Why are Corsair fans so expensive

[person31]

I mean that compared to cheap fans such as Arctic F12s, they really don't seem to be worth the price. For example, a pair of Corsair AF120s is £17.00 from PC World and they offer:
Speed: 1500 rpm
Max noise level: 25.2 dB
Max airflow: 52 CFM
Pin connection: 3

However, a pair of Arctic F12s are £7.50 from an Ebay store. They offer:
Speed: 1350 rpm
Max Noise: 22 dB
Max Airflow: 74 CFM
Pin Connection: 3

Overall, it looks like the Arctic F12 is a much better fan. Why is it so cheap then? By the way, I'm not hating on Corsair, I just used their fans as an example as they are the first fans that came up on Google.

 

[Karadjgne]

Wonder what would happen if Noctua or even Phanteks got in bed with asetek. Oof. Not a fan of CoolIT pumps, noisy things. That could put a dent in hydro sales, especially if pricing was equivalent.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I'd prefer to see them get in their own beds with a cooling option. I'm VERY surprised that neither of them have delved into the AIO market yet.

 

[Karadjgne]

Me too. An aio that comes with 2x nf-p12 or 120mp! At the same price as a h100i? Sign me up! As it is I had to settle for an X61 that was on clearance sale.

 

[jimmysmitty]

Eh, not everybody has the same experience with ANYTHING. They have some good cases but I try to avoid their fans or using their power supplies whenever possible. I don't have much experience with their peripherals, so I can't comment on those, but after many bad experiences with their other products I just tend to shy away from them altogether. Their memory products are top notch though.

I've found their coolers to be underperformers as well. I'd gladly choose a Cooler Master Nepton 240m over an H100i any day, and I'm not a big fan of a lot of Cooler Master's products either but they at least have decent liquid AIO coolers for the price. I also have a highly modded Storm Enforcer case that has shown itself to be worthy.

I have had better luck with Corsair than any other brand. Their PSUs last me forever (5+ years on a TX850W, 4 on my wifes VX550W and 2 so far on my AX860i).

Personally I wouldn't touch anything from Cooler Master. After having built in plenty of their cases and used plenty of their products they just feel cheap. I have built in even the cheapest Corsair case and it felt like a better quality product than CMs mid to high end cases.

That said, to each their own. I think I also like that Corsair is an American company and in the over saturated markets they exist in you don't see many. Mostly Korean or Taiwanese.

I can say I love my K95 and 500R. I think the 500Rs wider side panels are what do it for me. Makes cable management much easier and I am a stickler for cable management.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I mostly agree on the cases. I would have NEVER purchased this Storm Enforcer case if it wasn't for the fact that on of the local computer shops was going out of business and the guy who owns it offered it to me for forty bucks. I couldn't pass that up as I had a crappy Bitfenix case at the time. And when I say crappy, I mean, as in Comrade, not Shinobi. So it was definitely an upgrade.

I'd have never paid the 80 something bucks it goes for normally, nor would I normally have purchased a CM case as there are much better choices for the money. It has been ok but it's time for something else here pretty soon. I'll probably pass this along to my mom or to my sister like I did with my old Lian Li case, at some point. Maybe I'll just move it to the garage and build a desktop for out there rather than using the laptop. I've been meaning to build a server for my automotive applications and invoice databases anyhow. That might be a good use for it.

 

[Karadjgne]

Ah hah. I have the CM 690 II Adv, and gotta say, it's an excellent case, very easy to work in/with, easy care management, front control wires plenty long enough, the digital/legacy audio cables will actually touch the back of the case, so no worries there. Stock fans are extremely quiet. Filters aren't as easy as my r5, but hey, can't have everything.

Just so ya know, the AXi are Flextronics, tier1 psu, VX are Seasonic, tier2, so not even close to the same class as the VS/CX/CS that are the most popular sellers worldwide for corsair.

Corsair is American owned, but their production facilities are in Taiwan, and psus in general are all made in China. I guess perception drives reality.

 

[jimmysmitty]

It is interesting that you state things that I already know and have demonstrated in this thread. My point is that your rarely see an American owned computer tech company outside of the major hardware developers (Intel, AMD and nVidia). I know that most products are made in China, that is just how it is these days as the cost to produce the items in the US would be far too great thanks to the ever demanding pay people expect. Look at the American auto industry. They get paid very well, amazing benefits and hard as hell to get fired. Yet the unions go on strike all the time demanding more.

I also know the quality of the AXi and VX are higher, as was the TX back in the day. I would expect their top end to be of greater quality than their entry level market. That is why I paid for it. Much like a motherboard. Sure you can get a cheap Z97 board but it will typically have lower end components and be inferior in design.

The CM 690 II was ok but never my cup of tea. Never had as much fun building in it as I did with my 500R but again to each their own.

