Arctic F12 3-pin 120mm Case Fan Discontinued
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Arctic Cooling Arctic F12 3-pin 120mm Case Fan

The ARCTIC F12 offers a nine-blade fan design, giving 20% higher airflow compared with a generic seven-blade case fan, as well as virtually inaudible operation thanks to the high quality fluid dynamic bearing and new impeller design.

Impressive airflow improvement

The ARCTIC F12 integrates some delicate features to improve the overall airflow and noise control management. Most 120mm standard fans are equipped with seven blades only, but these come with nine blades in order to create higher airflow efficiently.

Moreover, the refined ninja-knife impeller design not only improves the laminar airflow, but it also lowers the noise level. Tested by hundreds of simulations, the results are significant, airflow is over 20% higher compared with a generic 7-blade case fan.

Higher airflow / higher noise level

Over the years, ARCTIC COOLING has built a reputable name on precise case fan engineering and noise control, and the new ARCTIC F12 is no exception. Despite the increase in airflow, the fans remain nearly inaudible thanks to the high-quality fluid dynamic bearing and the new impeller design. The maximum noise level is at only 0.4 sone. The ARCTIC F series is definitely a good option for anyone pursuing a quiet PC case cooling solution.

Features

Extremely quiet
High airflow and static pressure
Low noise impeller
Fluid dynamic bearing extends service life
57.0 CFM / 0.4 Sone / 1350 RPM

Specifications	Arctic F12
Dimensions	120 L x 120 W x 25 H mm
Rated Fan Speed	1350RPM
Air Flow	57 CFM / 96.8 m3/h
Noise Level	0.4 Sone (approx. 22 dBA)
Weight	108 g
Warranty	72 months
EAN barcode	0872767002623

Specifications	Arctic F12
Dimensions	120 L x 120 W x 25 H mm
Rated Fan Speed	1350RPM
Air Flow	57 CFM / 96.8 m3/h
Noise Level	0.4 Sone (approx. 22 dBA)
Weight	108 g
Warranty	72 months
EAN barcode	0872767002623

Customer Reviews

A sudden drop in quality?

Zana Radosevic, 20th June 2011

I fell in love with the AC cooling fans, quiet, nice looking, high airflow and cheap. I have a total number of 11 AC fans in my case… But when I purchased the last two F12 coolers I noticed that they are quite wobbly. You can see with the naked eye that the fan is off centre, and when I hang the cooler it starts to wobble even more. If I screw it to the case it will only transfer all of the vibrations on to the case. Why the sudden drop of quality Arctic Cooling? I’m really disappointed.

Quiet PC replied on 30th June 2011

Hi Zana - sorry to hear about your disappointment. Are you sure it is not just the sticker which is off-centre? This is quite common but should not affect the running of the fan. Otherwise, I think you must have received some faulty fans so please contact us for a refund or exchange. Although the Arctic Cooling fans are cheap, the quality should always be acceptable otherwise we would not sell them any more.

Great Value

Anonymous, 11th October 2010

Only thing i can fault is the noise. Even at 7V they aren’t exactly whisper quiet.

Artic Cooling Fans

Paul Hartwig, 19th July 2010

Ordered Five of these a few weeks ago. Did not know what to expect from these fans as they cost less than five pounds each. But after putting these in my system and using them everyday for hours on end, all I can say is what a great set of fans they are. The fan cable is a bit thin but works ok. 10/10 for me. Will be using them again in my future builds. Great service also from quiet pc. Will be ordering from them again.

Personal Favourite

Lindsay Young, 6th April 2010

I feel like I’m repeating myself. These fans are great. Quiet and push more than enough air. It’s nice to see similar performance to the rear case fans. At this price I don’t think you can go past the Arctic Cooling fans. Cheap, good performers. Possibly not the best on the market, but they beat everything I’ve tried (even those two or three times the price). My personal favourites. I will always look first to Arctic Cooling for general purpose computer fans.

Very good.

