The NF-S12 with U.L.N.A Installed 

The Aspire fan kept pretty consistent throughout keeping the temperatures cool on both sides even when under load. The NF-S12 ran slightly hotter but only by a few degrees, and didn’t shift quite as much of the hot air as the Aspire fan did.

Although, with the U.L.N.A installed it still was only 3 degrees off of the Aspire under load, and even without the vibration compensators, the NF-S12 is far quieter.

Idle: 30 Degrees inside, 27 Degrees Exhaust
Under Load: 34 Degrees inside, 30 Degrees Exhaust

I am most impressed by this fan's ability to do so well up against a screamer and I am quite happy to leave the NF-S12 in place of the Aspire indefinitely. The cost of a few degrees and a blue LED feature are a small price to pay for the peace and quiet that my rig now has. 

Conclusion.

At the end of the day, if you really want to have that ultra cool rig which under load sits in the low 20's, then you are going to have to sacrifice a bit of peace and quiet for the sake of it. I am quite happy to (for once) have a rig that is a lot quieter, and not that much hotter for it.

I even modded my PSU with one of these fans to try and silence it a bit more, and it even shared the same 3 pin connector as the existing Coolermaster PSU fan!

 

Unfortunately the two are different voltages\current so this did not work. If one of these were indeed fitted to a PSU, it would be an instant winner. I highly recommend these fans to anyone who wants to quiet down their rig a bit, without sacrificing too much for it.

Pros:

• *Extremely* quiet, even without the U.L.N.A
• Vibration dampeners completely eliminate case vibration
• The 4 pin bypass connector is small and easy to conceal when hiding cables
• Very high build quality and good components
• Midrange price, although good value for money

Cons:

• A few degrees less cooling power than your average fan. 

Author: Jarhead

Discussion Thread

Noctua Link

Tekbunker would like to thank Noctua for this review sample.