Noctua presents NF-A12x25 120mm Fan, 140mm Adaptor and redux line NF-P12

[AnarchoPrimitiv]

Hang on a second, this post is a total contradiction.

If you're going to piss off a lot of people with a post, it's usually because you know people are going to disagree with it.

But the entire content of your post is assertions that most of the fan-buying-public actually wants what you want.

Both of these things seem to be at least to some degree, exclusive, no? Either everyone wants what you want, so there's no reason for them to be pissed off with what you say, or, they agree with Noctua, in which case your assertions are untrue.



The simple truth of this is that Noctua are a profit-making business. They need to R&D improved products in order to remain competitive - if they don't their competitors will either offer the same thing at a lower price, or a better product at the same price, and will eat away at Noctua's marketshare. There's no good business justification for Noctua to stop their R&D for 4.5 years - even if the end result is only a minor improvement.

As for colours - There's a simple and obvious truth there also - The market is not, on the whole, comprised of people who build tempered glass show systems. We all like to sit around and add hardware to our newegg baskets that we'll never buy and can't afford, imagining that supa-sikk ultra-rig that we could build. But most of us simply don't have the time or money to invest in that. When I build a rig, I prioritise my money performance first, aesthetics second.

That means that Noctua really aren't killing their market by refusing to abandon a colourscheme. In fact, they're strengthening it because their colourscheme is essentially a byword for quality (Which matters to a lot of people and has a long tail in terms of marketing), rather than becoming another "Me too" brand via aesthetics (That don't really matter that much and has a very short tail in terms of marketing).

I thought I was the only one that dream shops on newegg

 

[Fx]

Embrace the brown. It can be beautiful if you do it right. Get some sleeved cables you're set. Not everything has to be black and RGB LEDs to look good.
View attachment 100504

I embraced the brown a long time ago, but I never went the extra mile to make it look this good. Very nice!

I wonder where the sleeves were purchased from.

 

[Valantar]

That was the whole point of this new material that it was more rigid to prevent exactly that from happening also the reason they can do that super small gap.

Nope. The point of the new material is to prevent the fan blades from "stretching" at speed and impacting the frame, not "lifting" out of the frame (perpendicular to the rotation, Z axis, I suppose, not X/Y). Not the same thing. My issue (probably) stems from the bearings in the GTs being a bit loose, allowing the fan to shift up/down the shaft from air pressure.

 

[phanbuey]

Embrace the brown. It can be beautiful if you do it right. Get some sleeved cables you're set. Not everything has to be black and RGB LEDs to look good.
View attachment 100504

that looks nice....
But it still looks better as a black and white shot

 

[WithoutWeakness]

I embraced the brown a long time ago, but I never went the extra mile to make it look this good. Very nice!

I wonder where the sleeves were purchased from.

Not my computer but the sleeving was done by pslate over on Reddit. He makes custom short cables for the NCase M1, Dan A4, and other small form factor cases.

https://imgur.com/a/dRpAx

 

[INSTG8R]

Nope. The point of the new material is to prevent the fan blades from "stretching" at speed and impacting the frame, not "lifting" out of the frame (perpendicular to the rotation, Z axis, I suppose, not X/Y). Not the same thing. My issue (probably) stems from the bearings in the GTs being a bit loose, allowing the fan to shift up/down the shaft from air pressure.

Yeah I understand you now.

 

[danbert2000]

For all you guys whining about Noctua actually pushing fan technology forward, this is not for you people with full ATX towers and a million case fans, or a 360 mm radiator. Go ahead and buy some cheapos at that point. This is about delivering the best possible performance for a one or two fan situation. I have a Mini ITX shoebox build. The clearance for a CPU cooler is 72 mm. I can have one of like 5 top flow CPU coolers and one fan. That's it. So in my situation, the NF-F12 was amazing. It dropped my temps on my i7 at 4 GHz all-core overclock from 90 degrees to 80 degrees. This new fan is going to be even better for making the best of my meager CPU heatsink. I'm surprised all you guys will cream your jeans over a 100 MHz bump on GPU or CPU clocks, or will spend stupid amounts on a case with a window, but somehow an advanced fan is a bridge too far. Well for those of us who are actually trying to make a small, cool running computer that doesn't take up half a desk, or would look fine in an entertainment center, Noctua is the only game in town for CPU and radiator fans. I'm glad you like your cheapo fans. Just don't buy this one if you don't need the best.

 

[Assimilator]

If you don't like the fact that Noctua puts actual engineering effort into designing their fans and pushing the industry forward... or that they don't change the colours of their fans because brown-on-cream is their signature... you could, I dunno, shut the hell up, not post in this thread, and go back to threading RGB LEDs through your urethra?

