Review of Replacing the TAOBAO NAS Fan with Arctic P12 PWM

I bought an Arctic P12 PWM cooling fan.

The cooling fan that came with the TAOBAO NAS was extremely noisy, so I had been using the NAS with the fan unplugged, especially since the weather has been cool and I only had one hard drive installed.

The hard drive temperature was approaching 50-60 degrees Celsius, but since it ran fine even in a poorly ventilated Samsung LP case before, I figured it would be okay.

However, recently, as the weather started warming up, the hard drive began failing during backups and restoration attempts.

I couldn’t keep using the noisy stock fan, so during the restoration process, I left the case open and placed a fan in front of it to keep it cool (ugh… 😭).

Even after the restoration, the hard drive kept failing whenever I closed the case, so I had to leave it open.

A day after the restoration, I realized I couldn’t leave it like that. I immediately ordered the Arctic P12 PWM, and it arrived the next day. 🚚💨

Here is the old cooling fan I removed.

Ugh… that disgusting 2-pin adapter.

I don’t care if there’s controversy about my hatred.

I hate 2-pin cooling fans.

This is the Arctic P12 model.

There is also a low-noise version, but I heard that its airflow is insufficient, so I opted for the standard model.

For reference, the older F model has higher airflow, while the P model has higher static pressure.

Personally, I prefer high static pressure because it ensures adequate airflow even if something obstructs the fan, making the P model my choice.

Here are the bundled screws.

I took a picture of them since they were included.

The fan grill isn’t necessary, but since I had it, I decided to transfer it over.

It seems that a high static pressure fan like the Arctic P12 is needed to use the fan grill effectively (payment appreciated, haha).

At first, I tried plugging it into the hot-swap board and the system fan port, but the PWM wasn’t working, and it was running at full speed. So, I plugged it into the CPU fan port instead.

Even when running at full speed, it’s surprisingly quiet considering it’s at full load.

When plugged into the CPU fan port, it runs very quietly. Despite this, the hard drive temperature dropped to 28 degrees Celsius, compared to 50-60 degrees when running without a fan. The effect was impressive.

Additionally, without the fan, the hard drive was extremely noisy due to heat. With the fan installed and the temperature under control, the noise level decreased significantly.

I don’t know why I didn’t install it sooner.

If you are running Xpenology on a TAONAS and find the fan noise too loud but think Noctua fans are too expensive, the Arctic P12 is a highly satisfactory alternative.

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