Anonymous, 2nd March 2010

These fans are unbeatable for the price. I recently replaced all of the stock fans in my Alienware ALX and they make half the sound and have double the CFM.

The only reason I have marked them down from a 10 is because the wire is like hair thin. Not that it matters, but you can see that’s how they got the price down. Very good fans. Ever so slightly louder than a Noctua I have in the 92mm version (I ordered both) but then they would be they push nearly three times the CFM.

Arctic Cooling Arctic F12 3-pin High Performance Case Fan

P Jackson, 17th February 2010

So easy to install and makes a huge difference to the standard fans installed by manufacturer. Very impressed.

Arctic Cooling Arctic F12 3-pin High Performance Case Fan

Roger Prynne, 12th November 2009

I must say for a cheap fan this is a really good one, can hardly hear it and the air flow is plenty enough for my rig. The specs state that it runs at 1350 RPM but ‘speed fan’ reports it running at a little over 1500 RPM which is fine by me.

Well worth a try guys.

Product Resources

Arctic Cooling website

FAQ

How do I measure fan size?
The size of fan you need will generally be determined by the size of the fan fitting position in your PC case. The sizes of all the fans on our website are shown as measured along any one of the fan’s four sides, NOT the distance between the fan’s screw holes! Our most popular fan size is 120mm, followed by 80mm. This isn’t really dictated by customer preference, but more by recent designs of PC cases.

As for the thickness (depth) of the fan, generally 25mm (1 inch) is by far the most common depth, although smaller fans can have shallower depths such as 15mm or even 10mm. All our fans are 25mm thick unless otherwise stated. If you have any questions about which fan you should order, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

If you know the distance between the fan mounting screw holes but don’t know what fan size to order, please see the following table. Note that the mounting hole measurements shown below are taken horizontally or vertically between the holes and not diagonally.

Screw hole spacings and fan sizes

Space Between Screw Holes Fan Size

32mm 40mm

40mm 50mm

50mm 60mm

60mm 70mm

72mm 80mm

83mm 92mm

105mm 120mm
I received a small cable (resistor) with my fan; what is it for?
The resistor cable (also called Ultra Low Noise or ULN cable) is designed to allow the fan to run slightly slower for even quieter operation. The benefit in lower running noise is significant. Although the airflow will be reduced slightly, this usually has minimal effect on PC temperature. We would generally recommend using the ULN resistor cable for best results in almost all circumstances.
How can I tell which way the air blows through the fan?
Hold the fan so that the round fan sticker is facing you. You are looking at the rear of the fan. When you plug the fan in, the air will be blowing towards you. If you want a fan to act as an air intake, then the fan sticker will be facing the inside of the case. Some fans also have two small arrows moulded into their plastic housing - one arrow shows the direction of airflow, and the other (at 90°) shows the direction of blade rotation.
Is it possible to use a 4-pin PWM fan or CPU cooler with a motherboard which has only 3-pin fan headers on it?
Electrically, there is no problem doing this - the fourth pin on the fan cable is used purely for PWM control and is not needed in order for the fan to run. So you can plug the 4-pin fan connector onto the 3-pin motherboard fan header, leaving the fourth pin not connected to anything. The fan will potentially run at full speed, so if you would like to reduce the speed of the fan you will need to adjust the fan speed setting in your BIOS or use fan control software such as SpeedFan in Windows.

The only other problem to consider is that occasionally, components immediately adjacent to the motherboard fan header can get in the way of the larger 4-pin fan connector, physically preventing connection. This problem also occurs if you try to use an in-line fan speed controller such as the one made by Gelid.

Another avenue to explore is the possibility of using a bay-mounted fan controller. Several models are available now which provide 4-pin fan headers, so this is an easy way to use 4-pin PWM fans in a PC system which has only 3-pin fan headers on its motherboards. When using this method, you may find it necessary to disable any fan warning settings in your motherboard BIOS, since the motherboard may incorrectly believe that its CPU fan has failed when the fan is connected to a fan controller rather than directly to the motherboard itself.