Packaging

Noctua sent us two fans. A Noctua NF-S12, and a Noctua NF-R8. These are 120x25mm and 80x25mm fans respectively.

• Model      NF-S12        NF-R8
• Size        120x25        80x25
• RPM        1200rpm     1800rpm
• CFM        47.7cfm       31.2cfm 

The packaging is obviously very retail oriented, and shows off the fans themselves to rather nice effect. We have to say however, Noctua's choice of colors is a bit "odd", but perhaps this is just another way to set them apart from the crowd.

Each fan comes wired with a 3-pin fan header, and comes with an adaptor to use with a standard 4-pin AT molex connector. These adaptors can support Noctua's U.L.N.A. (Ultra Low Noise Adaptor), which is a simple resistor pack connected to the end of the molex adaptor to lower fan speed, but none was provided. They also provide vibration damping push pin mounts, and standard fan case screws, all nice touches.

Looking at the fans themselves, you can clearly see the design differences between the 80mm and 120mm fans with, at least to our eyes, the 120mm model being the most radical departure design-wise.

Purely for comparison purposes, we created a simple comparison chart rating Noctua's fan's specifications against the specs of other fans we had available here. This isnt a scientific comparion, just an impromptu look at the fans we have available to us, and the differences in characteristics they have relative to Noctua's fans