Noctua NF-P12 120mm Fan Review

Conclusion

Personally, I think that the tests in this review speak louder than any conclusion I can write because the results were so convincing. The Noctua NF-P12 was the best fan we tested. Period. It beat out all of the other fans we put it up against even though the gap narrowed a bit in the last water cooling test. This shows that the high degree of engineering put into this product was not just window dressing since it performs exactly as Noctua promises and then some. Whether it was cooling a Thermalright heatsink or a Black Ice radiator, the NF-P12 proved that it was the best choice for applications which call for a high amount of static pressure. Without a doubt, every part of Noctua’s fan is top notch in terms of build quality and performance. I also like the fact that all of the mounting hardware is included and as well as two prepackaged adaptors for lowering the rotational speed of the fan.

What really surprised me was the distinct lack of noise produced by this Noctua fan. I was prepared for a moderate increase in noise over the NF-S12 fans I was using on my case but lo and behold, the NF-P12 equaled the quiet performance of Noctua’s older fans. To have this kind of performance with the lack of blade or motor noise is a dream come true for people who demand the quietest PC possible. In many cases, an enthusiast will buy a fan speed controller or build their own resistors into a fan’s wiring in order to lower the amount of noise produced by a fan. With the NF-P12 that is no longer necessary since not only does it offer near-silent operation but Noctua has also included two fan speed adaptors to lower RPMs for even less noise.

So, after that ringing endorsement are there really any negatives about this fan? Yes there are and I think the first thing many people will single out about the NF-P12 is its price. The lowest price I could find was $14CAD which is about double the price of an OEM Yate Loon and a few bucks more than other high performance fans used in this review. I would actually like to see an option to buy these fans in packages of 3 (for triple fan rads) or four in order to save a bit of money by buying in “bulk”. On the other hand we can’t forget that all of Noctua’s fans come with every bit of mounting hardware you could want and a 6 year warranty. I would be more than willing to pay the extra money for the piece of mind provided by a warranty and the convenience of not having to search high and low for screws to mount my fans.

Unfortunately, people also tend to pick on the color Noctua chooses for their fans. Granted, the maroon and beige color scheme won’t find many adherents but when this kind of performance comes along, I wouldn’t care if the fan was painted with pink and yellow polka dots. While that is my personal opinion, I am sure that there will still be some consumers out there that will look away from the NF-P12 due to its oddball colors.

When push comes to shove, for a lot of people the decision to buy this fan will stem from the fact that it offers extremely good cooling performance in high impedance applications while staying blissfully quiet. If you are looking for a high performance fan for a radiator or CPU heatsink, it would be a crime not to seriously consider the Noctua NF-P12.


Pros:

- Amazing performance
- Extremely quiet operation
- Sleeved cables
- All mounting hardware included
- Low noise adaptors
- 6-year warranty


Cons:

- Price
- Color