 

[phanbuey]

If you don't like the fact that Noctua puts actual engineering effort into designing their fans and pushing the industry forward... or that they don't change the colours of their fans because brown-on-cream is their signature... you could, I dunno, shut the hell up, not post in this thread, and go back to threading RGB LEDs through your urethra?

Right!? Screw people who post their opinions in open forums! How dare they make fun of fans that have the same color scheme as smeared poop on yellowed, discolored plastic!? They should be threading their urethrae instead.

+

=

 

[Valantar]

Right!? Screw people who post their opinions in open forums! How dare they make fun of fans that have the same color scheme as smeared poop on yellowed, discolored plastic!? They should be threading their urethrae instead.

View attachment 100507 + View attachment 100508 = View attachment 100509

That faded SNES doesn't match the color of the Noctua at all. Boo.

 

[phanbuey]

You're right its not brown enough...

The noctuas would go perfectly with that rig.

 

[CheapMeat]

View attachment 100515
You're right its not brown enough...

The noctuas would go perfectly with that rig.

 

[Michael Nager]

Noctua opened a hotline in the US for people triggered by the colour of their fans

The number is 1-800-248 363

Yes, that's 1-800-BITE-ME

 

[Blueberries]

Still patiently waiting for an honest benchmark of this fan's performance on a heatsink / radiator.

 

[Valantar]

Still patiently waiting for an honest benchmark of this fan's performance on a heatsink / radiator.

It might very well show up in time, but fan reviews are few a far between. Also, has this actually hit retail yet? Outside of Corsair, I've never heard of a fan maker sampling press for reviews.

 

[RejZoR]

Their fans can bend cosmic rays and I still wouldn't use them. It feels like sticking a leatherface in your case...

 

[Blueberries]

It might very well show up in time, but fan reviews are few a far between. Also, has this actually hit retail yet? Outside of Corsair, I've never heard of a fan maker sampling press for reviews.

They've been on Newegg for a few days now.

 

[WithoutWeakness]

Bought a pair of these last week when they popped up on Amazon. Installed them this morning. They are for real. Currently installed in my NCase M1 on a Corsair H100i. Better tonality than my Gentle Typhoons that they replaced. These Noctuas certainly sound quieter though I'm not sure if it's a byproduct of the better noise signature. It feels like they're moving more air through the radiator but holding my hand up to the case isn't the most objective measurement. Moved the Gentle Typhoons into my second box to replace the stock fans on the H80i and it made a huge difference compared to Corsair's garbage fans.

Would recommend for anyone looking for some real quiet fans if you're willing to plunk down $30 for the best. These are performing beautifully on a radiator and I'm sure they would be great on air coolers as well. May not be worth upgrading over other high-end fans (Noctua NF-F12s, GTs, etc) unless you really want silence. Can't even hear a whisper from these below 1000RPM and they are still keeping my temps right in line with the Gentle Typhoons they replaced. Interested to see some more objective testing by third-party sites.

 

[Valantar]

I'd love to see a review that compares these to GTs, Corsair MLs and Be Quiet Silent Wings 3s, with detailed noise analysis and both radiator and air cooler performance. That'd be sweet.

 

[Michael Nager]

Still patiently waiting for an honest benchmark of this fan's performance on a heatsink / radiator.

I will be getting the new Noctua Sterrox fans on Wednesday and will be in for a complete day of benchmarking.

Presently I have a delidded i7-4790K with Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut applied, the AIO I have is the Corsair H100i and the fans on it are the Noctua NF-F12.

What I will be doing is cleaning out the radiator, and then doing a pass with OCCT with Linpack and the options "AVX capable Linpac" and "Use all cores" activated with the two NF-F12 fans as they come stock.

I will then be doing the same testing but with the NF-F12 using the gasket that comes with the new Noctua fans.

I will then be doing the testing with only one fan on the right (where the hoses connect to the radiator) activated, and then the same test with only one fan on the left activated.

I will then be doing the exact same tests with the new Noctua NF-A12x25 PWM fans with and without the gasket.

Of course all the tests will be done with the fans running at 100%, and no fan profile.

Would that be a benchmark which you would consider to be honest?

 

[Blueberries]

I will be getting the new Noctua Sterrox fans on Wednesday and will be in for a complete day of benchmarking.

Presently I have a delidded i7-4790K with Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut applied, the AIO I have is the Corsair H100i and the fans on it are the Noctua NF-F12.

What I will be doing is cleaning out the radiator, and then doing a pass with OCCT with Linpack and the options "AVX capable Linpac" and "Use all cores" activated with the two NF-F12 fans as they come stock.

