The new double-sided USB-C connector, originally replacing the older mini and micro USB connectors, has already dominated mobile phones and similar devices not only as a means for all kinds of peripherals, but also as a charger connector. Where you probably wouldn't expect it, however, are the fans. And we don't mean the USB desktop fan you put next to your laptop in the global warming summer heat, but the internal fans in a classic gaming desktop computer. PC fans have their own standard power connector that provides power, tells the computer what speed the fan is running at, and in the other direction allows speed control via pulse-width modulation. It makes absolutely no sense to connect the fan via USB, because then a chip would have to be integrated into it, which in turn converts the communication via USB into analog electrical signals (and it would still need a controller in the system). Admittedly, this would solve the (A)RGB lighting of the fan, if it had one, and the fan controller could then have other smart functions, such as an hour meter. Which probably nobody needs and it's not worth the higher price. However, InWin has now found a use for USB-C on its LN140 and LN120 series Lynx fans, but it apparently only uses the physical connector itself without actually communicating using a USB signal or power supply according to the USB Power Delivery specifications. And this despite the fact that the company boasts in the press release that these are the first fans with "double-sided USB-C connector connectivity". It should work in such a way that the fans are connected to the motherboard and also to the ARGB lighting control circuit and power supply with classically usual connectors (three-pin for LEDs, larger four-pin for fan connectors on the board). However, the other end of these cables does not end firmly in the fan, but in the USB-C connector (angled, so it does not stick out vertically from the fan), which makes it detachable. This alone can probably make it easier to build or maintain a computer in some cases, when you can, for example, leave the cabling in place and remove the fan during cleaning or replacement.
The InWin Lynx fans are available in 140mm (LN140/LN140P) and 120mm (LN120/LN120P) sizes. They are available with a black or white frame, while the fan blades feature ARGB lighting. InWin rates these fans at 2.88W, with an average airflow of 44.57 cubic feet per minute, and an average air pressure of 0.77 mmH2O, with a noise level of 29.7 dB(A).
Packaging & Contents
Compared with the packaging of most fan brands, which are three fans stacked together in a small box, InWin has spent a lot of money on the packaging of this fan, and it is actually packaged in a long strip, just like a gift box. I think it’s to show off the feature of three fans side by side! The product name "Lynx LN140/Lynx LN140P" is clearly marked on the fan box body.
The back packaging design mention the key information and features of the product.
The inner part has a top-open design, and the three fans underneath are visible on the transparent tissue paper inside. The slogan Go Cable Free! is also written on the paper to get rid of the shackles of cables.
The package contains three Lynx fans, three packages of short screws, one package of long screws, and two connecting cables. One of the cables is USB-C to USB-C and the other is 4pin + ARGB to USB-C. Fan control and lighting control cables: These cables support the lighting control of most motherboards, allowing you to easily adjust the lighting effects of the fans to achieve consistent lighting effects with the overall system.
The USB cable that comes with it is specially designed. Its definition is different from the general TYPE C line.
There is a warning sign here. Please do not connect this wire to devices other than LYNX fans. When connected, you can see InWin’s design ingenuity. When the cable head with the LOGO light is connected, the light will illuminate and the fan will operate normally.
A Closer Look
The black version has white on the fan blades. After all, it supports ARGB lighting effects. Part of the outer ring of the fan blades is connected. In fact, many fans with high air pressure and air volume use this turbine blade design to concentrate the air pressure. Reduce airflow separation and reduce frequency and noise. The 120mm version is special in that it is thicker than normal - 28mm instead of 25mm. This makes it possible to increase performance with the same cross-section of the frame (120 × 120 mm). The fan should have a speed range of 900 to 2200 RPM (plus or minus 10%) and a flow rate of 24.95 to 61.2 cubic feet per minute. Static pressure is indicated as 0.51 to 3.04 mm of water column. The 140 mm version already has a standard thickness of 25 mm, and according to the manufacturer, the speed range is 900 to 1800 revolutions per minute when controlled by PWM, again plus or minus 10% (elsewhere, however, the manufacturer has written that the motors of both versions use a microcontroller, which when controlled by a PWM signal achieve an accuracy of 1%). Flow is said to be 44.57-89.14 cubic feet per minute depending on speed, static pressure 0.77 to 3.07 mm of water column.
