We have encountered the claim several times that we somehow favor Noctua. To avoid any speculation, we can state this very clearly: no one has ever influenced any HWCooling tests, neither Noctua nor others. There have been attempts from other brands, but that’s simply not something we would entertain. The tests at HWCooling are best described as “unbiased content.”
Recently, a thread appeared on Reddit (with some deleted posts, so we don’t know the full context), where the question was raised: “Do you guys think HWCooling was paid off by Noctua?” Even though the question was directed at others, we feel the need to address it so everything is clear and official—Noctua does not give us any money or barter for anything, and we believe similar standards apply to other outlets as well.
We respect Noctua as a brand for their work, and perhaps the feeling is mutual. It’s possible that we sometimes give them more attention than others, but that’s simply because of the above-standard products they make (there’s more to write about…) and their generally excellent communication, which they are known for elsewhere as well. However, when something doesn’t turn out well, we point it out.
Just recall the last two Noctua fan tests (models NF-S12A and NF-S12B), where we even gave them the negative “Stay Away!” award—which we do not hand out often. But that’s simply how things are, and Noctua seems to take it in stride.
There are also public examples, such as a comment under older tests of the NT-H1 thermal paste suggesting some kind of bribery. Noctua has never offered us anything like that, although there have been attempts from other brands. We have never accepted anything of the sort—this is simply not something you should expect from HWCooling.
Yes, some companies pay for banner advertising or PR articles (which are always properly labeled and disclosed). Without that, we wouldn’t be able to operate. But we do not accept bribes.
From the position of editor-in-chief, I can add that there is no point even trying. While we won’t publicly expose such attempts (our goal is to help, not harm), it would be futile—HWCooling is built on values that are incompatible with any form of unfairness or corruption. We would never allow anything like that toward our readers or any company we work with. That’s all on this topic.
English translation and edit by Jozef Dudáš
the S12 line should’ve been retired the moment A12x25 released
these were good fans at their time, but the entire industry improved significantly since these days and keeping them in the lineup isn’t benefitting anyone
I know that if we compare max speed vs max speed S12 moves more air than even G2, but the comparison absolutely isn’t fair considering gigantic noise difference and even a bit thicker dust filter changes the results significantly
overall I think selling non-flagships likely helps maintain the brand, but when only flagships justify the price with actual performance and silence it’s really hard to recommend a brand, I mean no matter which product you pick they’ll give you the same class of support, but at lower pricepoints that’s not the most important thing that decides on customers’ choice
so talks ends up being:
– noctua is overehyped
– which products did you try?
– redux
– yeah, these aren’t that great, reliable but price to performance could better, but trust me, flagships ar a class on their own
– but all tests show they have the same or lower performance at normalized noise!
– yeah, but all reviewers normalize at noise level of a mediocre laptop, once you go silent they’ll truly shine!
– what do you mean? I literally can’t hear it (over the roaring AC, other fans, hard drives and so on)
Thank you for your opinion and the detailed contribution. Personally, I wouldn’t feel confident evaluating the points you raised. In any case, you’re familiar with the results of our tests of Noctua’s “S” series fans.
Whether they should or shouldn’t have been discontinued after the release of the A12x25 models—I don’t really know. There are probably multiple reasons why they’re still being sold. From the outside, we don’t have full visibility into this, as these are all internal processes and decisions. We can think various things, but we don’t really know. 🙂
It was always like the more you know about cooling, the more you appreciate Noctua. The more thorough testing, the more likely to show superiorities of highend Noctua products.
Large part of pc community think that cooling product starts and ends with noise normalized performance confronted with the price, so Noctua tending to be better at anything else and people prasing it are obvious targets of just lack of knowledge.
noise normalized is a really important factor, but only if you pick the right noise level
what people don’t realize is that fan performance doesn’t scale linearly with noise and that each model has a different noise floor, so even if at noise level X one fan wins at noise level Y another may, and often 75% of the fans in the test won’t be even able to go down to noise level Z
Just one note on this: “noise-normalized” modes don’t really exist in a strict sense. It’s true that you can set a fan, cooler, or case (or anything that produces sound) to reach a comparable value on a sound level meter, but that value represents an average across all frequencies—and there are quite a lot of them in the spectrum produced by fans.
That’s where spectral analysis comes in, showing that even at the same measured noise level, the sound can be perceived differently because the noise is distributed across different frequency ranges. 🙂
weighted scale tries to make up for our sensitivity function, but of course that’s not a silver bullet either
realistically there’s no way to present things in a perfect way, the only option would be putting the tested component in the place it will be used and letting the potential user decide if that noise is fine or not
but at the same time weighted scale is probably the best thing we can put in a table
Years ago, when we were developing the testing methodology, we did consider normalizing based on airflow. That would mean setting a constant airflow level and then assigning acoustic measurements to it.
