Noctua Low Noise Computer Case Fans<base href="http://www.atruereview.com/" /> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="http://www.atruereview.com/images/favicon.ico" /> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" /> <link href="http://www.atruereview.com/templates/rt_versatility_iii/css/template_css.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <link href="http://www.atruereview.com/templates/rt_versatility_iii/css/style10.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <link href="http://www.atruereview.com/templates/rt_versatility_iii/slimbox/slimbox.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <link href="http://www.atruereview.com/templates/rt_versatility_iii/css/rokmoomenu.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />  <link rel="shortcut icon" href="http://www.atruereview.com/images/favicon.ico" /> <style type="text/css"> td.left div.moduletable, td.right div.moduletable, td.left div.moduletable-hilite1, td.right div.moduletable-hilite1, td.left div.moduletable-hilite2, td.right div.moduletable-hilite2, td.left div.moduletable-hilite3, td.right div.moduletable-hilite3, td.left div.moduletable-hilite4, td.right div.moduletable-hilite4, td.left div.moduletable-hilite5, td.right div.moduletable-hilite5, td.left div.moduletable-hilite6, td.right div.moduletable-hilite6, td.left div.moduletable-hilite7, td.right div.moduletable-hilite7, td.left div.moduletable-hilite8, td.right div.moduletable-hilite8 { width: 175px; } div.wrapper { margin: 0 auto; width: 868px;} </style> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.atruereview.com/templates/rt_versatility_iii/js/mootools.r462.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.atruereview.com/templates/rt_versatility_iii/js/roktools.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.atruereview.com/templates/rt_versatility_iii/js/mootools.bgiframe.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.atruereview.com/templates/rt_versatility_iii/js/rokmoomenu.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> window.addEvent('domready', function() { new rokmoomenu($E('ul.nav'), { bgiframe: false, delay: 500, animate: { props: ['opacity', 'width', 'height'], opts: { duration:400, fps: 100, transition: Fx.Transitions.sineOut } } }); }); </script> </head> <body id="page_bg" class="f-default"> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.atruereview.com/templates/rt_versatility_iii/js/slimbox.js"></script> <div id="fxContainer"> <div id="fxTarget"> <div id="fxPadding" class="wrapper"> </div> </div>  </div> <div id="template" class="wrapper"> <div id="header"> <a href="http://www.atruereview.com" class="nounder"><img src="http://www.atruereview.com/images/blank.png" style="border:0;" alt="" id="logo" /></a> <div id="banner"> <div class="padding"> <form action="index.php?option=com_search&Itemid=5" method="get"> <div class="searchroflmao"> <input name="searchword" id="mod_search_searchword" maxlength="20" alt="search" class="inputboxroflmao" type="text" size="20" value="search..." onblur="if(this.value=='') this.value='search...';" onfocus="if(this.value=='search...') this.value='';" /> </div> <input type="hidden" name="option" value="com_search" /> <input type="hidden" name="Itemid" value="5" /> </form> </div> </div> </div> <div id="horiz-menu" class="moomenu"> <ul class="nav"> <li><a href="http://www.atruereview.com/">Home</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.atruereview.com/news/">News</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.atruereview.com/search.html">Search</a></li> <li><a href="http://atruereview.com/oldrev.php">Old Reviews</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.atruereview.com/atruereview/articles.php">Old Articles</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.atruereview.com/contact/contact.html">Contact</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.atruereview.com/links/links.html">Links</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.atruereview.com/accessories/2.html">Reviews</a></li> </ul> </div> <div id="top"> </div> <div class="clr" id="mainbody"> <table class="mainbody" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr valign="top"> <td class="left"> <div class="moduletable"> <h3> Main Menu </h3> <table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr align="left"><td><a href="http://www.atruereview.com/" class="mainlevel" >Home</a></td></tr> <tr align="left"><td><a href="http://www.atruereview.com/news/" class="mainlevel" >News</a></td></tr> <tr align="left"><td><a href="http://www.atruereview.com/search.html" class="mainlevel" >Search</a></td></tr> <tr align="left"><td><a href="http://atruereview.com/oldrev.php" class="mainlevel" >Old Reviews</a></td></tr> <tr align="left"><td><a href="http://www.atruereview.com/atruereview/articles.php" class="mainlevel" >Old Articles</a></td></tr> <tr align="left"><td><a