Is the Corsair Commander Pro/Lighting Node Pro Worth It?

[liamawebb]

So I am using a number of Corsair products for my new build. I am currently trying to decide whether it is worth my money to buy the Corsair Commander Pro and/or the Lighting Node Pro.

The Corsair components that I will be using are:
2 x 8GB Corsair Vengeance RGB RAM - http://www.corsair.com/en-gb/vengeance-rgb-16gb-2-x-8gb-ddr4-dram-3000mhz-c15-memory-kit-cmr16gx4m2c3000c15
1 x Corsair RM650i PSU - http://www.corsair.com/en-gb/rmi-series-rm650i-650-watt-80-plus-gold-certified-fully-modular-psu
1 x Corsair H110i GT CPU Water Cooler - http://www.corsair.com/en-gb/hydro-series-h110i-gt-280mm-extreme-performance-liquid-cpu-cooler
4 x Corsair HD140 Fans - http://www.corsair.com/en-gb/hd140-rgb-led-high-performance-140mm-pwm-fan
2 x Corsair HD120 Fans - http://www.corsair.com/en-gb/hd120-rgb-led-high-performance-120mm-pwm-fan-with-controller
1 x Corsair K70 Rapid Fire Keyboard - http://www.corsair.com/en-gb/k70-rgb-rapidfire-mechanical-gaming-keyboard-cherry-mx-speed-rgb-na
1 x Corsair M65 Pro Mouse - http://www.corsair.com/en-gb/m65-pro-rgb-fps-gaming-mouse-black
1 x Corsair MM800 RGB Mouse Mat:
I may get some LED strips in the future, but at the moment, I am not interested.

From my understanding, this entire set up, apart from the fans, is already compatible with Corsair Link. What I need to work out is whether the Commander Pro is worth an extra £60, when I could just use the fan controller to control the RGB fans. What added benefits does the Corsair Commander Pro offer to the HD fans that the controller can't provide? Also, how do the thermal sensors that come with the Commander Pro work and where can they be used? Would I also need to buy the Lighting Node Pro if I did decide to buy the Commander Pro?

Corsair Commander Pro - http://www.corsair.com/en-gb/corsair-commander-pro

Any help would be warmly welcomed.

Many Thanks,
Liam

 

[AnonymousAndy]

I can't answer how it works, but I can say for certain that's definitely not worth $64.

 

[Lucky_SLS]

The LL series is more rgb than the HD series and offers similar performance with slightly better acoustics.
And its to be noted that the LL series have 2 cables. 1 for fan control and the other for rgb.
If you use the mobo header, the fans will be controlled in bios. If you use a controller and plug it to a USB header, it's controllable via link.
But for the rgb, u definitely need the lightning node pro which goes to a USB header for control via link.

If you just have 2 fans, then the controller is not worth it. But if u have the radiator fans and case fans, a controller is probably better.

 

[liamawebb]

The LL series is more rgb than the HD series and offers similar performance with slightly better acoustics.
And its to be noted that the LL series have 2 cables. 1 for fan control and the other for rgb.
If you use the mobo header, the fans will be controlled in bios. If you use a controller and plug it to a USB header, it's controllable via link.
But for the rgb, u definitely need the lightning node pro which goes to a USB header for control via link.

If you just have 2 fans, then the controller is not worth it. But if u have the radiator fans and case fans, a controller is probably better.

I don't think I would be prepared to go from 74CFM down to 51.5CFM and 1.85mmH2O down to 1.52mmH2O, all to go from the 18-28.6dBA to 25dBA. That's over 30% loss of performance in flow and nearly 20% loss of pressure for what seems to be very little decrease in an already fairly quiet fan system and better LED set up. Especially if I still require one of the Commander/Lighting Node Pro to operate them.

 

[Lucky_SLS]

What you said would be true if the fans are operating at full speed. If you run them at maybe 700-800rpm, that difference reduces.
Users usually run their fans at 100% when they get everything new, but eventually we all scale down and ramp up only when needed.

 

[liamawebb]

What you said would be true if the fans are operating at full speed. If you run them at maybe 700-800rpm, that difference reduces.
Users usually run their fans at 100% when they get everything new, but eventually we all scale down and ramp up only when needed.

Will still be the same percentage difference though surely. Say if u cut the rpm by 50%, you cut performance by 50%, right? So you would still have that 30% and 20% performance reduction, and the only way to close that gap would surely be to run the LL fans at a higher rpm than the HD fans, increasing their noise ano therefore taking away the advantage of having them. Then I would just be technically be swapping out a fan with more potential, for a fan with preferred LEDs. I may be wrong but that's how it seems to me.

 

[Lucky_SLS]

true, thats y i said the difference reduces. its not the same, but it maybe abt 10 cfm...