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Review on πŸ’¨ Noctua NF-S12B redux-1200 - High Performance 120mm Cooling Fan, Grey, 3-Pin, 1200 RPM by John Jones

Revainrating 4 out of 5

Great fans, good price but some hum at full speed/12V

I bought these 3 pin fans because I wanted a quality fan running straight from the PSU. If you want silence, buy the 700rpm version or use a low-noise adapter to step it down to 9V. They make an audible hum at 12V/1200RPM, but lower the voltage by one notch and they whisper softly. As for the hum: noise is such a subjective thing, but for me they definitely hum at 1200rpm. Where other, cheaper fans running at top speed get a "hiss" of moving air and an audible "crunch" of one underneath bearing, these fans do not make bearing noise but have a lower, almost propeller-like air moving blade pitch. which makes sense considering the shape of the blades! This is a bit of a nitpick, although for a gaming PC they will run fine on 12v, although for a quiet desktop or HTPC (or whatever you leave overnight) I'd suggest 9v or via a controller. They are high quality, sell for a decent price and don't really move me, look smart which is good if you don't want your fans to look like neon alien buzz saws with ninjas on them. She.

Pros
  • 1200rpm 3-pin version with excellent balance between performance and noiselessness, speed can be increased with optional NA-SRC10 low-noise adapters or by reducing the Voltage to be adjusted
Cons
  • Negative impression