Noctua’s new fan is on the test bench, featuring their new focus flow frame technology will the NF-F12 offer better performance than other Noctua cooling fans?
Fan design is something that has remained fairly constant and consistent over the years. Fluid bearing’s, vortex creation (through ribs, dimples and cuts) and various add ons to reduce and dampen vibration and resonance are the main areas that have been concentrated on. With this new innovation Noctua has created a unit that focuses airflow into a column with the intention of flowing a greater volume of air through a smaller cross sectional area. Although the benefits of this in standard case fans is a little limited for applications such as heatsinks a focused column of airflow could really be beneficial since no air is wasted on its journey through the fan and onto the finned construction of a cooler or radiator.
Noctua say this about the NF-F12 PWM:
Teaming up eleven stator guide vanes with a specially conceived seven blade impeller, the NF-F12’s Focused Flow™ system creates outstanding static pressure and focuses the airflow for superior performance on heatsinks and radiators. At the same time, a wide range of advanced aerodynamic design measures, second generation SSO-Bearings and Noctua’s new, custom designed PWM IC for fully automatic control guarantee astounding quietness of operation. The NF-F12 comes with modular cabling, integrated anti-vibration pads and two speed settings for full flexibility. Its commanding performance, exhaustive set of features and Noctua’s trusted premium quality make it an elite choice for use on air coolers, radiators and other pressure demanding applications.
Teaming up eleven stator guide vanes with a specially conceived seven blade impeller, the NF-F12’s Focused Flow™ system creates outstanding static pressure and focuses the airflow for superior performance on heatsinks and radiators. At the same time, a wide range of advanced aerodynamic design measures, second generation SSO-Bearings and Noctua’s new, custom designed PWM IC for fully automatic control guarantee astounding quietness of operation. The NF-F12 comes with modular cabling, integrated anti-vibration pads and two speed settings for full flexibility. Its commanding performance, exhaustive set of features and Noctua’s trusted premium quality make it an elite choice for use on air coolers, radiators and other pressure demanding applications.
Specification is pretty standard for a 1500rpm 120mm fan. It’ll be interesting to see how the focus flow frame effects noise and absolute performance.
Packaging and contents
The packaging is typically Noctua. A clean and simple design with the product name and a window to view the fan itself.
Box front.
The back of the packaging gives a summary of the fan in a variety of different languages.
Box rear.
Rather interestingly this back panel actually folds open like a book. Once you unlatch the velcro you reveal additional specification and design info detailing the technology that has gone into this specific fan.
Additional rear pages.
More pages still.
Once opened you will find a fitting and specification guide as well as the formed transparent packaging – this holds the various cabling, adapters, screws, the four silicone ‘anti-vibration’ mounts and most importantly the NF-F12 fan.
Box contents.
Here you can see the various bits and bobs included. From the top we can see the extension cable, Y splitter, the LNA (Low Noise Adapter) for lower RPM/quiet fan operation and then a choice of metal screw mounts or anti vibration silicone mounts.
All cabling and accessories.
Closer look
Out of the packaging it’s unmistakeably Noctua and has quite a standard looking 7 blade fan design. The 4-pin cable is nicely protected in a rubberised braid which should go some way to protecting it from snags and bumps during install. The only feature that really stands out over Noctua fans I’ve previously reviewed are the rubber mounts adorning the eight corners of the frame.
Fan front.
The rear certainly looks quite different with the focus flow frame which sports 11 stator guide vanes.
Fan rear.
Up close you can see the angled faces that straighten and focus the airflow into a column as well as the vortex control notches which help control noise levels. Specifically the notches work by generating varying pressure pulses all around the circumference of the fan’s frame as the fan blade passes over. This variation helps spread the noise frequencies over a larger range rather than standard designs which generate the same frequency all the way round and thus create a more noticeable and intrusive sound signature.
The ‘Focus Flow’ system.
Going by the blurb under this label is the 2nd generation of Noctua’s SSO bearing. It’s magnetically stabilised design should offer greater longevity due to the added precision and control offered by the assembly.
The 2nd Gen SSO bearing.
Here you can see the silicone pads. They are held in place by the two pins you can see as well as the outer edge of the rubber pad that slips over the outer edge of the frame.
Anti vibration silicone pads.
As a result of the simple construction and fitting they are easily removed allowing completely standard fitment of the fan. I’d imagine with certain cases and heatsink fitment designs this will be a godsend.
Pads removed.
Testing
The Noctua will be compared to a selection of fans tested here at Vortez in the past.
I used the sound pressure level meter below to test the db rating of the fan at 12v, 7v and 5v.
SPL meter.
Due to the sound level meter only registering a db rating of 50db+ I will have to adjust the sampling distance to allow the fan to register on the meter.