I will then be doing the same testing but with the NF-F12 using the gasket that comes with the new Noctua fans.

I will then be doing the testing with only one fan on the right (where the hoses connect to the radiator) activated, and then the same test with only one fan on the left activated.

I will then be doing the exact same tests with the new Noctua NF-A12x25 PWM fans with and without the gasket.

Of course all the tests will be done with the fans running at 100%, and no fan profile.

Would that be a benchmark which you would consider to be honest?

Absolutely! If you have the equipment I would also love to see the varying sound intensity between the F12, F12 x 2, and A12x25 at identical RPMs.

 

[Michael Nager]

Absolutely! If you have the equipment I would also love to see the varying sound intensity between the F12, F12 x 2, and A12x25 at identical RPMs.

I don't have any reliable sound testing equipment.

The best that I could do would be to set up my Rode NT1-A about a foot away from the computer and record the sound.

I am not however very interested in the sound differences, which I can anecdotally relate, as much as I am interested in the cooling efficacy of the new A12x25 vs. NF-F12 and whether or not the gasket is a valuable asset or merely a gimmick.

Testing at the same RPM would be a good idea, however the max RPM of the NF-F12 is given as 1500 RPM +/- 10% and I could approximate the RPM with the A12x25 which has a nominal max of 2000 RPM +/- 10% but I would not be able to get it exact enough to make a valid comparison.

What I will do is to put the LNA - Low Noise Adapter - on the A12x25 and run the benchmark with that.

It would not be precise, but it would be indicative.

Would that be good enough for you? (And no, that is not snark, I am literally asking you if you would accept that, because I know that phrase is used sarcastically).

I should have all the tests done by tomorrow.

I am just as interested in the results of the benchmarks as you are.

The thing I forgot to mention is that I have a CoolerMaster HAF XB (cube case) and will be doing the tests with the front panel and the top panel removed.

When I have done all the benchmarks in this configuration I will close up the case and do a final benchmark with the case closed.

 

[Blueberries]

Would that be good enough for you? (And no, that is not snark, I am literally asking you if you would accept that, because I know that phrase is used sarcastically).

I should have all the tests done by tomorrow.

I am just as interested in the results of the benchmarks as you are.

SpeedFan should allow you to adjust the RPM more accurately. I appreciate any testing with quantifiable results.

 

[Michael Nager]

SpeedFan should allow you to adjust the RPM more accurately. I appreciate any testing with quantifiable results.

So I didn't use SpeedFan, because I honestly couldn't be bothered to introduce another factor into the testing.

The whole testing took seven hours in total, and I did clean up the old NF-F12 fans and cleaned the radiator of the Corsair H100i.

The results where I used the LNA (Low Noise Adapter) the fans on the NF-A12x25 were running almost exactly 200 RPM faster than the NF-F12 ran at max.
So the CPU is a delidded i7-4790K with Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut liquid metal applied.

The CPU is mildly overclocked to 4.4 GHz on all cores.

The CPU Vcore was 1.32 volts.

My results may not be definitive, but I think they are indicative and people can draw their own conclusions from the results.

Each of the following posts will be the fans running in the same configuration and I am only putting in the results for Core 0. If someone wants me to put in all the results then I can, but then it would be even longer, and I think that the results for Core 0 will allow people to draw their own conclusions

1) This is the test with both the fans running at max, with no gasket:

a) NF-F12

b) NF-A12x25

2) The next test is also without gasket and only the right hand fan running, that is the fan closest to the tubes and the radiator is horizontal NOT vertical.

a NF-F12

b) NF-A12x25

The next results are with only the fan on the left hand side (away from the tubes) running

a) NF-F12

b) NF-A12x25

Now for the same tests but with the gasket.

Both fans running at max

a) NF-F12

b) NF-A12x25

Now with only the right hand fan running with gasket

a) NF-F12

b) NF-A12x25

Now only the left hand fan running with gasket

a) NF-F12

b) NF-A12x25

Now a comparison with the NF-F12 running without gasket at full speed and the NF-A12x25 running without gasket but with the LNA

a) NF-F12

b) NF-A12x25

The comparison of the two with gasket, with the NF-F12 running full speed and the NF-A12x25 running with the LNA

a) NF-F12

b) NF-A12x25

Now for the NF-A12x25 running flat out without gasket and the NF-A12x25 running without gasket but with LNA

a) Without LNA

b) With LNA

 

[Blueberries]

Very interesting results! The F12 w/ Gasket has the same max temperature but lower average temperature than the A12x25 with LNA.

Thanks again, I appreciate you taking the time.