ARCTIC P12 PWM PST 120 mm Fan

[VSG]

The ARCTIC P12 PWM is a fan that needs no introductions, yet has been a missing part of our fan reviews till today. We test the PST version, which offers daisy-chaining support in addition to a long RPM range of control, a zero RPM mode, long warranty, and is quite possibly one of the best value case fans too.

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[Icon Charlie]

Thank you for the review. I use the standard Artic F14 on all of my rigs as they are not only reliable but a decent price too.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

Just as an aside. May I suggest also adding the bearing type to the specification table?

Just so readers know what it is before getting to the main meat and potatoes of the review. I know you mention it on the very next page but it would still be helpful.

 

[VSG]

Just as an aside. May I suggest also adding the bearing type to the specification table?

Just so readers know what it is before getting to the main meat and potatoes of the review. I know you mention it on the very next page but it would still be helpful.

If others deem it useful too, I can certainly do that.

 

[Lore]

I have 5 of these P12 PWM as case fans, and an ARCTIC Cooling Freezer I35 as a CPU cooler. Very happy with the performance/price ratio on both the case fans and the cooler.

 

[ymdhis]

Bearing type would be indeed pretty important since it gives you a good expectations as to how long the fans will last (poor bearings will get a lot more noisy after just 1-2 years).

 

[68Olds]

I've had 5 of these in my case for a while. Three are on the 360 radiator & linked to the CPU fan header. The other two are linked & are running off a single motherboard fan header. Been very happy with their performance and noise levels. They've been a great value for the price. It was an upgrade from my old 3 wire case fans.

 

[Anoniem]

Great fans and can confirm that they are really linear, very handy. I've got 9 on my MO-RA3 360 and 9 of the P14 on my MO-RA3 420, no defects so far and they cool well. I first thought of going Noctua for both rads, then did some quick math and yikes! That would have set me back around €270 PER RAD. For that money you can buy two additional MO-RA3's

 

[Icon Charlie]

About types of bearings

From my experience, working on rigs when I had my computer service There are 3 main types of bearings used.

1. Sleave Bearing. This is just your standard bronze alloy bearing regulated to your cheaper models

2. Sleave Bearing, oil inpregnated. These types of bearings will last a lot longer than your standard sleeved. There are hybrids where added lubricants are in the bearing casing. Obviously more expensive but longer endurance time. I think they also use graphite infused bearings as well now.

3. Ball bearing, lubercated. Not common. Very expensive. Will last a very long time. Used in very important components for long term durability.

What I have from Artic are the #2 type of bearing. I've had them last for 10 years or so. But then again I clean out my rig every 6 months to keep components running cool and efficient.

Here is an article from the Be Quiet web site. Pretty much covers what I've commented on.

A Comprehensive Guide to Different Types of Fan Bearings

Fan bearings come in different quality levels and with different life spans. We shed some light on the details and why we are using which bearings for our fans.

www.bequiet.com

 

[Kraust]

Would be interesting to see how the Thermalright TL-C12Cs work in comparison to the P12s as they both exist in the same budget bulk fan space.

 

[wheresmycar]

thanks for the review!

Praising these fans never gets old. Over the years, I’ve acquired quite a few, but my last purchase was a 5-pack for around £27 or £28. That’s roughly £5.50 per pot. Incredible value for the performance they deliver.

• Can help those who prioritize noise by offering good low fan speed performance
• Extremely linear RPM response allows easy fan curve setup

This describes me best and Arctic fans are perfect for it.

I've got 10 of these or similar breezy propellers in my current dedicated gaming rig

- x3 P12s on the rad (exhaust)
- x3 P14s on the front (intake)
- x1 P14s on the rear (exhaust)
- x1 P14s at the base under the PSU shroud (intake)
- x2 F9s on the PSU shroud (GPU feeder)

....all configured with low fan curves, ensuring no compromises on the desired performance while prioritizing near-silent operation.

 

[Wasteland]

The variants with the ring around the fan blades have evidently cured the high-pitched sound-profile issue at lower RPM. These models are the MAX and the A-RGB, which are more expensive than the standard P12/P14, but still pretty hard to beat. A few links:

Arctic P12 PWM PST A-RGB: Hoop? Anti-rumble rescue - HWCooling.net

Arctic P12 PWM PST A-RGB in detailThe biggest shortcoming of Arctic’s original P-series fans is the rumbling sound profile. The manufacturer realized this and decided to do something about it. Sensibly, by implementing a hoop to eliminate the critical vibrations that are the source of the...

www.hwcooling.net

Arctic P14 Max: The best yet? Well, it depends... - Page 43 of 44 - HWCooling.net

EvaluationThe culmination of our trilogy of tests of Arctic’s 140mm fans is here. With the P14 Max, the designers have worked on improvements that change both the acoustic properties and performance of the fan. The main new feature, the hoop, allows for, among other things, a significant speed...

www.hwcooling.net

And just because it's a fantastic at-a-glance resource, ThermalLeft's spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...j_bmn1zj9w/edit?gid=1263383882#gid=1263383882

All in all, you can't go wrong with Arctic fans. Thanks for the review.

 

[tomfuegue]

Unbeatable price/quality ratio.

 

[Chrispy_]

Thanks for finally reviewing these.

As expected, they're nothing particularly special but they are quiet, better than average performers with a below-average price, which is why they're so popular! Simply having them on your charts is more important than the review of these fans themselves, because for many system builders, the P12 has long been the benchmark against which all other fans must justify themselves. Having them on the charts is far more useful to most people than costly fans from Noctua or BeQuiet. I prefer the non-PST variants as I rarely put more than four into a build and most half-decent motherboards have enough headers without the extra cable spaghetti of daisy-chaining fans together. It doesn't hurt that the non-PST 5-pack is often under £20, too which makes them a mad sub-£4 per fan....

