Hello,

Just curious I intend to run a single Noctua NF-S12B FLX 1,200 RPM on my Noctua NH-U12P SE2. I know the NF-S12B FLX is more suited for a heatsink with wide fin spacing but the included NH-P12 1,300 PRM fans are SPCR tested at 32dba are just to loud. I current run a TRUE and another Noctua NH-U12P SE2 with Scythe SFF21E 1,200 RPM fans will I see much of difference between the two. Scythe SFF21E is now discounted and I cannot obtain them anymore so I switched to the Noctua NF-S12B FLX 1,200 RPM. Noctua NF-S12B FLX 1,200 RPM,Noctua NH-U12P SE2 will be cooling Athlon X2 250 overclocked with HD 5670 video card inside a CM HAF 912 case with x2 Noctua NF-S12B FLX 1,200 for exhaust and intake.

Run the NF-S12B FLX only as a case fan.

The NF-P12 is the one you should use on CPU coolers. Run it at the lowest speed and it will be fine.

I don't want to toy with unvolting and stuff but according to what little information I could fine it's not going make much of difference but to my ears. Seems according to SPCR the Noctua NH-U12P has more of netual fin spacing and not as tight like I thought so everything should playout as I expected with the NF-S12B FLX.

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1007/3/

http://www.pureoverclock.com/printer.ph ... 792&page=4

http://hardwarebistro.com/?option=com_s ... Fan-Review

http://www.dragonsteelmods.com/index.ph ... 8&Itemid=1

http://performancehardware.net/reviews/ ... -review/6/

NF-S12B FLX vs NF-P12

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article850-page4.html

What do you mean by netual fin spacing?

The Noctuas come with two different cables that allow you to run them at a lower speed than the full 12 volt speed. It is not complicated or anything and in my opinion they are really designed to use one of those cables. You can run them at full speed... but if silence is important, they are intended to be run with one of the stock cables that slows them down. A lot of people run them at full speed... then complain they are slightly noisy... which to seems a bit unfair.

If you want high static pressure run them without the slow speed cable. If you want quiet, run them with one of the slow speed cables.

I've used a Noctua NF-S12B FLX for a CPU cooler fan. Ultimately I doubt you'd even hit top speed on a decent heatsink if you enable smart fan control on the mobo it would be unlikely to hit max rpm.
Done the same with the NF-B9 92mm that's just fine as a CPU fan too.

I've never fitted the resistor cables when using them as CPU fans. As case fans yes I would but again depends how you are running them if the mobo can dial them down then you could skip it but I'd probably not need huge airflow so I would go with the low noise one firstly.

The noctua 92mm and 120mm fans (bar the 120mm ULN slow RPM ones) are not silent nor anywhere near it at top speed..saying that they're not overly noise either v some other ones I've used. If they last as long as the MTBF says they should then they probably are worth the money purely on that. But you could argue a half decent much cheaper fan will be just as quiet if it runs slowly enough..heck almost any fan can be pretty quiet at lower RPM's so long as the bearings are not iffy.

I've spent quite a bit on Noctua fans only long term use will tell if they were worth the price paid.

If you are judging them for quiet, use the slow down cables. They are not meant to be super quiet at a full 12 volts... They could have built them to run slow at 12 volts but then would have reduced their flexibility.

Somehow it seems unreasonable to me to refrain from using the included cables designed for silencing them... and then complain about their lack of silence.

My point is if I use the cables or a fan controller I can get quiet with just about any fan out there!
I'm not saying I've a problem with Noctua but I remember powering up the NF-B9 and it being disappointingly not quiet really slightly suspicious of the dBA numbers on many fans this one included.
Same on the NF-S12B FLX not a fan I would run at max rpm.

Like I said if they last as long as Noctua say the bang per buck factor is worth it..I'm still wondering if I could have bought some Gelid ones and saved a few ££ doing so. Because they're silent 9 is quieter than the Noctua NF-B9 (after subjectively comparing both for a while now)

NH-P12 is a really good fan for CPU coolers. Use the resistor cable that comes with the fan to lower ts speed. If you already own this fan it would be a shame not to use it, more so if you need to spend money on a new fan.
If you must have a Scythe fan you can get a Slipstream 1200 or 800RPM. The 1200 is a bit loud, so you can undevolt it or control its speed from the BIOS. The Slipstreams are also cheaper.

I wonder why the Scythe fans are so much cheaper than the Noctuas? Do the Scythe fans use SSO bearings?

I know the "GentleTyphoon" ones are listed as using double ball bearings.
Some of the Scythe range use normal sleeve bearings.

Noctua are somewhat overpriced... and their bundle is better than Scythe fan...but are they worth the premium, I don't know (and in fact I don't think so : maybe 4-5 years ago, but now there are much more good fans available)

Well speaking of bundle i actually don't care. I care about the quality of the fan and that's what it counts for me. I wouldn't call Noctua priceworthy when they cost about x3 times as much as silent Scythe fans.

