Gigabyte Aorus 140 ARGB: Short/quiet and lighted (blades)

Gigabyte Aorus 140 ARGB in detail

Blade length is always the “topic”, but will be more common with 140mm fans than smaller variants. Some bet on long blades for preference of selected features, the other manufacturer on short ones. And such (short) and overall more robust blades are also used by the 140mm Aorus fan. From certain points of view this is quite a big advantage, but for which something had to be sacrificed. It’s a quid pro quo.

Aorus 140 ARGB is an axial fan in 140 mm format, which is characterized by, among other things, the presence of ARGB LEDs. The entire rotor is lighted (from the center) using a highly light-conductive material, so that the entire active area of the fan is visually prominent on both sides while running.

A characteristic feature of the blades is a larger protrusion roughly in the centre of the leading edges, behind which extends a set of grooves. This in an attempt to suppress the more turbulent air streams at the intake, resulting in increased airflow in the critical area while reducing noise. The blade structure is otherwise “milky” and the construction material is PBT.

Due to the relatively shorter length with a wider sprout from the hub and centre, the blades are quite stiff in combination with the thicker tips (up to 2.6 mm). They have less flexibility both compared to the longer and also narrower blades of 140 mm Light Wings fans and compared to geometrically similar Fractal Design Aspect 14 RGB PWM fans. Although their blades are made of a material with similar stiffness, they are significantly less thick.

The Aorus 140 ARGB fan thus has the prerequisites to achieve significantly lower vibrations, which are often the source of unpleasant resonant frequencies in sound, at comparable speeds. And they also increase the noise level of the system by transferring the vibrations to the case structure or the radiator/heatsink on which they are installed. We will reveal now, when analyzing the details, that we did not measure any vibrations on the Aorus 140 ARGB fan. There will certainly be some on the blades, but they are so faint that they do not spread further (beyond the frame) through the anti-vibration pads in the corners of the fan.

The general disadvantage of such blades, however, is that they guide the air at a wider angle and the streamlines come into more intense contact with the frame. The effect of this (higher friction and more intense microturbulence at the sharp edges) is an increase in the noise level of the flowing air. Compared to fans with more blades and with more aggressively curved edges (i.e., a design that shapes the airflow in a more straight, evasive manner), such a design has a poorer basic premise for achieving higher airflow at equal noise level. However, even with this geometry, a perfectly tight fan can beat an average or above average fan with a more “efficient” geometry. That alone, as you’ve seen many times in our tests (and most notably in our analysis of the Akasa Alucia SC12), isn’t enough. Traditionally, you can find out how and in which situations the Aorus 140 ARGB will perform from the test results.

Key things regarding the motor and bearings:. The motor uses up to 6 coils (instead of the usual 4), so it will run more smoothly. This both reduces vibration and (due to lower friction) reduces power draw. The bearings or their lubricant should also be above standard. The bearings as such are plain, but in graphene lubricant, which in turn should reduce friction and thus mechanical wear. Therefore, Gigabyte quotes a mean time between failures (MTBF) of up to 73,500 hours.

The fan cables are long (43–45 cm) with the lighting connection being well prepared to add another fan to the series. This means that there are two 3-pin ARGB connectors (male and female). The 4-pin PWM connector dedicated to the motor is but one.

* When reading performance values, a certain amount of tolerance must always be taken into account. For maximum speeds, ±10 % is usually quoted, minimum speeds can vary considerably more from piece to piece, sometimes manufacturers will overlap by as much as ±50 %. This must then also be adequately taken into account for air flow, static pressure and noise levels. If only one value is given in a table entry, this means that it always refers to the situation at maximum speed, which is achieved at 12 V or 100 % PWM intensity. The manufacturer does not disclose the lower limit of the performance specifications in its materials in that case. The price in the last column is always approximate.

• Contents
• Gigabyte Aorus 140 ARGB in detail
• Basis of the methodology, the wind tunnel
• Mounting and vibration measurement
• Initial warm-up and speed recording
• Base 6 equal noise levels…
• ... and sound color (frequency characteristic)
• Static pressure measurement…
• … and airflow
• Everything changes with obstacles
• How we measure power draw and motor power
• Measuring the intensity (and power draw) of lighting
• Results: Speed
• Results: Airlow w/o obstacles
• Results: Airflow through a nylon filter
• Results: Airflow through a plastic filter
• Results: Airflow through a hexagonal grille
• Results: Airflow through a thinner radiator
• Results: Airflow through a thicker radiator
• Results: Static pressure w/o obstacles
• Results: Static pressure through a nylon filter
• Results: Static pressure through a plastic filter
• Results: Static pressure through a hexagonal grille
• Results: Static pressure through a thinner radiator
• Results: Static pressure through a thicker radiator
• Results: Static pressure, efficiency by orientation
• Reality vs. specifications
• Results: Frequency response of sound w/o obstacles
• Results: Frequency response of sound with a dust filter
• Results: Frequency response of sound with a hexagonal grille
• Results: Frequency response of sound with a radiator
• Results: Vibration, in total (3D vector length)
• Results: Vibration, X-axis
• Results: Vibration, Y-axis
• Results: Vibration, Z-axis
• Results: Power draw (and motor power)
• Results: Cooling performance per watt, airflow
• Results: Cooling performance per watt, static pressure
• Airflow per euro
• Static pressure per euro
• Results: Lighting – LED luminance and power draw
• Results: LED to motor power draw ratio
• Evaluation