Noctua NF-R8 (80mm) and NF-S12 (120mm) Fans

Installation:

Hmmmm...

Ok, so I installed the fans but then quickly realized that I wouldn't be able to test them for noise levels at all due to the noise from the PSU, hard drives, and the ambient noise level in my computer room.

There was no way in hell I'd be able to do any sort of testing with the fans installed.  So I took them out of the case and into the lounge, as this is the quietest room in the house, and decided to set up a test-bench.

Specifications:

Box specs




Noctua NF-S12-1200 and NF-S12-800 specs

NOCTUA NF-S12	-800	-1200
RPM (+/- 10%) RPM (+/- 10%) with U.L.N.A. Airflow Airflow with U.L.N.A. Acoustical Noise Acoustical Noise with U.L.N.A. Input Power Input Current Voltage Range MTBF	800 500 59 m³/h (34.7 CFM) 34 m³/h (20 CFM) 8 dB(A) < 5* dB(A) 0.60 W 0.05 A 6-13 V	1200 600 81 m³/h (47.0 CFM) 41 m³/h (24.1 CFM) 17 dB(A) < 6* dB(A) 1.44 W 0.12 A 4-13 V
	> 150,000 h

 * extrapolated values
U.L.N.A. = Ultra Low Noise Adaptor

 

Noctua NF-R8 specs

NOCTUA NF-R8	without adaptors	with L.N.A.	with U.L.N.A.
RPM (+/- 10%) Airflow Acoustical Noise Input Power Input Current Voltage Range MTBF	1800 53 m³/h (31.2 CFM) 17 dB(A)	1300 39 m³/h (22.9 CFM) 10 dB(A)	800 26 m³/h (15.3 CFM) 7 dB(A)
	1.32 W 0.11 A 4-13 V > 150,000 h

L.N.A. = Low Noise Adaptor
U.L.N.A. = Ultra Low Noise Adaptor

I took the liberty to convert the m³/h airflow values into CFM as most of the world primarily uses CFM, even if the measuring system is predominantly metric.  The Ultra Low Noise Adapter is the in-line speed reduction adapter that comes with each one of the fans.  The Low Noise Adapter is the additional in-line speed reduction adapter that reduces the fan speed/noise less than the U.L.N.A.