ARCTIC P14 Max Fans Review

Table of Contents

Finally, the wait is over with the release of P14 Max fans from ARCTIC. After the successful launch of P12 Max, the 140mm variant was highly anticipated and we have got our hands on the new P14 Max fans. These fans are available in a single fan pack costing €17.99 and a five-fan pack costing €59.99. They can also be found on Amazon UK for £10.99 for per fan.

ARCTIC offers a whopping 6-year warranty on these fans. While I found that P12 Max fans offer good performance but at a high noise output, the game is strong with the P14 Max fans. Ooh! Did I give a spoiler in advance?

P14 Max Specifications

Closer Look

It is time to take a look at the fans.

The fans are shipped inside a standard cardboard box with minimal packaging and labeling. I am taking a look at the five fans pack. These fans feature 0dB mode meaning they would come to stand still at < 3% PWM cycle under no load or at idle.

ARCTIC has provided 20x self-tapping screws in the box.

One look at the fan and I can tell that I am looking at a replica of P12 Max fans. The design is the same which is obvious. These fans are in a gray and black color giving them quite a look. As of now Max series fans are not available in A-RGB or RGB lighting. I think ARCTIC may release the RGB/A-RGB variants down the road but not sure.

These fans have a dimension of 140x140x27mm. Each fan has a 5-blades assembly but this time, it has a key difference. These blades are connected to a ring inside the main frame. This ring in turn spins along with the fans. ARCTIC refers this design as Fan Wheel.

The P14 Max features a closed fan-wheel design. According to ARCTIC, this Fan Wheel provides pressure stability in certain cases where there is a high resistance to airflow and resultantly on the pressure. This resistance force is distributed evenly on this wheel which in turn enables this fan to maintain the high static pressure.

The overall outlook of these fans is square in design which is good. Since we are at it, let’s take a look at key parameters of these fans.

The airflow rating is 95CFM which is an excellent number given the pricing of these fans.
Static Pressure rating is 4.18mmH₂O
Sound Level: N/A. From my understanding, this figure is going to be between 0.3 Sone to 0.6 Sone.

These fans have a speed range of 400 to 2800 RPM. What is impressive is the function of 0dB. This would mean that these fans would come to stand still or stop spinning at less than 3% PWM cycle. Please keep in mind that for this to be achieved you have to have a supported motherboard with an enabled feature in UEFI/BIOS settings. These fans don’t have ARCTIC PST technology. In simple words, these fans don’t have a daisy-chain function.

Each mounting corner has a gray color anti-vibration pad that minimizes the vibrational noise coming from the surface on which the fans are installed.

The frame of these fans is sturdy. It has arrow symbols that show the direction of airflow and the direction in which blades spin.

Looking at the backside of the fan, we can spot a 4-arms assembly. These 4-arms are in spiral configuration opposite to the blades’ spin direction. Each arm has a narrow body that would marginally obstruct the airflow coming from the fan.

The power rating of this fan is mentioned as 0.35A at 12VDC. This means the power consumption would be 4.2W. Be careful. You can’t use 3 P14 Max fans on a single fan header that is rated for 1A/12W since three fans would need 12.6W. The startup voltage is 3.9V.

I remember P12 Max fans using double ball bearings. I have heard that ARCTIC may have released the Fluid Dynamic Bearing variant down the road but not sure. However, the P14 Max fans use Fluid Dynamic Bearings. Due to sinus-magnetizing the new motor only creates about 5 % of the vibration from the commutation of a regular DC motor without a filter.

Each fan is powered by a flat 4-pin PWM connector cable.

