Overview of manufacturer specifications
Longer life in exchange for more noise? These are also some of the agenda items we’ll cover in our comparison of the Arctic P14 CO fan with the fluid bearing variant. These are actually the main points. In any case, the ball bearings in the more expensive variant of these fans also have specific features that can be easily observed and distinguished even in normal, “home” use.
Brand and model of fan | Paper specicifations * | Price [EUR] | ||||||||
Format (and thickness) in mm | Connecting | Speed [rpm] | Airflow [m3/h] | Static pressure [mm H2O] | Noise level [dBA] | Bearings | MTBF [h] | |||
Motor | RGB LED | |||||||||
Arctic P14 PWM PST CO | 140 (27) | 4-pin (PWM) | N/A | 200–1700 | 123.76 | 2.40 | 10.6 | ball | N/A | 11 |
Arctic P14 PWM PST | 140 (27) | 4-pin (PWM) | N/A | 200–1700 | 123.76 | 2.40 | 10.6 | fluid | N/A | 9 |
Endorfy Stratus 140 PWM | 140 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | N/A | 200–1200 | N/A | N/A | N/A | fluid | 80 000 | 8 |
PCCooler CPS F5 R120 BK | 120 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | N/A | 500–2200 | 147.36 | 3.20 | 32.0 | fluid | 60 000 | 17 |
Thermaltake Toughfan 14 Pro | 140 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | N/A | 500–2000 | 203.20 | 3.57 | 31.6 | hydraulic | 40 000 | 23 |
Fractal Design Venturi HP-14 PWM | 140 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | N/A | 1500 | 132.70 | 1.94 | 30.1 | fluid | 150 000 | 22 |
Seasonic MagFlow ARGB | 120 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | 3-pin (5 V) | 2000 | 84.05 | 2.28 | 30.2 | fluid | 100 000 | 34 |
Noctua NF-A14 PWM | 140 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | N/A | 1500 | 140.20 | 2.08 | 24.6 | SSO2 | 150 000 | 26 |
BeQuiet! Pure Wings 3 (BL108) | 120 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | N/A | 1200 | 97.50 | 0.96 | 21.9 | rifle | 80 000 | 15 |
Endorfy Stratus 120 PWM | 120 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | N/A | 200–1400 | N/A | N/A | N/A | fluid | 80 000 | 6 |
Phanteks PH-F120T30 | 120 (30) | 4-pin (PWM) | N/A | 0–3000 | 171.40 | 7.11 | 39.7 | „dual vapo“ | 150 000 | 30 |
BeQuiet! Light Wings White (BL101) | 120 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | 3-pin (5 V) | 2500 | 88.86 | 2.60 | 31.0 | rifle | 60 000 | 23 ** |
Scythe Kaze Flex II 120 | 120 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | N/A | 300–2000 | 28.71–153.39 | 0.08–2.67 | 4.0–36.2 | fluid | 120 000 | 16 |
Valkyrie X12 | 120 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | 3-pin (5 V) | 800–2150 | 135.92 | 3.14 | 29.0 | fluid | 50 000 | 28 |
Fractal Design Silent R3 140 mm | 140 (25) | 3-pin (DC) | N/A | 1000 | 95.31 | 0.87 | 21.6 | rifle | 40 000 | 12 |
Arctic P12 PWM PST A-RGB | 140 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | 3-pin (5 V) | 200–2000 | 82.91 | 1.85 | 10.6 | fluid | N/A | 14 |
Scythe Kaze Flex II 120 Slim | 120 (15) | 4-pin (PWM) | N/A | 300–1800 | 13.86–81.55 | 0.05–1.36 | 2.6–27.8 | fluid | 120 000 | 17 |
Seasonic MagFlow 1225 PWM | 120 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | N/A | 600–2000 | 107.60 | 2.61 | 9.9–33.8 | fluid | 100 000 | 37 |
Arctic P12 PWM PST | 120 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | N/A | 200–1800 | 95.65 | 2.20 | 10.6 | fluid | N/A | 6 |
Cooler Master Mobius 120 OC | 120 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | N/A | 0–3200 | 149.68 | 4.75 | 39.3 | ball | 200 000 | 32 |
Corsair AF120 RGB Elite | 120 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | 4-pin (5 V) iCUE | 550–2100 | 23.45–111.40 | 0.17–2.68 | 5.0–34.1 | fluid | N/A | 29 |
