Noctua NF-F12 PWM:

The first of three of their fans in this competition, the Noctua NF-F12 PWM is a light tan in color, with a dark brown 7 bladed fan. It features an automatic speed control and new bearing structure designed to make the fan extremely quiet without sacrificing any performance. We'll see shortly if this actually holds true.



As shown below, this fan came with the most informative packaging of the fans tested. In fact, with 3 sets of fold outs attached to the back, the packaging provides a total of 5 pages of information on the fan and the technology used to design it.



The front of the package is fairly standard with a small window showing the fan and the model and manufacturer shown.



The interior packaging is standard as well and the fan comes with screw less isolation mounts, screws, and adapters for different power sources, as well as a low noise adapter which reduces the maximum speed of the fan. It does however lack an adapter allowing it to use a standard 4 pin molex power source. This is mostly covered for with the included extension allowing the fans cord to reach the 4 pin plugs on most newer motherboards while being mounted in most of the places a normal case fan would be.



The image below gives the best view of some of this fan's special features. you can see the seven impeller blades as well as the eleven stator guides, which combine for a focused stream of high pressure air that Noctua says is optimal for heatsinks and radiators.



The following list details the specifications for the NF-F12 PWM, where we see that the maximum speed is 1500RPM (which makes it the fastest of the three Noctua coolers), and that speed is knocked down to 1200RPM by use of the LNA (low noise adapter).

» Size: 120x120x25 mm
» Connector: 4-pin PWM
» Bearing: SSO2
» Blade Geometry: Heptaperf™
» Frame Technology: Focused Flow™
» Rotational Speed (+/- 10%): 1500 RPM
» Rotational Speed with L.N.A. (+/- 10%): 1200 RPM
» Min. Rotational Speed (PWM): 300 RPM
» Airflow: 93,4 m³/h
» Airflow with L.N.A.: 74,3 m³/h
» Acoustical Noise: 22,4 dB(A)
» Acoustical Noise with L.N.A.: 18,6 dB(A)
» Static Pressure: 2,61 mm H2O
» Static Pressure with L.N.A.: 1,83 mm H2O
» Max. Input Power: 0,6 W
» Max. Input Current: 0,05 A
» Voltage: 12 V
» MTBF: > 150.000 h
» Scope of Delivery:
   » Low-Noise Adapter (L.N.A.)
   » 4-Pin Y-Cable
   » 30cm Extension Cable
   » 4 Vibration-Compensators
   » 4 Fan Screws
» Warranty: 6 years