Noctua vs Stock - NF-A12x25 Performance Review! 

It's crazy how much you have grown since I first subscribed when you had 60 subs! Keep up the great work!

Testing radiator performance here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-dX7azFtJDT8.html Edit: The 120-140mm adapter should sit between the radiator and fan, *not* as shown @ 4:28

High quality shots and informative as always. Thanks!

First :D love the vids man, inspiring and I'm working on some of my own once I get the final tweaks right. Stumbled upon your channel when spec'ing my build and love the production value behind them. A+ sir.

This is a very high quality video. Nice job! You really need more subs for this high quality.

Sounds like a really premium fan! It will fit perfectly in my brown and cream colored build, said no one ever...

Great review! Looking forward to the itx/mini itx implementation!!

You're using the 140mm adapter wrong though, the adapter should be against the radiator to seal the air.

Just came across this video as I'm buying fans, can I just say holy shit your editing and cinematography skills are unreal. The effort you've put into a video about fans is out of this world - thank you.

Thanks for the review, I appreciate the noise level measurement a lot. Also to me the brown reminds me more of a wood finish then a chocolate feel, But I can see that. I can also see this going really well in a Ashe and oak mix custom wooden built case, I look forward to the radiator testing. For sp fan comparsion, I think it would be interesting to test them against their industrial counterparts and see how it stacks up, Also ofcorse maglev fans from Corsair.

I wish this test had been performed again in a more airflow focused case. The closed front on this makes me wonder if the improvement in temps is even more impressive given how little air they have access to.

No over the top hype, sensible case and test rig, tests look well done! Wow, im impressed and subbed, keep it up man!

your videos make me moist, glad to see a fellow aussie making these kinds of vids

Great video dude! I have two systems full of these fans haha. Love them.

I love your Videos, i just saw the Title and gave you a like, you know what i want to see. Keep up your good work, thx.

This was a really nice review!

They are definitely reserved for enthusiasts if you have a glass side panel. I have a corsair5000d airflow full of then and I think it’s beautiful

Fantastic video all around. Congratulations!

love it man. can't wait for the rad test

Great content as always!

im glad you know about clearance and issues having large gaps.

it's a beautiful piece of engineering

Nice comparison vid!

Thank you for comparing them in cooling performance over noise! I did the same with NF-A12x25 vs. NF-F12 and the new A12 are so much better. Good review, keep it up!

Great detailed review!

Great video!, please test these fans against the corsair ML pro series. Keep the videos comin! :)

i'm more impressed with your cable management. only wish i could have this skill

Thank you for this comparison! I love Noctua, but I don't see any reason why an upgrade is merited based on the tests. I'd be interested in seeing the test on the radiator, though!

Nice Video ... I am hyped for the new NF-A14 (Chromax)

Great work! Keep it up.

Awesome Video as usual. I would love to see a comparison against the Bequiet Silent Wings 3

love this, thank you sir

Bought these on release and are my favorite by far in my Ncase. I don't use the tg side panel(240mm rad/Extreme 3 combo) so the poop color doesn't bother me at all. Would love to see a comparison against the legendary OG gentle typhoon though.

dude, i have to play your videos at 2x speed. perfect for your style of slow panning and voice speed.

i can always rely on your videos uce. i bought three cheap fans to use as exhaust fans and didnt know i had to connect them to not only the mobo but the psu aswell. so i bit the bullet and am going to buy the nf-a12 x25 from pb tech tomorrow. thank you brother

Great video mang. I'd love to see a comparison of 1 fan vs 2 in a single tower CPU cooler

Thanks for the review of the NF-A12x25 PWM. Fans suggestions to test them against, - Scyth Gentle Typhoon AP15 1850rpm 3pin - Nidec Servo GentleTyphoon 120mm PWM 2150 RPM 4pin - Noiseblocker eLoop B12-PS 400-1500rpm PWM 4pin - EK-Vardar EVO 120ER RGB 500-2200 rpm 4pin - be quiet! BL066 SILENTWINGS 3 PWM 120mm 1450RPM

Put the noctua fans against EK vadar fan for radiator test.

best fan comparison so far ... noone does low rpm just crappy 100% and noise caps

i always choose noctua coz i dont give shtt about rgb or side pannel. i want full stealth build for my case.

Hey mate I’ll take a better look when I get home, but have you done a be quite vs noctua case fans test? I’m not a “fan” of the noctua colour theme, would the be quite be a decent compromise.. I’ll have to recheck your testing comparing the noctua and Corsair ML fans (but from memory that was on radiators) Cheers for any feedback mate, love the content you’ve been creating

Top quality video !

Great video as always. If in UK and want the great quiet Noctua fans search Noctua nf-s12a on eBay and check out first sellers other items also. Enjoy and thank you.

I love the colours

Noctua brown goes really well with green colors.

I love Noctua fans that's all i own BUT more airflow does not lower temps as long as cool air is coming and and hot air is coming out adding more airflow will not lower temps much. Really at 1200RPM that is plenty of airflow to keep that airflow moving, if you need to lower temps you have to get a better cooler, i tested this for years in builds. I only pick Noctua since they are the quietest fans and they are the best quality fans as well.

Alot people complains about the colour yet they never had bought nor use one yet. I regret sold 4 of my. NFF12 last time due to need cash for emergencies. super silent and cool to my radiator

Highest quality NF-A12x25 review out there!

It is best on a cooler(good static pressure at low noise). I am combining it with Dark Rock Pro 4(swapping the 120mm fan).

for my used 1080ti founders i decided to use a aftermarket cooler because my build is for absolute silence and power, and the original blower fan was terrible. attaching two of these to a morphues heatsink on the gtx pcb transformed the whole thing. at load its as silent as idle is. torture testing the card would push 68c but usually gaming is 40-50c. these fans are a massive improvement from the original noctuas, the level of power and silence is almost physically unbelievable

too bad there is no comparison between the NF-A12x25 PWM vs the NF-F12 PWM :(

This is one of my favourite tech channels but I was surprised you used those noctua fans as case fans, u should have have tested those on a rad or a heatsink..

Would like to see the performance of these in push vs pull on a radiator. Also, their performance vs the F12s and possibly silent wings 3, vardar, and the ML120s. I know it's not optimal (especially for Noctua fans) but I use my current NF-F12s in pull on my H100i. I can only run push or pull in my case, and pull keeps them hidden in my black/blue themed build (but are quieter than the 2 SP120s that they replaced)....

Noctua makes great fans, but for some reason I like SilentX. I have a set of these running in my case and they are silent as advertised. I bought them about 5 years ago and they are still spinning with no problem and they do really run quiet.

I've just finished replacing all my cooling fans. After swapping the fans around and testing temps I found the best results are:- Front panel intake fans 2 x Noctua NF-P12 redux-1700 PWM, 1 x Noctua NF-P14s redux-1500 PWM. Rear panel exhaust 1 x Noctua NF-P12 redux-1700 PWM. CPU cooling Noctua NH-U12S, GTX 1080 founders - ARCTIC Accelero Xtreme III. I removed my DVD drive to fit the top 140mm fan, this made a good improvement on CPU cooling when playing games. Adding an extra exhaust fan, top panel rear did not noticeably affect temps. I find it weird that 3 intake and 1 exhaust works, but it does seem to stop dust forming. The top panel is very perforated. Max game settings I'm getting around 50 deg C on both CPU and GPU and importantly, very quiet. Before it was CPU 55 and GPU 80, and very noisy!

I dont know if you can, but It would be great to see these go vs the Noiseblocker EBLoop (those organic looking black and white fans)

Thanks for this review. Nf a12x25 is pretty good on case fan...a little too loud at 2000rpm. For radiator, i still think gentle typhoon are king...:)

I wanna see this with a balls to the wall overclocked system. I have a 6850k overclocked and a 1080 ti and I'd love to see how that compares.

I have a question, how did you adjust the rpm's? BIOS, SpeedFan or something else? Btw, I personally like the color :)

I ordered 4 of these fans for my case, 3 at the front and 1 at the rear, do you think it'll be a good idea to also swap out the fans in the NZXT X73 with these also?

Would love to see how these compare against Phanteks MP and XP fans.

Impeller Creep, sounds like a metal band :)

Please test the Noctua against the ML120. Cause they are one of the best quiet fans out there. Please!!

I would like to see this fan vs the Noctua D15 vs the Corsair ML Pro series fan.

Bring on the 140mm chromax versions... Gotta need 8 of these babies for my dual loop. 8)

Hi, can you test performance of different fan configuration for Cougar QBX like in your "How To Downsize Your Gaming PC! (Part 2)" video ? Thanks

question specifically on the setup you used... I see that the H400 has a ton of space in front of the front fan bracket. would it be possible to install the fans on the other side (front) of the bracket? That would hide the horrible colors considerably, if wanted.

I wish you could compare with gentle typhoons. Since the design us nearly identical. They are still available from coolerguys website brand new from the oem who used to make them for scythe. Nidec I believe. Tbh I have a couple with very little use I could probably send u for testing.

As always, great video, technically.. I like your filming and voiceovers very much. But this time I am not really sold to the product. The temperatures while being quieter seem pretty good, but for 30$ each?? I mean it is just a question of airflow, so most quieter case-fans should perform as well. Also this brown is just horrific. I recently bought some of the Noctua redux versions for my NCase, being inspired by you. But choosing those shown here just seems like a Noctua Fanboy-only choice.

I think you should test this with their NF-F12, NF-s12a.

About the strange colours of Noctua. I only have a CPU cooler from them with a 90mm fan inside, but whenever i see that puppy, i get weirdly excited, knowing i have the best possible fan on the market. Somehow my brain has associated the Beige and Brown of Noctua with Top Tier Cooling which is something i need as a professional. I just ordered the NFA 12 to add as an exhaust and i'll definitely change all fans to Noctua NF A12 very soon. Im gonna love seeing all that brown inside my pc, flooding me with confidence and peace of mind, knowing i have the best possible air cooling inside. If this was a marketing trick that they did, it really worked, because it sets you apart from children with their RGB nonsense (that uselessly draw power from the PSU, only to keep it somewhere on the floor, out of view). That beige and brown says you mean business and you came to work, not to play.

I have an noctua nh-d15 with two of those as cooler fans. Because the 140 mm doesn't fit in my Coolermaster S600 case.

id love to see cpu cooler thermals with these things

These fans are going in my future build.

I love the Noctuafans...my fans cost more than my Fractal chassi :D i like quiet and up to 1200-1300rpm they don't alot of sound, 1700-2000rpm make alot of noise but as long as you keep them just under 1500 everything should be alright.

When you do your rad testing can you test them against the cryorig 120 fans plz

Thanks for this review. Why do you need an adapter for slowing down to 1700RPM and if you need an adapter to slow down to 1700RPM then how did you get it to 500RPM, 1000RPM and 1500RPM?

I would like to see this in the fractal r6 tempered glass, i think I will buy one and switch the fans out to noctua's but im not sure if it's worth it.. I just really want noctua's :D

Please run the radiator test against EK Vardar, thanks !

Can you compare it against the Corsair maglev fans?

Hey, I am currently running an M1 with a Arctic Accelero III equipped 1080 Ti. At the moment I have two EK Vardars exhausting air out of the bottom. Do you think I would benefit from switching to these Noctuas?

Bit late, but could u do a case fan round up w/ A12x25, P12 (Redux), ML120, SilentWings 3 and EK Vardar series

How about vibration? Did Noctua finally manage to do(/copy) motor which doesn't cause heavy vibration? NF-P12 and NF-F12 which came with (expensive) NH-U12P and NH-U12S heatsinks were horrible vibrating rollers... While Scythe SlipStreams available for third of the price are vibration free rotating smoothly. Same for ball bearing Scythe Gentle Typhoon, whose general design there basically copy.

Is it me or do these have a much larger hub? Will be interesting to see if that impacts performance on a radiator.

I ended up getting the nf f12's. The industrial ones that are said to reach 3k rpm. Problem is mines are under a 12v power supply and they don't seem to reach above 1700 rpm. I'm wondering is it worth the swap from these industrial fans to the ones displayed here?? Temps seem to stay within a 55c range and below under good use.

Very similar to the gentle typhoon can you test it vs the redux model nf12

for the radiator testing could you test them against EKWB vardar fans :D ?

Nice review! Great video quality as well - like all ways. I copy and paste a message that I wrote before - pls give an opinion or an answer! *Could you not do a SFF coolers Testing video? What would be good would be to split the SFF coolers into 3 categories: * Less than 60mm * From 60mm up too 70mm * Above 70mm to 130mm What would be interesting is to test these with your 8700k and NOT stock. The reason being that most of us buying or owning a 8700k OC it. Basic test would be and OC of 5.0 and maybe a mild 4.8 OC. All this as to see what SFF coolers can pass the test with a good OC and those that can only pass with a Mild of of 4.8 - and those who cant pass these 2 categories FAIL. If they FAIL then its obvious that they should be placed with either a locked 8700 or a 8400. The reason for the 3 groups is as there are some cases that only populates a sub 60mm cpu cooler - but they are few and not so used for high end cpus. Second group is quite common for SFF cases - these can house a good GPU and a good CPU. Third group would be for a bit bigger coolers but yet some can fit into some good SFF cases. These in theory would be better. I was thinking of doing these tests my self but I have no time and I love your quality and the way your channel is heading so I though it would be a great project for you. Also I will be getting soon the GHOST S1 as soon as they ship it out - thus I was thinking of this project. Here are some coolers that I have in mind for now: Silverstone´s new AR11 Noctua NH-L12S Noctua NH-L12 Noctua NH-U9DXI4 Noctua NH-U9S Noctua NH-L9X65 Noctua NH-L9i Cryorig C1 Cryorig C7 Scythe Big Shuriken 2 * Edit* more coolers Phanteks PH-TC12LS Be quiet! SHADOW ROCK LP Be Quiet Dark Rock TF Be Quiet Shadow Rock TF2 RAIJINTEK Pallas Raijintek Zelos * personal interest would be the NOX Hummer H-120 - as it has a 120 custom fan on it - for 12 euros only* ** EDIT** Also very important is to do these tests IN A SFF case. NOT in an open test bench. My initial thought was to do them in the QBX Cougar (cheap but yet elegant) AND in the LZ7 that I have as those would be 2 SFF case scenarios - one a bit bigger and the other quite small. YET in your case it would make perfect sens to do it in your NCASE M1. SO SORRY FOR LONG POST.... but please if you have gotten so far as this then please upvote so OPTIMUM TECH might see this and maybe give us a treat! Greeting from Spain.*

I've used intel coolers and supplied 5 volts , it made the fan silent and it was competely noiseless .

FYI they do make Dark Grey and Black fans now as well.

If you also changed the CPU fan for a Noctua fan, the system would have been even quieter 😊

Hi! I would like to ask if, "Is it overkill to replace the CPU Cooler and all four (1 back + 3 front) case fans for a system that currently has a stock AMD Ryzen 5 2600 stock cooler (Wraith Stealth) and 4 stock Fractal Design Focus G case fans, replacing them with a Noctua NH-D15 SE and 4 x Noctua NF-A12x25?" It's my wife's rendering PC and her (stock) Ryzen 5 2600 has been reaching 90-95 °C during rendering. So, I went off and bought the said replacements online. Hopefully everything fits. At least Fractal Design said that the NH-D15 will fit just enough inside the Focus G. I would really appreciate any advices. Thank you!

I tried replacing stock fans with these. At max speeds the sound was about the same. I took these out and returned them.

A 140mm version and the chromax versions are coming in 2019 !!!

Wow I guess you got different standards to noise than me lol...I call the Noctuas completely quiet at 2000RPM...

Can you test them against the Noiseblocker E-Loops?

NF-A12x25 vs NoiseBlocker B12-PS, please.

I bit the bullet and got 2 of these for the morpheus ii.

Do you have any Infos, if Noctua wants to release 92mm Versions of this fan for small Tower Coolers ?

I wonder how A12 performs against F12. Since F12 is supposedly better in covered panel due to higher static pressure. By the way, good job on labeling the RPM.