Lian Li UNI Fans – Proof that things are Better Together

What more do you want from a fan than exceptional performance and whisper-quiet operation? How about the ability to link together in one unit for even greater performance?

That’s right Lian Li is continuing to innovate. This time with a new version of their unique fan design the UNI Fan SL V2. These fans still utilise the interlocking mechanism that reminds me of The Transformers Combiners or Power Rangers Zords that would combine to create something greater.

By Our Powers Combined!

Ok, I’ll stop with the 90s kids’ TV show references now… or will I? But in all seriousness, the most eye-catching feature of the UNI Fan system is its ability to link together. With this system, you can link up to four fans together into a cluster. You can then control all of these fans with just a single cable, and say goodbye to those rats’ nests of RGB and power cables that other fans use.

But it doesn’t stop there, Lian Li has added the ability to daisy chain to the V2 UNI Fans. With this ability, you can link two sets of fans made up of up to three fans together through a single extra cable. That’s right control up to six fans with just two cables!

Lian Li UNI Fans daisy chained — Lian Li UNI Fans Daisy Chained

I Wish I Were Big!

See, it was an 80s kids’ film this time… anyway, Lian Li, like Zoltar, granted this wish for these fans and made them bigger. They did this by increasing the thickness of the frame from the standard 25mm most fans use to 28mm. This may not sound like much, but that extra 3mm has led to an uplift in performance of 10%.

	SL120	SL120 V2
Air Pressure (Max)	2.54mmH2O	2.59mmH2O
Airflow (Max)	58.54CFM	64.5CFM
Noise (Max)	31dB(A)	29.2dB(A)

As you can see, that’s an impressive boost in performance for such a small change. But it’s not just the fan frame that has been improved. Lian Li has managed to eke out an extra 100RPM out of the fan itself, allowing the V2 to have a range of 250~2000RPM.

Sticking It in Reverse

I wanted to go with something else for the title, but I don’t think getting a bit crass would go over too well. Anyway, Lian Li has expanded the fantastic SL V2 line of fans with a superb reverse blade design. These clever beauties maintain the core features of their standard counterparts, namely the awesome build quality, beautiful aesthetics, and excellent performance, only the fan blades have done a 180.

By reversing the fan blades, the SL V2 draws air from the cage side of the fan and exhausts it out the open side. This means they are a perfect choice for intakes, as they can feed plenty of cool air into your gaming PC, without compromising on the aesthetics. With a combination of reverse blade V2 fans for air intake, and standard V2 fans for exhaust, you can create a unique RGB lighting display in your gaming PC.

Reversing the blades has led to a slight change in performance compared to a standard layout. The airflow produced has increased slightly from 64.5CFm to 65.4CFM. Meanwhile, static air pressure has also been altered, reducing from 2.59mmH2O for a standard UNI V2 to 2.19mmH2O for the reverse blade fans. Additionally, the acoustic noise has also increased with this design, rising to 32dB(A), from the standards 29.2dB(A).

Assuming Direct Control

Who doesn’t love Mass Effect 2? But yes, you can assume direct control of all your UNI Fans. Once you’ve decided on your fan layout and cleanly made those couple of cable runs to the Fan Controller. Then it’s time to boot up Lian Li’s intelligent L-Connect 3 software.

This software foremost tracks the important information about your system, such as CPU and GPU temperatures, memory utilisation, and even how much space you have left on your storage drives. It can then display this data all in simple-to-read infographics on a single page. Secondly, L-Connect 3 lets you control every fan that is connected to it both individually and as a cluster. You can adjust how these fans will react to changes in temperature in your system. There are several modes you can set to including quiet, balanced, and even zero RPM for when your system is idle.

Three Lian Li UNI fans connected — Three Lian Li UNI Fans in a cluster

Lastly and we all know most importantly; this software can control the RGB of these fans. You’ll again be able to control individual and clusters of fans just like with their fan speeds. You’ll be able to assign colours and effects to individual fans or a whole cluster. But new to L-Connect 3 is the ability to merge every fans RGB together for one unified theme. Speaking of effects there are three new options to choose from Tunnel, Grove, and Render.