Introduction

This is our sixth in a series of videos focusing on fan performance, and a direct follow-up to our look at optimizing 120mm Case Fans. This time we’re bringing a boxful of 140mm into the mix to find the best fan size and placement inside a PC chassis. We’re utilizing six Arctic P12 PWM fans, five Arctic P14 PWM fans, and the be quiet! Pure Base 500DX case. Do more fans make a PC cooler, do bigger fans make a PC cooler, or do they all just make it louder?!?

The Test

Here’s the gear used in the test:

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 3900X
• GPU: EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 XC3
• Case: be quiet! Pure Base 500DX
• Case Fans: Arctic P12 PWM 5-Pack, Arctic P12 PWM White Single Fan, Arctic P14 PWM 5-Pack
• CPU Cooler: Scythe Fuma 2

As with all of our reviews at this point and going forward, this review appears exclusively on YouTube, which you can see below.

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Final Thoughts

We spend a long time not just benchmarking for this video, but really thinking about the data, because what we thought was true going in didn’t always turn out right! What does it all mean? That there are a lot of answers, but also that you can’t just go on “feel” or what everyone else says “works”, but what actually works in your system. Hopefully we’ve given you something to think about the next time you fire up your PC and wonder whether there are any tweaks you can make to it to help it perform at its best!

As always, check out our CPU Cooler Buyer’s Guide, updated quarterly, for all our latest recommendations on coolers and fans!