Introduction

Today we are going to take a look at two series of fans from Arctic Cooling F Pro TC and PWM (temperature controlled, pulse width modulation). These two types of fans come in three different flavors if you will, 80mm, 92mm and 120mm. There are many applications where you can use TC or PWM fans. Picking the right one for the job could be some what difficult. Hopefully after reading this review it will be clear where and when to use these fans. As part of our review we are going to be concentrating on 120mm versions of these fans and see how similar and different they both are.

About the Product

Following information is taken from the Arctic Cooling website.

Temperature Controlled High Performance Case Fans

The intelligent programmed temperature controller and accurate temperature detection make ARCTIC F Pro TC the best TC fans in the market.

Cutting-edge thermal management concept
Unlike other generic temperature controlled case fans, the ARCTIC F Pro TC fan provides cooling according to not only the temperature, but also the overall necessity for cooling.

The revolutionary programmed temperature controller plays a key role. As shown in the chart, when case ambient air temperature is at safe level 0°C to 32°C, the ARCTIC F Pro TC fan speed remains at its lowest (500 rpm). This is to offer adequate ventilation at the lowest noise level possible. The ARCTIC F Pro TC is therefore completely inaudible (0.05 sone) at low temperatures – a much quieter level than generic TC fans.

However, once a gaming system is at load, the case ambient air temperature will go up speedily, and without any case fans, most likely it will rise above 40°C, an overheated level for most PC cases. High performance and instant cooling is vital at this stage in order to eliminate the risk of overheating and system instability.

The ARCTIC F Pro TC is programmed to achieve top fan speed at 38°C. The fan responses to the rise in temperature swiftly – within a critical 6°C range, the rpm of the ARCTIC F Pro TC fan increases from around 500 to its maximum of 2,000 rpm (the steep curve in the chart). Heat is dissipated from the case rapidly in order to achieve immediate cooling. As a result, the case air temperature remains at 38°C or below and thus the possibility of having a system failure can be eliminated.

Highly flexible – sensor on a 40cm cable
The accurate temperature sensor of the ARCTIC F Pro TC is equipped at the end of a 40cm cable. This gives much better flexibility when choosing the most appropriate spot that users would like to have the temperature detection.

High Performance Ultra Quiet PWM Case Fans

The ARCTIC F Pro PWM fans outerperform other 80mm/92mm/120mm fans in the market. The patented PWM Sharing Technology (PST) regulates the speed up to 5 fans via BIOS. With efficient central cooling, the ARCTIC F Pro PWM fans offer excellent cooling and noise control performance for the system.

Main features

•    Patented PWM Sharing Technology (PST) •    Best noise-performance ratio •    Patented fan holder eliminates the      buzzing sounds •    Patented vibration absorption •    Fluid dynamic bearing extends service      life •    Compatible with screwless mounting

How does PST lower the temperature of the entire case?

CPU and VGA cards nowadays generate increasing amount of heat which leads to high case ambient temperature. Some users will use more case fans to cool down the case. However, this will produce more noise, and energy will be wasted as all fans run at full speed even after the case temperature is lowered.

Using the new ARCTIC F Pro PWM fan can solve these problems without any hassles. Firstly, with PWM signal, the fan runs at necessary speed according to the CPU load. Furthermore, thanks to the innovative patented PST function, up to 5 fans (including CPU fans) can be connected to the ARCTIC F Pro PWM fan. The speed of all the fans in this PST system is now centrally controlled by a single PWM signal via BIOS.

As a result, when the system load increases, all fans in the PST system will run faster to lower the case temperature. Likewise, when the load is low, fan speed will be lower at a necessary speed for sufficient cooling. 

In conclusion, the advantages of having PST are:

Now that we got basic information out of the way, lets take a closer look at Arctic Cooling F12 Pro TC and PWM series fans.

Closer look

TC vs PWM series		TC fans and their flavors

Judging by packaging, TC and PWM fans from Arctic Cooling are not all that different. In fact the physical structure of both models are identical. They both have Fluid Dynamic Bearing and vibration absorbing fan holder. Majority of the noise is produced by the actual fan giving off vibration to the case. With these vibration rubber mounts Arctic Cooling fans generate little on no vibration toward your case.

