- Review -

31.12.2012 DreamWare Computers

Since the NF-A14 and NF-A15 fans are intended to replace the NF-P14, I'll be using an NF-P14 as their primary competition for my testing. However, I'll throw a few other silent fans in the mix too, just to see how they stack up. My initial noise testing of the fans will happen in a completely silent room with the fans on an exposed surface in the middle of the room (clear from any nearby surfaces which may reflect or absorb the sound). When a fan is running in a computer case the best judge of it's noise is simply our ear, so I'll be listening closely to each fan running and doing some head-to-head comparison during this time. For some further testing and observation, I'll then mount each fan in my case to use as a daily driver in my cooling setup. After powering up the NF-A14 FLX and NF-A15 PWM fans, the two models which compete most directly with the NF-P14, I immediately noticed a difference in their noise level. The new fans were noticeably quieter than the NF-P14. For all the fans being tested the biggest impact on noise is the airflow noise itself - there's practically no bearing noise on these fans unless your ear is right beside them. The increase in performance of the new -A models along with the noticeably quieter operation seems to imply that all those fancy features we saw on the previous page must at least have some sort of impact on performance! The NF-A14 ULN is in a category all it's own because it doesn't operate at speeds fast enough to make it an even comparison with the NF-P14. At stock speeds, without the U.L.N. adapter installed, the NF-A14 ULN is for all intensive purposes, inaudible.

"The NF-A14 and NF-A15 fans are a great improvement over the old NF-P14. Noctua has now given buyers the ability to get a 140mm fan that can be used in both a regular 140mm mounting hole setup (NF-A14 models) or in a 120mm mount like the older NF-P14 (the NF-A15). There's no doubt that the NF-A14 and NF-A15 fans do carry a bit of a price premium over most other 140mm fans, but the unmatched silence, quality and included accessories make it easy to justify the extra dime to step up to a fan like these". (Steve Blackwell, DreamWare Computers)