By Eric Sivilla from Acoustic PC - The Leader In Quiet PC Cooling www.acousticpc.com

Computer fans can be loud. Anyone using a computer has, at one time or another, been annoyed by the buzz, whine or outright shriek of cooling fans. Unfortunately, cooling is necessary, and even water-cooled computers use fans on their radiator. The key to a quiet computer fan is twofold: pick the right fan and minimize the noise from the fan.

Today I would like to talk about Noctua Fans. I was quiet intreaged by the name of the company when we I first found out about them for those of you who are as curious as I was it means ^ The little owl, Athene noctua, is the symbol of the Greek goddess Athene, who represents wisdom, science and strategy.

Noctua offers a wide variety of products Like computer fans, cpu heatsinks, and chipset cooler but today I would like to focus on their fans. First of lets get to know about the company them selves.

About Noctua Noctua aims at establishing a new level of quality and performance Designed in Austria through paying attention to the users needs in a market burdened with all kinds of frills and furbelows and providing sound-optimised premium components, which serve their purpose in a smart, precise and reliable manner. Noctua's sound-optimised premium CPU heatsinks and computer fans are designed using scientific measurement instrumentation, methods of calculation and simulation technology, and meet the highest demands in terms of performance, quality and quietness of operation.

It seems Noctua clearly aims at establishing a new level of quietness, quality and performance. There has been alot of R&D Research & Development put into these quiet pc cooling products Noctua partnered up with the Austrian Institute for Heat-Transmission and Fan Technology The development partnership between the Ã-IWV and Noctua clearly shows how the enormous potential of Austrian research facilities and high-tech companies can be implemented in market leading quality products with economic success. Mag. Manfred Stadler MBA.

Now are evaluation of these computer fans.

The fan manufature at this point only offers three fan selctions two in the 120mm category and one in the 80mm category lets have a look at them Now are evaluation of these computer fans. The fan manufacture at this point only offers three fan selection two in the 120mm category and one the 80mm category lets have a look at them.

The NF-S12 is the first fan employing a novel rotor which was developed by the Austrian Institute for Heat-ransmission and Fan Technology (Ã-sterreichisches Institut für Wärmeübertragung und Ventilatorentechnik, Ã-IWV). Thanks to the special optimisation of the blade geometry towards ultra low noise application, the NF-S12 is up to 10% more quiet than current high-end fans at the same flow rate.Self-stabilising oil-pressure bearing (SSO bearing): The NF-S12 series are equipped with a magnetically centred, self lubricating oil-pressure bearing that provides a new level of quietness and long-term stability.

Specs: 800 RPM 8 dB(A) @ 35 CFM

Size 120Ã--120x25 mm Bearing SSO-Bearing Blade Geometry Straight-Blade-Design Rotational Speed (+/- 10%) 800 RPM Rotational Speed with U.L.N.A. (+/- 10%) 500 RPM Airflow 59 m³/h

Airflow with U.L.N.A. 34 m³/h

Acoustical Noise 8 dB(A)

Quiet impresive now lets have a look at the spes of the more punchy 120mm modle

The NF-S12 is the first fan employing a novel rotor which was developed by the Austrian Institute for Heat-Transmission and Fan Technology (Ã-sterreichisches Institut für Wärmeübertragung und Ventilatorentechnik, Ã-IWV). Thanks to the special optimisation of the blade geometry towards ultra low noise application, the NF-S12 is up to 10% more quiet than current high-end fans at the same flow rate.Self-stabilising oil-pressure bearing (SSO bearing): The NF-S12 series are equipped with a magnetically centred, self lubricating oil-pressure bearing that provides a new level of quietness and long-term stability.

Specs: 1200 RPM17 dB(A) @ 48 CFM

Size 120Ã--120x25 mm Bearing SSO-Bearing Blade Geometry Straight-Blade-Design Rotational Speed (+/- 10%) 1200 RPM

And Now the 80mm Modle The NF-R8 is the first fan employing a novel 80mm rotor which was developed by the Austrian Institute for Heat-Transmission and Fan Technology (Ã-sterreichisches Institut für Wärmeübertragung und Ventilatorentechnik, Ã-IWV). Thanks to the special optimisation of the blade geometry towards ultra low noise application, the NF-R8 is up to 10% more quiet than current high-end fans at the same flow rate.Self-stabilising oil-pressure bearing (SSO bearing): The NF-R8 series are equipped with a magnetically centred, self lubricating oil-pressure bearing that provides a new level of quietness and long-term stability.

Specs: 1800 RPM 17 dB(A) @ 22 CFM

Size 80Ã--80x25 mm Bearing SSO-Bearing Blade Geometry Raised-Blade-Design Rotational Speed (+/- 10%) 1800 RPM

Here is what I have to say about these amazing computer fans in my opinion this is most quiet computer fan ive gotten my hands on to this date. The first fan i received i held in my hand and it was inaudioable to my ears and when I put my other hand in front of it it was pushing huge amount of air. I said to my self there is some thing wrong here iether most other fan manufactures use a diffrent method of testing or these fans underrating how much air they actualy push.

Another thing I was intreaged by the desighn is instead of going with a aerodynamic approach like most other fan manufactures they went with a more straight blade desighn witch makes more sense to me for increase air flow. The straight blades are more like scooping every last inch of air rather than slicing throught it I have no sufisticated equipment to prove this but I have good ears and a sense of touch and fell and I test all kinds of computer fans almost every day in my business and it seems like these superb fans are pushing a huge amount of air versus noise level. I guess the secret may be in the blade desighn and the low noise in the SSO Bearing motor.

I now use the fans all the time and I highly suggest if your into quiet Performance give these fans a try, theye will not disapoint. In my opnion they are a quiet pc cooling enthusiast dream, and they will be the new standard in witch other fans are judged by.

About the Author

I Founded Acoustic PC www.acousticpc.com in June 2005 to become The Silent PC Enthusiast's premier source for quiet and silent computer parts and accessories. We specialize in offering hard to find and difficult to obtain products from around the world. Many of the parts we offer are unavailable anywhere else North America. Some of the most prestigious organizations in the world come to Acoustic PC for their silent computing needs, including Micr