NF-F12 very noisy :(

[T0bias]

Hi,

I recently got 2 NF-F12 fans for my H100, but I am really disappointed by how loud they are. They cool well, but once they get to 700 rpm or so I hear a quite annoying sound from them, motor noise I think - it's really loud and I'm surprised that these fans are considered quiet fans?

The speed is controller with the motherboard, and every little spin up and down in speed is really pronounced because of this noise - especially at low rpm it is much noisier than the "air noise" (don't know what to call it).

I don't know if I'm expecting too much, but I'm very surprised - even at so low rpm's it's a very noticeable and annoying sound they produce

Is this how it's supposed to be? The sound I'm referring to is the one you hear in this clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=eCOuo9C69AM#t=106s - it's quite noticeable when the fans spins down.

In my case it seems more pronounced when it's running continously compared to how it sounds in the clip, but it's probably a little difficult to compare.

Is it really supposed to be this loud?

Do you have any recommendations for better alternatives? I prefer PWM fans so that I can control them properly with the motherboard. Could get a fan controller, but I prefer something more automatic.

Thanks

 

[dkm777]

Sounds like turbulence. My couple of NF-P12s also make a similar sound, but it's more high pitched. I was expecting great things from the NF-F12 and was planning to get one for my Venomous-X, but after watching the clip I'm beginning to have second thoughts.
As for recommendations - do you have an Asus motherboard? Ir so, then it can control fan speed by voltage and PWM isn't really necessary. I have a couple of Gentle Typhoon AP14s on my H60 and the mobo (Sabertooth 990FX) varies their speed according to system load. As far as rad fans go GTs are way up there.

 

[T0bias]

Thanks for your reply

I do have a Asus motherboard, its' a P9X79 Deluxe - are you sure it can control 3 pin fans properly? Before getting new fans I had three Antec Twocool fans connected (those that came with my P280 case), but it didn't seem to control them so well, but I don't know if it was because the fans themselves have some kind of switch for low/high rpm setting (which was set at low)? And one of them didn't even show up in the bios for some reason.

I looked at the GT AP15 before buying the Noctuas, but I've heard these fans may whine at certain RPM's? That doesn't sound very good if it's true.

 

[dkm777]

You need fans that have low starting voltage. This thread has the info on GTs. On my Sabertooth AP14s run at ~900RPM under idle and all I can hear (or could hear, before I stuck sound deadening inside my case) is the gentle whoosh of air rushing through the rad. I use a faster AP15 as an intake and unfortunately it is not detected by the BIOS and I have no idea what RPM it runs at, just that an old hard drive directly behind it drowns it out.
But GTs are not the only choice. There are two new models recently released by Bitfenix and I think Cougar (since they are not sold in my country I didn't pay much attention...). Maybe somebody knows what I'm talking about?

 

[coffeejunkee]

Asus mobo's, at least Intel models, can only control pwm fans on the cpu fan header. The casefanheaders use voltage control, even if they have 4-pins (but also depends on specific model, rog boards fex. do use pwm for casefanheaders, check manual to find out). P9X79 Deluxe uses voltage for casefanheaders.

No fan is silent when running at say, 500rpm or more but those Noctua's in the video have some very nasty sound characteristic imho. Probably caused by all the spines. I would check some Noiseblocker fans, maybe not highest airflow/sp etc. but they do live up to their name. Or just use H100 stock fans and dial them down.

 

[T0bias]

Sorry for my late reply here

I have been using the H100 stock fans connected to the pump unit at low setting - but the performance is not as good as the Noctuas and they're more noisier when the computer is idle, though they're more tolerable at load than the Noctuas. They also seem to cause some resonance which isn't the case with the Noctuas.

You mention Noiseblocker, did you think of any specific fan? I'd prefer something with similar cooling performance as the Noctuas, but just with a more neutral noise (I don't think the noise would show up to be very loud on a sound level meter, just very annoying).

I looked a bit on NB Multiframe S-Series MF12-P, but it seems they only go from 1000 rpm to 2000 rpm? They're quite expensive though - and I can't afford getting bad fans again even though I got a good deal on the Noctuas

 

[coffeejunkee]

Well, forget what I said about the H100 stock fans, no 2500rpm fan can go down low enough in rpm to be silent during idle.

Regarding Noiseblocker, not sure what you mean, most of their fans come in many different speeds? I just mentioned them because they make really quiet fans but obviously there's a tradeoff between rpm and noise. That said those new Bionic series look quite good.

 

[T0bias]

I was referring to the Noiseblocker MF12-P, in the specs of this fan the rpm is listed to be 1000-2000. However, I just saw that there exist a MF12-PS which goes from 600-1500 - maybe that's an option

I can't find so much info about these fans though, so I feel unsure how they will cool and sound compared to my NF-F12?

 

[coffeejunkee]

Well, I might not be the right guy to help you. All I really care about is noise, I'll gladly accept some higher temps in return for silence.

But it's hard judging fans without having used them yourself. Plenty of video's on youtube but they're essentially useless since you don't know anything about recording level, background noise etc.

That said, in some other vids those NF-F12's don't exhibit the nasty noise they produce in your linked vid. Maybe they're actually defective?

 

[deimos3428]

Maybe they're actually defective?

Yeah...with the cost of Noctua fans and a 6-year warranty, I'd definitely give them a call and see what they can do for you. My P12/P14s don't make any noise beyond air woosh.

 

[n0x1ous]

i have nf-f12's on my H100 and they are dead silent at about the same RPM as yours....might want to try RMA and get a couple replacements.