Noctua NF-A12x15

Introduction

The infamous beige and brown colour scheme of Noctua fans may be "make or break" for some people's buying preferences, but that hasn't stopped the Noctua fans being some of the most respected fans on the market.Its time to take a look at the new Noctua NF-A12x15 120mm fans here at Xtremesystems.org. In an era when consumers are being increasingly more fussy about aesthetics, quality and noise, Noctua have managed to make a name for themselves with the NF-A12x15 PWM and FLX models.

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Specifications.

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Packaging & Contents

As expected the packaging with the Noctua NF-A12x15 fans is very high quality. I've mentioned this before on previous Noctua reviews but it is worth saying again, packaging for most people falls into two categories:you think it should be as minimalist as possible to save costs and keep the product price down or you think they should put in the attention to detail to improve the overall buying experience. Noctua have clearly done the latter here.

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The back side of the cover shows a brief description of the fan in nine different languages and provides the fan specifications, the Scope of Delivery again, and the Six Years of Warranty disclaimer.

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Once you open up the Noctua packaging you can see what I mean about the attention to detail,although some might call it marketing overload. Either way we'll take you through all of the key features of the NF-A12x15 fans on the next page.

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There is a second compartment which contains more detailed and labelled diagrams of all the key features of the NF-A12x15. Please check out the next page called "Key Features" if you are interested in these.

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The next pair of images show their accessories removed from their boxes.
The NF-A12x15 PWM includes:
-Low-Noise Adaptor (L.N.A.)
-4 Pin y-cable
-30cm extension cable
-NA-AV3 anti-vibration mounts
-Fan screws
The NF-A12x15 FLX includes:
-Low-Noise Adaptor (L.N.A.)
-Ultra-Low-Noise Adaptor (U.L.N.A.)
-3:4-pin adaptor cable
-30cm extension cable
-NA-AV3 anti-vibration mounts
-NA-AV4 anti-vibration mounts

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A Closer Look

Once you've observed the obvious things, like the colour scheme and seven blade impeller, you start to notice the finer details in these Noctua NF-A12x15 fans.Having a thickness of only 15mm, the NF-A12x15 is much slimmer than standard 120x25mm fans. This makes it ideal for typical slim fan applications such as low-profile CPU coolers as well as for freeing up space by replacing standard 120x25mm fans on tower coolers, radiators or in PC cases.

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Integrated anti-vibration pads made from extra-soft silicone minimise the transmission of minute vibrations while maintaining full compatibility with all standard mounting systems and fan clips used on heatsinks.

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Inner surface microstructures are an advanced aerodynamic design measure first introduced with Noctua's NF-A12x15 fan. Miniature dents at the inside of the fan frame create a turbulent boundary layer when the fan blades pass by. With the tips of the fan blades ploughing through this boundary layer, flow separation from the suction side of the blades is significantly reduced. As suction side flow separation is a major source of axial fan blade passing noise and leads to considerable losses in airflow and pressure efficiency, the use of Inner Surface Microstructures allows for lower noise emission and better performance at the same time. Reducing undesired turbulences caused by suction side flow separation, Inner Surface Microstructures help Noctua's latest fans to keep pushing the boundaries in performance to noise efficiency.

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The NF-A12x15 impeller features suction side Flow Acceleration Channels. By speeding up the airflow at the crucial outer blade regions, this measure reduces suction side flow separation and thus leads to better efficiency and lower vortex noise.

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Custom designed PWM IC with SCD Noctua's custom-designed NE-FD1 is a next-generation PWM fan driver IC that integrates Smooth Commutation Drive (SCD) technology for quieter operation and allows for ultra-low power consumption. Its superb linearity and security features such as locked rotor or reverse voltage protection make it an ideal driver IC for premium-class PWM fans.Most conventional PWM fan driver ICs put out square signals that cause sudden torque impulses. These impulses can cause minute deformations of the entire fan structure which lead to audible "clicking" noises that are especially noticeable with many common PWM fans running at slower speeds. Adopting Noctua's Smooth Commutation Drive (SCD) technology, the custom designed NE-FD1 PWM IC slows down the slew rate of the output signal in order to give a smoother, less sudden torque impulse. This way, PWM switching noises can be effectively suppressed and the fan runs even quieter, especially at low speeds.

