- Review -

28.03.2007 FastSilicon.com

Simply changing out the front fan from the Yate Loon model to the Noctua NF-S12 made a huge difference in measured sound pressure level. Even with a 40cfm deficit in airflow to the Yate Loon we saw no significant difference in case temperatures either, though admittedly this wasn't an extreme system build either.

With the Coolermaster case, we already had a rather quiet low speed case fan, and the Coolermaster iGreen RS-600 PSU itself is also designed for quiet operation. Still with the Noctua NF-S12 fan installed it was significantly quieter, to the tune of 5dB. Sporting a tiny bit more than Coolermaster's own case fan, we still saw no appreciable gains or losses in case temperature.

Subjectively, not only did the Noctua NF-S12 come out of the tests as much quieter to the meter, they came out to our ears as even quieter than the tests would indicate.

"Noctua has clearly put forth considerable effort in redefining what a low noise fan can be, and by doing so they have significantly altered the compromises involved when considering building a 'Silent' PC. Altered them in a positive manner too. Sporting a much longer lifespan than the competition, increasing CFM relative to RPM, and doing so with less generated noise, Noctua has clearly bested most of the compromises associated with Silent PC design." (Scott Piercy, FastSilicon.com)