 Elite 34.7 (GPU) + 22.3 (CPU) 46.6 @ 1820 RPM
be quiet! Silent Wings Pro 4 120mm fan be quiet! Silent Wings Pro 4 28.7 (GPU) + 20.4 (CPU) 53.8 @ 2840 RPM

In this test, the be quiet! Silent Wings Pro 4 race ahead virtually unrivaled, beating the other fans by a wide margin in terms of temperatures, but also getting louder than the rest. The Seasonic MagFlow 1225 PWM, however, also beat the other fans by a wide margin in this test and landed the second-best temperatures in the comparison. But equally, they hold second place from the back when it comes to volume. Overall, the Cooler Master Mobius 120 still shows itself to be the quietest fan in this test.

Use on the radiator

Testing the Seasonic MagFlow 1225 PWM on the radiator involves a Arctic Liquid Freezer II 240 on an AMD Ryzen 9 5950X being used in the front of the Fractal Design Pop XL Air. The test procedure here is similar, only here the case fans are fixed and only the fans on the AIO water cooling are changed and speed controlled. Cinebench is used as the load for this test.

Test at uniform 1100 RPM

Image Fan name Temperature delta dB(A)
Seasonic MagFlow 120mm fan Seasonic MagFlow 1225 PWM 41.3 38.2
Noctua NF-A12x25 120mm fan Noctua NF-A12x25 39.7 31.8
Cooler Master Mobius 120 mm fan Cooler Master Mobius 120 42.7 32.9
Corsair AF120 Elite Fan Corsair AF120 Elite 40.1 34.4
be quiet! Silent Wings Pro 4 120mm fan be quiet! Silent Wings Pro 4 40.9 32.2

Performance-wise, the field is pretty close in this test, with the Noctua NF-A12x25 taking the top spot just ahead of the Corsair AF120 Elite. The Cooler Master Mobius performs the worst in this test. The Seasonic MagFlow 1225 PWM is pretty much right between the Noctua and the Cooler Master in terms of temperature.

A slightly different look is taken at the volume. Here, the Seasonic MagFlow 1225 PWM performs by far the worst, with the top spot once again being taken by the Noctua NF-A12x25.

Tested at a uniform 31 dB(A)

Image Fan name Temperature delta RPM
Seasonic MagFlow 120mm fan Seasonic MagFlow 1225 PWM 47.3 790
Noctua NF-A12x25 120mm fan Noctua NF-A12x25 41.5 1000
Cooler Master Mobius 120 mm fan Cooler Master Mobius 120 45.2 940
Corsair AF120 Elite Fan Corsair AF120 Elite 44.3 890
be quiet! Silent Wings Pro 4 120mm fan be quiet! Silent Wings Pro 4 43.2 955

As expected from the last test, the speed of the Seasonic MagFlow 1225 PWM had to be reduced so significantly to achieve the same volume that performance suffers significantly. Thus, nothing changes at the top: the Noctua NF-A12x25 are the clear winners in this test, the Seasonic MagFlow 1225 PWM noticeably beaten off.

Test at maximum performance

Image Fan name Temperature delta dB(A)
Seasonic MagFlow 120mm fan Seasonic MagFlow 1225 PWM 35 51.4 @ 2000 RPM
Noctua NF-A12x25 120mm fan Noctua NF-A12x25 34 46.2 @ 1960 RPM
Cooler Master Mobius 120 mm fan Cooler Master Mobius 120 35.5 47.1 @ 2020 RPM
Corsair AF120 Elite Fan Corsair AF120 Elite 35.1 48.4 @ 1820 RPM
be quiet! Silent Wings Pro 4 120mm fan be quiet! Silent Wings Pro 4 32.4 54 @ 2730 RPM

Similar to the case fan test, the be quiet! Silent Wings Pro 4 beat out the competition for the top spot with their raw power, losing out on volume. The quietest fans in this comparison continue to be the Noctua NF-A12x25. The Seasonic MagFlow 1225 PWM perform solidly in this test, but also get quite loud.

