Are noctua industrial case fans (the 120s and 140s PWM) worth their price?

KaiserPhantasma · Sep 2, 2014

or is there another fan alternative that perform (accoustics,cooling capability wise)just as great (or nearly there) but is cheaper?

Dark Lord of Tech · Sep 2, 2014

All Noctua's are worth their price.

KaiserPhantasma · Sep 2, 2014

while I do know noctua products have a solid name in this cooling industry I have mixed feelings after seeing this a few weeks ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ME4vUO2T-48

and especially this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q77KxH6raxg

since it'll be most likely be turned down to similar RPMs to say for example scythe,corsair fans

Dark Lord of Tech · Sep 2, 2014

Noctua and Cougar is all I purchase now.

Cons29 · Sep 2, 2014

i like corsair fans too, also cougar. deep cool if low on budget.

noctua are nice fans, however their color choice suck big time

Dark Lord of Tech · Sep 2, 2014

What's wrong with grey and black Noctua fans?

TheMagicalWallaby · Sep 2, 2014

Keep in mind that the black fans are not as quiet as their standard fans. you will need to undervolt them, or buy the grey ones using their slightly older designs.

Guest · Sep 2, 2014

The Noctua Industrial series are only really for those that need the reliability to come with their price tag.

They have an advanced bearing system for increased life, they're waterproof (In the sense they will turn themselves off before any damage) and also spin considerably faster than a normal fan. (Which means much, much louder).

Actual blade design is no different, to my knowledge, so at the same RPM it's very unlikely to be much different. If at all.

I would only really recommend them for server rigs, where you're going to shut them away to never be heard again.

A regular Noctua fan will be perfect for your needs. Keep in mind that they don't do a 120mm NF-F12 in Grey/Light grey yet, only a 140mm, so you're stuck with vomit brown.

Alternatively, the Corsair fans are nice. Not as high performing, but not poop brown either.

TheMagicalWallaby · Sep 2, 2014

The Noctua Industrial series are only really for those that need the reliability to come with their price tag.

They have an advanced bearing system for increased life, they're waterproof (In the sense they will turn themselves off before any damage) and also spin considerably faster than a normal fan. (Which means much, much louder).

Actual blade design is no different, to my knowledge, so at the same RPM it's very unlikely to be much different. If at all.

I would only really recommend them for server rigs, where you're going to shut them away to never be heard again.

A regular Noctua fan will be perfect for your needs. Keep in mind that they don't do a 120mm NF-F12 in Grey/Light grey yet, only a 140mm, so you're stuck with vomit brown.

Alternatively, the Corsair fans are nice. Not as high performing, but not poop brown either.

You can under-volt them to the quiet speeds.

Guest · Sep 2, 2014

TheMagicalWallaby :

You can under-volt them to the quiet speeds.

Yes I know, but there is no point if you plan to run them at that level consistently.
Better off going with a consumer grade version.

TheMagicalWallaby · Sep 2, 2014

TheMagicalWallaby :

Yes I know, but there is no point if you plan to run them at that level consistently.
Better off going with a consumer grade version.

There is a point and that is having black Noctua fans that are quiet.

TheMagicalWallaby · Sep 2, 2014

TheMagicalWallaby :

Yes I know, but there is no point if you plan to run them at that level consistently.
Better off going with a consumer grade version.

There is a point and that is having black Noctua fans that are quiet.

Guest · Sep 2, 2014

TheMagicalWallaby :

There is a point and that is having black Noctua fans that are quiet.

Well sure, if you have the money and want to buy good fans versus their equally as good and cheaper consumer-grade alternatives purely for the colour, then by all means, do that.
Imo it's not worth the extra cost if you're just going to run them at less than half their rated RPM.

KaiserPhantasma · Sep 2, 2014

TheMagicalWallaby :

whats the difference between directly under volting them and just slowing down the RPM? or are they one and the same? I've been meaning to ask this for quite some time as I can see from some companies (even noctua) they sell adaptors that can only pass thru a specific amount of power to the fan

TheMagicalWallaby :

so simply put if I buy noctua its the durability I'm buying then?
and what are the other "equally good and cheaper consumer grade alternatives" as I thought with the industrial PPC fans they were nearly untouchable (at least on the airflow side) if you don't mind the price that is

Guest · Sep 2, 2014

I mean their non-industrial series fans.
They're equally as good in the performance department at the same RPM because at that point they're the same damn fan.
Sure the industrials have a more advanced bearing system in place, but that only really effects longevity, if the fan blades (and frame) are identical, and spinning at the same RPM, the performance will be the same.

With the industrial series you're paying for increased longevity, reliability and a higher RPM capability (and the colour too, apparently).
None of these things are really necessary versus their ordinary versions, they're mostly made for places where the fans simply need to work all of the time - Ie, server rigs. Places where down time costs money.
(Think of it like Nvidia Geforce vs Quadro graphics cards, different markets).

Noctua make great fans, the 'ordinary' versions aren't going to give you any problems.

As for the adapters thing, the adapters are mainly for 3-pin variants, or for people that just generally don't want to fiddle about in software. PWM fans, or '4-pin fans', can be controlled because that extra pin has the ability to reduce voltage levels on the fly, to a wide degree. A speed stepping adapter will limit it to one particular voltage and that's it.
3-pin fans have trouble reducing speed consistently without issue compared to their PWM brothers.

