Box, Contents & Bundle
The box is plain but provides decent protection to the fan, which isn’t a sensitive product anyway. This is the black version’s package.
The white version’s packaging.
The build quality is good enough, especially if you consider the low price, and in the corners, there are vibration-absorbing pads to lower output noise. The fan’s cable is pretty long, flat, and highly flexible. I want a daisy option, even if it slightly increases the cost.
Pages:
The double ball bearing model is gone in the US. Arctic decided to change it to FDB.
I saw. I can no longer find P12 Max with double ball bearing, whether in the black or white version. That is, the black one is now FDB too!
Black: https://www.arctic.de/en/P12-Max/ACFAN00280A
White: https://www.arctic.de/en/P12-Max/ACFAN00293A
Note that the bearing is the same (double ball bearings) in both colorways. Is it the end of the double ball bearing?
I guess, the metal screeching at lower RPM caused a lot of complaints 😛
First of all, many thanks Aris!
Well, I was expecting bigger difference at lower RPMs. In the higher I expected very similar results, as it is, because the main source of noise, which covers other sounds, is created by a moving air mass that radiates a sound wave into the environment. And since the geometry of propeller is the same, there should be no major differences.
This 2nd DBB fan is not so disturbing at 10% (although it’s very near) as the 1st DBB (spike at 5 kHz). However, at 25% it is even more annoying than 1st one because of the harmonics/resonance, which starts between 2nd and 3rd second in the recording.
FDB has much nicer sound at 10% and 25% PWM level.
One note: I have one hypothesis as to why the 1st DBB has higher power consumption than the 2nd. The spike at 5 kHz reminds me of grinding/scraping metal on metal. The bearings may not be sufficiently lubricated, or the tolerance of the bearing balls is not tight enough … but its only a guess 😀
for sure there was something wrong with the first sample, since its peak RPM on the longwin were also off.