PC Components

Thermaltake Riing Quad 12 RGB in review – a lot of RGB and a lot of performance?

RGB fans – the market is flooded, but some big brands increasingly stand out. Besides the popular fans from Corsair and NZXT, Thermaltake is also represented. Thermaltake even promises radiator fans with the Riing Quad – RGB fans often lack static pressure for this. We already had the Riing series in review – Thermaltake Riing Trio RGB in review – Does the form follow the function? We were not consistently convinced – the price was already set quite high back then. Whether the successor, the Riing Quad can convince us? We’ll tell you here in the test.

Specifications

Fan dimensions 120 x 120 x 25 mm
Connection Internal USB connector
Fan speed 500-1500 RPM
Max. static air pressure 1.4 mm H2O
Max. Air flow rate 40.9 CFM
Loudness 25 dB
Storage Hydraulic bearing
Lighting 54 LEDs (4 rings), proprietary controller and software required
Life expectancy 40,000 hours
Available colors black, white
Price € 97.97 *

Packaging and scope of delivery

The fan set comes in a colorful packaging. Admittedly, the visual highlight is not this – the overall picture seems a bit cluttered. Nevertheless, all important information is included and the fan is depicted realistically.

Opening the box, one finds the three fans, some cables, the RGB controller, a manual and screws. In addition to the controller, you get a Velcro strip to attach it to the case.

The fans in detail

The high quality of the fans convinces us directly. The body is made of black plastic, the illuminated area is completely in a milky white. Under this cover are the 54 LEDs – a luminous sight is expected.

The fan has nine rotor blades and is said to have a fairly high static pressure – ideal for mounting on radiators. Additionally, gray anti-vibration pads are mounted on the screw holes to minimize vibrations transmitted to the case.

The sleeved connection cable turns out to be very long at about 90 cm – it should be easy to mount the fans even in large cases. The single proprietary connector is conspicuous. Thus, the fans can only be connected to the included controller.

There are minor points of criticism from our side in the cabling. For such a premium product, we would wish that the cables should be uniformly colored – some colored cables stand out visually here.

The controller in detail

The fans are connected exclusively to the controller – so this is an important part of the set. This one is not particularly impressive visually at first – but it serves its purpose. Up to five fans can be connected, in addition, several controllers can be connected in series.

The connectors are located on the sides and are numbered consecutively. If you want a “sequence” of lighting, you can define the order here by plugging them in correctly. In addition, there is a connector for the power supply, which is unfortunately connected with Molex, one to connect to the USB header of the mainboard and one to connect the controller with other controllers.

To connect multiple controllers, you have to flip the switches on the back – so the controllers know where they are. This is binary coded, but it is also explained in detail in the manual how the controllers have to be configured in which scenario.

Software – TT RGB Plus and Neonmaker

Since the controller is completely software dependent, it is of course important that we take a closer look at these as well. Basically, the TT RGB Plus software is necessary for the controller – through it you can regulate the lighting and the speed.

After the manual selection of the product, you can configure them directly. Without further editing, there are directly some preset lighting modes – color gradients, pulsing, etc. – the usual ones available for most RGB products.

The interface, like the packaging, is very colorful. Nevertheless, you can find all the functions you need quite quickly. It is important to note that only a click on the “Done” button saves the configuration, so that it is retained after a reboot. The settings button can also be used to import NeonMaker profiles.

Let’s get to the Neonmaker – At the beginning the software is a bit confusing, but you will find your way around quite quickly. You can define your own colors via the set fans and turn them on at the bottom of the “Timeline” – so that they show the selected color to the selected eye blink. However, please buffer more often, the software crashed on us the one or other time.

This profile can then be imported again and then played.

Finally, we come to a point of criticism – the PWM curve cannot be adjusted. You only have the choice between a constant value, a “Silent” and a “Performance” curve. Thus, you cannot adjust it to your own setup.  Only a slider between “Silent” and “Performance” is available.

Lighting – Four rings as the ultimate lighting?

The lighting is one of the big pluses of the Riing Quad fans. This one is really impressive – the four rings are luminous, offer a special look and stand out directly.

The rainbow mode, used in the default, directly shows what the rings have to offer. Constant colors also look luminous. The color tones are very rich and convincing.  There are only small halos on the sides – but this effect is clearly intensified by the camera – in normal viewing, these are not particularly noticeable.

You can either change the modes via the aforementioned TT RGB Plus software or control a color change via Alexa and smartphone app – though to be honest, the utility here is very limited. If you want to change/see the lighting, you tend to sit in front of your PC – so why get Alexa or your phone out first?

Looking at everything in summary, the lighting is convincing – it should be, with fans that primarily stand out on the market due to your looks. The four rings, or the mass of LEDs is otherwise not common, in most cases there are 1-2 rings. However, it is a pity that the fans are not symmetrical and so the lighting is only present from the front.

Performance

The set is advertised as a radiator fan. We tested how it performs in practice in direct comparison to the Alpenföhn Wing Boost 3 ARGB. These also offer RGB – although not as pronounced – and are in similar RPM ranges and also come with radiator screws – so they are also designed for this purpose.

In short – the performance is good, but doesn’t completely blow us away either. The test setup consists of an AMD Ryzen 5 3600, which is cooled with an NZXT Kraken X73. To heat up the CPU properly, we use Prime95 with the “Smallest FFTs” preset, which is the ultimate “horror scenario” – it doesn’t get any hotter than that.

Fan 50% PWM 100% PWM
TT Riing Quad 73.9°C 71.0°C
Alpenföhn Wing Boost 3 ARGB 73.8°C 70.8°C

Although the Riing Quad spin minimally slower, the fans are at a very similar level. Even at high speeds, the Riing Quad are not extremely loud, but the airflow becomes audible above 60% PWM. Noise or the like is not audible, though. Still, it’s a shame that we can’t create our own PWM curves.

Conclusion

The conclusion is really hard for us this time. RGB fans have a surcharge, which is partly also very high – but Thermaltake drives it here already in borderline areas. At roughly 130 € (current: € 97.97 * ), the set should convince in every area. However, there are too many minor criticisms to completely score as a premium product – the software is not remotely comparable to competing products such as Corsair’s iCUE, the cables are not completely uniform in color, it remains puzzling why they still rely on Molex, and the fans are not symmetrical. In addition, the PWM curve cannot be adjusted, unfortunately.

Nevertheless, the lighting is convincing and the performance is quite acceptable. The luminosity is super, the optics are outstanding. The build quality is also super.

All – honestly very meticulous – points of criticism would be justifiable if the fans had a significantly lower price, but so it is difficult to make a clear recommendation. Those who have the necessary change and the looks are the primary reason for purchase will definitely be happy here. However, those who expect the absolutely perfect product at this price will probably be disappointed. From us, the Riing Quad receives the Silver Award!

Thermaltake Riing Quad Plus 12 RGB

Workmanship
Features and software
Cooling
Loudness
Value for money

83/100

The Riing Quad are probably the most beautiful RGB fans on the market. However, this is offset by a very high price and some minor flaws. All in all, however, a solid product!

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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RGB fans – the market is flooded, but some big brands increasingly stand out. Besides the popular fans from Corsair and NZXT, Thermaltake is also represented. Thermaltake even promises radiator fans with the Riing Quad – RGB fans often lack static pressure for this. We already had the Riing series in review – Thermaltake Riing … (Weiterlesen...)

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