As for the physical and functional characteristics of the InWin Lynx fans themselves, they are 120m and 140mm fans offered in two series - LN120 and LN120P and LN140 and LN140P. Care versions mean the fan has a white frame instead of black, but the rotor is always bright and backlit with 5V addressable ARGB LEDs. This new fan design uses two main frame platforms: the first, which is fixed to the chassis in the corners, is used as a housing around the outside of the internal subframe as well as carrying the cables into the motor. The second is the subframe, which contains the fan blades fixed from the center to the sub-frame. The end result is that almost the whole fan spins around. There are pros and cons to this method, including the fan blades getting more air and having more of the sub-frame move can assist with shifting air. The downside is that there is more mass, so the total RPM of the fan (at equal torque) is likely to be lower.
The fan’s design is integrated into the frame, ensuring focused airflow, minimizing air leakage, and reducing noise. Additionally, a dedicated performance management IC chip within the motor precisely regulates the PWM signal within a 1% margin, delivering top-notch speed accuracy based on reference temperature. The modular design uses Type-C connectors that snap together, allowing fans to connect side by side to eliminate excess cables.
If not 3 are connected in parallel, but 2+1, both sets of fans will still use a single Type-C connection. The connector connected to the motherboard has the InWin Logo lighting effect.
The rotors have seven blades with a sickle-shaped geometry reminiscent, for example, of the Sterrox Noctuy NF-A12x25 (or the Nidec Gentle Typhoon before them). The fundamental difference is that there is a ring around the ends of the blades that directs the air flow and at the same time stabilizes the ends of the blades so that they do not shake and "expand" at higher speeds towards the fan frame. This should reduce vibration. The rotor should be made of PBT. The bearings are supposed to be smooth and have a long service life (the average time between failures is said to be more than 36,000 hours, three-year warranty).
Rubber pads are also designed on the front and back of the four sides to prevent resonance sounds. The airflow direction is marked on the fan frame.
The Lynx fan series uses Type-C connection, and this part has also obtained Taiwan's new patent: M656022. On the side of the fan frame, there is one male and one female Type-C, and the other side has the same interface design, which is mainly used to strengthen the connection and avoid detachment.
Of course, there is no directionality problem with the connection cable to the motherboard if Type-C is used, and it can be installed depending on the case.
If the fans are too far apart, they can still easily be daisy-chained using a Type-C extension cable. Additionally, the fan cable has a 90-degree connector that allows for neater cable management with the added benefit of USB-C's reversible connectors.
The four sides of the frame are designed to deliberately reveal the outer edges of the fan blades, which are mainly used to present a flying saucer-like lighting effect. The lighting effect part can be directly connected to the motherboard and adjusted and controlled by the software provided by the motherboard or the built-in software of Windows 11.
Test System & Methology
For testing with Noctua fans we used three fans at the front to bring in air and one fan at the back to extract it. We used it with the following equipment:
Case : Montech Air 903
Motherboard : MSI MPG B550 GAMING PLUS
CPU : AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
Graphics : MSI GeForce RTX 3060 VENTUS 2X OC
Liquid cooling : MSI Coreliquid E240
Power Supply : MSI MPG A1000G PCIE5
RAM : HyperX FURY DDR4 RGB 3600Mhz (16GBx2)
Storage : WD Black AN1500 2TB SSD NVMe AIC PCIe Gen 3 x 8
Our tests involved testing the fans in different games and demanding situations, stressing the equipment to see how well the fans performed.
Performance
The first thing we noticed is that they have managed to lower the temperature by almost two degrees compared to the pre-installed Montech HP140 ARGB PWM @ same cfm chassis fans, with our CPU easily reaching 35 degrees and barely reaching 40 degrees under normal use conditions. When we moved on to high-demand levels, with games like Warzone or Counter Strike 2, the temperature rose to over 70 degrees with peaks of 83 degrees in the first and barely exceeding 70 degrees in the second, always maintaining very good averages that mean we should not fear overheating. Of course, this is when we reach peaks in sound, something that on the other hand was to be expected.