 

[GObonzo]

I mean that compared to cheap fans such as Arctic F12s, they really don't seem to be worth the price. For example, a pair of Corsair AF120s is £17.00 from PC World and they offer:
Overall, it looks like the Arctic F12 is a much better fan. Why is it so cheap then? By the way, I'm not hating on Corsair, I just used their fans as an example as they are the first fans that came up on Google.

replaced all the (smaller) Corsair fans in my 500R with some relatively cheap Phantek 140 & 120mm PWMs and now it is at least 1/2 as loud while moving more air. Also replaced my cooler's Thermaltake fans with the same and it also is cooler & quieter now.
would've hoped Corsair & Thermaltake, being big names in enthusiast hardware, would come stock with better.

M65 Vengeance mouse and so far Im impressed, but we will see.

Corsair's M65 Vengeance is a nicely designed mouse but lacking enough buttons for gaming. got used to it fairly quick but it died after only 1 month and Corsair replaced it with an M95, claiming the "M65 had known hardware issues". hell of an upgrade, the M95 has a nice amount of buttons but just keep it for gaming on my laptop.
Logitech G600 is the best i've found through 6-8 mice over the past 10 years. could never go back to less than maybe 6 thumb and 3 extra top buttons now.
also just received a Corsair Sabre RGB, and though it's a very nice mouse for browsing, it doesn't have near enough thumb or top buttons for me and gaming.

 

[faalin]

Im running one of their cases and coolers, love the first, meh to the second.
I just purchased a M65 Vengeance mouse to replace my doubleclicking deathadder and so far Im impressed, but we will see.

the double click on the mouse is actually the plastic piece that presses down on the micro switch has worn out. Mine did it for a while till i opened it up and added a small dab of super glue to it and filed it smooth. havent had an issue with the mouse since then.

As for corsair i do try to avoid it like the black death, although my last build i used their case and a mix of 120/140 AF fans. As for DBA's i could care less, coming from a build that had 24 Scythe ULTRA KAZE @ 46dba and 133cfm's, 16 were in a push pull on my radiators.

 

[tiny voices]

I hate Corsair fans and Corsair as a company.

I had 2 sp120s. Both had the bearings fail within 6 months so I called Corsair and they replaced them. Now the ones I have also both have failed bearings after 6 months and click loudly. I tried to get the replaced again, but Corsair wouldn;t do it. They would only refund me my money as I had already had an issue and they claimed I was using the fans incorrectly and causing the problems. I took the refund and went on my way. I still have the loud clicky fans too.

I don't really support a company that lies on its packaging (old CX PSUs claimed to have 'all Japanese caps' on the box) or a company that directly markets sub-par products as quality. (CX PSUs)

 

[jimmysmitty]

I mean that compared to cheap fans such as Arctic F12s, they really don't seem to be worth the price. For example, a pair of Corsair AF120s is £17.00 from PC World and they offer:
Overall, it looks like the Arctic F12 is a much better fan. Why is it so cheap then? By the way, I'm not hating on Corsair, I just used their fans as an example as they are the first fans that came up on Google.

replaced all the Corsair fans in my 500R with some relatively cheap Phantek 140 & 120mm PWMs and now it is at least 1/2 as loud while moving more air. Also replaced my cooler's Thermaltake fans with the same and it also is cooler & quieter now.
would've hoped Corsair & Thermaltake, being big names in enthusiast hardware, would come stock with better.

M65 Vengeance mouse and so far Im impressed, but we will see.

Corsair's M65 Vengeance is a nice mouse but lacking enough buttons for gaming. got used to it fairly quick but it died after only 1 month and Corsair replaced it with an M95, claiming the "M65 had known hardware issues". hell of an upgrade, the M95 has a nice amount of buttons but just keep it for gaming on my laptop.
Logitech G600 is the best i've found through 6-8 mice over the past 10 years. could never go back to less than maybe 6 thumb and 3 extra top buttons now.
also just received a Corsair Sabre RGB, and though it's a very nice mouse for browsing, it doesn't have near enough thumb or top buttons for me and gaming.

The M65 is geared towards FPS gaming which does not normally need as many buttons while the M95 is the MMO mouse. Mush like the K70 and K95, same thing. One is for FPS gaming and the other is geared towards MMO gaming with heavy macro use. I have the K90 and want to move to the K95 RGB or K70 RGB.

As for the G600, I liked it a lot especially for MMOs like GW2 but I like the G502 Proteus Core better for tracking as it just works better than the G600. I still have both and might throw the G600 on for use while playing GW2 again as it was super helpful rather than trying to reach for or mouse over 6-9 skills but it is hard to go back from the G502.