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With many larger-diameter slim fan designs, the shorter axis and bearing lead to a reduced running stability and lifespan. The NF-A12x15 uses a metal-reinforced motor hub, a measure typically found in high-speed industrial fans, in order to guarantee Noctua?s signature stability and longevity.

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The self-stabilising oil-pressure bearing (SSO-Bearing) system has always been at the heart of Noctua's award-winning premium fans. Silent enthusiasts and industry clients alike swear by its proven, time-tested quality. SSO combines the proven concept of oil-based hydrodynamic bearings with an additional magnet that supports the self-stabilisation of the rotor axis. Due to the axis being stabilised by the magnetic field, Noctua's SSO Bearing achieves higher precision and better longevity than conventional ball-, sleeve- or hydrodynamic bearings.SSO2 is the further optimised second generation of SSO. Made possible by the use of metal bearing shells and new injection moulding techniques, the magnet is now placed closer to the rotor axis and thus exerts higher magnetic force to it. This results in even better stabilisation, precision and durability.

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Noctua's Stepped Inlet Design adds turbulence to the influx in order to facilitate the transition from laminar flow to turbulent flow, which reduces tonal intake noise, improves flow attachment and increases suction capacity, especially in space restricted environments.

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Test System & Methology


Testing a high-end fan such as the Noctua NF-A12x15 is tricky and somewhat inaccurate given the tolerances of both a silent cooling device and the harsh environment found inside every computer case.Ambient temperatures are kept at 23C throughout my tests.The CPU Fan is set to 100% to eliminate inconsistencies as a result of PWM control.Idle temperatures are obtained after booting the PC and idling on the desktop for 30 minutes.Load temperatures are obtained after running Prime95′s Small FTTs test for 15 minutes.To measure noise levels i disable the two front in-take fans, rear exhaust and GPU fan.

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Testing Setup:

Processor: Core i7 3960X @ 4.4 GHz-1.35V with Noctua's NT-H1 Thermal Paste (the best thermal paste we have ever tested)
CPU Cooling: Scythe Mugen 5
Motherboard: Gigabyte X79 UD3
Memory: Mushkin 993997 Redline PC3-17000 9-11-10-28 16 GB
Video Card: XFX HD 7970
PSU: Antec TruePower New TP-750
Hard Drive: Corsair Force GT 240 GB
Optical Drive: N/A
OS: Windows 7 Pro 64-Bit SP1

As you can see the results the Noctua NF-A12x15 comes out with slightly lower temperatures.

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The Acoustic performance of the Noctua NF-A12x15 speaks for itself – that’s if you can even hear it! You can see all that slaving away by Noctua to fine tune every part of their Noctua NF-A12x15 fan has paid off.

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Conclusion

Testing out these new fans from Noctua makes me realize just how much I like the innovative designs of their products. They do not simple take the ideas from others and make small improvements.They throw the book away and start from scratch.The Noctua Noctua NF-A12x15 may only be a fan, but I have never seen a fan where so much attention to detail has been made to every aspect of its design – airflow, noise, power consumption, aesthetics, accessories, durability and quality.With their static pressure are ideal fans for any CPU heatsink, radiator or all in one loop. In terms of noise our results spoke for themselves, they were absolutely outstanding and this is where the Noctua NF-A12x15 really shines the most.

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Considering most 120mm fans cost around $7-10 the Noctua NF-A12x15's are far from cheap, in fact they are nearly twice the price of a standard 120mm fan, but at the end of the day Noctua aren’t trying to churn out of thousands of cheap and cheerful fans for the mass market – they’ve developed something niche and specialised.The quality of the NF-A12x15 fans is as usual up to the high quality what we've come to expect from Noctua over the years. Noctua guarantees these fans for 6 years (more than 150,000 hours) so they are a good choice especially if you are going to leave them running for days, weeks, or even months on end.