Back in the spring, Arctic launched the P14 Max, a particularly powerful fan that is still relatively inexpensive despite its high performance. The manufacturer is now reissuing the fan in a white color version. The P14 Max White rotates at a maximum of 2,800 revolutions per second, but can be throttled down to 400 RPM. Below this speed, the fan can be switched to idle so that the fan blades come to a complete stop. The fan is also said to offer improved pressure stability, low vibrations and very smooth running. The P14 Max is connected via 4-pin PWM.
Arctic P14 Max White technical specifications. As we can see below, these are rated with some quite impressive numbers. We are pleased that Arctic also provides a fabulous 6-year warranty for these high-revving fans. 500000 hours MTTF are also impressive and let us hope for a long, worry-free operation of the fans.
Packaging & Contents
ARCTIC at present is offering a single fan pack. The box is plain but provides decent protection to the fan, which isn’t a sensitive product anyway. We have received three fans for testing. On the front, the fan is pictured and some interesting information about the 6-year warranty and the 0dB mode is also present.
On the back, The technical data and listed and links to the support page are printed in case you need help with the installation.
There are also 4 screws in the box, which are used to mount the fan in the PC case. Longer screws for mounting the fan to a radiator are not included, but certainly available with a quick request to friendly Arctic support.
A Closer Look
P14 Max White has a clean and simple design, with neither a slim design nor RGB. However, they have been secured around the entrance to the screws, where there is rubber, which helps with the noise level when it is screwed to the cabinet. A material (PBT) with relatively lower stiffness is used for the blades, offset by greater thickness at critical points. And by the hoop. Without it, due to excessive vibration, this impeller design could not be reasonably operated at the very high speeds that are one of the main strengths of the P14 Max White. And if the hoop wasn’t used, the vibration could easily get out of control already. They would be too high.
There is 0.35 A listed on the motor. However, this figure refers to the electric current at maximum operating power consumption rather than to the motor power (allowing some tolerance for “inferior” pieces). The latter is considerably higher (than 4.2 W).
The fan is powered via an approximately 42 cm long cable with a 4-pin connector. There is PWM control support, but the option of daisy chaining (PST) with multiple fans connected to each other is missing from the P14 Max White.
Arctic provides a scheme of the bearing. From the shape of the bearing, you can easily figure that this is a rifle bearing and not a fluid dynamic one. Still, it is superior to a plain sleeve bearing, and under normal conditions, it can outlive the extended warranty.
At such high speeds, which the P14 Max White achieves for a 140 mm fan, vibrations cannot be completely avoided. The anti-vibration elements already make sense, as especially at high speeds they will be useful in terms of vibration damping. The anti-vibration pads also improve compatibility with dust filters somewhat. By being slightly protruded from the fan body, they move the dust filter frame away from the impeller, and even with unreinforced nylon filters, there is no longer the potential for mutual abrasion as there is with the cheaper P14 (CO) models without anti-vibration pads. At its widest point (~28.4 mm), however, the Arctic P14 Max’s profile already attacks thirty millimeters. And greater thickness means potentially worse compatibility. Especially on radiators in ceiling positions, where the radiator (with P14 Max fans) will more often collide with coolers (or memory) on the motherboard.
Test System & Methology
Test System Specs
AMD Ryzen 5950X – Stock Clocks and PBO enabled
AMD Radeon 5700XT – Stock Clocks
Kingston FuryX RGB 64GB DDR4
1x Sabrent Rocket 500GB NVME SSD
1x Western Digital SN750 1TB NVME SSD
2x Crucial MX500 2TB SATA SSDs
be quiet! Dark Base Pro 901
Silverstone SX1000 1000W Modular Power Supply
Watercooling Setup
1x Alphacool ST30 420MM Radiator W/ Arctic P14 Max White
1x 5700XT full cover Watercool Heatkiller IV
1x Optimus CPU Foundations AM4 CPU block
1x MCP35x PWM @ full speed W/ Heatkiller Tube 100MM Glass Reservoir.
Performance
While testing in gaming and load scenarios, 1700RPM kept both noise and temperatures very respectable and very well within range to game and/or content create with little to no problem. the Programs used for this were as follows, with temperature results on an AMD Ryzen 5950X:
Davinci Resolve – 4K encode – 15 minutes – Max Temperature 58C @ 1700RPM
Unigine Superposition – 4k 15 minute loop – Max Temperature 63C @ 1700RPM
Call Of Duty BlackOps Cold War – 1440P max settings, 2 hours of gameplay – 66C @ 1700RPM
The same exact applications were used to test cooling at full speed on the fans, the results were better, but the noise was not very tolerable. Results shown below:
Davinci Resolve – 4K encode – 15 minutes – Max Temperature 55C @ 2800RPM
Unigine Superposition – 4k 15 minute loop – Max Temperature 59C @ 2800RPM
Call Of Duty BlackOps Cold War – 1440P max settings, 2 hours of gameplay – 62C @ 2800RPM
Final Thoughts
The new White Edition of the P14 Max expands the portfolio of white components and gives PC enthusiasts and modding fans even more options for customising their systems. There is no difference between the P14 Max and the P14 Max White, apart from the colour. Workmanship and material are also flawless and there was nothing to complain about during installation. Only the equipment offers some potential for improvement, since no Y-adapters for cascading the fans are included, but that is a minor issue that is certainly due to the extremely low purchase price. I want a daisy option, even if it slightly increases the cost. In the corners, there are vibration-absorbing pads to lower output noise. The fan’s cable is pretty long, flat, and highly flexible. You can use them to improve the cooling performance of a water cooling system thanks to the blazing maximum speed of 2800 rpm, or to move masses of fresh air into a PC case to provide the graphics card or a CPU cooler with more than enough fresh air for cooling. However, you should be noise resistant, or have a powerful sound system playing against the stormy noise of the fans when you call up the maximum power. In return, the fans can also be controlled excellently in low speed range thanks to perfect PWM implementation despite the wide speed range and can even be set to silent standstill if required.
The Arctic P14 Max White is one of the most affordable high-speed fans, offering high performance while it is supported by an extra-long warranty. The Arctic P14 Max White costs 18.99 euros to start with (currently available for 13 euros) and is available directly from Arctic, Amazon and eBay. The black model was launched at 17.99 euros - currently it costs just under 10 euros. On a liquid cooler radiator, the P14 Max White fares well even at medium speeds, and relative cooling efficiency is similar across the speed spectrum. Higher speed naturally means higher efficiency/airflow. With this great overall performance, the Arctic P14 Max White PC fans easily secure our Great Performance Award.