Presentation – Noctua NF-A20 NF-A12x15 NF-A4x20 |Specs | Price

Hi all !

Rare are the novelties coming from Noctua, in fact the brand takes its time to release products, but does it well by doing everything possible to have something flawless. Today I will give you a quick little presentation of their latest fans, the NF-A20 which is a huge 20cm, the NF-A12x15 which is a 12cm with a non-standard thickness of 15mm and the tiny NF- A14x20 of 4 cm. Offered at prices ranging from € 14.90 for A4x20 to € 29.90 for NF-A20 as usual at Nocta, this is not cheap, but those who have already had fans of the brand know that at least we are quiet for a very long time, let’s see if the price is however justified!

As we can see the technical characteristics of the 4 models are rather close. These are 4cm fans equipped with either a 3-pin cable or a 4-pin PWM cable, depending on your use. All 4 rotate at a maximum speed of 5000 RPM for an air flow of 9.4 m³ / h and a maximum theoretical sound level of 14.9 dB. Obviously the 5000 RPM can be scary when you know the 12 or 14 cm fans but the smaller the fan, the less noise it makes at equivalent RPM. The price is 7.90 € for a 6-year warranty, enough to see coming!

The bundle is as usual at Noctua very widely supplied, all have 4 screws in addition to the 4 anti-vibration rubber fixing systems, an extension and an omnijoin adapter. LNA and ULNA adapters are also supplied depending on the model, as you can see above 🙂

As we can see here the engine takes a very large part of the beast, unlike what we can see on the A4x10 models of the brand. The build quality is excellent as usual, the typical color of Noctua and there are also small rubber pads in the corners to avoid vibrations as much as possible.

The 2 models of the A12x15 series are a little atypical at Noctua, in fact the brand has decided here to market 1.5 cm thick fans, unlike the 2.5 cm that we found until now. Both turn at a maximum speed of 1850 RPM for an air flow of 94.2 m³ / h and a theoretical maximum sound level of 23.9 dB, which should ensure an acceptable sound level even if theory and practice almost always differ 😉
Offered at a price of 19.90 € the A12x15 are at the same level as all the other 12 cm models of the brand, the 6-year warranty also applies of course.

The bundle is once again well provided here, the 2 models come with an extension (3-pin for the FLX and 4-pin for the PWM), 4 screws, 4 rubber mounts and 1 LNA adapter. The only thing that changes between the 2 is the presence of a 1 x 4-pin -> 2 x 4-pin adapter for the PWM and a 1 x Molex -> 2 x 3-pin adapter for the FLX.

Here we find the Noctua leg as usual, the A12x15 is equipped with 7 rather thin blades compared to what we can see on other models. Each corner is equipped with a rubber pad to isolate the fan as much as possible from the surface on which it is installed. A rather strange thing is that the center is not completely covered with plastic and lets appear a metallic circle, not that this changes anything but it is to be noted. Of course the build quality is excellent and we feel that we are dealing with a quality product.

Here the brand arrives in unknown territory, that of 20 cm fans! The maximum rotation speed is 800 RPM, which is already not bad for a monster of this size, the air flow being much higher than the 12 cm models that we can see just above with a maximum of 146.9 m³ / h. The theoretical maximum sound level is 18.1 dB which should be really quiet, but again you will have to see it all in practice!
The price of 29.90 € places the NF-20 at the top of the range of this type of product, as usual at Noctua anyway!

With the FLX 3-pin version there are 2 sets of 4 rubber mounts, 4 screws, 1 Molex -> 3-pin adapter, a 3-pin extension as well as an LNA adapter to reduce maximum RPMs. The PWM version has the same fixing systems with a 4-pin extension, an LNA adapter and a 1 x 4-pin -> 2 x 4-pin adapter. Suffice to say that there is everything you need to connect and fix the animals!

Here is the monster! As we can see we are not here facing a small fan of nothing at all 😀 It is made of 9 large blades which should circulate as much air as possible. The corners are as usual equipped with rubber to dampen any vibrations as much as possible. The mounting holes are both 20 and 18 cm compatible in order to best fit in the cases. The build quality is once again excellent and the product seems to be made to last.

First of all, the 5V versions have of course only been tested in 5V 😉 The sound level of the A4 in 5V versions with 37.5 dB is rather contained for fans running at a speed of 5000 RPM, anyone who knows this type of fans know that they are usually very painful to the ear.
For the fans which are able to be used in 5V as in 12V a first thing is striking, they are all really quiet in 5V! Indeed they are all here between 32.5 and 33.1 dB in a room with an ambient sound level of 32.4 dB, which means that unless you have your ear really glued to them it will be impossible to distinguish them!
Once supplied with 12V things logically change, the very small A4 arrive at 37.4 dB, which is audible but not really annoying once more than 50 cm. The enormous 20 cm as for them rise to 40.8 dB, which even if audible remains very largely tolerable unless you are really picky, it is however quite possible to regulate them as needed 😉 The 12 cm are the noisier, with a maximum of 44 dB, nothing surprising that said when we know that they turn at a speed of 1850 RPM, we can not qualify them as silent at this level there but again nothing n ‘prevents them from being regulated or plugging in the various adapters which reduce the voltage and therefore the RPMs.
Note that no parasitic noise is to be deplored on all the fans in the comparison, when we can observe noises coming from the bearings or other rattling on competing models here there is really nothing that disturbs us , only the sound of the air is audible, that’s a very good thing!

Here we are at the end of this presentation, what to say about the new Noctua fans?
At Noctua, the key word is quality, and once again this can be seen on the brand’s latest fans. Here, whether it is the very small NF-14 or the enormous NF-A20, the build quality is excellent and the bundle is as usual very supplied.
Regarding the sound level the brand has worked well, the NF-A4 stand out from what we usually find with a very appreciable discretion, the NF-A12 as for them are very quiet at least but rather noisy once supplied with 12V, nothing serious, however, given the adapters supplied. The larger NF-A20s are also quiet whether at minimum or maximum.
Offered at a price ranging from € 7.90 for NF-A4 to € 29.90 for NF-A20 via € 19.90 for NF-A12x15, they are once again reserved for those who are satisfied only with high-end products, they will clearly not be disappointed 😉

A big thank you to Jakob from Noctua who allowed me to do this test.

Where to find the Noctua AM4?

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