href="http://www.atruereview.com/contact/contact.html" class="mainlevel" >Contact</a></td></tr> <tr align="left"><td><a href="http://www.atruereview.com/links/links.html" class="mainlevel" >Links</a></td></tr> <tr align="left"><td><a href="http://www.atruereview.com/accessories/2.html" class="mainlevel" >Reviews</a></td></tr> </table> </div> <div class="moduletable"> </div> </td> <td class="mainbody"> <table class="sections" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr valign="top"> <td class="section w99"> <div class="moduletable"> </div> </td> </tr> </table> <div class="padding"> <h1 align="center">Noctua Low Noise Computer Case Fans </h1> <p><strong>Description:</strong></p> <p>Each fan has a flesh-tone colored plastic casing. The blades of the fans are a dark brown. Each 120mm and 80mm fan also has 7 curved fan blades. Blades on the 120mm fan are about 1/2 inch from the casing, which is larger than most.</p> <p align="center"><a href="atruereview/noctua_fan/03.jpg"><img src="atruereview/noctua_fan/03th.jpg" alt="Noctua Low Noise Computer Case Fans" title="Mojo Energy Mints from Sweet Stuff Innovative Products " width="250" height="204" border="0"></a><br> <font size="-1">Click on image for larger picture</font> </p> <p>Each power cable is wrapped with a nylon sleeve. The main connector on the power cable is a 3 pin. Included with fans are two ATX extension cables with resistors in them. These cables reduce voltage to the fans to slow them down. I'm not sure these are needed for most new motherboards since they can regulate the power to the fans. Also included, is a 4 pin to 3 pin adapter.</p> <p align="center"><a href="atruereview/noctua_fan/04.jpg"><img src="atruereview/noctua_fan/04th.jpg" alt="Noctua Low Noise Computer Case Fans" title="Mojo Energy Mints from Sweet Stuff Innovative Products " width="250" height="245" border="0"></a><br> <font size="-1">Click on image for larger picture</font> </p> <p><strong>Testing:</strong></p> <p>I first tested these fans in an open air environment, basically plugged them into a power supply. They were very quiet, I couldn't even hear them other than the slight sound of moving air. Even though they were very quiet, the air volume felt solid. </p> <p align="center"><a href="atruereview/noctua_fan/05.jpg"><img src="atruereview/noctua_fan/05th.jpg" alt="Noctua Low Noise Computer Case Fans" title="Mojo Energy Mints from Sweet Stuff Innovative Products " width="250" height="185" border="0"></a><br> <font size="-1">Click on image for larger picture</font> </p> <p></a> <a href="noctua_fan/">Next, I put both the 120mm fan and 80mm fan into my case. I used the 4 vibration compensators. A vibration compensator is a little plug that pushes through fan's screwhole and screwhole in the case. These compensators are made of rubber, which prevents the fan from making noise by stopping the vibration against the case. To install them, I had to pull them through the screwhole on the case and then through the fan's screw hole. Not the most fun activity in the world, but not the worst either. Once solidly in place, they held very secure.</p> <p> I ended up replacing two of my fans. My case is very quiet normally, but with these installed I couldn't hear a thing. I did not even hear the occasional vibration against of my case, even in a dead quiet room. </p> <p><strong>Conclusion:</strong></p> <p>Noctua has a very impressive set of fans. While these won't suck the side of your case in when turned on at high speed, they push a solid amount of air. The noise volume is flat out incredible. If you don't want to hear your system, get the Noctua fans. I'm not sure why the RPM resistor cables are included for they are perfectly quiet without them. It seems like Noctua could lower the price a tad without these for they really aren't needed. </p> <p><strong>Pros:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Extremely quiet</li> <li>Anti-vibration compensators</li> </ul> <p><strong>Cons:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Hard to find</li> <li>More expensive than a standard fan </li> </ul> <p><strong>Ratings:</strong></p> <p>Excellent</p> <p>(Ratings Possible Terrible, Very Bad, Bad, Fair, Good, Very Good, Excellent)</p> <p align="left"><a href="atruereview/noctua_fan/index.php"></a> <a href="noctua_fan/index.php">Previous (Introduction & Specifications)</a></p> </div> </td> </tr> </table> </div> <div id="footer" class="clr"> <div class="rk-1"> <div class="rk-2"> <div id="the-footer"> <script type="text/javascript"> var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www."); document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E")); </script> <script type="text/javascript"> try { var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-6922792-1"); pageTracker._trackPageview(); } catch(err) {}</script>  </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </body> </html>