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The Prisma AL-14/PWM is a solid all-around option, and it’ll do well as both an intake and exhaust. We think it’d work best as a static pressure intake fan, though, as there aren’t many 140 mm RGB fans on the market with a comparable static pressure rating. The 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 annoying acoustic profile. The implementation turned out well, and already the P12 A-RGB shows how much quieter it is compared to the older P12 model. And the list of improvements doesn’t end there.
ARCTIC P12 - User Manual ARCTIC P12 - User Manual
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). Thanks to an alloy/lubricant combination developed in Germany, friction within the bearing is reduced and greater efficiency is achieved. In this way, less heat develops, less bearing noise is generated and the service life of the fan is extended. 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.
This is a good study of the effect of rings. The blades are a bit shorter so there’s less airflow at the same noise level (despite higher static pressure), but it suppresses blade vibrations very effectively, improving the noise profile for fans using flexible blades. I have to admit that I hadn’t heard of the Cooler Master Mobius before the case fan review of the 120mm fans, and I was definitely surprised by them. The same goes for the MSI Silent Gale P12s, which at first glance seem similar in design to the Noctua NF-A12x25s, but perform better as case fans. Due to the lower maximum speed, they fall a bit short in the final test, but they offer excellent performance in a normal volume setting. At the lower performance end remain the Alseye Xtreme X12, which not only provide the lowest performance, but are also many times louder than the next two fans at the lower performance end. The be quiet! Shadow Wings 2 and the Fractal Design Aspect 12 do not offer high peak performance, but they remain quiet enough on uncontrolled full power that they do not attract negative attention. Observation over all results
P12 PWM PST A-RGB | Semi-Passive 120 mm Fan with - ARCTIC
Quiet yet powerful case fans: Cooler Master Mobius (bottom left), MSI Silent Gale P12 (bottom right), DeepCool FK120 (top left) and Arctic P12 (top right) The P12 PWM PST A-RGB 0dB has 12 digital A-RGB LEDs in the fan scar. These can be controlled independently of each other and are compatible with the common A-RGB standards of leading motherboard manufacturers. The fan can thus be fully illuminated directly via the A-RGB mainboard connector or via an external controller and synchronised with the illumination of other hardware.
Our Picks for Best RGB Case Fans
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. 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. So these aren’t cheap fans to run. But the expense might be worth it if you’re building a showpiece rig and need high-end RGB lighting to complete the build. Overall, the Corsair QL120 and QL140’s dual-sided RGB and relatively high LED count make them the best-looking RGB fans right now.
Arctic P12 Static Pressure 120mm PWM PST A-RGB 0dB (3 Pack) Arctic P12 Static Pressure 120mm PWM PST A-RGB 0dB (3 Pack)
And one addendum for the discerning reader who will scroll through the comments here and there and might ask the same question as one of the readers of this article in another language. Namely, why the BioniX P120, being more expensive, often achieves a lower airflow than the P12. We discussed a bit in the opening chapter that these fans don’t have the same rotors, but I didn’t want to pay any extra attention to that in the conclusion (these aren’t fans that are in any way competing or that you’ll be deciding between).
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.
P12 PWM | Pressure-optimised 120 mm PWM Fan | ARCTIC P12 PWM | Pressure-optimised 120 mm PWM Fan | ARCTIC
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.As for the comparison of the paper specifications of the P12 and P12 A-RGB, I really don’t see the technical reason why the static pressure of the P12 at the same speed should be higher by… what, 25%, when at a speed lower by 200 rpm it should be +19%? It makes sense to me the other way round. Of course, a higher static pressure is indirectly caused by the larger hub, if only because it leaves a smaller empty area between the blades. The smaller the fan format, the higher the static pressure per unit of airflow. With the P12 A-RGB, the hoop itself also increases the overall pressure (i.e. static pressure as well) to a certain extent, as I mentioned in the article. EK is well known as a manufacturer of water-cooling components, including radiators. So it’s no surprise that their EK-Vardar EVO 120ER D-RGB fans excel at static pressure. The 3.16 mm-H2O rating of the EVO 120ER makes it the perfect 120 mm RGB fan for radiators and filtered intakes. A surprisingly high performance has the DeepCool CF120, which achieved the best temperature results at the RPM, but due to the higher volume they are found a bit further down the list. The very loud and weak Alseye X12 attracted negative attention. Case fan at uniform 31 dB(A)
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