Valkyrie has something for everyone with its new B12 series ARGB fans

Black, White, Standard, and reverse-blade – Valkyrie has something for everyone with its B12 fan series

Valkyrie has officially launched its new B12 series 120mm fans, offering a range of products with a little something for everyone. The eagle-eyed amongst you will recognise this fan from Valkyrie’s Surge SL125 CPU cooler, which we reviewed earlier this week. This is the same fan that Valkyrie has used in their new Surge heatsink, and its performance speaks for itself.

At launch, these new fans are available in four forms. These fans are black or white with either standard or reverse-blade configurations. All models feature ARGB lighting and can be daisy-chained to improve system cable management.

Reverse-blade fans? What’s that?

Reverse-blade fans have grown in popularity in recent years thanks to their ability to give systems a cleaner aesthetic. To put it simply, reverse-blade fans have their fan blades mounted in a reverse orientation, allowing airflow in the opposite direction of standard fans.

Why would you do this? The simple answer is that it creates more visually appealing systems. With reverse-blade fans, PC builders never have to see the ugly rear sides of fans again. PC builders can choose fans that will give their systems the best aesthetic.

Valkyrie B12 Pricing and Specifications

Valkyrie has told us that their B12 series fans will cost €18.90 each and that they will offer customers a 3-year warranty. These fans use a 9-blade design and have been made to deliver strong static pressure and airflow. The company has rated these fans as delivering up to 81.68 CFM of airflow and 4.0 mm H2O of static pressure.

Given the strong performance of these fans of Valkyrie’s Surge SL125 CPU cooler, we can confirm that their B12 fans are great options for heatsinks.

These fans have a rated lifespan of 50,000 hours and a maximum noise level of 30.5 dBA. Overall, these fans appear to be solid options for PC builders, whether for direct airflow or heatsink/radiator use.

Strange packaging…

One thing we noticed about Valkyrie’s B12 series is that the packaging for their standard and reverse-blade fans is identical. The only change is the addition of a blue sticker that notes the airflow direction of their fans. If you look at the top of this article, you will see a box that has no label. Without a label, how will I know what’s inside without opening the box?

In our eyes, this could be a potential nightmare for retailers or anyone warehousing these fans. What if a sticker falls off? What if the manufacturer puts the sticker on the wrong part of the box? If the wrong box is sent out, that’s a return that someone needs to pay for. More prominent labelling on these boxes would be nice. Retailers will thank you for it.

Daisy-chain and non-standard fan connectors

Note that these fans do not have a standard fan power/ARGB connector. These non-standard connectors are close to Valkyre’s fan frames, and can be connected to splitter cables that give users standard PWM and ARGB headers.

The cable attached to Valkyrie’s fans offers users easy daisy-chain options for ARGB lighting and fan PWM connections. This simplifies cable management. At the end of a fan chain, users can connect a fan PWM/ARGB splitter cable and connect these fans to their motherboard or fan hub. This minimises cable clutter, but isn’t as simple as some other fan daisy-chain systems.

Conclusion – These Valkyrie B12 fans are solid

For information on the performance of these fans, please look at our review of Valkyrie’s Surge SL125 CPU cooler. It’s the best-performing CPU cooler of its category that we have tested on our current test rig. You don’t get those kinds of results without having good fans.

The Valkyrie B12 series is worth considering if you want high-performing fans with ARGB lighting and reverse-blade options. With their black-and-white options, these fans will look great inside practically any PC.

The only complaint about Valkyrie’s B12 series is that there aren’t any matching 140mm versions of these fans. We would love to see Valkrie’s B-series range rounded off with some 140mm fan options. This would give options to users who want to use both 120mm and 140mm fans inside their systems. That said, the B12 series is solid.

You can join the discussion on Valkyrie’s new B12 series fans on the OC3D Forums.