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Review on Noctua NF-A9 PWM: Premium Quiet 4-Pin Fan (92mm, Brown) - Efficient Cooling Solution by Craig Mcdonald

Revainrating 5 out of 5

Classified as a secondary fan - blocks more air than it moves.

I have this in a small case that already has two large intake fans, one large and one medium exhaust fan and two of them on a Noctura radiator (which came with a fan). I found my temperature was 1 degree lower, 89 degrees instead of 90 degrees, and my Cinebench scores dropped 1%. On the bright side, going from the stock fan from the Ryzen 3600 fan to the Noctua NH-U9S cooler resulted in a 30% improvement over my Cinebench estimate. I'll run it a few more times to see if anything changes. Notably, I have an exhaust fan on the case near where I installed this fan and it blows in the same direction. So it costs $16 for a small 1 degree drop in temperature with a corresponding 1% drop in performance? you decide. I'm surprised. I know this chip is being throttled at a higher rate. I was considering buying an AIO water cooler, but in this case I don't have much space. Replacing a case means swapping out the motherboard and power supply, and adding a liquid cooler with a larger heatsink or a much larger air cooler for better performance. I have to decide if I will go down this path in the near future.

Pros
  • practical item
Cons
  • I will add later