So how loud are these fans? We decided to use our RisePro sound level meter and measure noise levels of a single fan at 100%, 50%, and 25% speeds. Here are the results. InWin certainly knows how to make quiet cooling systems. With more heat coming out of the CPU with the overclock applied, we saw the fans react, but not as much as we had assumed. While near the end of the run, we again pulled the meter out and saw only 44 dB on the screen.
Final Thoughts
There’s really not a lot to fuss about here, as InWin has once again absolutely nailed it. Such a design can indeed greatly improve the overall aesthetics of the system and simplify the installation process. Eliminating cumbersome wires and control boxes makes lighting settings more direct, which will undoubtedly make the wiring inside the case tidier and more aesthetically pleasing. You'll find a set of specially designed fan-to-fan cables. These cables allow you to easily connect all InWin Lynx fans using one set of connectors, ensuring seamless connections between all fans without any issues. In addition to the cable for connection to the board, the company also supplies an extension cable in the package, with which the fans can be chained together, even if they are not directly next to each other, without using another connector on the board (but of course this can also be solved with a splitter for ordinary fan cables). It probably goes without saying that you should not try to connect laptops or phones or other devices outside of the fans to the cables, as they are not intended for this and could be damaged. This design makes installation more convenient. You can install all the fans at once with a simple operation. You do not need to manually connect them one by one, which saves a lot of time and ensures the stability between modules. This kind of pre-assembly method demonstrates InWin's dedication in product design and improves the user's installation experience. But this is probably not the reason for using "USB-C" (or in general, a connector instead of a fixed cable connection). The main advantage of Lynx fans from InWin is that they can be connected in series using these connectors. The connectors have a frame on two sides - one of them is the so-called "male", from the other "female". And with these connectors, the fans can be connected directly to each other in positions where they are mounted next to each other. Just plug the cable from one into the board. This can be interesting for users who are concerned about "order" and neat "cable management" in the cabinet. However, less chaos in the cables inside the cabinet can also be quite practical, because despite the large space and various aids for routing cables in modern cabinets, it is often surprisingly difficult to organize everything in the cabinet (but this is also because the more the cables are hidden and ", the longer they have to be and thus they need more space, so cable management ends up facing problems it creates itself, but that's another topic). The fans are premium quality in every regard, and while they’re not “cheap” the price is overall pretty competitive when looking at the quality and prices we see from the other brands. What really sets these fans apart, however, is their aesthetic. The clean white plastics are really crisp and smart looking. A lot of RGB fans feature transparent blades and glossy finishes to really make more use of the RGB. However, InWin stuck with a more muted look that I think looks more professional. The light ring is nice and thick and despite the rest of the fan not lighting up, the RGB really pops. With three fans in a pack, you can easily fill a full front panel on most PC cases, or go for a more common two fans in the front and one in the back. Personally, I do prefer the 140mm fans, but at the end of the day, your needs and case capabilities will vary. Regardless of what you choose, low noise and good airflow are on offer from either size.
Will the idea catch on?
It's hard to say how much success this idea will have. It will be something that complicates the production of frames. One can imagine how this direct connection of fans with some kind of docking connectors, which are right in their sides, can be practical in today's PCs, since you very often have fans in threes - especially on AIO water cooler radiators. With these InWin fans, you would snap them in series, screw them in, and then just connect them to the side via one USB-C cable leading to the board (or to the illumination connector). Also with the fans behind the front panel of the case, even there it is popular today to have a row of three fans above. So this idea can work. It has one condition – the slots for the fans must be right next to each other, without a gap that would cause the connectors on the sides to not fit together. This will then depend on your specific cabinet or radiator and you will need to pay attention to this when purchasing. But it is also possible that other manufacturers will be inspired by this system and that direct connection of fans with connectors on the sides will be seen more often in the future.