Review: noctua nf

The Austrian manufacturer Noctua is a world leader in the design of high-end fans and heatsinks. The best word to define it is Performance (pressure, power and performance), with its particular design (orange and brown).

Today we bring you a review of the NF-P12, Noctua's best 120mm fan for heatsinks and liquid coolers with a narrow gap between their blades.

Product ceded by:

The NF-P12 is designed to produce high air flow and static pressure, making it perfect for use in cpu heatsink, RL radiators with narrow gap between their fins, power supply, storage solutions, boxes with vents or filters, or applications that require excellent air flow.

NIGHT-TIME FEATURES NF-P12
Speed:	900 - 1300 RPM
Dimensions	120x120x25
Bearings	SSO-Bearing
Blade Geometry	Nine Blade Desing.
Air flow	63.4 ~ 92.3 m3 / h
Noise level	12.6 ~ 19.8 dBA
Static pressure	1.21 ~ 1.68 mm H20
Consumption	1.08w
Voltage range	12 v
MTBF	150000h
Weight	161 gr
Warranty	6 years
accessories	4 silentblocks, 4 screws, 2 adapters (ULNA and LNA).

Among its important features are its "Vortex Notches" blade design (two notches on each blade), its effective SSO bearing system and its SCD drive system. Among its accessories we find three rheostats that allow us to cover any of our needs:

• Blue Adapter (ULNA): 900 rpm and 12.6 dB Black Adapter (LNA): 1100 rpm and 16.9 dB Without adapter: 1300 rpm and 19.8 dB

We leave you with a small photo gallery that we have made:

TESTING BENCH
Processor:	Intel 2600k 4.8ghz ~ 1.35 / 1.38v
Base plate:	Asus P8P67 Deluxe
Memory:	G.Skill Ripjaws CL9
Liquid refrigeration	Corsair H60
HDD	120GB Vertex II SSD
Graphic card	Gigabyte GTX560 Ti SOC
Box:	Silverstone FT-02 Red Edition
Rehobus	Lamptron FC2

To test the actual performance of the fans we are going to stress the CPU with full memory floating point calculation (Linx) and prime number (Prime95) programs. Both programs are well known in the overclocking sector and serve to detect failures when the processor works 100% for long hours.

How are we going to measure the processor temperature?

We will use the internal sensors of the processor. For this test on Intel processors we will use the “Core Temp” application in its version: 0.99.8. It is not the most reliable test, but it will be our reference in all our analyzes. The test bench will be around 28.5ºC ambient temperature.

We will use the following configurations with the fans:

• 1 x NF-P12

• 2 x NF-P12 Well & Pull

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We have added the results to the table that we already prepared with the analysis of the Corsair H60 Kit, let's see the results:

Although the NF-P12 has been on the market for almost four years, it is still one of the best fans regarding RPM / Air Flow / Loudness. In tests with the Corsair H60 Kit we have seen that it has a similar behavior to the Nidec of 1450 RPM, giving the size perfectly. Perhaps its aesthetics is not very striking but it offers excellent performance in all fields (silence, office automation, overclock…)

In short, the Noctua NF-P12 is still a great option in the market, and one that we must value, although its price is higher than other fans with similar characteristics. Now we leave you with our table of advantages and disadvantages:

WE RECOMMEND DEepcool Assassin III is the direct competition of the Noctua NH-D15

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ QUALITY MATERIALS	- HIGH PRICE, REGARDING OTHER FANS.
+ PERFECT PACKAGING
+ SILENT
+ BRING SILENTBLOCK AND RHEOSTATE (ULNA) AND (LNA)
+ 6 YEARS GUARANTEE

The Professional Review team will award you the gold medal: