• Welcome to Overclockers Forums! Join us to reply in threads, receive reduced ads, and to customize your site experience!

FRONTPAGE Three PWM Fans from Noctua

Overclockers is supported by our readers. When you click a link to make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn More.
Only 54cfm.... Its not exactly hard to get a quiet fan or even a high pressure fan when the RPM's and flow rate are this low. :shrug:
 
I suppose I'll have to post comparison data with other fans. They are quiet and compare well with other fans cooling heatsinks like the NH-d14.
 
I have a couple of the NF-F12 PWM fans I received along with a heatsink from them I am presently testing, ehume. I haven't crunched the numbers yet (still collecting data points), but right off the cuff I'm not seeing any performance difference between them and the NF-P14 fans that come with the heatsink. They are very well built fans though and I might swap them out on a watercooled rig for the Swiftech fans on the rad on that system and see what temps do. The Swifty fans are much noisier than the NF-F12 PWM fans.
 
But, these are focused flow fans. They are going to work best on heatsinks designed to take advantage of that.
 
Last edited:
Nice review. Definitely see what you mean about the rubber mounts, way too short. Depending on the type of material (some are soft silicone, others feel like parts of a radial tire), looks like bleeding fingertips or broken fan corners are sure to follow. Would like to give them a try, but I just can't get past that distinct Noctua color scheme. That beige/brown is sure to match..nothing except maybe another Noctua? lol
 
Nice review. Definitely see what you mean about the rubber mounts, way too short. Depending on the type of material (some are soft silicone, others feel like parts of a radial tire), looks like bleeding fingertips or broken fan corners are sure to follow. Would like to give them a try, but I just can't get past that distinct Noctua color scheme. That beige/brown is sure to match..nothing except maybe another Noctua? lol

The fans are too tough to break with mere rubber pegs, and those pegs won't cut your fingers. You just won't get a good grip.

Back when I still thought I needed an exhaust fan I tried to mount an NF-S12B in the back of my case. I couldn't do it with the Noctua pegs. I ended up using double-ended pegs for the fan corners away from the side panel (that was before I discovered the isolators linked in the article). The problem with the double-enders was that the rubber was very stiff; they had to be cut or broken off the fan. Where the NF-F12 differs from previous fans it that its screw holes seem a bit smaller -- smaller enough that I don't want to risk putting a Noctua peg in. The Nexus pegs are much softer.
 
One feature I really like on the NF-F12 PWM fans is the soft rubber on the corners to help cut vibration noise down. The rubber corner inserts are removable too, in case you run into a situation where they would interfere with mounting somehow. But I had no problems mounting them on the heatsink I am presently testing with the rubber corners mounted on the fans.

And synphul, I have to agree with you about the Noctua fan colors. The beige/brown scheme is particularly ugly in my opinion too I wish they had chosen a more nuetral color scheme that doesn't clash so badly with most anything else you put inside your case.
 
Yeah I really don't get why they need to have these colors, even though fans are hidden inside and mostly out of view it would be nice to get them in other colors as well. The rubber mountings however are a nice touch.
 
Yeah I really don't get why they need to have these colors, even though fans are hidden inside and mostly out of view it would be nice to get them in other colors as well. The rubber mountings however are a nice touch.

Well, I guess it's to go together with ASUS The Ultimate Force motherboard line. :rofl:
Actually, they do look nice together.

overview.jpg
raised_blade_design_nf_r8.jpg
 
I reviewed a NF12-F for funkykit, it's my daily driver fan now.

The low rating speaks more of Noctua's honesty than it does it's poor airflow compared to other fans. Most fans are wildly over rated, I think I actually believe Noctua.
 
PWM Delta FTW hehe

Its hard to find a better fan for flow rate, pressure and durability than a delta...for all that performance you get some noise but its not too bad IMHO
 
Throw some intense blue LEDs in there and the colors look a lot better, too.
 
Money poorly spent

My opinion is that these fans are overpriced. All you really get for your money is higher snob-appeal based on the name. Long-life bearings, OK, but you'll be rebuilding & tossing fans out before they have a chance to wear out, so why bother?

1300 rpm is slow. Any fan turning that slow is gonna be quiet. Might as well go with some Blademasters and a properly tuned install of Speedfan and you'll have quiet idle and performance cooling when you need it.
 
Start paying attention to any detail will help you not to make fools judgments the strange cuts in the wings of every noctua fan are helping to speed up the air and keeping focused better in here you will see how this cuts are working:

http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=nine_blade_design

in here you will see the focused airflow of a noctua fan compared with any conventional fun

http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=focused_flow_system

If you don’t believe noctuas links I have here for you a test from Silverstone


They tried to copy Noctuas focus flow system just because it brings results even when they operate in low speed!

You can also see the new Zalman_CNPS12X with 3 large fans tested resolts in here:
http://www.benchmark.pl/testy_i_rec...procesora_na_3_wentyle-4145/strona/15695.html

I simply say Noctua, there is no substitute.
 
Last edited:
Back