What is the best 140mm Noctua Case fan?

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Albert0724

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Aug 12, 2013
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Noise isnt really an issue with noctua fans so any fan they have will do. But I would like to know the best fan for airflow using as an intake. I have a fractal design define r4 so the front intakes have quite restricted airflow. I've done some research and found that the NF-P14 is good for air restricted areas, but i saw on the noctua website that the new NF-A15 is an upgraded version of the NF-P14. Should i go for the NF-A15? Or do i have this all wrong?
 
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Well, I said NF-A14 FLX specifically because there is a NF-A14 ULN and you do not want that one, since that one is a low-noise/less air-flow version.

The difference between an NF-A15 PWM and the NF-A14 is that the PWM is a 4-pin PWM fan that you would plug into a 4-pin "CPU_Fan" or a 4-pin "CHA_FAN" motherboard header, where it would be upto the mobo to regulate the fan's duty cycle. While the NF-A14 is a 3-pin fan and thus does not have the PWM (Pulse-width modulation) capacity. Hence, the main CPU heatsink fans are usually (but not always...like many older Noctua Heatsinks had only 3-pin fans) 4-pin PWM fans. Where as case fans don't need the fine-grain control of a CPU HS fan and thus are only 3-pin, so you end up controlling...
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Your Noctua case fan choice should be the NF-A14 FLX, specifically. The NF-A15 is a PWM fan meant for heatsinks.
 
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Albert0724

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Aug 12, 2013
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Thank you for your quick response. Now I forgot to add that i will be using a fan controller, so do i still go with the NF-A14 FLX or the NF-A15 PWN. One more question, what would be the difference between the pwm and the flx versions of the fans?
 
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Well, I said NF-A14 FLX specifically because there is a NF-A14 ULN and you do not want that one, since that one is a low-noise/less air-flow version.

The difference between an NF-A15 PWM and the NF-A14 is that the PWM is a 4-pin PWM fan that you would plug into a 4-pin "CPU_Fan" or a 4-pin "CHA_FAN" motherboard header, where it would be upto the mobo to regulate the fan's duty cycle. While the NF-A14 is a 3-pin fan and thus does not have the PWM (Pulse-width modulation) capacity. Hence, the main CPU heatsink fans are usually (but not always...like many older Noctua Heatsinks had only 3-pin fans) 4-pin PWM fans. Where as case fans don't need the fine-grain control of a CPU HS fan and thus are only 3-pin, so you end up controlling them through variable voltage.
 
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Albert0724

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Aug 12, 2013
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10,510


Thank you for the clarification, i will be getting the NF-A14 FLX :D
 
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Cool, hope it serves you well.
 
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matrixter

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Nov 8, 2013
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I am going to be building my first pc next week and I ordered the same Fractal Design Define R4 case black pearl windowed version. And I also ordered 2 Noctua NF-A14 FLX's to use as intakes as the high pressure on them should be great for sucking air through the little side vents on the front of the case and pushing it through the double filter design.

I also bought an H100i so I shall take that original front case fan and slap that on the bottom mount next to the PSU. This way I will have the maximum number of fans on it :) I may also in the future buy another NF-A14 to replace the bottom intake and I may even buy 2 NF-F12's to replace the H100i's SP-120's.

I was worried that this case wouldnt keep everything as cool inside as a different designed case seeing as how the intake set up has to come in from 2 little strips of vents on the front and then having to travel through the double filters and then get through the hard drive cages (although I will be taking the top one off) thats a lot of obstruction of the air but after doing a lot of research, these fans are very highly regarded and should be perfect for the job.
 
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ifIwasarichman

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Jun 18, 2014
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Should just warn you, Noctura has a range of industrial PPC fans which have fantastic performance. But at the cost of noise, they are a lot louder than the standard ones
140mm PPC PWM fans spinning up to 3000rpm, airflow up to 269,3 m³/h, Static Pressure of 10.52 mm H2O, but Acoustical Noise at 41,3 dB (almost double the airflow and 5 times the static pressure).
Compared to the best standard 140mm fan spinning up to 1500rpm, airflow of 140,2 m³/h, Static Pressure of 2,08 mm H2O with a Acoustical Noise of 24,6 dB
Have a look at their website to get a good idea and they are very good with customer service, so any questions - just ask them and I am sure they can explain it better than me..
If you need a fan which has performance to leave the rest in it's dust, get a PPC. If you need a fan which has good performance and quiet, get one of their standard fans.
As for the NF-A15, it is designed for their cpu heatsinks with a odd shape - sort of a squared off round fan, it is not a upgraded NF-A14, just for a different purpose.
 
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