Closer Examination

Taking the fan out of the clamshell packaging can be tricky, especially if you do so in a dimly lit environment wherein you may miss the part where the fan cable is split into a shorter cable connected to the fan motor and a longer extension cable. This allows end users to use custom cables to account for cable lengths on radiators, for example, or even connect multiple fans to a close-by PWM fan splitter; you could even use the extension cable for when you want more reach.


The Noctua NF-F12 as a general fan comes in many different options. The chromax version, however, is one size fits all with a single rated speed and has newer technology relative to the redux series. Take the frame, for example, which Noctua calls the Focused Flow frame with eleven stator vanes on the back instead of the usual four in an attempt to straighten and focus the airflow field through the fan. We also see the stepped inlet design on the corners we had previously seen on the NF-A12x25, and Noctua says this improves the fan's performance/noise efficiency. The impeller has seven blades with a design (Noctua calls this the Heptaperf geometry) that strikes me as more hybrid for static pressure and airflow as opposed to the more pressure-optimized design of the NF-P12 fan we saw recently. The completely black color scheme is also universally compatible with any PC build, which alone has been enough to get many purchases thus far. Should you need it, there are arrows on one side to depict the direction of rotor motion and airflow through the fan.


The fan has no corner pads pre-installed. The intention here is for the end user to choose which corner pads to use from among the six color options. The provided pads are easy to install and made out of flexible rubber, although we only get four of each color, so you can only have one color per side. If you want to have them on both sides (which would take eight corner pads), you will have to use two different color sets, which does seem like an oversight. Perhaps, Noctua thinks only one side will be seen, even if it means four pads on two corners are visible, or perhaps they just want you to buy more chromax replacement pads.


Noctua is using their excellent SSO2 bearing for this fan (more on it here), which is as expected, but still good to see. The sealed bearing has a brass shell on the outside, but the magnetic field generated by the bearing is still strong enough, as shown by the images above. The extension cable is 30 cm long, braided in black, and terminates in a standard 4-pin fan connector.

Each fan is rated for 0.05 A (0.60 W) on the 12 VDC rail, which corresponds to the peak draw with start-up boost. I noticed a maximum operating current draw of 0.04 A here (~0.5 W on the 12 V rail), so you should be able to operate a good number of these fans off a single 1 A fan header with even start-up boost accounted for. This is an extremely efficient motor, but there is no mention of the updated PWM IC as we saw with their other recent fans, which means it doesn't include a zero-RPM mode at 0% PWM duty cycle and lower PWM-switching noise.