In this test, we’ll take a look at Noctua’s anticipated first representative and how it ranks next to other fans. We’ll start from the bottom with the most affordable one from this Austrian company. It should be noted that Noctua views this class of fans slightly differently than other brands, and has the base perched very high. However, there is one BUT, which is rather insignificant, but still “lifted some people out of their chairs”.
Results: Frequency response of sound with a radiator
Measurements are performed in the TrueRTA application, which records sound in a range of 240 frequencies in the recorded range of 20–20,000 Hz. For the possibility of comparison across articles, we export the dominant frequency from the low (20–200 Hz), medium (201–2,000 Hz) and high (2,001–20,000 Hz) range to standard bar graphs.
However, for an even more detailed analysis of the sound expression, it is important to perceive the overall shape of the graph and the intensity of all frequencies/tones. If you don’t understand something in the graphs or tables below, you’ll find the answers to all your questions in this article. It explains how to read the measured data below correctly.
Noise levels in the tables below -87 dBu (but watch out for the negative sign, -70 dBu is louder than -80 dBu) can be ignored. They are in fact extremely weak and always far below the limit of human perception, and are often defined by the “noise” of the measurement string. Therefore, do not take even the dominant frequencies within the treble band that exceed 12 kHz too much into account.
| Fan | Dominant sound freq. and noise level, thinner rad@33 dBA | NF-F12 PWM | NF-A15 PWM | ||||
| Low range | Mid range | High range | |||||
| Frequency [Hz] | Noise level [dBu] | Frequency [Hz] | Noise level [dBu] | Frequency [Hz] | Noise level [dBu] | ||
| Noctua NF-P12 redux-1700 PWM | 113,1 | -79,1 | 329,4 | -77,0 | 19897,0 | -90,9 | |
| SilentiumPC Fluctus 120 PWM | 130,7 | -74,0 | 369,7 | -85,1 | 18780,2 | -91,0 | |
| MSI MEG Silent Gale P12 | 155,4 | -80,8 | 310,9 | -79,9 | 19330,5 | -91,0 | |
| Asus ROG Strix XF120 | Asus ROG Strix XF120 | 95,1 | -77,9 | 329,4 | -78,9 | 2347,5 | -90,0 |
| Akasa Vegas X7 | 119,7 | -79,9 | 339,0 | -83,0 | 19330,5 | -90,8 | |
| Reeven Coldwing 12 | 127,0 | -78,2 | 339,0 | -84,8 | 19897,0 | -90,9 | |
| Reeven Kiran | 127,0 | -81,4 | 339,0 | -84,4 | 19897,0 | -90,8 | |
| SilentiumPC Sigma Pro 120 PWM | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| SilentiumPC Sigma Pro Corona RGB 120 | 130,7 | -77,0 | 339,0 | -84,9 | 18780,2 | -90,9 | |
| SilverStone SST-AP121 | 50,4 | -79,9 | 329,4 | -81,4 | 19330,5 | -90,9 | |
| SilverStone SST-FQ121 | 80,0 | -81,8 | 329,4 | -83,1 | 18780,2 | -91,0 | |
| Xigmatek XLF-F1256 | 36,2 | -66,0 | 783,4 | -80,6 | 19897,9 | -90,9 |
| Fan | Dominant sound freq. and noise level, thinner rad@39 dBA | NF-F12 PWM | NF-A15 PWM | ||||
| Low range | Mid range | High range | |||||
| Frequency [Hz] | Noise level [dBu] | Frequency [Hz] | Noise level [dBu] | Frequency [Hz] | Noise level [dBu] | ||
| Noctua NF-P12 redux-1700 PWM | 146,7 | -69,0 | 369,7 | -79,9 | 18780,2 | -91,0 | |
| SilentiumPC Fluctus 120 PWM | 179,6 | -66,3 | 359,2 | -76,8 | 2152,7 | -88,3 | |
| MSI MEG Silent Gale P12 | 195,8 | -77,5 | 403,2 | -71,9 | 19330,5 | -90,8 | |
| Asus ROG Strix XF120 | Asus ROG Strix XF120 | 130,7 | -62,5 | 329,4 | -87,8 | 18780,2 | -91,1 |
| Akasa Vegas X7 | 155,4 | -75,8 | 339,0 | -76,5 | 19330,5 | -90,7 | |
| Reeven Coldwing 12 | 160,0 | -71,4 | 339,0 | -77,9 | 19897,0 | -90,9 | |
| Reeven Kiran | 58,2 | -81,9 | 329,4 | -73,1 | 19330,5 | -90,8 | |
| SilentiumPC Sigma Pro 120 PWM | 127,0 | -72,9 | 339,0 | -78,0 | 2487,1 | -76,5 | |
| SilentiumPC Sigma Pro Corona RGB 120 | 134,5 | -68,8 | 538,2 | -80,3 | 2635,0 | -87,1 | |
| SilverStone SST-AP121 | 123,4 | -69,2 | 854,3 | -77,3 | 18780,2 | -91,1 | |
| SilverStone SST-FQ121 | 146,7 | -71,3 | 1522,2 | -79,6 | 19330,5 | -90,9 | |
| Xigmatek XLF-F1256 | 58,2 | -76,1 | 739,4 | -71,9 | 19330,5 | -91,1 |
| Fan | Dominant sound freq. and noise level, thinner rad@45 dBA | NF-F12 PWM | NF-A15 PWM | ||||
| Low range | Mid range | High range | |||||
| Frequency [Hz] | Noise level [dBu] | Frequency [Hz] | Noise level [dBu] | Frequency [Hz] | Noise level [dBu] | ||
| Noctua NF-P12 redux-1700 PWM | 184,9 | -64,7 | 329,4 | -62,1 | 19897,0 | -90,9 | |
| SilentiumPC Fluctus 120 PWM | 23,1 | -65,1 | 219,8 | -59,8 | 2215,8 | -80,8 | |
| MSI MEG Silent Gale P12 | 25,6 | -74,3 | 339,0 | -71,7 | 2416,3 | -85,1 | |
| Asus ROG Strix XF120 | 164,7 | -66,8 | 320,0 | -68,2 | 2416,3 | -83,8 | |
| Akasa Vegas X7 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | |
| Reeven Coldwing 12 | 195,8 | -69,4 | 391,7 | -71,9 | 2152,7 | -85,6 | |
| Reeven Kiran | 123,4 | -71,7 | 391,7 | -71,2 | 3225,4 | -84,4 | |
| SilentiumPC Sigma Pro 120 PWM | 142,5 | -72,4 | 339,0 | -72,5 | 2152,7 | -76,1 | |
| SilentiumPC Sigma Pro Corona RGB 120 | 23,1 | -59,7 | 329,4 | -69,7 | 2635,0 | -81,1 | |
| SilverStone SST-AP121 | 127,0 | -65,5 | 310,9 | -70,2 | 18780,2 | -90,9 | |
| SilverStone SST-FQ121 | 20,3 | -66,0 | 201,6 | -65,8 | 18780,2 | -90,9 | |
| Xigmatek XLF-F1256 | 130,7 | -64,2 | 739,4 | -64,3 | 3133,6 | -90,8 |
Buying the Asus ROG Strix XF120 reading your review! It’s 20-50% better in nearly every category/setup vs the Noctua! Love my high-end Noctuas but for the cheaper side to case cool my new i9 14900k OC’d well over 350W on my custom loop, I need all the fan performance I can get. ASUS ftw again! Plus I have mainly ROG in it as we speak. 🙂