 

[GObonzo]

The M65 is geared towards FPS gaming which does not normally need as many buttons while the M95 is the MMO mouse. Mush like the K70 and K95, same thing. One is for FPS gaming and the other is geared towards MMO gaming with heavy macro use. I have the K90 and want to move to the K95 RGB or K70 RGB.
As for the G600, I liked it a lot especially for MMOs like GW2 but I like the G502 Proteus Core better for tracking as it just works better than the G600. I still have both and might throw the G600 on for use while playing GW2 again as it was super helpful rather than trying to reach for or mouse over 6-9 skills but it is hard to go back from the G502.

doesn't matter what i'm playing, i want more thumb buttons. have plenty of first person shooters, platformers, 3rd person shooters, and RPGs and they are all more smooth with everything right there. could never go without the horizontal wheel clicks again either when gaming. for some reason Corsair hasn't implemented them in any mouse of theirs i've tried.
i never have understood why they label these "MMO" gaming mice. almost every game i play has more than enough keybindings to utilize at least half of these thumb buttons efficiently, and most can use all easily. i think the term MMO could\does drive some gamers away that just think of it as "not their taste of game".

i looked at the Proteus Core when it was released, just seems too thin for me. i could probably live with just the 4 thumb buttons though. one thing about the G600 is the 3rd-click ring finger button; that is my dodge or melee button in every game applicable and mapped Ctrl key in Windows and i love it. unless something else comes along including that and some nice thumb buttons i will never go back from G600.
if i had a bigger keyboard tray i would more than likely have gotten one of those K series. my CM Quickfire fits perfect though with the G600.

maybe Corsair should give up cooling accessories and stick to peripherals.

 

[jimmysmitty]

Nah Corsair is fine in the cooling department. I have no issues with my H100i. Does a great job.

That said, they do a good job in the peripherals. Decent products. I do like my H1500 headphones but it looks like even they don't have high end 3.5mm headphones as most are going to USB (ewwww).

 

[alsmith]

It has to do with cost of goods manufactured and cost of raw materials. In this case the cost of materials needed for Corsair's fans is high, so the price of the product is going to be high. If the cost of materials were lower, the price would be lower.

Unlikely. Corsair will have higher overheads with a larger organisation so this adds to the price you pay. Things like more staff, bigger buildings etc cost.

 

[GObonzo]

Unlikely. Corsair will have higher overheads with a larger organisation so this adds to the price you pay. Things like more staff, bigger buildings etc cost.

the only reason that adding to the cost of products would make sense is if they were losing money on products somewhere along the line or if they just spent too much on labor and property.

 

[Karadjgne]

Of course corsair is loosing money somewhere, their advertising department is huge, they have more management than most other companies have employees, their freight costs must be staggering considering their products are sold everywhere just about. Corsair as an organization is massive. And somebody has to come up with the money to pay the bills. Namely the consumer.

 

[jimmysmitty]

Of course corsair is loosing money somewhere, their advertising department is huge, they have more management than most other companies have employees, their freight costs must be staggering considering their products are sold everywhere just about. Corsair as an organization is massive. And somebody has to come up with the money to pay the bills. Namely the consumer.

You just described every company ever. The consumer always pays the bills. How else is a company supposed to survive to provide support and new products?

And the info I can find points to Corsair having about 800 employees as of 2012, maybe more now, but that is not very large. My company has more employees.

 

[Karadjgne]

World wide? Doubt that it's 800. That's more like the figure for just the home office. Just in my wife's job, there close to 10,000 employees from management to billing, and thats just in the United States. Even as roboticized as Nissan is, there is over 1000 employees just in 1 facility, just to final assembly 2 cars and 1 truck line, and thats not including the thousands of others who actually manufacture the individual parts, pack them, ship them, paperwork everything etc.

 

[jimmysmitty]

http://edgar.secdatabase.com/1682/119312512209913/filing-main.htm

As of March 31, 2012, we had a total of approximately 800 employees (including 89 temporary employees) and four dedicated sales contractors, of which approximately 539 were in operations, 100 in marketing and sales, 98 in finance, information technology, human resources, corporate and facilities and 67 in product development. Our product development team includes employees working on product design, definition, compatibility testing and qualification. We typically engage temporary workers and a limited number of independent contractors

Per that filing with the SEC they have 800 total employees (approx.).

They are a privately owned company and while they are pretty big in the computer industry they are not that big since they outsource the building of a lot of their components.

 

[GObonzo]

any company spending more or taking more home than they can make back with reasonable prices means they aren't doing it right. good sign as to why the world and capitalism is so f*cked at this point.

back on Corsair peripherals for a sec, i do like this newer RGB model
http://www.corsair.com/en-us/landing/scimitar
no mention of the horizontal wheel clicks though, guessing they still aren't implementing it.