I absolutely love the Phanteks T30 fans, no kidding. After watching the review by HardwareCanucks, I immediately jumped on Amazon and ordered the triple pack. Since then, I’ve used them in countless PC builds. So, it’s no surprise that these fans found their way into my current build with the Ncase T1.
I was pretty happy with this setup, except for a few things that started to bug me:
The T1, whether from FormD or, in my case, Ncase, doesn’t have a power LED. If you’re a silent freak like me and your PC doesn’t make a peep when it’s idle, it can be quite tricky to tell if it’s even on. As a result, I often found myself pressing the power button to turn on my PC, only to turn it off because it was already on. Oops!
I’ve also been missing that certain coziness for a while now. You know, the kind you get when you sit down at your PC after a long day and immerse yourself in your favorite game (currently, I’m back to Elden Ring). I just want a bit of ambient lighting next to me.
The solution - A-RGB fans in the top of the Ncase T1
If you’ve read the title, you already know what’s coming. The Phanteks fans have to go. Conveniently, I recently got in touch with ARCTIC again, who had previously supported me in my test of various thermal pastes (see post at the very bottom). For this blog post, ARCTIC didn’t hold back and sent me two “ARCTIC P12 PWM PST A-RGB” fans to test. Wow, what a long name. For the sake of readability, I’ll shorten it to “Arctic P12 A-RGB” from here on out.
A big thank you to ARCTIC for providing the fans!
ARCTIC P12 PWM PST A-RGB - My Impressions
Right from the unboxing, it’s clear that ARCTIC is all about keeping things simple and affordable. The 120mm P12 A-RGB fans come in a plain, rather thin cardboard box. The only accessories included are four black screws to mount the fans in their designated spots. At around €16 per fan, including shipping from Amazon, I think that’s perfectly fine. Especially when compared to RGB fans from other major brands, this is quite a statement.
The first thing I noticed about the fans themselves is the particularly long cables. My units measure almost 40cm. This is great for mid-tower or full-size ATX cases, but in my 9.95L SFFPC, where short cables make cable management much easier, 15cm would have been plenty. So, I’ll need to use a few more cable ties after installation.
I like that the Arctic P12 A-RGB is rated up to 2,000 RPM. The 3,300 RPM of the P12 Max or the 3,000 RPM of the Phanteks T30 are just too loud for me and not practical for my needs, which is why I’ve always used the latter in 2,000 RPM mode.
After installation, I immediately tested the lighting. I use AsRock Polychrome, but the P12 A-RGB fans are also compatible with the common standards of other motherboard manufacturers. The LEDs on the fans emit a uniform, rich light. The five fan blades are made of polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) and are surrounded by a ring for added stability. PBT is great for illuminated fans because it can be easily made in a transparent color, but it has the drawback of deforming under high centrifugal forces. The outer ring helps prevent deformation, but it also sacrifices a bit of fan blade surface area.
In theory, the roughly €16 Arctic P12 A-RGB should perform worse than the approximately €37 Phanteks T30, which is made entirely of deformation-resistant liquid crystal polymers (LCP). But how big is the difference really? Do I have to give up ambient lighting because my PC is at risk of overheating? Let’s find out.
The Test System: Phanteks T30 vs. Arctic P12 A-RGB
Case | |
CPU | Ryzen 7800X3D * @ 76,7W | CO -20 |
CPU-Cooler | AXP120-X67 Black A-RGB * @ Auto |
Graphics Card | |
Motherboard | |
Power Supply |
The attentive reader might have noticed that I recently swapped the ever-popular AXP90-X47 for an AXP120-X67 A-RGB. Partly to improve CPU cooling performance and, of course, to add a bit more ambient lighting.
The Testing Methodology
For the comparison between the Phanteks T30 and Arctic P12 A-RGB, I used a full-load scenario. The CPU was stressed for 30 minutes with Cinebench R23, while the GPU crunched away at the Furmark Donut for the same duration.
I measured the ambient temperature during each run and subtracted it from the average temperature of the last ten minutes of each run. Finally, I added a normalized room temperature of 23.5°C to get the temperatures shown in the tables and charts.
The fans on the top of my T1 ran in three different settings:
32 dB(A) noise normalized (pleasantly quiet but audible)
38 dB(A) noise normalized (rather loud, clearly audible)
Full speed (around 2,000 RPM for both)
This should help us see which fan delivers better performance at the same noise level. The test at maximum speed might seem pointless at first, but it has an interesting twist, so I kept it in.
It’s also important to mention that I let all other fans, including the 120mm*15mm CPU fan and the two fans on my RTX 4070 Super, run automatically. The speeds will be completely different during the 32 dB(A) run compared to the full-speed test.
