After testing the low-profile Noctua NF-A12x15 fans, we moved on to another appealing alternative for replacing the stock fans on the Asus TUF GeForce RTX 5070 Ti—a set of three Arctic P12 Slim fans, which you might already know from HWCooling tests. While they don’t outperform Asus’s original solution, which is tailor-made for the heatsink, they deliver slightly better results than the Noctua low-profile fans—and at a much lower price.
Finally, in the last set of tests, we compare the card with three Arctic low-profile fans installed, both with and without side skirts covering the heatsink fins. Just like with the similar test using Noctua low-profile fans, there’s no significant improvement—if anything, it’s slightly worse.
The biggest challenge for the fans is clearly pushing air through the dense fin stack. Preventing air from escaping early through the sides doesn’t help much if the heated air then has to exit through a narrower opening.
Cyberpunk 2077 Benchmark, 4K
without side cover | with side cover
without side cover | with side cover
without side cover | with side cover
The purple curve for fan output comes from the card’s BIOS, which is trying to regulate the original fans that are disconnected. It shows the output level the BIOS would apply to onboard fans based on temperature. The actual output set via the Corsair Commander Pro cannot be logged—only the fan speeds, shown in light blue.
without side cover | with side cover
without side cover | with side cover
F1 24, 4K
without side cover | with side cover
without side cover | with side cover
without side cover | with side cover
The purple curve for fan output comes from the card’s BIOS, which is trying to regulate the original fans that are disconnected. It shows the output level the BIOS would apply to onboard fans based on temperature. The actual output set via the Corsair Commander Pro cannot be logged—only the fan speeds, shown in light blue.
without side cover | with side cover
without side cover | with side cover
Metro Exodus Benchmark, 4K
without side cover | with side cover
without side cover | with side cover
without side cover | with side cover
The purple curve for fan output comes from the card’s BIOS, which is trying to regulate the original fans that are disconnected. It shows the output level the BIOS would apply to onboard fans based on temperature. The actual output set via the Corsair Commander Pro cannot be logged—only the fan speeds, shown in light blue.
without side cover | with side cover
without side cover | with side cover
⠀
I don’t understand this statement: “Standard fans, which are generally designed for system airflow rather than large heatsinks with dense fin stacks, simply don’t perform as well.”
Then, a configuration of 2x NF-A12x25 is shown to beat the default fans.
You’re right—the wording should have said “typical slim-profile case fans,” not “standard fans”. Those are built for general case airflow, not for pushing air through tight, dense fin stacks. Dense heatsinks need higher static pressure, which is why the stock Axial-tech fans—designed for this—do better than slim case fans.
A pair of NF-A12x25s is a different story. They’re full-height 25 mm fans with much higher static pressure, so on the same heatsink they can beat the stock fans at similar temperatures. There’s no contradiction: the warning was about slim case fans, while the other test used pressure-optimized 25 mm fans.
In a later test, I also compared an Arctic P12 to the smaller-diameter Axial-tech fans on the Prime RTX 5070 (one of the three had rattling bearings). At roughly the same temperatures, even the P12 was quieter than those lower-quality individual units, so in this case it would make a suitable replacement.
https://www.hwcooling.net/en/asus-prime-geforce-rtx-5070-deshroud-with-dual-arctic-p12-slim/