Arctic P12 MAX

Introduction

Arctic presented a successor to the P12 fan, or perhaps more likely a higher-end model of it, as the P12 Max is a bit more expensive. That’s because it has a significantly more sophisticated design that addresses the shortcomings of the P12. It discards RGB lighting and aesthetic content to focus purely and exclusively on giving us the highest performance. In particular, the P12 Max has stiffened blades to counteract the high vibration of Arctic’s 5-blade rotors, and also, it will be one of the most powerful 120mm fans due to its significantly increased speed. Offering PWM control for your dual ball bearing motor, they support up to 3300 RPM and zero RPM mode.

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The airflow is supposed to be 137.69 m³/h. The stated static pressure is also high – 4.35 mm H20. These parameters, of course, correspond to the maximum speed at 3300 rpm.

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Packaging & Contents

This packaging is attractive with easy to read fonts. All relevant information such as size, and colour are clearly displayed on the front as well as an attractive picture of the fan. The colours of the box are easy on the eyes and yet still inviting. The fancy box already shows a picture of the fan and the 6-year warranty on the front!

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On the back of the box, there are the specifications, a QR code to the online manual and a few drawings of what the fan is capable of and what to expect. The bar code is on the bottom of the box, nice and out of the way.

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The box is pretty tight, but you can just about pull the fan out of the box. In addition to the fan, the scope of delivery includes only a set of short black screws for mounting in the case.

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A Closer Look

We start from a robust rigid plastic chassis with square frames in which the corners and retaining ring are integrated, all in black. The size of course is 120mm × 120mm × 25mm. It weighs 184g. The 40 cm cable has the typical plastic coating. Terminates in a 4-pin PWM connector. A sticker with the manufacturer's logo in the center of the rotor. The fan offers a total of five particularly wide and curved blades. It has a ring, meaning that the five blades that make up the fan are attached around it with the intention of better directing the air flow in the axial direction.

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At the rear, clamping area consists of 4 small poles, and on one of them the cable is routed discreetly and almost invisibly until it exits around a corner. A sticker with the brand logo covering the rear of the rotor tells us that it works at 12V and 0.29A.

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The corners have integrated rubber to dampen vibrations.

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Compared to the P12, the P12 MAX also has different bearings. Instead of fluid bearings (FDB), “dual” ball bearings are used (i.e. with a set of balls in two rows). Following the P12 A-RGB pattern, Arctic also lines the rotors of the unlighted P12 Max fans with a circular hoop. This is the key modification that sets the new Arctic P12 MAX fan apart from the P12. The reason why such a feature (the circular hoop) is important with the shape of Arctic’s “P” fans is very simple. Both the P12 fan and the P120 models have only five blades, which there is nothing wrong with, but if they are to operate in a cross-section corresponding to the 120mm format, they need to be excessively long. Combined with the commonly used material (PBT) in this price range, the blade tips are too flexible, leading to quite high vibrations. This can also be seen with the BioniX P120 A-RGB fan. These vibrations are not only a source of secondary noise (e.g. by resonating the case on which they are mounted), but they also escalate the resonant frequencies of the sound. The fans are thus excessively noisy at lower (rumbly) frequencies. However, the use of hoops stiffens the rotor blade tips, which suppresses the unwanted vibrations, and with them the peaks at the “critical” sound frequencies drop. In simplistic terms, it could be noted that such a fan will be more acoustically pleasing.

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By implementing the hoop, Arctic not only achieves an acoustic improvement, but also that the air streams will not tear away from the blade tips (as on the same rotors, but without the hoop), thus achieving higher static pressure and airflow through obstacles. However, you won’t be able to find out how much of an improvement this might be from the official specs for the Arctic fan, as the P12 Max’s speed is significantly increased. That’s as high as 3300 rpm. Because of that as well, the stiffening hoop “had to come”, because at such a high speed the vibrations would already be really extremely intense. Hand in hand with the higher speed, the motor power is also higher, and the internal cross-section of the rotor (the cross-section away from the blade axis) has also increased. This means that the outer cross-section with the blades is slightly smaller. This is a small “minus” in terms of efficiency, or airflow to noise ratio, but is likely to be far outweighed by the other improvements and ultimately result in a more aerodynamically efficient fan compared to the older P12 and P120 models. The Arctic P12 MAX supports semi-passive operation. Despite the high maximum speed, the minimum speed (200 rpm) is very low with the motor shutting down below 5% PWM duty cycle.

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Performance

Depending on how you use it...but for the sake of a standard case fan, you simply screw in with the four screws provided making sure it faces in the direction you want the air to flow. Connect the fan to the motherboard. The following system was used to test the fans:
– Processor: Intel i9 9900K @ 5GHz
– Motherboard: ASRock Z390 Phantom Gaming X
– RAM: GOODRAM IRDM PRO 16GB DDR4 @ 3600MHz
– GPU: MSI GeForce RTX 2070 Super Gaming X Trio
– SSD: Crucial P5 500GB
– HDD: GOODRAM IRDM 1TB SSD
– CPU Cooler: Arctic Liquid Freezer II 360
– PSU: Seasonic Snow Silent 750W Platinum
– Case: be quiet! Silent Base 802 White
– Thermal compound: Noctua NT-H2
The testing of all fans is done with the i9 9900K CPU at maximum load with Intel Burn Test V2. All system fans and the tested fans are turned to their maximum speeds while the PC case has both side panels closed.
The 120mm fans has been tested using a 360mm CPU liquid cooler, the Arctic Liquid Freezer II 360 at max RPM.

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Overall the P12 MAX's performance is excellent. Not only did Arctic's fan outperform a much more expensive rival, but it also managed to come close to Noctua's NF-F12 industrialPPC-3000 PWM fan.

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On the noise side, the P12 MAX managed to get second from the bottom place, but keep in mind that with 3300RPM, these fans are by far the quickest.

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Final Thoughts

From a design standpoint, the Arctic P12 MAX's do not add any nice-looking accents to a Build. With their lack of RGB and plain Black color, they do remind us of Stock-no-name fans (but beware of their performance). Because the P12 MAX's are aimed at the Performance-only market. The installation went as smooth as it can go. With a lack of RGB or any other features, it was a straight forward process. Mount the fan/s, attach to a Fan Header, next. Even though the Arctic P12 MAX does not offer any RGB-Like features or any "nice-looking" design aspects, they do perform excellently. While Benchmarking, they managed to outperform almost everything we own under full load and managed to keep a very good position while letting the fans spin slower. However, this performance has a price, a high noise output although the Arctic P12 MAX supports semi-passive operation. Despite the high maximum speed, the minimum speed (200 rpm) is very low with the motor shutting down below 5% PWM duty cycle.

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In conclusion, the Arctic P12 MAX is a great fan that prioritizes performance over aesthetic. To top everything off, the P12 MAX from Arctic is affordable. While contending blow for blow with a few €30 fans and surpassing €20 options, the fact that the Arctic P12 MAX will set you back only €12.99 makes the purchase that much better.

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