Noise Level Control		Temperature sensor

F TC fans come in three flavors, 80mm, 92mm and 120mm. With these various sizes TC fans could be used in tight or small cases, providing you with best cooling at low rpm's and sone. The TC fans are all featured with 40cm cable. This cable is designed to reach out and mount to the case. Your average case should be between 38-42C at all times.

TC fans out of the box		Japanese temperature sensor

The temperature sensor is made in Japan. As we all know Japan has all the quality products like TVs, VCR's and of course, Solid State Capacitors :) This temperature sensor has to be attached to the case in order to obtain proper temperature from the case. Once the temperature of the case his 38C the TC fan is programmed to spin at 1300 RPM and provide exceptional cooling for your entire case. The slowest TC fans go is 400 RPM.

Patented fan holder		Swiss Design

As i ve mentioned earlier, both F TC and F PWM fans are equipped with vibration absorption rubbers which eliminate the buzzing sounds from the case. This is very cool technology and Arctic Cooling are on top of the list in the patented charts. The F TC 120mm Fan is rated for 12V .15A. So there is no need to worry for your power supply not supporting enough power to run 4 case fans, if needed.

PWM fans and their flavors		Patented PWM Sharing Technology (PST)

F PWM fans are pretty much the same as the F TC fans by appearance. What makes these fans different from TC fans is the PST (Patented Sharing Technology) of PWM (Pulse Width Modulation). What is PWM to begin with? PWM is a technique used by motherboard to send a signal to a fan or a cooler to control the speeds of the cooling. So in simple words, your motherboard could control how much cooling it needs all by itself trough the signaling cable. Many newer type of motherboard support PWM so before purchasing these fans, we recommend checking with your motherboard manufacturer.

PWM fans out of the box		PWM connector

F PWM fans come in three types, 80mm, 92mm and 120mm just like F TC fans. If you have never seen a PWM connector the picture above captures it perfectly. There is an instruction sheet which shows how to properly install a series of PWM fans for the best optimal situation. The F PWM series fans are a bit different from the previous versions of PWM fans. The Arctic Cooling F PWM fans come with a speed pin which you can use to monitor the revolution speeds of PWM fans.

Testing

Installation and usage of these fans are pretty much self explanatory. No need to read books on how to install fan here heh. Just 4 screws and you are ready to connect them.

120mm F TC Fan		Temperature sensor

The F TC fans have regular three prung plug which connects to the motherboard of power supply. Many power supplies support fan connectors now a days. The temperature sensor could be placed anywhere in the case. Keep in mind that the TC fans will kick in when temperature of the case/sensor reaches 38C.

120mm F PWM Fan		PWM connector

The F PWM fans have a PWM connector which is similar to TC fans connector but it comes with a signaling pin. Over this pin motherboard sends a signal to all of the fans so they can speed up or slow down the rotational speeds. The F PWM has a reporting pin which could be connected to the motherboard. This way you are able to read the rotational speed of the fans.

Conclusion

Here we have two totally different types of fans but yet the same when come in performance. The areas where you would need to utilize TC or PWM fans are entirely up to you. On one hand you have a temperature controlled system and on the other, motherboard controlled system. In both cases, these fans are smart enough when to provide less or more cooling. And yes both of these fans do save you money in the long run. If your system is properly cooled and in idle state (like some of my machines) these fans will save a great deal of money and by being extremely quiet they add on to the style of the performance. So how quiet do these get? Well is 1 sone is 40 db then .5 sone is somewhere close to 23db. You should expect 33 CFM from TC and close to 57 CFM from PWM fans. If i had to pick one of these fans, i would pay attention on how much CFM do i need to be pushed out of my case. Both of these products are HOT and highly recommended by computer enthusiasts all over the world. It gives me great pleasure to present Arctic Cooling F Pro Series TC and PWM fans with 10 out of 10 award! Highly Recommended gear!

Some pros we found:

TC fans are controlled by case temperature.

Easy to install both fans.

Vibration absorbers in both fans.

Whopping 6 years warranty.

Fluid Dynamic Bearing in both fans.

PWM fans are controlled by motherboard.

Both fans are extremely quiet and great on saving energy for a user.

Some cons we found:

None that we could find.