2023-09-10 22:56:32
Almost no other fan manufacturer offers such an extensive range of fans as Arctic. From 40 mm to 140 mm, you can find the most common fan sizes in the PC sector. Even though 120mm fans in particular have taken over these days, smaller fans are still very relevant in some small form factor cases or when older cases are reused. And it’s good to see that evolution is still underway here too. Where we reviewed the Arctic P12 Max not too long ago, the 80mm little brother, the Arctic P8 Max, now follows as the brand’s most capable new model. We’ll see how this works in practice in this Arctic P8 Max review!
Features
Size
80x80x25mm
Vitesse
500 – 5 000 tr/min
Max. flux d’air
67,96 m³/h
Max. static pressure
5.3 mm in height2Ô
Cable length
40 cm
Landing
Double ball bearing
Max. energy consumption
2,3 W
Weight
84g
Guarantee
6 ans
Prix
8,99 € *
Packaging and delivery contents
Small unpadded package Well packaged fan Only accessories included are fan screws
The packaging of the Arctic P8 Max is typical of Arctic. Inside the compact blue box you will find the unpadded fan. This package is quite difficult to open non-destructively. I should have opened the box without any tools, and the fan is also pretty tight. But ultimately, this box isn’t something you have to collect for long either. Aside from the fan, only the mandatory screws for the case fan are in the box. It might not be a lot of accessories, but at this price, really, it’s all you can expect.
Design and finishing
Discreet black design Neat but simple finish Black and thin cable
While the design of the Arctic P12 Max is noticeably different from the regular P12, the Arctic P8 Max doesn’t look noticeably different from other P8 models. For example, the tips of the family’s five fan blades are not connected, as is the case on the P12 Max.
The Arctic P8 Max compared to its big brother Arctic P12 Max
The case is black and quite simple. The corners of the Arctic P8 Max come without rubberized support surfaces. Compared to the fan blades, the motor is quite large, but this is common for small fans.
With a length of 40 cm, the cable is sufficient for most applications. Additionally, the Arctic P8 Max’s cable is thin and black, making it easy and discreet to install.
The gap between the fan blades and the frame is clear.
The fan blades of the Arctic P8 Max proved to be robust and made of high-quality plastic, but the distance from the frame is not very small.
Test procedure
Comparison with other fans Results given in difference to ambient temperature
The Arctic P8 Max test is carried out on an air cooler to see its performance. In comparison, we find a Fractal Design Silent Series R3 80 mm, which is limited by the low speed of 1600 RPM. The AVC DASH0925R2H round frame fan on the air cooler was also tested. This fan name is a bit heavy handed, but this is the 92mm fan with the hole spacing of an 80mm fan that is on the AMD Wraith Stealth out of the box.
80mm fans can be easily mounted on the AMD Wraith Stealth.
The comparison also includes a fan from Fractal Design and the original 92mm fan from AVC, which was originally mounted on the AMD cooler.
Temperatures are measured as a difference from the ambient temperature so that they cannot directly influence the measurement results. So, if the result is given as 40 Kelvin, this means a processor temperature of 65°C at an ambient temperature of 25°C. However: smaller numbers are better.
In the air cooler test, Cinebench R23 on the AMD Ryzen 5 3600X is used as a load to heat the CPU to around 70W.
Performance Comparison
Relatively many top-down coolers, like AMD’s Wraith Spire cooler, rely on a 92mm fan with the hole spacing of an 80mm fan. This allows the original fan to be replaced with the Arctic P8 Max. Accordingly, I also use this one for testing. At first glance, the Arctic fan is at a disadvantage due to its small size, but is this really the case? First, a volume test.
At full power, I measured a volume of 46.2 dB(A) with the Arctic P8 Max. Thus, 4600 RPM is achieved with the cooler resistance. Reduced to 3300 RPM, the maximum of the AVC DASH0925R2H from the factory as on the AMD cooler, it is still 37.8 dB(A). At 2400 rpm, only a slight knock of the motor is noticeable and with 31 dB(A), the fan is already only barely far from the case fans. Finally, I select 1600 RPM, which is the maximum speed of the Fractal Design Silent Series R3 80mm. The Arctic P8 Max is practically imperceptible here.
The AMD cooler’s AVC fan has never really been known for being quiet. At 3,300 rpm it reaches 44.5 dB(A), which is only slightly quieter than the Arctic P8 Max at 4,600 rpm. At 2400 rpm the AVC fan is still at 39.3 dB(A) and at 1600 rpm it is still noticeably noisier than the Arctic P8 Max at 2400 rpm at 33 dB( HAS).
The Fractal Design Silent Series R3 80mm is not as quiet as its name suggests. Sure, its low top speed makes it anything but noisy, but a constant rattle from the fan makes it about as noticeable at 1,600 rpm as the Arctic P8 Max is at 2,400 rpm.
RPM not RPM.
Arctic P8 Max
AMD 92mm AVC Fan
Fractale R3 80 mm
4600
54.1
–
–
3300
56.3
55.1
–
2400
59,6*
55,5
–
1600
64,4*
58,6*
61,5*
*Performance loss due to boost clock reduction.
Analysis of test results
Other fans are more powerful at comparable speed The Arctic P8 Max is very quiet though and can spin faster and get louder here
Of course, if you look at uniform speed, the 92mm cooler performs a bit better than the smaller Arctic P8 Max at the same speed. But the Arctic fan has a strong volume advantage, which more than compensates for the performance disadvantage due to the higher rpm possible.
The Arctic P8 Max is fairly quiet, so it can make good use of its wide rev range without getting too boring too quickly.
The Fractal Design Silent Series R3 80mm offers decent performance for the selected speed, but the motor noise is noticeably louder, so the practical benefit is also negligible. You can simply make the Arctic P8 Max run much faster. This is where the kinship with other Arctic P models, which have similar characteristics, appears.
Unlike the Arctic P12 Max, there were no issues with PWM signals on the ASUS motherboard used with the P8 Max.
Performance as a case fan
Smaller, shallower or older cases can use 80mm fans High speed allows use in hot environments
Whether you are using small form factor (SFF) cases, older cases, or 19″ rack cases (server cases), 80mm fans are still relevant. Even though they are no longer as common as they were 15 years ago, you will still encounter them.
The Arctic P8 Max can run very quickly, making it suitable for servers in hot environments
In this case, the Arctic P8 Max is also suitable for server use in warmer environments, as the high speed can still carry a lot of heat out of the case. In short, the results are consistent with the air cooler test.
Conclusion
The Arctic P8 Max is, first and foremost, a cheap 80mm fan that looks pretty simple. But despite its simple design, the build quality is solid and the high speed range allows you to use it very flexibly. Of course, when used at full power it gets quite loud and you don’t necessarily want to hear that on a daily basis when sitting next to it. So if you have the computer next to you, an Arctic P8 PWM PST with a maximum of 3000 RPM should be a choice that doesn’t risk seeing the fan rev up if you don’t want to use the performance the highest and volume ranges anyway. That being said, the Actic P8 Max is simply ideal for use on an air cooler or in a server case located in a separate room and therefore not very relevant in terms of noise. Here, however, the P8 Max’s also aren’t loud enough to scream through the door like some other 80mm fans would at this speed.
So the Arctic P8 Max are not necessarily fans for everyone, but definitely very flexible fans that you should definitely consider when looking for 80mm fans.
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