What's the difference between double ball bearings and normal sleeve bearings?

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article690-page1.html
http://www.nmbtc.com/bearings/engineering/

I'd stick with Nexus, Scythe, Noiseblocker or Gelid fan if I were you.

Nexus use sleeve bearings from what I can gather. Now I'm not saying all sleeve bearings are bad, but ultimately I'm not convinced their as durable as the hydro or ball bearing ones.

Noctua (and some other makers) do make a big deal about their bearings.
Ball bearing fans def do last quite a long time (going on previous builds 7-10 years ago) though they do increase in noise as they wear.
I've had some sleeve bearings wear and thus make noise fairly quickly I'm sure some of the hybrid/better design ones last but how long before they're no longer that quiet?

The slipstreams have awful short life I like avoid sleeve bearing fans when possible.The Noctua NF-S12B FLX 1,200 RPM worked just fine to cool my Athlon II X2 250 matched with Noctua NH-U12P SE2 quietly. Still nothing beats the S-flex 1,200 PRM which is now discountined.

I never own the 1200rpm but i do the 1600rpm, and was a good fan. Very similar is the new KAMA FLEX, the design seems almost the same just PWM (300-1600rpm), i just bought 8 for the server build and they seem good, only time will tell if they are as good sflex. Scythe Kama Flex 120mm x 25mm PWM Fan w/ S-Fluid Dynamic Bearings (SA1225FDB12H-P)

Should i choose the Noctua NF-S12B ULN as front intake fan for the Antec Solo II or the NF-P12 or even the NF-S12FLX? I was thinking of the very fine front intake filters it has.

What about the Scythe S-FLEX 800 120mm ? Noctua says Fluid bearings sucks.

http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=whic ... ght_for_me

There is no good or bad bearing, though fluid fans typically last longer, and it's a known fact that sleeve are NOT suited for horizontal mounting. I have a few fluid bearing fans in use, including Galacialtech and Arctic cooling all of which are as quiet as they were on day 1. Most PSU fans are ball.

As a front intake I'd go with slipstream - they move a lot of air and are super quiet under 800 RPM.

I'm a HUGE fan of the Scythe S-Flex series. I've tried a lot of different fans and imo they have been the best. Smooth and quiet and seemingly everlasting compared to a lot of my sleeve bearing fans that have always started to "rattle" within 6 months of usage. The Noctua NF-S12B is really good too but imo the S-Flex is quieter at the same rpm.

I didn't know the S-Flex was discontinued. Lucky me, because I ordered 4 extra of them this summer.

According to this SPR article the Nexus fans are the best?

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1040-page3.html



If they disscontinued them it must been because they werent good enough.

I don't think so... maybe because they were aging ?....they replaced them with Kama flow 2. The 900rpm is good too, but the 1400rpm is in my opinion inferior to S-flex 1200.

Why don't they have a low rpm version like 600?

The Nexus fan is seriously overhyped in my opinion. I've tried 8 of them and I have had to throw away 6 of them because they started to "rattle" within one year of usage. I've tried two Noctua NF-S12B and while I like the "smooth" bearing they produce a slight whine which bothers me.


I seriously doubt that's the case. Maybe they weren't profitable enough. If I'm not mistaken I think the bearing of the S-Flex is based on a patent from Sony. Maybe the profit margin was too small.

I don't hear a whine from my NF-S12 however i run them with the UNCLA cable at half speed.



So which ones should i choose? Which ones do you have?

If you're fine with the the S12 why don't you go with that one? I'd say it's definately one of the better fans I've tried. I just personally like the S-Flex more. I use the Scythe S-Flex 1200 (SFF21E) and strangle the speed to about 500rpm. They are pretty much dead silent to me.

I've been using Noctua fans for years.

They are fantastic.

http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=produkte&lng=en#fans

What's the difference between the Scythe Slip Stream 120mm 800rpm and the S-Flex?

Scythe Slip Stream and Scythe S-FLEX


The slip stream uses a sleeve bearing and the S-Flex uses Sony's S-FDB bearing. The slip stream also has different fins.

I usually mount my fans at odd mounting angles in dusty environments and that is not good in combination with sleeve bearing fans.

christianh, you must realize that reducing the RPMs via a resistor or bios/speedfan is standard practice, it's activated by default in motherboards since many years back. You see ame uses the reducer for his NH-P12 and judging by your respctive location he has at least 10C higher ambient temps than you and has no problems to report. Also consider the 800rpm S-flex will exhibit clicking noise that the 1200rpm model wont. As a previous Nexus owner I highly recommend the S-Flex however they're discontinued and don't support speed control in some newer boards, consider the Kama Flex the current replacement.