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Noctua Case Fan Review
Author: Dennis Garcia
Published: Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Super Silent Fans
Noctua was nice enough to send over 2 fan samples for review, the first is this 80mm unit. Specification wise the NF-R8 is similar to just about any 80mm fan with the exception of the unique features such as the SSO Bearning and Raised-Blade-Design.
The maximum rotational speed is 1800rpm (our tests showed a max speed of 1680 rpm) moving 53 m3/h (roughly 30.9CFM) at a staggering 17dB! Needless to say this is the super silent replacement to any stock fan provided you don't have strict airflow requirements.
The fan actually comes with 2 RPM reducers called LNA and ULNA. Each of these will step the fan down about 500 rpm for an average minimum speed of 800 rpm.
The fan also comes with 4 rubber mounts to prevent vibration.
The maximum rotational speed is 1800rpm (our tests showed a max speed of 1680 rpm) moving 53 m3/h (roughly 30.9CFM) at a staggering 17dB! Needless to say this is the super silent replacement to any stock fan provided you don't have strict airflow requirements.
The fan actually comes with 2 RPM reducers called LNA and ULNA. Each of these will step the fan down about 500 rpm for an average minimum speed of 800 rpm.
The fan also comes with 4 rubber mounts to prevent vibration.
The next fan is the NF-S12-1200, this is a 120mm fan spinning at 1200 rpm (our tests showed a max speed of 1100 rpm). The fan features the same basic technology including the SSO bearing, and Straight-Blade-Design. Rotational speed can be controlled by the included ULNA that will step the fan down 600 rpm for an average minimum speed of 600 rpm. Much to our surprise this fan only moves about 81 m3/h (roughly 47.3 CFM) of air despite its size. However it does this at 17dB!
Featured Technologies
The SSO bearing is a feature unique to all Noctua fans and stands for Self-Stabilizing oil pressure bearing. This bearing uses a combination of oil hydrodynamic pressure and magnets to reduce friction and increase life.
For a complete description of the SSO bearing check out the Noctua website. http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=sso_bearing&lng=en
The other unique feature of these Noctua fans is the different blade designs. Most fan blades are designed for high speed performance and usually have an increased the blade count to help reduce noise and/or increase CFM. Noctua has designed their fans to use different blade designs depending on size and rotational speed.
The NF-S12 features a straight-blade-design that increases CFM at extremely low rotational speeds. For more information on the Straight-Blade-Design please consult the Noctua website. http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=straight_blade_design&setlng=en
The NF-R8 features a Raised blade design that is designed for the faster spindle speeds found on 80mm fans. The unique design minimizes noise emissions while increasing performance by as much as 10%. You can find out more about this innovation on the Noctua website. http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=raised_blade_design&setlng=en
For a complete description of the SSO bearing check out the Noctua website. http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=sso_bearing&lng=en
The other unique feature of these Noctua fans is the different blade designs. Most fan blades are designed for high speed performance and usually have an increased the blade count to help reduce noise and/or increase CFM. Noctua has designed their fans to use different blade designs depending on size and rotational speed.
The NF-S12 features a straight-blade-design that increases CFM at extremely low rotational speeds. For more information on the Straight-Blade-Design please consult the Noctua website. http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=straight_blade_design&setlng=en
The NF-R8 features a Raised blade design that is designed for the faster spindle speeds found on 80mm fans. The unique design minimizes noise emissions while increasing performance by as much as 10%. You can find out more about this innovation on the Noctua website. http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=raised_blade_design&setlng=en
