MSI MEG Silent Gale P12: A dominant all-rounder for a price

MSI MEG Silent Gale P12 in detail

While the Silent Gale P12 isn’t the first fan in MSI’s lineup (like the Strix XF120 from Asus), it beats anything previous from the company by a mile. This is by the efficiency of the rotor, which is suitable for radiators as well as for a case, but also by the overall robust design. There’s a big, powerful but quiet motor, and you won’t even know about the hydrodynamic bearings.

We reported on the release of the MEG Silent Gale P12 fan quite recently, but now we’re going to properly put it to the test. Compared to MSI’s Torx fan, this should be a serious step up in all directions, even price-wise. From the price of over thirty euros, it’s clear that MSI believes in the fan.

* When reading performance values, a certain amount of tolerance must always be taken into account. For maximum speeds, ±10 % is usually quoted, minimum speeds can vary considerably more from piece to piece, sometimes manufacturers will overlap by as much as ±50 %. This must then also be adequately taken into account for air flow, static pressure and noise levels. If only one value is given in a table entry, this means that it always refers to the situation at maximum speed, which is achieved at 12 V or 100 % PWM intensity. The manufacturer does not disclose the lower limit of the performance specifications in its materials in that case. The price in the last column is always approximate.

The Silent Gale P12’s high weight is the first thing above standard. You won’t find many fans that exceed 209 g. The body is extremely robust and the rotor is made of liquid crystal polymer (LCP). And if MSI claims that the frame can withstand the effects of super-high pressure, we confirm it.

The frame will only start to deform under enormous force and you can’t just wiggle it in your hands. In this respect Silent Gale P12 will not find many rivals, but the importance of such a feature for a fan that does not encounter high mechanical forces in practice is of course questionable. But it’s an excellent showcase of strength, that’s a fact.

The engine is also solid. Its housing has a diameter of 51.5 mm and, among other things, it also hides hydrodynamic bearings. Their operation is virtually noiseless and the fan is characterized by a purely aerodynamic sound. MSI’s remark about friction noise reduction is thus justified. The rubber pads in the corners of the fan thus primarily dampen vibrations from turbulence.

The rotor blades are long, curved – the shape is inspired by the Gentle Typhoon fan. The Noctua NF-A12x25 is similar, but with the difference that MSI doesn’t go into so much detail with it and stays with relative simplicity.

Neither the blades nor the frame contain any, shall we say, micro-details that could be dissected. The finish is “dirty” (perhaps even speckled), but deliberately so. MSI breaks up the boring look of monochromatic black fans with this, and it makes the Silent Gale P12 visually appealing as well.

There are more than enough differences from the Noctua sterrox fan, for example the gap between the tips of the blades and the frame is bigger. It’s respectable that MSI makes no secret of the lower efficiency in the specs. Still, this should be an attractive fan that combines high speeds (and a wide speed range overall) with passive mode at low PWM intensity.

Accessories include a 30-cm extension cable (the built-in fan cable is already quite long at 35 cm), pins with soft anti-vibration grommets for mounting in a case and a set of self-tapping screws.

• Contents
• MSI MEG Silent Gale P12 in detail
• The basis of the methodology, the wind tunnel
• Mounting and vibration measurement
• Initial warm-up and speed recording
• Base 7 equal noise levels…
• .. and sound color (frequency characteristic)
• Static pressure measurement…
• … and airflow
• Everything changes with obstacles
• How we measure power draw and motor power
• Measuring the intensity (and power draw) of lighting
• Results: Speed
• Results: Airflow w/o obstacles
• Results: Airflow through a nylon filter
• Results: Airflow through a plastic filter
• Results: Airflow through a hexagonal grille
• Results: Airflow through a thinner radiator
• Results: Airflow through a thicker radiator
• Results: Static pressure w/o obstacles
• Results: Static pressure through a nylon filter
• Results: Static pressure through a plastic filter
• Results: Static pressure through a hexagonal grille
• Results: Static pressure through a thinner radiator
• Results: Static pressure through a thicker radiator
• Results: Static pressure, efficiency by orientation
• Reality vs. specifications
• Results: Frequency response of sound w/o obstacles
• Results: Frequency response of sound with a dust filter
• Results: Frequency response of sound with a hexagonal grille
• Results: Frequency response of sound with a radiator
• Results: Vibration, in total (3D vector length)
• Results: Vibration, X-axis
• Results: Vibration, Y-axis
• Results: Vibration, Z-axis
• Results: Power draw (and motor power)
• Results: Cooling performance per watt, airflow
• Results: Cooling performance per watt, static pressure
• Airflow per euro
• Static pressure per euro
• Results: Lighting – LED luminance and power draw
• Results: LED to motor power draw ratio
• Evaluation