However, that would likely limit us to presenting just a single value in the graphs (probably an average noise level in dBA). Beyond that, it would become even less clear for many readers, making it harder to understand which fan performs better under specific conditions (e.g., with different types of obstacles).
Trying to incorporate spectral data and multiple values into this concept would probably make things quite messy. In the end, it’s always about some level of compromise. 🙂
Noctua works on technological details that many competing companies simply don’t address. For example, we can look at Phanteks. They make excellent fans, and when it comes to their LCP models (like the T30-120 or T30-140), they often catch up to Noctua’s performance thanks to what could be described as “brute force.” By that I mean the increased thickness of the fan profile, which does come at the cost of compatibility.
Don’t get me wrong—Phanteks makes great fans, and in the end, users don’t necessarily care how a result was achieved. But when it comes to development details, those tend to be on Noctua’s side—or rather RASCOM’s (if I understand correctly, Noctua is a brand produced by RASCOM). I’m referring to various micro-optimizations—things that may not dramatically change performance on their own, but together likely contribute to the top-tier results.
Of course, it’s difficult to prove exactly what influences aerodynamic efficiency and to what extent. But when it comes to innovation, Noctua is often the one introducing it—especially recently, as more resources are being invested.
That said, even though Noctua fans are rightly held in high regard, there’s clearly more development behind models like the NF-A14x25 G2 than older ones like the NF-A14. The latter follows the basic shape of an older Thermalright fan (I don’t recall the exact model at the moment, but someone can surely fill that in), which itself may have been based on something else. Noctua improved it with their own features, of course.
The NF-A14x25 G2 is further along in this respect—it’s more original. At the same time, the general perception that Noctua fans are in a class of their own and everything else comes “after” isn’t entirely accurate. While the latest Noctua fans are technically excellent, older models (including the NF-A14) have long since been surpassed by many competing designs. 🙂
The “lower-end” fans feel like they hurt their brand more than help it, though I have no idea how many of those sell to the leading fans.
With Noctua, you’ve got a couple of top of the line fans that lead in most metrics outside of maxing out airflow through RPM, then quiet fans at the more uncommon sizes that are very hard to find otherwise, and outside of those two categories it’s just a lot of mediocre to borderline bad fans that compete with fans that perform better in every way at a lower price. I guess you always get good QC and build quality, but that’s hardly relevant in most situations. And this ends up with people getting the not particularly great fans because others have recommended Noctua either because of the A12x25/A14x25 topping charts or just because they’re used to the past where the competition wasn’t as good.
yah, I’d understand moving old ones to legacy line, the R&D got amortized already so the price can be cut down a bit, less premium packaging, fewer accessories, but still the same excellent product would be justifiable, but fans as outdated as the S line… I genuinely can’t find any defense, even with the reliability and customer support the price is just way too high when compared to a… 5-pack(!) of Arctics
Where there is demand, there will be supply. There’s probably no deeper mystery behind the continued presence of the “S” series fans on the market. The general perception of them is still very positive, so there’s ongoing demand—and as a result, they continue to sell…
Can only guess what is the main reason of Noctua keeping their old fans on the market, but at least two come to my mind.
For years people can buy more fans they are already happy with or replace broken ones with the same model, so not risking acoustic problems or worse perf trying something different – good for customers.
These old fans are extremely renowned with plethora of reviews praising them – selling them. Who keeps up with the market, won’t get them, but ones buying them by not doing their reasearch are likely to never know for the same reason and be happy with them like reviewers years ago – good for such ones, good for Noctua.
Keeping this stuff on the market isn’t as bad as it seems. At worst it’s a profitable trap for people who should do better lol
I agree that keeping the “S” series—especially models like the NF-S12B redux (likely due to the lower price)—does make some sense. However, we can’t really recommend them, as we don’t see a clear use case where they would stand out.
Even in low-resistance scenarios, where there are no obstacles in the airflow path, they’ve been replaced by more attractive alternatives. That said, in many markets (and probably quite a few of them), these fans are well established, and that won’t change overnight.
As long as there’s sufficient demand from users, they will continue to be sold—and that’s perfectly fair. It’s certainly not something we can hold against Noctua. 🙂
Maybe the “S” line has a special place in their hearts due to originating from of their very first fan debuted in mid 2000’s 😀 Reviews were pretty basic back then and these fans well regarded, so probably there’re still people thinking that this blade design is something great.
Or maybe there’re just ones not needing much peformance and simply liking acoustic profile of these fans.
I always considered Noctua as a brand which main forcus wasn’t performance, but fans sounding less irritating than competiton and keeping working like new for long. They don’t rush launches to keep up with competition and even accessories they sell like rubber mounts or fan spacers fit my view. Performance used to be great for the time fans were launched and it’s just impressive they tend to score high when playing their acoustic game, but in the end it was always stuff for people wanting highest reliablity and ones who already had an acoustic problem with a fan, so know how irritating it can be. What automatically made them picky and Noctua a brand most likely to satisfy them.
