Test: Einzeltest: Noctua 120mm NF-S12A (ULN, FLX, PWM) Fan
Zitat: Pro: + Flexible RPM
+ Nearly silent
+ Low power consumption
+ Powerful
Noctua seems to thrive off of achieving the impossible. Every generation its fans are always slower, quieter, and crazier looking than the previous. Noctua competes with other top brands whose fans are much more powerful, and yet it still delivers. The company not only stays competitive, Noctua continues to make its own equipment better. Compared to the last generation, it has made the fans quieter and raised the airflow while retaining the same RPMs. Though the differences seem minimal, this is impressive because of how good the last generation of fans really were. Now, back to considering how these fans performed today. Though they did not beat the competition outright, this should not discourage someone from picking them up for their computer set ups. At their lowest speeds, the fans were good enough to keep the processor at operating temperatures. This speed was 70% slower than the Corsair fan and 67% slower than the Thermaltake. The max speed of the NF-S12A is only just short of being a match for the competition, and they were operating 33% slower that the Thermaltake and 40% slower than the Corsair. Not to mention that the NF-S12A is also around 33% quieter at its max speed than either of the others and it runs off less than half of the power of the Thermaltake. Thanks to the anti-vibration mounts, integrated anti-vibration pads, Anti-Stall Knobs, AAO frame technology, and the Low-noise adapters, these fans can go from quiet, heavy load performance to silent medium, load performance and back conveniently. Unfortunately, this marvelous piece of technology comes at the hefty Noctua premium. Fortunately, this is nothing new for Noctua; it has always put in a great deal of effort developing quality products and has always priced them around the same $25 area for the 120mm fans. The NF-S12A FLX, ULN, and PWM are no exceptions and are well worth the price if you are looking for power, but don’t want to sacrifice peace and quiet. Noctua wraps up all this customization and performance with a six-year warranty. I have been blown away by Noctua’s newest S12 series fans and I hope you will be too.
