Noctua Fans Super Test – Which Ones Are Right for You?

A Closer Look

What Fans Are We Testing?

With much gratitude to Noctua, they have provided us with several samples of their fans. Some of these include the new ‘redux’ designs while others are brand new models released to the market. We will give you a brief outline of all the fan models used in our testing below.

Please note that all fans are 120mm in design. They do, however, vary in maximum operating speeds and the way the fan speed is controlled.

NF-F12 PWM – 1500RPM

The first fan we will be testing is the NF-F12 PWM. This is the fan that is provided as standard with their excellent NH U12S cooler. We recently updated our review of that fan to comply with our new testing methodology and you can check that out in the link here!

For more information on this fan, you can visit the official product page in the link here!

NF-A12x25 ULN – 1200RPM

To provide some variety to the testing, we have included a review of one of Noctua’s ULN (ultra-low noise) models. These are designed specifically with noise reduction in mind. In our experience, however, that rarely impacts significantly on the excellent performance. It is, if nothing else, a solid choice if a quiet system is a top priority for you.

For more information on this fan, you can visit the official product page in the link here!

NF-A12x25 PWM – 2000RPM

This model is very similar to the previously mentioned with the exception that this is a 4-pin PWM controlled design with a maximum operating speed of 2000RPM. In terms of fan speed, 2000RPM is significantly high and as such, this is certainly one of the stronger entries at least in terms of what it had to offer.

For more information on this fan, you can visit the official product page in the link here!

NF-P12 Redux-900 – 900RPM

Of the ‘redux’ models we will be testing, this is the lowest speed with a 900RPM fan speed. As such, in terms of CPU cooling fans (or system fans in general), this isn’t a particularly fast model even when compared to other brands. It will, however, be very interesting how to see how this stands next to the non-redux models. Particularly in terms of operational temperatures.

We should note that this isn’t listed as any particular fan type. Being that is is a 3-pin fan though, it’s safe to assume it operates in the terms of a ULN or FLX with fixed operating speeds rather than variable.

For more information on this fan, you can visit the official product page in the link here!

NF-P12 Redux-1300 PWM – 1300RPM

Unlike the NF-p12 900, we can confirm that this is a 4-pin PWM fan which has a maximum operating speed of 1300RPM. In the three ‘redux’ models we will be testing, this represents the middle ground in terms of fan RPM speed.

For more information on this fan, you can visit the official product page in the link here!

NF-P12 Redux-1700 PWM – 1700RPM

The final fan we will be testing is the 1700RPM variant of the NF-p12 Redux. This fan is the fastest in terms of the ‘redux’ models we will be testing. It will be curious though to see how this compares to the other models, particularly the NF-A12x25 PWM with its whopping 2000RPM fan speed.

For more information on this fan, you can visit the official product page in the link here!

Testing!

With our six Noctua fans, we now need to put them to the test. This will be the first time in which we have run such a comprehensive test of 120mm fans. As such, we have had to create a methodology that would make this a ‘fair’ test of comparison.

The details of this methodology will be explained on the next page!