Good points—just one clarification: Noctua was founded a bit later (in 2005), and the “S” series fans were released accordingly later as well.
Yes, they are definitely quiet fans, but in terms of airflow, there’s nothing particularly unique that couldn’t be achieved with other models. In fact, similar results can often be reached in different ways (for example by reducing speed).
In any case, these fans have been on the market for more than twenty years, so it would actually be quite surprising if they hadn’t been surpassed over such a long period. 🙂
I don’t understand this clarification, because years 2005-6 are as mid 2000’s as it can be 😉
Performance wise it’s hard to find fans less recommendable than “S” series, but I was trying hard to justify their existence on the market. Needs to be said that in real life what matters way more than performance is just fan not irritating user and lasting longer than expected, but performance should determine fans to choose from. Where “S” fans are definitely sentenced to fail. They are also highly worth upgrading if higher performance would come in handy what makes them a total no-go.
Sure, the exact release year of those fans isn’t really that important. 🙂
There are certainly many practical scenarios where upgrading from Noctua “S” series fans makes sense, and cooling performance can improve even at comparable noise levels. Of course, there may still be situations where other fans fall short (especially in areas like motor quality or bearings, where Noctua tends to excel).
But the main point here is the aerodynamic design, and in that respect, these older models are somewhat behind current standards. 🙂
the Noctua brand alone doesn’t guarantee a class of it’s own for sure, it ensures durability, reliability, tight tolerances, excellent customer support, including ages after the sale, but not being an exceptional product per se
but a product being a recent (say up to 2-3 years old) Noctua flagship is a strong indicator of including miniscule details that nobody cared about before that may not produce the best brute performance but ensure even greater reliability and performance at obscurely low noise levels than ever before
in 3 years we may see competitors catching up at low noise levels (though likely not as low as Noctua flagships) at a similar price, in 5 years possibly at half the price, but without the absolute peak quietness and the legendary Noctua customer support
and my experience and analysis of multiple tests and specsheets available online suggests that other quiet brands gave up the obscure and focus on the “reviewers will call it quiet” levels (a German brand putting higher fan speed floors in their flagships than in mid range, higher speeds on newer models and so on is a great example), often even making it impossible to spin down enough in newer models, while Noctua optimizes for these ranges, but still puts extra effort for those who demand more
I agree that the Noctua brand alone doesn’t automatically mean “the absolute best available,” but when new fans are released, they often introduce a number of solutions that go beyond what other manufacturers offer even in the high-end segment.
On the other hand, there are areas that Noctua doesn’t really explore—such as thicker profiles of 120 mm and 140 mm fans. It always comes down to what each manufacturer considers worthwhile.
You’re also right that Noctua’s perfectionism extends into aspects that are harder to measure—such as manufacturing precision, tighter tolerances between components, possibly even bearing quality, and so on. 🙂
Wow, giving the ‘Stay Away!’ award to the Noctua NF-S12A and NF-S12B was unexpected. I was on my coffee break reading this, and it struck me that despite industry pressure, HWCooling stands firm on their unbiased content, even when some brands tried bribery.
It’s demanding, but we’re convinced that only objective evaluation based on precise data is the right approach. 🙂
I spent years EQ’ing car audio systems at a custom shop that specialized in Image Dynamics. I will spare the jargon, but decibel readings are never a 1:1 translation of loudness. Our response to perceived frequencies at the lower end of the spectrum will read wildly different than the same DB reading at a higher-pitched frequency. E.G. 140db at 38hz will shake your face; 140db at 10,000hz will cause instant hearing damage.
I tried every fan, every brand. The A12X25s were the first fans I used that produced a sound akin to those lower frequencies. It was just air whooshing. No high-pitched peaks. No motor whine. Yes, every fan can do something like this at 700-800 rpm, but what happens when it hits 1200rpm? I recently switched my BeQuiet SW Pro 4 with the A14x25 G2. I really like BeQuiet, but the G2 Noctuas almost do not make sense. They push an immense amount of air even at lower-end rpms. They make nearly no noise when unobstructed by crappy case panels (120mm openings on a 140mm fan will cause unnecessary harmonic resonance, even with Noctuas! The Hyte X50 has this problem to an extreme.) I will never use another fan.
If HWCooling is paid by Noctua, then so am I. No money has arrived yet. Maybe they mailed it to an old address?
Thank you for the information-rich comment. In this (audio-analytical) area, you’re clearly further ahead than we are, and we appreciate it when such insights expand the knowledge base around HWCooling.
Yes, the Noctua NF-A12x25 are excellent fans. While they can be surpassed, with current approaches it’s unlikely to be by any significant margin within the same 120 mm format. Acoustically, they are of course more pleasant and less intrusive than many other solutions at comparable (or even higher) airflow levels—even when used against resistance.
P.S.: You’re probably sending it to the wrong account number as well, haha. 🙂