Enermax SquA RGB White | 120 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | 3-pin (5 V) | 300–1500 | 41,67–115,99 | 0.17–1.90 | 12.0–23.0 | N/A | 100 000 | 20 |
Endorfy Fluctus 140 PWM | 140 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | N/A | 250–1800 | N/A | N/A | N/A | fluid | 100 000 | 13 |
Endorfy Fluctus 140 PWM ARGB | 140 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | 3-pin (5 V) | 250–1800 | N/A | N/A | N/A | fluid | 100 000 | 17 |
Arctic P12 Slim PWM PST | 120 (15) | 4-pin (PWM) | N/A | 300–2100 | 71.53 | 1.45 | 10.6 | fluid | N/A | 7 |
BeQuiet! Silent Wings Pro 4 (BL099) | 140 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | N/A | 2400 | 165.50 | 3.64 | 36.8 | fluid | 300 000 | 33 |
Fractal Design Prisma AL-14 PWM | 140 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | 3-pin (5 V) | 500–1700 | 176.44 | 2.38 | 34.1 | sleeve | 100 000 | 21 |
Gigabyte Aorus 140 ARGB | 140 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | 3-pin (5 V) | 800–1700 | 51.48–103.03 | 0.59–2.18 | 8.9–35.8 | sleeve | 73 500 | 28 |
BeQuiet! Light Wings (BL075) | 140 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | 3-pin (5 V) | 2200 | 121.82 | 2.30 | 31.0 | rifle | 60 000 | 29 |
Fractal Design Aspect 14 RGB PWM | 140 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | 3-pin (5 V) | 500–1700 | 33.98–132.52 | 0.09–1.93 | 10.0–35.5 | rifle | 90 000 | 18 |
DeepCool FK120 | 120 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | N/A | 500–1850 | 117.21 | 2.19 | 28.0 | fluid | N/A | 11 |
Asus TUF Gaming TF120 | 120 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | 3-pin (5 V) | 1900 | 129.12 | 2.50 | 29.0 | fluid | 250 000 | 14 |
BeQuiet! Light Wings (BL072) | 120 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | 3-pin (5 V) | 1700 | 70.53 | 1.66 | 20.6 | rifle | 60 000 | 26 |
DeepCool FC120 | 120 (25) | 6-pin (PWM) | 6-pin (5 V) | 500–1800 | 105.19 | 1.83 | 28.0 | hydrodynamic | N/A | 20 |
Nidec Servo Gentle Typhoon D1225C (2150/12) | 120 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | N/A | 2150 | 117.23 | 2.87 | 30.0 | ball | 100 000 | 20 |
BeQuiet! Shadow Wings 2 (BL085) | 120 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | N/A | 1100 | 65.41 | 0.82 | 15.9 | rifle | 80 000 | 15 |
Noctua NF-A12x25 PWM | 120 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | N/A | 450–2000 | 102.10 | 2.34 | 22.6 | SSO2 | 150 000 | 28 |
Corsair AF120 Elite (black) | 120 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | N/A | 400–1850 | 18.52–100.41 | 0.09–1.93 | 31.5 | fluid | N/A | 24 |
Cooler Master MasterFan SF120M | 120 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | N/A | 650–2000 | 105.33 | 2.40 | 5.5–22.0 | ball | 280 000 | 33 |
Akasa Alucia SC12 | 120 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | N/A | 500–2000 | 95.65 | 1.94 | 33.1 | hydrodynamic | N/A | 12 |
BeQuiet! Silent Wings Pro 4 (BL098) | 120 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | N/A | 3000 | 142.50 | 5.31 | 36.9 | fluid | 300 000 | 32 |
Thermalright X-Silent 120 | 120 (25) | 3-pin (DC) | N/A | 1000 | 61.31 | N/A | 19.6 | fluid | 50 000 | 5 |
Fractal Design Aspect 12 RGB PWM | 120 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | 3-pin (5 V) | 500–2000 | 22.09–95.14 | 0.23–2.34 | 10.0–33.2 | rifle | 90 000 | 16 |
BeQuiet! Silent Wings 3 (BL066) | 120 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | N/A | 1450 | 85.80 | 1.79 | 16.4 | fluid | 300 000 | 21 |
Gelid Zodiac | 120 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | 3-pin (5 V) | 700–1600 | 111.29 | 1.47 | 35.0 | hydrodynamic | N/A | 10 |
