I recently bought five Arctic P12 Pro fans for my Jonsbo Z20 case, thinking they'd be perfect because they can go up to 3000rpm. I planned to keep them at lower speeds, but even at 50% speed, they hit 1500rpm and are incredibly loud. I've seen people say they're nearly silent, but that's not my experience. I find the lower speeds (600-1100rpm) manageable, so I'm considering setting my intake fan speeds at 300rpm for the bottom fan, 500rpm for the top intake, and around 1000rpm for the rear and top exhaust. I'd prefer to let the CPU fan adjust automatically based on temperature. Is it smart to keep my case fans at fixed RPMs while letting the CPU fan respond to temp changes? My CPU is a 9700X, GPU is an RX9070 non-XT, and my cooler is a PA 120 Mini. PCH temps stay around 30C, my GPU is between 40C and 50C, and my CPU idles at 50C, going up to 65C during gaming. The noise is really the only thing bothering me with the default BIOS settings!
2 Answers
You might want to try adjusting the fan curve for your case fans. Since your PCH temperatures hover around 30C, setting a lower speed, like 300rpm for the bottom fans until the temps rise (say, maybe around 40C), could work pretty well. That way, you keep things quiet when you’re not stressing the system, and it ramps up as needed.
Honestly, the Arctic P12 Pro fans are a bit overkill unless you're trying to push for extreme performance. Most users get by with the regular P12 fans without dealing with that level of noise. Plus, the Pro versions can get loud when you crank them up, so if you're not benchmarking, the standard ones are probably sufficient.
I actually found the 5-pack of the Pros way cheaper than the regular ones, which was confusing! Guess I didn’t realize that they might be more than what I need.
That sounds like a solid plan! Just experiment to find the balance between noise and cooling. You might find the right settings that keep everything chill without the loudness.