But if you think the CPU and GPU fans would spin at way different speeds depending on the case fan selection, you’d be wrong. The maximum difference in fan speed was only 13 RPM! I’ve illustrated this in the table below.
Testrun | /w Phanteks T30 | /w Arctic P12 A-RGB |
|---|---|---|
32db(A) CPU Fan Speed | 1224 | 1224 |
32db(A) GPU Fan Speed | 2112 | 2125 |
38db(A) CPU Fan Speed | 1212 | 1206 |
38db(A) GPU Fan Speed | 2018 | 2025 |
Full Speed CPU Fan Speed | 936 | 941 |
Full Speed GPU Fan Speed | 1951 | 1966 |
This result already shows how close the Phanteks T30 and the Arctic P12 A-RGB are in this scenario. Now, I won’t keep you on the edge of your seat any longer. In the next section, we have…
The Results - Arctic P12 A-RGB vs. Phanteks T30
32 dB(A) Test Results in Detail
At 32 dB(A), the specialty of the Phanteks T30, the following picture emerges: the two Phanteks T30 fans perform better at the same noise level, showing a 0.9°C lower CPU temperature. The RTX 4070 Super remains 1.1°C cooler, and the GPU hotspot differs by 1.3°C.
38 dB(A) Test Results in Detail
At 38 dB(A), the Arctic P12 A-RGB gains some ground. The differences are now only 0.6°C for the CPU temperature, 0.8°C for the GPU temperature, and the GPU hotspot is just 0.7°C lower with the two T30 fans compared to what the Arctic P12 A-RGB can achieve.
Full Speed Test Results in Detail
At full speed, an interesting picture emerges. Both the Arctic P12 A-RGB and the Phanteks T30 seem to perform slightly worse. But more on that in a moment. First, here are the temperature differences between the fan models: the CPU temperature suddenly has a difference of 1.2°C, 0.7°C for the GPU, and only 0.5°C for the GPU hotspot. However, I wouldn’t want to be too precise with the last figure down to the tenth of a degree. I think one needs to consider measurement tolerance here as well.
Why have the temperatures of both the CPU and GPU (hotspot) become worse again when using both fans at full speed? Let’s take a look at the following table.
Fan & Test Scenario | CPU Temp | GPU Temp | GPU Hotspot | CPU Fanspeed | GPU Fanspeed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Arctic P12 A-RGB, 32db(A) | 76,9 | 71,2 | 84,5 | 1224 | 2125 |
Arctic P12 A-RGB, 38db(A) | 76,1 | 71,1 | 84,4 | 1206 | 2025 |
Arctic P12 A-RGB, Full speed | 76,4 | 71,6 | 84,4 | 941 | 1966 |
Phanteks T30, 32db(A) | 76,0 | 70,1 | 83,2 | 1224 | 2112 |
Phanteks T30, 38db(A) | 75,5 | 70,3 | 83,7 | 1212 | 2018 |
Phanteks T30, Full speed | 75,2 | 70,9 | 83,9 | 936 | 1951 |
So, we find that both the CPU and GPU fans have kicked back and relaxed, while the Phanteks T30 and Arctic P12 A-RGB have given it their all in the Full Speed scenario. The impact of the respective component cooler fans is demonstrably more significant than that of the case fans.
Especially when you look at the development of GPU temperatures with the Phanteks T30, it becomes clear that just cranking the case fans to 100% isn’t always a guarantee for the best temperatures. The other fan curves also need to be looked at and adjusted if necessary.
Conclusion - What Can the Arctic P12 A-RGB Do?
As I mentioned in the previous paragraphs, the P12 A-RGB is not a Phanteks T30 killer. On the contrary, in terms of cooling performance in my use case, it’s consistently a bit worse than its Dutch competitor.
For me personally, a maximum difference of 1.3°C at the GPU hotspot doesn’t matter as much as the fact that I can finally tell at a glance whether my PC is on. The lighting on the Phanteks also leaves something to be desired. Of course, I could get two Phanteks Halos (link to cheaper alternative*) for the bargain price of around €40, but then we’re looking at €114 for something that ARCTIC can do almost as well for just €32.
So, for now, I’ll stick with my two ARCTIC P12 PWM PST A-RGB fans and hope I don’t have to say that name again anytime soon.
Which fan is right for you?
Do you want maximum performance without compromise and are you willing to pay the price for it? Then the Phanteks T30 is the right fan for you!
Or are you more interested in a balanced package of aesthetics and functionality, and do you pay close attention to how much performance you get per euro? Then the Arctic P12 A-RGB is a good choice.
If you enjoyed this post and want to read more comparisons like this, feel free to check out the linked posts below or follow the button to my Ko-Fi to become a supporter.
*The links marked with * (asterisk) are so-called affiliate links. If you make a purchase through one of these links, I receive a small commission. The price for you does not change as a result. Thank you! :)
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