Operation on the air cooler

One last test puts the Seasonic MagFlow 1225 PWM on an air cooler. For this, the DeepCool AK400 was chosen to cool an overclocked AMD Ryzen 5 3600X. Once again, the case fans are noted and only the fan on the processor cooler is changed and adjusted.

Test at uniform 1100 RPM

Image Fan name Temperature delta dB(A)
Seasonic MagFlow 120mm fan Seasonic MagFlow 1225 PWM 49.9 30
Noctua NF-A12x25 120mm fan Noctua NF-A12x25 50.7 30
Cooler Master Mobius 120 mm fan Cooler Master Mobius 120 50.7 30
Corsair AF120 Elite Fan Corsair AF120 Elite 50.6 30
be quiet! Silent Wings Pro 4 120mm fan be quiet! Silent Wings Pro 4 51.1 30

In this case, all the fans are quiet enough to not stand out from the general background noise of the room and case fans. In this test, the Seasonic MagFlow 1225 beats out the competition for first place. However, the field is relatively close.

Tested at a uniform 31 dB(A)

Image Fan name Temperature delta RPM
Seasonic MagFlow 120mm fan Seasonic MagFlow 1225 PWM 49.9 1170
Noctua NF-A12x25 120mm fan Noctua NF-A12x25 48.4 1430
Cooler Master Mobius 120 mm fan Cooler Master Mobius 120 49.3 1400
Corsair AF120 Elite Fan Corsair AF120 Elite 50.1 1225
be quiet! Silent Wings Pro 4 120mm fan be quiet! Silent Wings Pro 4 49.4 1470

Now all fans were sped up until they were just barely audible. With the Seasonic MagFlow, this was so little that no change in temperature was measured. Three fans have now overtaken the MagFlow, so first place in this test goes to the Noctua NF-A12x25. But still the field is close, so the practical difference between the fans is minimal.

Test at maximum power

Image Fan name Temperature delta dB(A)
Seasonic MagFlow 120mm fan Seasonic MagFlow 1225 PWM 47.3 42.4
Noctua NF-A12x25 120mm fan Noctua NF-A12x25 47.2 39.6
Cooler Master Mobius 120 mm fan Cooler Master Mobius 120 47.8 36.7
Corsair AF120 Elite Fan Corsair AF120 Elite 48 39.5
be quiet! Silent Wings Pro 4 120mm fan be quiet! Silent Wings Pro 4 46.7 46

The trend of the last tests continues: the be quiet! Silent Wings Pro 4 hit the first place of the performance staircase at the expense of the volume. They are followed, within the measurement tolerance, by the Noctua NF-A12x25 and the Seasonic MagFlow 1225 PWM. The latter are again noticeably louder. The quietest result is again achieved by the Cooler Master Mobius 120. Overall, the results are very close, with only 1.3 Kelvin between the Silent Wings Pro 4 and the Corsair AF120.

Conclusion

The Seasonic MagFlow 1225 PWM are the newcomers in the field of premium fans. They score with special features and a very high build quality. They also rank well in the field of premium fans in terms of performance, showing no particular weaknesses or strengths. Where, for example, the Noctua NF-A12x25 are extremely strong on the radiator and the Cooler Master Mobius 120 come out on top as a case fan, the Seasonic MagFlow are solid performers in all areas. Where there is a clear need to catch up, however, is in the area of volume. Here, the Seasonic lose out to all the competition in the test, unless the be quiet! Silent Wings Pro 4 flexes its muscles.

Seasonic MagFlow 1225 PWM Silver Avatar

Seasonic MagFlow 1225 PWM

Workmanship
Features
Cooling performance
Noise level

83/100

The Seasonic MagFlow 1225 PWM are quite strong all-around fans with particularly easy cabling and excellent build quality, but unfortunately they are a bit loud.

Simon Lüthje

I am co-founder of this blog and am very interested in everything that has to do with technology, but I also like to play games. I was born in Hamburg, but now I live in Bad Segeberg.

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Seasonic has long been one of the most popular manufacturers of high-quality power supplies. Away from this highly specialized field, this brand has only launched a few products, such as a small selection of cases. Now Seasonic is venturing into a new product field. The Seasonic MagFlow 1225 PWM brings 120mm fans to the market, … (Weiterlesen...)

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