ARCTIC P12 PWM - PC Fan, 120mm Fan, PC Case Fan with PWM, Pressure-optimised, quiet motor, Computer, Fan Speed: 200-1800 rpm (0 rpm <5%) - Black

Product Information

Starting out, it’s still worth noting that the Arctic P12 compares with the previously tested BioniX P120 A-RGB, although it has seemingly the same rotor – it doesn’t. And there are more than enough differences, including a shorter tunnel (P12) with less rotor clearance from an obstacle, but let’s start the analysis as usual from the top. Stand out point: If I had to narrow it down to one thing, I would say the fact they gave us a generous amount of cable and the connectors on it will allow you to Daisy Chain. The Rest of this review focuses only on the P12 PWM PST fan, but you can expect the exact same results from the P12 PWM (as the only difference is the Daisy Chain). For being only a 6-euro fan, the precision of production is extremely high. It’s only at the level of really fine detail that you’ll find that the P12 has slightly looser manufacturing tolerances than Arctic fans with a similar rotor. There will be a tiny unevenness here and there on the P12, but it will have virtually no impact on the performance. And at this price range, it’s also a bit unfair to point it out, as similarly priced fans often fare considerably worse. PDF 429.9KB ACFAN00171A - P12 PWM (White) - RoHS, REACH, PAHs declaration of Compliance - 2022-10-14

ARCTIC P12-120 mm Case Fan, Pressure-optimised, quiet motor ARCTIC P12-120 mm Case Fan, Pressure-optimised, quiet motor

Within all testing of all the fans, there was only ever 1°C difference between them. So, the fan is no better or worse at the specific tasks than any other fans we tested. The design of the frame of the P12 is very simple and differs from the others only by the shaped protrusions in the corners where you would expect anti-vibration pads. Arctic doesn’t supply these with this fan, although they would be useful. But again, considering the price, this is something we can’t fault this fan for. In short, a necessary compromise. After letting Heavyload grill the CPU, we came to the following results while the Fans were spinning at 100% PWM. By doing so, we can use the CPU Temperature as an accurate measurement as the CPU temp now only relies on the Air that the Case Fans are pushing into the Case. P12 / F12 PWM PST CO => Has a PWM Connection + Daisy Chain Connection + Build for Constant OperationAnd in fact, our dB-meter and the Audio Recording of our Benchmarking both confirmed that there is absolutely no difference between having Anti-Vibration-Pads and not. (Or we unable to, no matter how loud we played the audio recordings) During the development of the P12 PWM PST, special emphasis was placed on a focused airstream and thus a high static pressure. The fan guarantees extremely efficient cooling, even with increased air resistance. Therefore, the P12 PWM PST is particularly suitable for use on heatsinks and radiators. A 10 °C lower motor temperature roughly doubles the life span of a fan. The new ARCTIC motor has a four times longer service life through its low coil temperature. Consequently, we have extended the warranty to 10 years. With 62°C on the CPU and 43.5 dbA, the P12 even managed to outrank the Noctua NF-F12 in both metrics, even though the Noctua's are almost double the price. Additionally, they did manage to keep the noise level pretty low, and even be "un-noticeable" in the lower 50%s of their PWM Speed. While Benchmarking, they managed to outperform everything we own under full load and managed to keep a very good position while letting the Fans spin slower.

