Page 3 - Performance Tests
To test the performance of the fan, measured the air speed at the outlet of the fan in two scenarios when it is operating at maximum speed. The first case is with an obstruction-free outlet. The second case is with the fan attached to a heatsink, or more specifically, the SilverStone AR12-TUF heatsink. The purpose of these tests is to see the airflow and static pressure of the installed fan, and quantitatively measure the performance when they are free and when they are attached to a heatsink fin array. Higher airflow is better in both scenarios, as it indicates the fan's capability.
Compared hardware:
- Noctua NF-A12x25 G2 PWM chromax.black (120mm)
- Cooler Master SickleFlow 120 RGB (120mm)
- Fractal Design Prisma AL-12 RGB (120mm)
- HYTE FA12 (120mm)
- Noctua NF-A14x25 G2 PWM chromax.black (140mm)
- SilverStone AR12-TUF (120mm)
- Thermaltake SWAFAN EX14 ARGB Sync (140mm)
Just to note, although Noctua sent us three fan models, we only tested the single PWM fan since they are on paper the same. With the fan spinning freely, the Noctua NF-A12x25 G2 PWM chromax.black produced speeds of 16.2km/h or just over 10.0mph. Compared to other 120mm options, this is only slower than the SilverStone AR12-TUF's fan, while also producing greater air speeds than the rest. It was also close to the larger Noctua NF-A14x25 G2 PWM chromax.black.
With a heatsink attached, all the measured air speeds reduced notably. The Noctua NF-A12x25 G2 PWM chromax.black produced 9.3km/h or 5.8mph speeds. This matched the HYTE FA12 and Cooler Master SickleFlow 120 RGB, while performing slightly worse than the two 140mm options tested. Unsurprisingly, the best fan here was the one that came with the SilverStone AR12-TUF.
As for the noise output, the Noctua NF-A12x25 G2 PWM chromax.black was one of the quieter 120mm options, especially when you consider its output air speed. I measured the noise of the fans spinning at maximum speed 50cm from the input side. As you can see in the graph above, the Noctua NF-A12x25 G2 PWM chromax.black was on the lower end of the pack, which is a positive thing. At 31.4 dB(A), this is quite a bit quieter than other 120mm fans other than the Prisma AL-12. This also has a much greater air output than the Prisma, which shows how Noctua has optimized these fans for both performance and noise.
On a more subjective scale from 0 to 10 where 0 is silent and 10 is the loudest, I would rate the Noctua NF-A12x25 G2 PWM chromax.black at 2.5/10 acoustically at full speed operation. Not only is the measured sound lower than its competition, the Noctua NF-A12x25 G2 PWM chromax.black is subjectively quieter as they operate in a lower frequency range and thus is not as audibly perceivable. In regular operation, the NF-A12x25 G2 slows down to near silence.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Hardware
3. Performance Tests
4. Conclusion