Fractal Design Dynamic X2 GP-12 PWM | 120 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | N/A | 500–2000 | 148.83 | 0.51–2.30 | 10.0–32.2 | rifle | 100 000 | 12 |
BeQuiet! Pure Wings 2 (BL039) | 120 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | N/A | 1500 | 87.00 | 1.25 | 19.2 | rifle | 80 000 | 11 |
Gigabyte Aorus 120 ARGB | 120 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | 3-pin (5 V) | 800–1700 | 31.47–69.40 | 0.37–1.48 | 7.3–28.6 | sleeve | 73 500 | 25 |
Arctic BioniX P120 A-RGB | 120 (30) | 4-pin (PWM) | 3-pin (5 V) | 400–2300 | 81.55 | 2.10 | 33.4 | fluid | N/A | 21 |
Akasa OTTO SF12 | 120 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | N/A | 0–2000 | 164.84 | 3.59 | 7.1–31.7 | ball | 80 000 | 22 |
Cooler Master SickleFlow 120 ARGB | 120 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | 3-pin (5 V) | 680–1800 | 105.34 | 2.50 | 8.0–27.0 | rifle | 160 000 | 15 |
Alphacool SL-15 PWM | 120 (15) | 4-pin (PWM) | N/A | 600–1800 | 71.40 | 1.20 | 32.0 | ball | 50 000 | 11 |
Arctic BioniX F120 | 120 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | N/A | 200–1800 | 117.00 | 2.10 | 20.0 | fluid | N/A | 10 |
SilverStone SST-AP123 | 120 (25) | 3-pin (DC) | N/A | 1500 | 96.84 | 1.46 | 23.8 | fluid | 50 000 | 25 |
Noctua NF-P12 redux-1700 PWM | 120 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | N/A | 400–1700 | 120.20 | 2.83 | 25.1 | SSO | 150 000 | 13 |
SilentiumPC Fluctus 120 PWM | 120 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | N/A | 300–1800 | N/A | N/A | N/A | fluid | 100 000 | 12 |
MSI MEG Silent Gale P12 | 120 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | N/A | 0–2000 | 95.48 | 2.21 | 22.7 | hydrodynamic | 50 000 | 31 |
Asus ROG Strix XF120 | 120 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | N/A | 1800 | 106.19 | 3.07 | 22.5 | „MagLev“ | 400 000 | 23 |
Akasa Vegas X7 | 120 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | 4-pin (12 V) | 1200 | 71.19 | N/A | 23.2 | fluid | 40 000 | 11 |
Reeven Coldwing 12 | 120 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | N/A | 300–1500 | 37.54–112.64 | 0.17–1.65 | 6.5–30.4 | sleeve | 30 000 | 12 |
Asus ROG Strix XF120 | 120 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | nemá | 1800 | 106,19 | 3,07 | 22,5 | „MagLev“ | 400 000 | 23 |
SilentiumPC Sigma Pro 120 PWM | 120 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | nemá | 500–1600 | 79,00 | N/A | 15,0 | hydraulické | 50 000 | 7 |
SilentiumPC Sigma Pro Corona RGB 120 | 120 (25) | 4-pin (PWM) | 4-pin (12 V) | 1500 | 56,58 | N/A | N/A | hydraulické | 50 000 | 12 |
SilverStone SST-AP121 | 120 (25) | 3-pin (DC) | nemá | 1500 | 60,08 | 1,71 | 22,4 | fluidné | 50 000 | 18 |
SilverStone SST-FQ121 | 120 (25) | 7-pin (PWM) | nemá | 1000–1800 | 114,68 | 0,54–1,82 | 16,4–24,0 | fluidné | 150 000 | 20 |
Xigmatek XLF-F1256 | 120 (25) | 3-pin (DC) | nemá | 1500 | 103,64 | N/A | 20,0 | rifle | 50 000 | 16 |
Xigmatek XLF-F1256 | 120 (25) | 3-pin (DC) | nemá | 1500 | 103,64 | N/A | 20,0 | rifle | 50 000 | 16 |
* When reading performance values, a certain amount of tolerance must always be taken into account. For maximum speeds, ±10 % is usually quoted, minimum speeds can vary considerably more from piece to piece, sometimes manufacturers will overlap by as much as ±50 %. This must then also be adequately taken into account for air flow, static pressure and noise levels. If only one value is given in a table entry, this means that it always refers to the situation at maximum speed, which is achieved at 12 V or 100 % PWM intensity. The manufacturer does not disclose the lower limit of the performance specifications in its materials in that case. The price in the last column is always approximate.