I have a soft spot for a few high-end fans - I'm running Phanteks T-30 myself and have occasionally been asked to build with Noctua NF-A25x12 or Silent Wings Pros, but as nice as those fans are, they really don't offer a significant improvement over the £4 fan for most builds, and using them instead of the P12 5-pack removes a good £100+ from the budget that could go on a faster CPU, GPU, or nicer case (that might even come with some half-decent fans).

The variants with the ring around the fan blades have evidently cured the high-pitched sound-profile issue at lower RPM. These models are the MAX and the A-RGB, which are more expensive than the standard P12/P14, but still pretty hard to beat.

I buy the P12 Max 5-pack whenever it's in stock because they're even better than these 'benchmark' P12s.

The only thing I don't like about the P12 Max is a nit-pick about how their PWM values are extremely non-linear, and the useful RPM range being all compressed into the 10-30% PWM values. Sure, it's very capable at 3000rpm, but I'm interested in the 800-1600rpm range and those P12 Max fans hit 1600rpm at just 30% PWM. At £6 for an amazing fan, it's barely a real complaint, but it's a problem that the regular P12s don't suffer from!

 

[damric]

I probably own about 50 of these fans in some variant. Cheap, and good at everything.

 

[Miiksuli]

Thank you! I was waiting this. Most people don't need very expensive best performance fans. I have saved alot money with these.

 

[NRANM]

Wait, did Arctic quietly (no pun intended) add a zero RPM mode to more recent batches of the P12? I could have sworn that the P12 didn't have that at release. The P12 Max did, but not the regular P12 (PST or non-PST).
I checked Arctic's website, and the zero RPM mode is indeed listed among P12's features. I have visited that page many times and have not noticed this? Am I crazy?

 

[TechBuyingHavoc]

I love these fans (cheap, reliable, good performance) but use the P14 version of the fan. 140mm fans are just so much quieter for the same airflow because they can operate at a lower RPM or the other way to think about it is that they offer a lot more airflow for the same RPM (and acoustic noise). You also need fewer fans for the same cooling.

 

[Miiksuli]

I love these fans (cheap, reliable, good performance) but use the P14 version of the fan. 140mm fans are just so much quieter for the same airflow because they can operate at a lower RPM or the other way to think about it is that they offer a lot more airflow for the same RPM (and acoustic noise). You also need fewer fans for the same cooling.

Now @VSG had to test P14 next They are also good. I have eight P12 and two P14 on my rig.

 

[VSG]

Now @VSG had to test P14 next They are also good. I have eight P12 and two P14 on my rig.

Not happening, 120 mm fans already take so long to test.

 

[Miiksuli]

@VSG In the future, maybe?

 

[VSG]

@VSG In the future, maybe?

Never say never, just don't hold your breath for this.

 

[Anoniem]

Not happening, 120 mm fans already take so long to test.

You owe me, I have nine of the bloody things and you reviewed the 120mm's positively. Therefore you need to review and validate the 140mm's as well

 

[Chrispy_]

You owe me, I have nine of the bloody things and you reviewed the 120mm's positively. Therefore you need to review and validate the 140mm's as well

The P14s are the same, but relatively better - and by that I mean that they're exactly what you'd expect but the landscape for 140mm fans simply has fewer decent 140mm offerings.

Other sites have validated the P14 and there are zero surprises - as long as you understand the strengths and weaknesses of larger fans in general (gross oversimplification, but "more airflow at any given rpm/noise level, but worse static pressure so not as good at filtered intakes or restrictive heatsinks/radiators" covers the basics).

Wait, did Arctic quietly (no pun intended) add a zero RPM mode to more recent batches of the P12? I could have sworn that the P12 didn't have that at release. The P12 Max did, but not the regular P12 (PST or non-PST).
I checked Arctic's website, and the zero RPM mode is indeed listed among P12's features. I have visited that page many times and have not noticed this? Am I crazy?

They probably updated their PWM chip after the P12 Max was manufactured. The IC is tiny and cheap and sourcing the old ones if the IC manufacturer updated their IC to include zero-RPM would be more hassle than it's worth - and why skip on the free upgrade? These ICs for PWM motors are a couple hundred bucks for reels of 5000, so they're fractions of a cent.

 

[Wasteland]

The P14s are the same, but relatively better - and by that I mean that they're exactly what you'd expect but the landscape for 140mm fans simply has fewer decent 140mm offerings.

Other sites have validated the P14 and there are zero surprises - as long as you understand the strengths and weaknesses of larger fans in general (gross oversimplification, but "more airflow at any given rpm/noise level, but worse static pressure so not as good at filtered intakes or restrictive heatsinks/radiators" covers the basics).

Yeah, there are no surprises with the P14. It's a great performer; in fact up until recently it was pretty much the no-brainer pick at 140mm for any budget--because "high-end" development for fans was concentrated in the 120mm space. Even Noctua's 140mm offerings were what I'd characterize as borderline embarrassing up until this past Summer. (Now, of course, Noctua's 140mm flagship offers flagship performance to go along with its ludicrous ~$40 MSRP, still not remotely worth buying, but at least it's no longer worse by every measurable standard than fans at 1/5th its price.)

The only caveat with the P14 is that it's slightly thicker than standard, 27 mm instead of 25. This won't matter for most use cases, but there are exceptions.