There aren’t many 140mm fans that are more popular than the NF-A14 (PWM). This Noctua model has maintained that for a long time, for over a decade. In the meantime, naturally, a host of newer competing solutions have come along, and the question is how Noctua’s still-flagship 140mm fan will hold up against them in the present day. By analyzing the NF-A14, we’ll also shorten a bit the interminable wait for its successor.
Results: Static pressure w/o obstacles
Explanatory note: We measure the static pressure without obstacles in two different situations – with laminarized and with turbulent intake. The results in this section reflect the first case. That is, the air intake to the impeller is laminarized by the guidance tunnel. In this setup, the fan has a larger volume of air available and the achieved static pressure values are higher. This is the optimum environment in which to measure fan parameters correctly. “Higher is better” (the result of static pressure in the charts) is only valid for comparing fans of the same formats. We have discussed what the quantity “static pressure” means and how to understand it in this article.
Why is there a missing value sometimes? There may be more reasons. Usually it is because the fan could not be adjusted to the target noise level. Some have a higher minimum speed (or the speed is low, but the motor is too noisy) or it is a slower fan that will not reach the higher decibels. But the results in the graphs are also missing if the impeller is brushing against the nylon filter mesh. In that case, we evaluate this combination as incompatible. And zero in the graphs is naturally also in situations where we measure 0.00. This is a common occurrence at extremely low speeds with obstructions or within vibration measurements.
Thanks.
I particularly like the minimum fan speed, that’s a must to me.