- Contents
- Arctic P14 PWM PST CO in detail
- Overview of manufacturer specifications
- Basis of the methodology, the wind tunnel
- Mounting and vibration measurement
- Initial warm-up and speed recording
- Base 6 equal noise levels…
- ... and sound color (frequency characteristic)
- Measurement of static pressure…
- … and of airflow
- Everything changes with obstacles
- How we measure power draw and motor power
- Measuring the intensity (and power draw) of lighting
- Results: Speed
- Results: Airlow w/o obstacles
- Results: Airflow through a nylon filter
- Results: Airflow through a plastic filter
- Results: Airflow through a hexagonal grille
- Results: Airflow through a thinner radiator
- Results: Airflow through a thicker radiator
- Results: Static pressure w/o obstacles
- Results: Static pressure through a nylon filter
- Results: Static pressure through a plastic filter
- Results: Static pressure through a hexagonal grille
- Results: Static pressure through a thinner radiator
- Results: Static pressure through a thicker radiator
- Results: Static pressure, efficiency depending on orientation
- Reality vs. specifications
- Results: Frequency response of sound w/o obstacles
- Results: Frequency response of sound with a dust filter
- Results: Frequency response of sound with a hexagonal grille
- Results: Frequency response of sound with a radiator
- Results: Vibration, in total (3D vector length)
- Results: Vibration, X-axis
- Results: Vibration, Y-axis
- Results: Vibration, Z-axis
- Results: Power draw (and motor power)
- Results: Cooling performance per watt, airflow
- Results: Cooling performance per watt, static pressure
- Airflow per euro
- Static pressure per euro
- Results: Lighting – LED luminance and power draw
- Results: LED to motor power draw ratio
- Evaluation
Expected results, but still an interesting showcase of the effect of only changing the bearings.
So, the “hum” is still here all the same, despite some claims that the CO version fixes it. ThermalLeft has documented sound differences between revisions too (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nt8Ao4GDmzY), but even Arctic themselves doesn’t think revisions will have such an effect. I am starting to think it’s possibly a batch “issue” that may have introduced different properties to the rotor material.
I guess those claims of the CO rumbling less will never come from an official source (from Arctic)? They don’t seem to list among the changes across the revisions the modifications that address this. And personally, I don’t even see the technical reason behind the CO variant or the higher P14 revision (2 vs. 4) being quieter on lower frequencies. The impeller seems to have the same parameters in terms of geometry or material used. Nevertheless, there can certainly be a situation where different noise levels are measured across different fans. But it may not be due to different revisions, and perhaps it may be possible to observe this across different fan pieces of the same revision due to different manufacturing tolerances (which are high in the low-end after all)?
An analysis that tracks the tonal peaks of multiple pieces from the same revisions on each side would shed more light on this. From our experience, we note that the shape of the spectrograms of multiple pieces of the P14 PWM PST rev. 4 compared to P14 PWM PST CO rev. 3 in the low frequency band is identical at the same speed. The small differences in the spectrograms that you see in the tests are mainly just due to the fact that in modes normalized by the same noise levels, the speeds of the two variants (P14 and P14 CO fans) are slightly different. For the CO, the speeds are always set a little lower due to the noisier bearings.
Perhaps what is known as “resonance” is something else that’s not the frequency spike at ~100 Hz. Namely, the sudden increase in noise at specific RPM ranges. Or, perhaps the two issues are lumped together when people talk about it, when in fact the two (sound profile with pronounced low frequency peak, and some RPM ranges being suddenly louder) are different issues (that perhaps are related).
I am sure you would have noticed and mentioned it though, when you’re testing the fans and adjusting the fan speeds again and again.