ARCTIC P12 SLIM PWM PST Fans Review

ARCTIC has released a new series of P12 PST fans called P12 SLIM PWM PST. The main feature of these fans is their 15mm thickness hence the term; SLIM. The standard thickness of the fans is 25mm unless stated otherwise. The 15mm thick fans make them better suited for space-constrained builds particularly SFF builds.

These fans are available in a single fan pack as well as a 3-fans pack. One thing I appreciate the ARCTIC design team for is that they have provided custom length screws so that these fans can be installed on the radiators as the standard screws can’t be used.

Dimension

Closer Look

It is time to take a look at the fans.

The fans are shipped inside a brown color cardboard box with minimal packaging. There is an info label sticker on the pack showing the salient specifications and UPC/EAN labels.

The layout of the blades is similar to what we have seen on the P12 series fans. However, these fans have 7 blades. The fans are rated for up to 2100 RPM speed. These fans feature a wide range of RPM 300~2100 and using the PST (PWM Sharing Technology) one can achieve the same speed across all the fans. There is an ARCTIC branded sticker on the center. These are non-RGB fans. There is no anti-vibration pad on any mounting corner of the frame.

These fans have a dimension of 120x120x15mm. This is 10mm less thickness than the standard fans. The difference between any two mounting holes is a standard 105mm.

We have a standard black color frame of the fan. The frame is quite sturdy despite having a 15mm thickness. There are no arrow indicators on any side of the frame. These arrows show the direction in which the blades would spin and the direction of airflow.

There is a 4-arms assembly on the backside holding the fan motor and blades to the frame. There is no sticker on the center. Instead, the power rating of the fan and other data is carved on the frame.

These fans are using Fluid Dynamic Bearings. ARCTIC has mentioned that they have used a combination of alloy/lubricant developed in Germany to reduce the friction within the bearing. This in turn would generate less heat and improves efficiency. This will increase the service life of the fans.

ARCTIC has mentioned that their newly developed fan motor has a low noise output even at full speed. It is also mentioned that there is no startup jerk and that this motor produces less commutation vibration. This is why there are no anti-vibration pads on the mounting corners.

Each fan has a flat cable with two connectors. One is the 4-pin PWM connector and the other is a 4-pin socket. This allows the users to daisy-chain these fans and connects to a single power source for the same speed during the operation.

The salient specifications are:

Speed	300~2100 RPM
Air Flow	42.1 CFM
Static Pressure	1.45 mmH₂O
Noise Level	0.3 Sone
Operating Voltage	12VDC
Starting Voltage	5VDC
Current	0.12A

Screws

ARCTIC has provided long and short screws which would help the user in convenient installation in the case or on the radiator as the case may be.

Testing

The following test bench is used for thermal performance testing: –

• GIGABYTE Z690 AERO G
• Intel i7 12700k [4.8GHz, 1.190V]
• Raijintek SCYLA ELITE 360 DIY kit
• Sabrent Rocket 2x16GB DDR5
• GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 3060 VISION OC Rev 2
• Sabrent Rocket Q 500GB NVME SSD [For OS]
• Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus 2TB NVMe SSD [For Data]
• bequiet! Straight Power 11 850W Platinum PSU
• Thermaltake Core P6 TG Snow Edition in an open frame layout

CINEBENCH R23 is used to stress the CPU for 20 minutes. The system is left idle for 5 minutes to record the idle temperature. The average of all P-Cores maximum temperature is taken and reported in the graph. For comparison, we have the RAIJINTEK EOS 12 ADD RBW 120mm fans and SilverStone SF120 fans. Noctua NT-H1 thermal paste is used.

Please note that not every run of the stress test may yield the same result. This could well be due to many factors like mounting pressure, thermal paste application and varying ambient temperature. Not to mention the silicon differences even among the same category of chips. Hence, it is pertinent to mention the testing methodology along with the specifics.

Let’s take a look at the results.

There is roughly a difference of 2°C between the ARCTIC P12 SLIM PWM PST fans and the reference RAIJINTEK fans. The RAIJINTEK fans have much higher and better airflow and static pressure ratings. Despite that these slim fans have performed quite well.

Here is a table showing the RPM range and corresponding airflow and speed measurements of the ARCTIC P12 SLIM PWM PST fan:

PWM Duty Cycle (%age)	Speed (RPM)	Airflow (CFM)
20	555	10
30	839	18
40	1123	25
50	1350	32
60	1530	37
70	1717	41
80	1869	43
90	2002	46
100	2129	47

 

We are raking the airflow reading by placing the instrument closer to the fan. The values would vary depending upon the distance between the anemometer and the fan.

We are not recording the noise output due to certain uncontrollable environment noise. Based on our actual hearing which is subjective, these fans don’t make a loud noise at full speed.

Conclusion

The ARCTIC P12 SLIM PWM PST fans are a budget-friendly product suited for space-constrained applications mainly for SFF builds. This is due to the fact that these fans have a thickness of 15mm as compared to the standard 25mm thickness. The dimension of the fan is 120x120x15mm with a standard 105mm distance between any two mounting holes.

Each fan has 7 blades in a similar layout as we have seen on the P12 series fans. The complete assembly is in black color. The frame is sturdy but there are no arrow indicators which would be helpful for novice users. These fans are rated for up to 2100 RPM starting from 300 RPM. The starting voltage is 5VDC. This fan draws 1.44W using 0.12A at 12VDC. The airflow rating is 42.1 CFM with a static pressure rating of 1.45mmH₂O at 12VDC. These are mediocre ratings which would suffice for this size fan.

ARCTIC has employed Dynamic Fluid Bearings and their newly designed fan motor which is mentioned to be producing less computational vibration. This is why there is no anti-vibration pad on any mounting corner as the motor does not produce any jerk as well. It is also mentioned that the motor produces less heat which enhances the life of the fan.

I appreciate the attention to detail. ARCTIC has provided custom length long screws which allow the fans to be installed on the radiator as the standard length screws can’t be used due to the 10mm lesser thickness of these fans. Each fan has a 4-pin PWM connector and a 4-pin socket. This allows the daisy-chain connection of these fans so that they can be controlled from a single header or power source.

The ARCTIC P12 SLIM PWM PST single fan pack has an MSRP of $9.23 whereas the value pack of 3 has an MSRP of $21.83. The ARCTIC P12 SLIM PWM PST offers a decent thermal performance when employed on the radiator. We saw a difference of roughly 2°C between these fans and the reference RAIJINTEK EOS 12 fans. Please check the testing section for more detail. These fans have a much better noise output even at full speed and ARCTIC is offering a whopping 6-year warranty.

The ARCTIC P12 SLIM PWM PST are pocket-friendly competitive fans that are best suited for SFF builds where the space is restricted. They can be used for the case ventilation as well as on the radiator/heatsink. The slim design chews some of the thermal performance as compared to the non-slim version of P12 fans but the pricing, decent performance, and 6-year warranty make up for that.