Noctua NF-F12 PWM Fan Review

👤by James Clewer Comments 📅25-01-12
Testing


The Noctua will be compared to a selection of fans tested here at Vortez in the past.

I used the sound pressure level meter below to test the db rating of the fan at 12v, 7v and 5v.


SPL meter.


Due to the sound level meter only registering a db rating of 50db+ I will have to adjust the sampling distance to allow the fan to register on the meter.

Originally I decided to test the fan at each rated voltage at a distance of 2cm but since this can introduce some proximity based noise issues I have changed my testing method.

I will instead identify the distance at which the fan (running at 12v) produces a 50db reading. Once a reading is taken I will then identify the distances for the same decibel rating at 7v and again at 5v.

When the data is complete I will use a 'damping of sound level with distance' calculator to work out the db rating for a listening distance of 2m. This will give a clearer understanding of the actual volume of the fans we have here.

For testing I used a hotwired ITX PSU which is a fanless silent model. This will provide power for the fan without producing any noise interference itself.



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