Absolutely dissapponted by Arctic P12 Max
Posted by ZenTunE@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 33 comments
At least it wasn't a huge waste of money but these are awful. I got 3 of them as upgrades to the original P12's, expecting to get near Phanteks T30 level quietness based on Hardware Canucks' video but instead I got a screeching ball bearing mess. Didn't even realize this bearing type was so horrible.
I tried running them at the lowest possible rpm, 270 and even then I can easily hear the high pitched bearing noise, almost like slowly blowing in one of those steel ball whistles. I can't have my pc be idling and constantly producing a high pitched noise that can be heard fron the other side of the room.
I don't understand how the reviewers didn't point this out. It's not as bad on all 3 units but they do all have it and according to Acrtic's support that noise is expected.
Yes they're cheap but everyone was hyping them so hard, kinda sad to see they're unusable.
actias_selene@reddit
Arctic was great value back in the day when they were selling 5xP12 boxes for 15€ or air cooler such as 34 esports duo for 25-30€. They might be still good for the price but not the great value they were once.
I have mix of noctua and arctic fans in my system. Noctua's ones are clearly much better quality but was 3-4x more expensive obviously.
tawoorie@reddit
What would be best value then? Noctua isnt available in my country
Shiroren78@reddit
I wonder if you got a bad batch or something I'm running artics and they are so quiet I forget the computer is on half the time. Never changed any fan setting just installed them and that was it
Indolent_Bard@reddit
That's the thing, the p12 Max seems to have much worse quality assurance than the regular p12. And since the p12 are cheaper, that means that they're better. At this point, I don't even consider the p12 max, I'll just get a p12 regular for my exhaust and a couple p14s for the front intake.
SavingsAd789@reddit
I don't know much about fans, could you explain why the p12 for exhaust, but p14s for intake?
Indolent_Bard@reddit
Common wisdom is that bigger fans move more air with less noise, meaning better thermals. But because of static pressure, it shouldn't make a difference if the exhaust is a p12, which is cheaper. However, it turns out that despite being bigger, the temps and noise MAY not be better than if they were all p12. I saw a video where a dude tested every possible configuration of fans with both p12 and p14, and got best results and least noise with all p12, defying popular conceptions. So I don't know anymore.
_aurel510_@reddit
Was it 3x P12 front intake? What was the configuration, please?
Indolent_Bard@reddit
Sadly, I can't remember the video for the life of me. But I'm assuming it was all P12 intake and outtake. I don't know if it was two or three front intake.
P2Wlover@reddit
If he could hear anything in 200 rpm…something must be wrong 🤣🤣🗿🗿🗿
winterkoalefant@reddit
from the other side of the room no less!
Godnamedtay@reddit
Facts, this is like nonsense level shit here.
Godnamedtay@reddit
Facts, this is like nonsense level shit here.
seizethecheeses@reddit
Exchange them, I have the arctics and they make absolutely zero noise even when my rig is getting pushed to the max.
PlzManCmon@reddit
You probably don’t have the max fans?
momoZealous@reddit
He probably doesn't have any fans.
DripTrip747-V2@reddit
But definitely has onlyfans.
Ground_Lazy@reddit
And maybe webcams. I'd be careful if I were you!
idontlikeredditusers@reddit
i wish i listened i ignored this post thinking it might just be a bad patch like Shiroren78 said but god such a waste of money they whine and at idle speeds they are noticeably noisy with noise cancelling headphones on gonna buy noctuas and never look back
Godnamedtay@reddit
I find the majority of what is being said here extremely hard to believe. Do u have a microphone pointed at the inside of ur pc that’s connected directly to the headphones that ur wearing on the other side of the room??
ZenTunE@reddit (OP)
Damn I wrote a long ass reply to your other comment that was deleted 💀
No I do not have a microphone inside the pc, I have ears with average good hearing, and a quiet room.
I also do use headphones, but they are open back. They don't isolate sound. So if there is noise with them off, it will be there with them on too. And I can't have that noise be there every time I use the PC.
PC was on the desk, side panels closed. I could stand 5 meters (16ft) away from the pc and the chatter from the fans would be easily discernible in the quiet room. I can't hear the airflow, just the bearings. This has been demonstrated on youtube aswell. You can compare your unit to this video, that is how mine sounded back then.
Unit variance is entirely possible, I had 3 fans and all had a similar level of noise, I'm sure some had less. But at the end of the day, the ball bearings will always be noisier than their FDB counterparts that the new P12 Max version uses.
Nothing said here was untruthful or an exaggeration. It is an honest review regarding the Rev.1 P12 MAX. (By contrast, a lot of people like to exaggerate how quiet a fan is, calling them "inaudible" while they clearly do make noise that can be picked out, making them "audible". I am saying how it is.)
Godnamedtay@reddit
Lol I felt I was overreacting a lil bit on the previous one so I toned it down a lil bit. I didn’t wanna come off as a dick tbh.
Godnamedtay@reddit
I’m not saying it’s not impossible, but I’ve used a good amount of these fans for pc’s I’ve build for people and I currently have 3 of them in my gaming rig. I have experimented with different fans cuz I always have to change shit for some reason, but I’ve never experienced this before. Not nearly to the degree ur saying.
Godnamedtay@reddit
Lol bruh unusable? Either u got a really badly manufactured fans, or ur just a cry baby. Cuz this level of whining is ridiculous. I’ve used a large amount of different the big name brand fans over the years, that being the arctic p12/max as well, and yea they’re great. Dk wtf ur even talking about here at all.
Narrheim@reddit
Reviewers got lubed bearings. It´s as simple as that.
Try disassembling them and lube the bearings. Seems Arctic is again sparing few cents and trading it as "feature".
I had the same thing happen with P12 CO. The affected fan (1 out of 3) became dead silent after the procedure.
ZenTunE@reddit (OP)
Can you disassemble them further? I did try removing the back sticker on one and dropped some gun oil in there, helped a bit but not enough.
Narrheim@reddit
If you look carefully, you will see small ringy clip on the spindle. Carefully remove it (don´t destroy it! you will need it to put it all back together and it´s also the hardest thing to do in whole procedure) and you will be able to take it all apart.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRkHq-P9TQE
ZenTunE@reddit (OP)
So I tried two different lubricants, a thinner oil and a thicker lube but neither fully fixed the issue. The bearings are a bit smoother sounding now, not the kind of "whirling" I described, it's a more consistent. But they still have that scrathcy higher pitch noise that is so easily audible.
The fan itself is very silent compared to the P12 PST so it clearly is better, just sucks that I'm having this issue. I could try sending them the 2 of them back (because the sticker on the one I opened is in pieces) but I'll probably just get similar units back. But worth a shot I guess.
Narrheim@reddit
Have you lubed just the spindle or have you taken out the bearings and lubed both of them from sides? The key is to get the lube to the balls.
Also, you should use a lubricant made specifically for bearings.
DripTrip747-V2@reddit
Noice.
CauliflowerFine734@reddit
this makes no sense i run them and they are perfect queit powerful i have zero issues
ZenTunE@reddit (OP)
Either there are units that are actually lubed better and have quiet bearings then, or maybe you don't hahe good enough hearing to hear them. Or just a lower tolerance to noise, for me I expect a good fan to have zero additional noise besides the airflow woosh. So literally inaudible at 400rpm and below.
CauliflowerFine734@reddit
i think you just received a very poor quality batch all mine run less then 35 Dcb at 80% speed and never go over that
ZenTunE@reddit (OP)
It's not about decibels, the noise I'm describing is not loud. It's a quiet but annoying sound.