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South Korea, Seoul
1 Level
698 Review
43 Karma

Review on Noctua Bearing NF B9 Redux 1600 PWM by Scott Yenson

Revainrating 1 out of 5

On the fly upgrade results in less PC noise for better gaming

So my Zotac GTX 1060 had a single fan and because it has small fins it has to spin very quickly to let the air through the heatsink. When playing RDR2, the fan had to be set to 100% to lower the temperature, but this detracts from my gaming experience. I want to hear horses gallop, birds chirp, rabbits cry, fall from a direct blow. Do you understand. When the original fan itself actually started making EXTRA noise due to failure of its internal bearing, hearing that loud spinning noise only got more annoying. When I first started looking for a replacement, I did NOT want to use the same fan. Found this one with lower RPM specs, bigger fins, a bit bigger (80mm vs 92mm on this one) so I figured what the heck I'll give it a try. The price was competitive and affordable. In the picture it doesn't seem to fit directly onto the graphics card, but after drilling 4 holes in the plastic cover it easily attaches with the hardware provided (4 screws, self-tapping for plastic). . Power User Tip: Before drilling and installing the new fan, remove the graphics card from the PC and remove the plastic cover from the graphics card. The fan itself needs to be rewired, but thankfully it matches the original fan's 4-wire configuration (Pos. + , Neg(-), PWM, RPM feedback). So just plug it in to use the same connector as the previous fan and it will work as expected. Very quiet at 100% speed, almost inaudible hissing. It appears to be quieter than the main body's 120mm fans. It also occupies a 3rd PCI slot, but since my motherboard has EVERYTHING else, I don't need the extra slots. Hooray!

Pros
  • A small number of competitors
Cons
  • are unreliable