Generally, you pay extra for that extra pin. If you're anything like me, and you're happy with the noise levels of the fans you buy at full speed, you can save a bit there.

KaiserPhantasma · Sep 2, 2014

I mean their non-industrial series fans.
They're equally as good in the performance department at the same RPM because at that point they're the same damn fan.
Sure the industrials have a more advanced bearing system in place, but that only really effects longevity, if the fan blades (and frame) are identical, and spinning at the same RPM, the performance will be the same.

With the industrial series you're paying for increased longevity, reliability and a higher RPM capability (and the colour too, apparently).
None of these things are really necessary versus their ordinary versions, they're mostly made for places where the fans simply need to work all of the time - Ie, server rigs. Places where down time costs money.
(Think of it like Nvidia Geforce vs Quadro graphics cards, different markets).

Noctua make great fans, the 'ordinary' versions aren't going to give you any problems.

As for the adapters thing, the adapters are mainly for 3-pin variants, or for people that just generally don't want to fiddle about in software. PWM fans, or '4-pin fans', can be controlled because that extra pin has the ability to reduce voltage levels on the fly, to a wide degree. A speed stepping adapter will limit it to one particular voltage and that's it.
3-pin fans have trouble reducing speed consistently without issue compared to their PWM brothers.

Generally, you pay extra for that extra pin. If you're anything like me, and you're happy with the noise levels of the fans you buy at full speed, you can save a bit there.

ok so those low noise speed adapters are for 3 pin fans where as the 4 pin are for the PWM enabled ones (did I got that right?) how about those other "as good alternatives at a cheaper price" fans? can you mention some as the ones I know are from scythe,corsair,and noctua

Guest · Sep 2, 2014

KaiserPhantasma :

I believe they do have 4-pin variants of those adapters, not sure what entirely for though.
4-pin =PWM. They're the same thing.

Other than that I can't help you out much I'm afraid, I'm not a huge expert on different brands of fans, I seem to have a massive pile of loads of them but generally buy for aesthetics these days. Fortunately, fans that look good are also quite good performing.
With that, the Corsair SP120 and AF140s (Non-LED) get my vote. You will get better performance from the Noctua's however.

Noctua are widely regarded as brilliant case fans. Their performance per decibel is outstanding.

KaiserPhantasma · Sep 2, 2014

KaiserPhantasma :

I believe they do have 4-pin variants of those adapters, not sure what entirely for though.
4-pin =PWM. They're the same thing.

Other than that I can't help you out much I'm afraid, I'm not a huge expert on different brands of fans, I seem to have a massive pile of loads of them but generally buy for aesthetics these days. Fortunately, fans that look good are also quite good performing.
With that, the Corsair SP120 and AF140s (Non-LED) get my vote. You will get better performance from the Noctua's however.

Noctua are widely regarded as brilliant case fans. Their performance per decibel is outstanding.

ok thanks for clearing that up but what about this video?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q77KxH6raxg

do you think it accurately reflects its accoustics?
or do you think its exaggerated?

Guest · Sep 2, 2014

KaiserPhantasma :

I believe they do have 4-pin variants of those adapters, not sure what entirely for though.
4-pin =PWM. They're the same thing.

Other than that I can't help you out much I'm afraid, I'm not a huge expert on different brands of fans, I seem to have a massive pile of loads of them but generally buy for aesthetics these days. Fortunately, fans that look good are also quite good performing.
With that, the Corsair SP120 and AF140s (Non-LED) get my vote. You will get better performance from the Noctua's however.

Noctua are widely regarded as brilliant case fans. Their performance per decibel is outstanding.

ok thanks for clearing that up but what about this video?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q77KxH6raxg

do you think it accurately reflects its accoustics?
or do you think its exaggerated?

Pretty much any fan on earth is going to sound loud after around 1500rpm. Those industrial ones go to some ridiculous rpm levels.
Noise is exaggerated in areas with resistance too. Such as, infront of drive cages.

The regular Noctua fans have a much more reasonable rpm level at full speed.

KaiserPhantasma · Sep 2, 2014

KaiserPhantasma :

Pretty much any fan on earth is going to sound loud after around 1500rpm. Those industrial ones go to some ridiculous rpm levels.
Noise is exaggerated in areas with resistance too. Such as, infront of drive cages.

The regular Noctua fans have a much more reasonable rpm level at full speed.

excluding the durability of the individual fans between different types of fans running at the same speed which would you pick then (say at 1200RPM)?

and might I ask if you know ANY charts comparing case fans (different sizes but a 120,140 chart should be more than enough) tried looking here but can't seem to find any http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/

what fans from cougar do you buy? just curious as from what I've heard they have some of the best CFM at low noise speed at their bracket (if what I read was right)

TheMagicalWallaby · Sep 3, 2014

I have never had much experience with Cougar fans. How are they (the 140mm versions) in terms of noise compared to lets say a corsair AF140?

TheMagicalWallaby · Sep 3, 2014

I have never had much experience with Cougar fans. How are they (the 140mm versions) in terms of noise compared to lets say a corsair AF140?

Are noctua industrial case fans (the 120s and 140s PWM) worth their price?

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