Testing

The following configuration is used for thermal testing:

AMD Ryzen 7950X
GIGABYTE X670E AORUS MASTER
ARCTIC Liquid Freezer III – 420 Black
Kingston Renegade Fury 32GB 6400MHz CL32 DDR5 kit
ASRock Phantom Gaming RX 7600 Graphics Card for Display
Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus 2TB NVME SSD
CORSAIR AX1200i PSU
Open-Air Test Bench

Here is the settings table for testing:

Clock (MHz)	Auto
Voltage (V)	Auto
PBO	Advanced
PPT	200000mW
TDC	480000
EDC	640000
Boost Clock Override	+75Hz
Platform Thermal Throttle Limit	Auto
Thermal Paste	Noctua NT-H1
Thermal Paste Application	Dots Method
Test Run Time	30 minutes
Idling Time	10 minutes
All Fans Speed	100% PWM Duty Cycle
Pump Speed	100% PWM Duty Cycle
Stress Software	CINEBENCH R23.2
Monitoring Software	HWINFO64

We are reporting delta temperature in the graph because room temperature varied from 20.9°C to 22.8°C throughout the day. The testing is done on an open air bench system. Once inside the chassis, the temperatures are expected to rise and would largely depend upon the optimal airflow inside the chassis.

Before we take a look at the results, we have pitched the P14 MAX fans against the P14 PWM fans on ARCTIC Liquid Freezer III 420 cooler. Here is a comparison data of these fans:

	ARCTIC P14 PWM	ARCTIC P14 MAX
Dimension	140x140x27mm	140x140x27mm
Speed	200 – 1700 RPM	400 – 2800 RPM
Air Flow	72.80 CFM	95.00 CFM
Static Pressure	2.40 mmH₂O	4.18 mmH₂O
Noise Level	0.3 Sone	N/A
Bearing	Fluid Dynamic Bearing	Fluid Dynamic Bearing
Power Consumption	1.44 W (0.12A at 12VDC)	4.2 W (0.35A at 12VDC)

The ARCTIC P14 Max fans have an excellent thermal performance compared to their own P14 PWM fans. Not only that but these fans are silent at 70% PWM cycle making a sound output of 40 dB(A) whereas at full speed or 100% PWM regulation, this fan makes 43.2 dB(A). ARCTIC has clearly demonstrated a powerful yet silent fan in 140mm category.

Here is a table showing RPM range and speed measurements of the ARCTIC P14 MAX fan:

PWM Duty Cycle (%age)	Speed (RPM)
3	304
5	491
10	633
20	964
30	1275
40	1530
50	1844
60	2020
70	2220
80	2419
90	2616
100	2743

Conclusion

ARCTIC has released the much-awaited 140mm version of P12 Max fans. These are named P14 Max fans and they are available in a single fan pack and a five fans pack. There are a few changes in the design department of these fans compared to the regular P14 PWM fans. ARCTIC has retained the famous 5-blades design but these fans have a ring attached to the tips of the blades making it one complete assembly. This ring is named Fan Wheel by ARCTIC and it serves the purpose of taking the hit from resistance force from the surface while ensuring that static pressure is maintained without losing airflow.

These fans feature 0dB mode as these would stop spinning at or below 3% PWM cycle. Please note that you would need a supporting motherboard and would also need to enable the Auto Stop or what settings your motherboard’s UEFI BIOS provides. These fans are powered by a 4-pin PWM connector cable. These cables are flat in design.

The design element is same as on P12 Max fans. The anti-vibration pads are gray whereas the frame is black. These fans use fluid dynamic bearings. According to ARCTIC using sinus-magnetizing, the new motor only creates about 5 % of the vibration from the commutation of a regular DC motor without a filter.

These fans are rated for 400 to 2800 RPM. We can see a wide PWM range on these fans. The airflow rating is 95 CFM and the air pressure rating is 4.15 mmH₂O. No noise rating is provided. A single fan draws 0.35A at 12VDC giving it a power consumption of 4.2W. You can’t connect three P14 Max fans on a single fan header that is rated at 1A/12W since three fans would draw 12.6W.

Not only the P14 Max fans offer superb thermal performance compared to the regular P14 PWM fans but they also operate at a low noise output despite having a wide PWM range. They are silent at 70% PWM generating 40 dB(A) whereas they are giving 43.2 dB(A) at full speed. This is way better than many fans operating at these high speeds.

ARCTIC offers a 6-year warranty on these fans. These fans don’t make humming noise at low speeds or even at high speeds. Also, after coming to a stop, these fans don’t click or make a noise when coming back on. These fans are the best deal you can find yourself in the 140mm category and come recommended by us.

Pros: