Noctua Redux Fans

Noctua's latest consumer grade fans

| Source: Noctua Author: James Riley

Introduction

Noctua fans have always been highly regarded as some of the best fans available for computers. They boast great performance, minimal motor noise along with many accessories and options included in the rather impressive packaging which is far more than you'd usually expect from a fan. However, this of course comes at a price. At around £20 per fan, equipping your case with Noctua fans was not something to be done on a budget. Along with this, those people spending large amounts of money often wanted their PCs to look great, and often follow a colour scheme. We think it's very rare to see a brown and beige themed system, so despite the fans' great performance, many potential customers were put off.

Now however, Noctua have graced us with two new ranges of fans; the 'redux' range, and the 'industrialPPC' range. The redux range is intended more for consumer use, whilst the industrialPPC range follows its name of being aimed at more industrial server grade applications. We show you the redux range of fans.

Conclusion

Marketed more at consumers, the redux fans are designed primarily as case fans, with options ranging from 80mm to 140mm. Of course the 120mm and 140mm fans are going to be the most common in modern consumer systems.

The 80mm versions come in three different variants. There's a 1200RPM model, a 1800RPM model, and also a 1800RPM PWM model. The 92mm versions on the other hand come in a single 1600RPM speed, but one version with PWM, and one version with a standard 3pin fan cable. With smaller fans such as this, they do need to spin faster than their larger counter-parts in order to shift an adequate amount of air, and so we should expect these to be a little louder than the 120mm, and 140mm RPM models. However, as previously said, many modern cases don't have mounts for fans as low as 80mm and 92mm and so we do think these will be more of a niche product.

We like how Noctua have added options for different fan speeds along with different fan sizes. This means you can buy fans on the exact speeds you want and not have to worry about using a fan controller or fan speed cables in order to reduce them further. The 120mm variant comes with a low speed version at 700RPM, and a high speed version at 1200RPM. Unfortunately, the redux range doesn't come with a static pressure optimised fan for 120mm, meaning they won't be ideal to be used on radiators or heatsinks.

The 140mm fans on the other hand come with static optimisation in mind, meaning they will be suitable for both case flow, and radiator and heatsink purposes. These will be especially good if used as an intake in order to blow air into the case through obstructive hard drive cages. Again, the 140mm versions come in a range of speeds and options. We do find the NF-P14r which encompasses a round frame. Along with this we have square 140mm fans with 900RPM, and 1200RPM variants, and also square PWM fans in 1200RPM and 1500RPM variants. We expect these to be some of the best sellers as there is a gap in the market for static pressure optimised 140mm fans.

Overall, we are a little disappointed that we don't have any static pressure optimised 120mm fans. If we are building a high end system, most of us wish to use the same fans throughout the case, and if you were wanting to use these, you'd be a little stumped if you were using something like a Corsair H100i, or other 240mm radiator solution. The NF-F12 fans, which are static optimised 120mm fans are available in the industrial line-up, but spinning at 2000RPM, and 3000RPM it would be an issue letting them run at their maximum speeds, and it is a real shame we don't have the same fans with more down to Earth speeds. However, we do have to say we're incredibly happy that Noctua have finally given us their much loved fans in less ostentatious colours and we do hope to see many future systems using these fans.

Thanks to Noctua for providing their redux fans. You can discuss your thoughts on the OC3D Forums.

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