NF-S12 800 and 1200 Fans from Noctua

Introduction:

    Noctua recently sent out to VH some new fans with sound optimized premium components. The new line are the NF-S12's, which come in 800RPM and 1200RPM and are 120x120x25mm fans. The new fans sport a redesigned blade system and new self stabilizing bearing. These new improvements are to supposedly cut the fan noise from 17dbA to 6dbA on the 1200, and down to 5dBA on the 800 version, using the Ultra-Low Noise Adapter (U.N.L.A.) feature.

About the Company:

    Noctua aims at establishing a new level of quality and performance "Designed in Austria" through paying attention to the users' needs in a market burdened with all kinds of frills and furbelows and providing sound-optimised premium components, which serve their purpose in a smart, precise and reliable manner.

    Noctua arises from a cooperation between the Austrian Rascom Computerdistribution Ges.m.b.H and the Taiwanese Kolink International Corporation and entertains a development partnership with the Austrian Institute of Heat Transmission and Fan Technology (Österreichisches Institut für Wärmeübertragung und Ventilatorentechnik, ÖIWV). These connections form the key to the achievement of our goal: The partnership with the ÖIWV permits the application of scientific measurement instrumentation, methods of calculation and simulation technology in the R&D process. Rascom's long, customer-oriented experience in developing and distributing sound-optimized high-end products ensures a clear focus on the users' needs. The use of Kolink's advanced manufacturing technology and ultra-modern production plants allows us to efficiently implement our technical edge and provide solutions of the highest standard in quality and performance at a fair price.
 

Specifications:

NS-S12-1200

NF-S12-800

A Closer Look:

Retail front	Front and back	Encased in  plastic
Included gear	800 and 1200	Front of fan

     A majority of this review will consist of data from the Noctua website on the NF-S12 fans. They have all the data and tools to test the equipment, so I'm basically going to tell you how they sound, how well they perform, and how easy they install. The information from here to the installation section is from the Noctua website.

    The NF-S12 is the first fan employing a novel rotor which was developed by the Austrian Institute for Heat-Transmission and Fan Technology (Österreichisches Institut für Wärmeübertragung und Ventilatorentechnik, ÖIWV). Thanks to the special optimization of the blade geometry towards ultra low noise application, the NF-S12 is up to 10% more quiet than current high-end fans at the same flow rate.

SSO-Bearing:

    Thanks to an optimized principle of operation, the self-stabilizing oil-pressure bearing (SSO bearing) of the Noctua NF-S12 and NF-R8 series surpasses current types of ball, sleeve or liquid bearings in terms of long-term stability and quietness.

SSO Principle of Operation:

    The rotary motion of the axis generates pressure upon the special oil enclosed within the bearing. This causes the build-up of a dynamic pressure field that centers and stabilizes the axis within the bearing shell. While conventional liquid bearings employ the principle of hydrodynamic pressure too, the SSO bearing is equipped with an additional magnet that supports the self-stabilization of the rotor axis. This allows for a faster, more precise and more reliable centering of the rotor axis and thus increases the long-term stability and quietness of the bearing: When the fan starts, the dynamic pressure field of the liquid bearing needs to build up first, which results in an initial precession of the axis, the so called gyro effect. This amounts to an increased abrasion until the axis is stabilized through the build-up of the dynamic pressure field, which may by and by lead to increased noise emission and bearing defects. Because of this, the SSO bearing possesses a built in magnet, whose field ensures the immediate self-stabilization of the rotor and hence reduces the gyro effect. In addition to the stabilization during the start-up phase of the fan, the supporting magnet allows for a more exact centering of the axis within the bearing shell and thus further reduces bearing resistance,abrasion and noise emission.

SSO compared to conventional sleeve and ball bearings:

    The sleeve and ball bearings currently predominating the fan market exhibit major drawbacks: While conventional sleeve bearings initially have very low noise emissions, they mostly possess unsatisfying long-term stability, which leads to a short overall lifespan and increasing noise after longer operating times. High grade ball bearings, on the other hand, while providing satisfying long-term stability operate at slightly higher noise levels from the beginning. The SSO bearing not only surpasses the quietness of conventional sleeve bearings but also the long-term stability of current top-of-the-line ball bearings.

Installation:

Rubber mounts	Almost in	Secured!
Ready for the fan	Almost done	Secured!

    The NF-S12 fans come packaged with four vibration compensators. These little rubber vibration compensators look like mini pawn chess pieces. These vibration compensators are used in place of metal screws to secure the fan to the enclosure and can be tricky to install. I installed these vibration compensators on a heatsink review I was doing to get a better example of how they would install versus being in a cramped case. The top rounded end goes into the fan screw hole on the case first, then pull on the top to get the small ring through the hole. This ring locks the vibration compensator into the hole and provides a space between the fan and the metal case. Do that four times ,and then grab the fan and look for the air direction arrows on the side of the fan chassis. Then place the fan over the four rubber pieces and one by one, grab the top rounded end of the rubber piece and pull and slightly wiggle it to get the flared end through the hole on the fan. Do that four times and the fan is locked into place with the four rubber vibration compensators.

    If that is too much trouble, four screws are included along with a 3pin to 4pin Molex adapter and the U.N.L.A. adapter, which has some type of resistor under some black heat shrink tubing. This adapter drops the voltage, which drops the speed of the 1200RPM to 600RPM and the 800RPM to 500RPM.

Conclusion:

    Without a doubt, these are the quietest fans I have used to date. A standard enclosure can hold up to three 120mm fans generating 30dBA plus each. That makes for a very noisy situation. The NF-S12's in U.L.N.A. will generate around 1/5th of that. Just imagine these fans cooling a radiator in a watercooling setup; now that would be an ultra quiet PC. The combination of this newer technology gives the end user a reliable and quiet fan that cools the components just as a well as any other fan that is twice as loud. I would like to thank Noctua for sending out these fans for VH to review.