Introduction
The Noctua NF-A12x25 fan has been one of the most anticipated products to come from Noctua in recent times. We as many of you were really eager to get our hands on the new design of fans and put them to good use. To Noctua’s credit, they sent some over, along with some NF-P12 Redux fans (review publishing shortly). We have had these for a while now and decided a slightly different route for this review.
Fan tests are tricky, unless you want to go for a chassis airflow impact comparison, a worthy set of tests but may not help in all situations. We have put them on a Scythe Ninja 5 (stock review also following shortly) to add a little flavour and dimension to the typical fan review. So, if you have a CPU cooler that could do with a little help in the airflow department, this may help.
| Specification | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| NF-A12x25 PWM | NF-A12x25 ULN | NF-A12x25 FLX | |
| Size | 120x120x25 mm | 120x120x25 mm | 120x120x25 mm |
| Mounting hole spacing | 105x105 mm | 105x105 mm | 105x105 mm |
| Connector | 4-pin PWM | 3-pin | 3-pin |
| Bearing | SSO2 | SSO2 | SSO2 |
| Blade geometry | A-Series with Flow Acceleration Channels | A-Series with Flow Acceleration Channels | A-Series with Flow Acceleration Channels |
| Frame technology | AAO (Advanced Acoustic Optimisation) | AAO (Advanced Acoustic Optimisation) | AAO (Advanced Acoustic Optimisation) |
| Rotational speed (+/- 10%) | 2000 RPM | 1200 RPM | 2000 RPM |
| Rotational speed with L.N.A. (+/- 10%) | 1700 RPM | 900 RPM (with U.L.N.A.) | 1700 RPM (1350 RPM with U.L.N.A.) |
| Min. rotational speed (PWM, +/-20%) | 450 RPM | NA | NA |
| Airflow | 102,1 m³/h | 55,7 m³/h | 102,1 m³/h |
| Airflow with L.N.A. | 84,5 m³/h | 39,4 m³/h (with U.L.N.A.) | 84,5 m³/h (64,5 m³/h with U.L.N.A.) |
| Acoustical noise | 22,6 dB(A) | 12,1 dB(A) | 22,6 dB(A) |
| Static pressure | 2,34 mm H₂O | 0,82 mm H₂O | 2,34 mm H₂O |
| Voltage PWM signal | 5 V | NA | NA |
| Warranty | 6 years | 6 years | 6 years |
We are going to use the NF-A12x25 PWM and ULN 3-pin fans to replace the two Kaze Flex 120 fans included with the Scythe Ninja 5. We set the PWM fan to PWM and a standard fan profile in the motherboard BIOS for both fans. The NF-A12x25 fans have the usual Noctua beige contrasting colour theme, so they really stand out against the Scythe Ninja 5’s dark theme. The NF-A12x25 will not suit all systems, but that’s not really up for debate. Noctua also makes a number of other fans with different colour schemes, so we are sure you will find something that suits your system.