ARCTIC P12 PWM - User Manual

Now I know, 600 rpm, okay, and as a sign that I appreciate that we have such demanding readers, I promise you that sooner or later we will create another mode, which will be twice quieter than the quietest mode that we have now. In addition, we will select fans that will have the highest airflow in the 31 dBA mode and there will be room for further noise reduction. Some fans cannot be slowed down even to 31 dBA mode and of the remaining ones, half of them have a speed of 600 rpm or lower. The NF-A12x25 PWM here allows setting some of the highest speeds mainly because it is PWM controlled, and now I’m not afraid to use the word extremely quiet running of the motor and bearings. This is also visible in the spectrograph, where in the frequency band of these components the noise is extremely low. Noctua deserves all the respect in the world here for going into such details as smoother/quieter PWM waveforms with a slanted left-hand side of the pulses. And here’s the P-Fan FAQ, in case you need more information) https://www.arctic.ac/uk_en/p-fan-faq/ So overall, on the performance side, the Arctic P12's are an excellent choice for anybody that does not want any unnecessary RGB features in their build. Conclusion: The P12 PWM PST is a good, solid built fan. With only five blades I am confident that it will run quieter than those with seven or more blades. Of course, this will depend on the speeds. The fan is perfect for the "no frills" people. I know you can't believe it, but there are some out there that just have not embraced RGB and ARGB and that is OK! However, if you wanted the fan to have a little extra pizzaz, you could always use the Akasa Digital 120mm frame with RGB LED lighting to get the bling. I was not disappointedin it, and I don't think you will be. After Unboxing the Fans, we immediately noticed that there were no "Anti-Vibration" Pads to be found.Unfortunately, I cannot agree with this statement even now. The extra details that Noctua has often stand out more with relatively higher speeds. Whether it’s Flow Acceleration Channels, Stepped Inlet Design, a significant narrowing of the gap between the blade tips and the frame or Inner Surface Microstructures. These elements counteract the shortcomings that become stronger with increasing pressure. The fact that the NF-A12x25 gives excellent results at low speeds is largely due to the fact that the operation of the motor and blades does not create any noise, so at this level there are no such pronounced limitations as with other fans, and the NF-A12x25 fits into the same noise level at higher speeds. One of the differences from the BioniX P120 A-RGB that is also good to notice when judging the results is the smaller offset of the rotor from the frame. The P12 has a half centimeter narrower tunnel, so the rotor is closer to the obstacle, which changes the airflow velocity in addition to the noise. So there is actually a similar effect that the Noctua NA-IS1 frame is supposed to provide.

Arctic P12 Static Pressure 120mm PWM PST Fans Black (5 Pack) Arctic P12 Static Pressure 120mm PWM PST Fans Black (5 Pack)

At a first glance, the Arctic P12 Lineup may be overwhelming, but we will try to make it as clear as possible. Arctic's Lineup of 120mm Case Fans is grouped into 2 big Product Lines, the P12 Series & the F12 Series. There are a lot of droning or downright rumbling fans out there, but none have been as popularized by this sound profile as the Arctic P12. Probably also because this acoustic deficiency is really pronounced here and has pushed the manufacturer to make design changes in newer models that are aimed at suppressing critical tonal peaks. But even so, the base model P12 PWM PST is a remarkable fan and is unbeatable in its price range. Then it’s very strange. We use spectrograms instead of sound recordings for sound analysis precisely because we do not want a dispute to arise at the level of subjective perception of individual frequencies. Everyone sees their intensity in spectrograms in the same way and the results of NF-A12x25 PWM clearly show that there is practically no noise that can be perceived by a person when using PWM control. Or if you can hear some sound in the frequency band we are talking about, you should also hear it with Silent Wings 3.

Thanks to the 4-pin connector, the RPM can be regulated in a broad spectrum via PWM. In this way, noise is kept at a minimum while maximum cooling performance is guaranteed when needed. The P12 PWM PST is able to switch into silent passive mode when PWM signal is below 5 % due to its new motor. This allows working at your PC in complete silence without any unwanted noise. Additionally, the 120 mm versions of the new P-fans can be easily mounted to existing Freezer 32 and Freezer 33 models. Even though the Arctic P12 Line-up does not offer any RGB-Like features or any "nice-looking" design aspects, they do perform excellently. Once we turned down the PWM Speed to 50%, the P12 placed themselves just behind the Noctua NF-F12 's and Inter-Tech RS-14 (Yes a 140mm set) As we used the P12 PWM in their "PST" Version, we were able to make use of their "Power Sharing Technology". This PST Plug basically adds an additional 3-Pin Output to the cable of Each Fan. The signal quality of the motherboard/hub should not make a difference in noise, it is determined by the NE-FD1 IC inside the fan. Noctua often has complaints about the PWM signal quality of third party devices and states that it can be misinterpreted at lower speeds. But this is not the case with Noctua fans and it should not affect the noise level anyway, as long as the fan is running stable at the given speed. The misinterpretation of PWM that Noctua mentions is that the fan operation may not correspond to the set PWM duty cycle ( we have discussed this in more detail in this article, where we also discuss the key features of the new Noctua NA-FH1 hub).