Originally I decided to test the fan at each rated voltage at a distance of 2cm but since this can introduce some proximity based noise issues I have changed my testing method.
I will instead identify the distance at which the fan (running at 12v) produces a 50db reading. Once a reading is taken I will then identify the distances for the same decibel rating at 7v and again at 5v.
When the data is complete I will use a ‘damping of sound level with distance’ calculator to work out the db rating for a listening distance of 2m. This will give a clearer understanding of the actual volume of the fans we have here.
For testing I used a hotwired ITX PSU which is a fanless silent model. This will provide power for the fan without producing any noise interference itself.
Results
Running at 12v and recorded at varying distances
50 db @ 19cm
After conversion the results at 2m are as follows
30db
Running at 7v and recorded at varying distances
50 db @ 10cm
After conversion the results at 2m are as follows
24db
Running at 5v and recorded at varying distances
50 db @ 7cm
After conversion the results at 2m are as follows
21db
Summary of fan performance
As ever I like to begin my summary by explaining that your first consideration should be that the db rating doesn’t tell the whole story. Tone, resonance and other factors can and in many cases are more important than pure sound levels.
Motor wine, speed related clicking and bearing noise may not show up on the sound meter but when present I can confirm that they are very apparent and can be annoyingly intrusive. On the flip side you could have a fan that made no discernable whining or clicking but registered a high decibel count! In that scenario I’m sure most users would prefer that kind of sound profile over a low decibel rated fan that clicked and whined.
This new Noctua actually delivered a higher db rating than the previous tested models from the company. At 12v there was what seemingly appeared to be motor whine although after closer inspection it seemed to in fact be the noise of air flowing over the focus flow frame. Obviously at 12v airflow speed would be greater and consequently generate increased wind noise over the angled faces of the frame. Besides that the fan did not suffer from resonance or chuffing at any voltage and the motor whine/airflow noise reduced to virtually nothing at 7v and 5v.
The fan has a rated 12v speed of 1500RPM which makes it a pretty effective proposition for any enthusiast. The addition of the focus flow frame only adds further weight to the powerful delivery of this particular fan. Back pressure is exceptional and the physical throw from the focus flow design is very impressive. Indeed it even remains effective as the RPM drops at lower voltages.
At the lower voltages RPM drops accordingly and with that so does the noise signature, airflow and back pressure. I would describe the sound signature of this fan at both 7v and 5v as smooth – it’s certainly more than acceptable. It’s smooth click free presentation makes it very unobtrusive and while doing this still provides good pressure at 7v and reasonable back pressure at 5v. It’s airflow is the impressive factor here since the focus flow frame allows its effects to be felt at least twice if not three times as far away as a standard fan. I know Noctua have highlighted these as potential heatsink and radiator fans but I suspect these would also work very well in a spot cool environment. Getting airflow to hotspots like chipset heatsinks has always been a dark art so something like this NF-F12 PWM could be just the ticket for that too!
Conclusion
The NF-F12 PWM is actually a surprising little fan. In the world of fan design the focus flow frame isn’t a new innovation by any stretch but it seems to have been well implemented here and nicely complements all of Noctua’s other design queues.
It effectively flows a cleanly focussed column of air over a reasonable distance and from 7v down manages to do so in a very quiet and peaceful manner. 12v performance is of course louder (which is to be expected) and as I said in my summary is almost certainly down to the noise generated by the increased airflow through that focus frame.
The Noctua NF-F12 PWM.
Lower voltage operation is where I see the majority of users choosing to utilise the NF-F12 PWM. It’s smooth and powerful delivery at 7v would be ideal for a quiet and effective heatsink application and the slightly less powerful but quieter 5v performance would be enough for a bit of localised chipset and PCB cooling.
Overall I am very impressed with the fan despite the slightly loud 12v presentation and it’s relatively high price. It’s focussed cooling potential allied to the now standard Noctua features make it a formidable little package and certainly a fan I’d consider for the applications I mentioned earlier. Add to that Noctua’s excellent 6 year warranty and you have a winning combination in my book.
Pros
+ Excellent airflow and pressure at 12v
+ Good airflow and pressure at 7v and 5v
+ Resonance, chuffing and click free performance
+ Rubbery braided cabling
+ Nice selection of mounts and cabling including the low noise adapter
+ Excellent 6 Year warranty
Cons
– Not that quiet at 12v due to airflow over focus flow frame
– Not particularly cheap
+ Excellent airflow and pressure at 12v
+ Good airflow and pressure at 7v and 5v
+ Resonance, chuffing and click free performance
+ Rubbery braided cabling
+ Nice selection of mounts and cabling including the low noise adapter
+ Excellent 6 Year warranty
Cons
– Not that quiet at 12v due to airflow over focus flow frame
– Not particularly cheap
