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  HalTech

Noctua NF-F12 PWM Focused Flow fan Written Review

25/2/2012

Comments

 
It’s an impressive fan, but the colours might be an issue.
Picture
Here’s the spec:

  • Size 120 * 120* 25mm
  • Connector 4pin Pwm
  • Bearing SSO2
  • Minimum Speed 300rpm
  • Speed 1500rpm
  • Airflow 93,4 m³/h
  • Noise 22,4 dB(A)
  • Static Pressure 2,61 mm H2O
  • Speed w/ L.N.A 1200rpm
  • Airflow w/ L.N.A 74,3 m³/h
  • Noise w/ L.N.A 18,6 dB(A)
  • Static Pressure w/ L.N.A
  • Max Input Power 0.6w

Design: This fan is to date the most feature rich fan I have ever come across. So I will start with the fan itself. It’ is a 120mm fan with the main goal being static pressure. It uses a 7 blade design, this is good when put up against a high pressure because the blades can be bigger.
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This causes it to be less ‘choppy’ in the air. The fan is using an SSO2 bearing and is currently the only fan by Noctua to use this. My guess is that they don’t want the fan to lack in any area so they went one up compared to their previous fans bearings. This shows as the fan runs so smoothly its almost deceiving from the quite aggressive purpose the fan was designed for. They surrounded the bearings with a fully metal shell to make it just that much better.
Picture
With a myriad of features its hard to know where to talk about next but the big feature that stands out is the Focused Flow frame. The feature that the fans name is derived from. These are eleven ‘Stator guide vanes’ That in the simplest terms guide the air and focus it in the best way possible.
Picture
These guides are at varying angles and along them are ‘Vortex control notches’ which helps with the noise.

A lot of the features that are on this fan are actually to do with noise reduction. One feature being their PWM chip designed to reduce the noise when running the fan at lower speeds. Two other features for quietness are the stepped inlet design which helps direct the air into the fan in a way that not only reduces the noise but actually increases the fans performance.
Picture
The other feature is called ‘Inner surface micro-structures’. This design is meant to create a sort of buffer zone in the air reducing the noise created by the blade tips and improving air movement.
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To bunch the rest of the features into one paragraph, we have low power consumption at 0.6w as well as a 6year warranty. It also comes with a 20cm attached sleeved cable and a 30cm sleeved extension to make this fan great for cable management.
Picture
It is fitted with noise dampening rubber pads too.
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Helping with noise even more and if that’s not enough you can attach it to the case with the included anti-vibration mounts rather than the screws included.
Picture
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Now I thought I would leave this till the end, the appearance. People hate the colours. In fact they hate them so much that if you have Noctua fans everybody knows they are Noctua. Funny isn’t it. They have a look that is actually starting to work with some of the more rugged designs like the Sabertooth series by Asus or the Corsair C70. When it comes down to it this fan looks amazing and the quality of the material used is better than anything I’ve ever come across on a fan before, just the colours might leave people slightly disappointed.

Performance: There is very little to say about the performance of this fan. ITS AMAZING. Yes it’s slightly louder than the NF-P12 PWM but what it looses in noise it gains ten times over in the static pressure. What you have here is close to the perfect fan for a radiator. As a fan designed for static pressure I would never use it as a case fan as you will be benefiting from it.
Picture
Conclusion: To conclude my written review, this fan is nigh on perfect for its use. Let me remind you again that this is a radiator fan and maybe a heatsink fan. The static pressure rating it has is phenomenal all down to the extremely high quality components inside of it. In fact I’m so impressed by it I gave it a 9 out of 10. Why only 9? well simply the colour choice is very… limited. And I know from personal experience that sometimes a colour or led option can win me over when choosing for my pc builds. In terms of value it is great however due to the recent appearance of the Corsair SP series the value of this fan has somewhat diminished while still being better it is almost twice the price at the time of writing this review.

Verdict:

Rating- 9/10

Value- 7/10
Video Review
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