Working to make their mark in the world of computer cooling, Noctua’s NF-S12 and NF-S80 fans are our latest review subjects. With their sleek style, they are definitely items that catch your eye compared to standard PC fans. There is a lot of style in the product; how about substance?

Product:	Noctua NF-S12 and NF-R8 Fans
Manufacturer:	Noctua
Common Price:	$20.00 USD
Where to Buy:	Jabtech and other retailers
Details:	Touted sound optimized blade rotors Novel motor design Long operational lifetime Ultra-silent operation Sleek look

Package contents:

• 4x Vibration Compensators
  
• 4x Standard fan screws
• 1x Fan to Molex adapter

Introducing, Noctua

The first thing you’ll likely notice is the color coordinated brown, blue, and black packaging, sleekly working to emphasize the beige and brown fan contained in the box. While attractive on its own, the fan itself doesn’t really blend in with most case environments. I’m a big fan of black, but the beige and brown combination doesn’t contrast negatively unless your case’s guts are boldly colored or shiny.

The other components included with the package, save the vibration reducing mounts, are common fair inside most computers, with black sleeved wire. The vibration compensators function as they should, reducing vibration (and marginally, sound output), and the adapter obviously is functional. However, Noctua opted not to include molex pin connections for the 5v and second ground pin. As such, you can only daisy chain these fans together at the end of the rest of your system’s power chains. It’s a minor annoyance for most users, but there are circumstances where the fan’s usability can be compromised by this oversight.

Specifications

The NF fans offer some nice quoted specifications, rated at 81 Cubic Meters at 1200 RPM. Acoustically, the NF-S12 is rated at 17 dB(A) at 1200 RPM – though the decibel values are extrapolated, leaving some room for question. However, the manufacture life, 150,000 hours, is what really leaves one impressed. Not bad at all for a modest twenty dollar investment.

So, do they work?

The answer is, most assuredly yes. The product does what it sets out to do, and does it well ( which is what should be the ultimate goal and purpose of any product). The fans are quite quiet in operation; you have to put your ear next to the fan in order to hear the movement of air, but it still manages to move a significant quantity. Interestingly, the motor itself provided more noise than the fan blades did.

Compared with the stock fans, the Noctua series fans, a duo of S12s and a single R8, provided audibly quieter operation, with a moderate temperature increase of four degrees Celsius. For the decreases in noise, and only modest increase in temperature, the Noctua NF series of fans is a compelling product for those looking to decrease the noise output level on their PCs. With a few minor adjustments, the Noctua can be a very compelling and competitive product.