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CPU Chromax NF-A12x25 Delayed Again
- Thread starter BeerNsoup
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As M1AF said:
"Lmao. Oh Noctua. They constantly let me down.
I can literally paint my fans black without an issue. What's their excuse?
All this bullshit talk from Noctua about how precise the fans are and how close they are to the edge for the perfect airflow yada yada yada spray paint that bitch."
"Lmao. Oh Noctua. They constantly let me down.
I can literally paint my fans black without an issue. What's their excuse?
All this bullshit talk from Noctua about how precise the fans are and how close they are to the edge for the perfect airflow yada yada yada spray paint that bitch."
@3lfk1ng put it perfectly on TechPowerUp:
The issue is Sterrox, the unique material used for the fan. This is less of an issue with the coffee and cream color scheme as they are different for the blades and the frame. But most likely making both the plastic frame and Sterrox blades the same black is difficult.
Also spraypainting a fan might be an OK idea for modding, it's not a good idea for a company that's known for very high reliability and quality.
Yeah, noctua can go shove those black a12x25 up their a**. The real OG is about to return
I no longer care about any other fan now that Lian-Li Uni Fan is available. Daisy-chain? Pfft, how about LEGO-it instead 
Painting a fan almost never achieves an even thickness of the painted layer. This does not matter for the frame. But for the fan blades, the unbalanced weight will create reliability problem when the fan spins up. This is just like an unbalanced tyre.
I am more interested to see the retail version of Noctua's fanless passive heatsink.
I am more interested to see the retail version of Noctua's fanless passive heatsink.
I no longer care about any other fan now that Lian-Li Uni Fan is available. Daisy-chain? Pfft, how about LEGO-it instead
Those fans have a frame that is too thick, so they are more like 11cm fans and I think they don't perform even close to A12x25.
BTW Thermaltake has some fans that are basically the same as A12x25, they perform the same and are black.
Fans - Products
Kinda cool that XPG is bringing the GT back and added some anti-vibration pads. Couldn't turn up any listings for em :/. Wish they'd updated it with a FDB/Hydro/whatever bearing though. Great fans apparently but I've seen lots comments about the bearings making a bunch of noise after a while (no personal experience) so would have hoped a re-release in 2020/21 might have come with a more modern bearing. For the Canadians around here a shop called Dazmode sells all black nidec GTs for 19.99 CAD if you want GTs. Sells some other useful stuff like custom cabling supplies, lighting, water cooling stuff, etc. Only shop of it's kind I've come across in Canada and prices seem reasonable.
I grabbed some of the tough fans off amazon.ca which should get here next week. Not really a big TT guy but apparently they perform basically the same as the Noctuas. Wanted to give Noctua my money instead of someone who copied em, but they've been releasing the chromax version of these for like 2 years or something. At a certain point I don't fault someone else for filling the void if Noctua won't. I recognize there are improvements and R+D, but it's not like the NF-A12 isn't heavily influenced by the GT anyway. If Noctua can copy the GT blade design I don't see why others can't copy what they added to it. I kinda question how much of the improvement is the "sterrox"/fibre glass marketing speak and not simply down to using a better bearing.
I grabbed some of the tough fans off amazon.ca which should get here next week. Not really a big TT guy but apparently they perform basically the same as the Noctuas. Wanted to give Noctua my money instead of someone who copied em, but they've been releasing the chromax version of these for like 2 years or something. At a certain point I don't fault someone else for filling the void if Noctua won't. I recognize there are improvements and R+D, but it's not like the NF-A12 isn't heavily influenced by the GT anyway. If Noctua can copy the GT blade design I don't see why others can't copy what they added to it. I kinda question how much of the improvement is the "sterrox"/fibre glass marketing speak and not simply down to using a better bearing.
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I'm not so sure about that, not unless someone has some actual testing to prove that. If you go super thick with the paint, maybe. I've airbrushed noctua fans and not had any issues with them; you can get pretty even and light coats that way, but probably even spray paint would work fine if careful. Other people who I've seen try it have said the same. I think people just assume there's an insane amount of precision and balance that goes into these (even for tires there isn't 100% perfect balance), but I doubt milligrams of paint difference on the blades is going to make any real-world difference.
But as Phuncz said, it's something that works for modding, obviously Noctua has to due it with dyes/pigments or whatever they are using, make sure color is consistent, make sure it's the same if producing at multiple factories, etc.
I'm not waiting for the chromax a12x25 anymore. As pointed out, a bunch of other companies are using the Gentle Typhoon-style blades now, and are close enough in performance. It will be nice to have the option when they do come out, and Noctua is a very good company overall in standing behind their products, but there are other options, especially if it's just the color scheme that's the issue.
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They're scheduled to be up for sale on the 14th, at least where I live.
Is it weird that this fan has minimum of 900RPM in PWM mode but ONLY 450RPM in DC mode? I thought PWM allows fans to hit lower minimum RPM than DC. Here's the product link for reference https://www.xpg.com/us/feature/691/Yeah, noctua can go shove those black a12x25 up their a**. The real OG is about to return
yes, there's a Youtuber that has tested the fans in both applications - case fan & radiator fan, and in radiator, the performance of Uni Fan is on par. His method is rather unorthodox but as he is consistent, it's at least a perspective to look atThose fans have a frame that is too thick, so they are more like 11cm fans and I think they don't perform even close to A12x25.
BTW Thermaltake has some fans that are basically the same as A12x25, they perform the same and are black.
Fans - Products
www.thermaltake.com
IMO the 11cm vs 12cm fan blade does not cause much difference with radiator use since most radiator has the lip of the shroud extends by 3-5mm and block the tip of the typical fan blade anyway. Will do some testing and comparison when I build my NR200 triple radiator build next week
It think you mean the hub instead of the frame.
I've never seen Thermaltake's clone products that performs close to the original. I'll believe it when I see reviews from reputable sources that test more than fan RPM.BTW Thermaltake has some fans that are basically the same as A12x25, they perform the same and are black.
Fans - Products
Mindfactory in Germany seems to have the XPG GT's in stock now, but I agree that these fans need a bearing/motor update. While the blade design is excellent, the bearing and motor are quite noisy compared to todays high-end fans.
The TT Toughfans don't seem to be a good deal in Europe, single packs are almost as expensive as the NF-A12 and the 2 packs aren't available. Not that I'd buy them either way, TT is too scummy a company in general.
yes, I've seen the same date on some Japanese e-tailers' websites too!
@Phuncz a few more youtube review also pit it very close against the A12x25 and if you can buy a 2-pack for 35USD vs 1x A12x25 for 30USD, then it's kind of a no-brainer
Agree with the motor update - it's probably one of the advantage of the A12x25 in addition to Sterrox. Once you've eliminated the wind noise / air turbulence to the minimum, it's the motor left.
With regards to TT's business practice, I don't like it, and I've never bought TT stuff even prior to the scandal. BUT with 2020 in the bag, I can safely say all companies are the same given the opportunity, be it AMD vs. Nvidia vs. Intel or Asus vs. MSI vs. Gigabyte, etc. As long as the product is competitive - both price and performance, I would buy what is best value to me, regardless of makers. Many across platforms (here, reddit, local forums and boards, etc.) have positive bias towards Noctua and Noctua knows that, that's why they've been able to keep pushing back products time and again and again and again. True, part of the reason is because of R&D and whatnot, but they also know even if R&D comes short and miss the deadline, they wouldn't have to change / do anything different as there's ZERO CONSEQUENCES since those people just keep giving them money away. So yes vote with your wallet, but don't be fooled into thinking that one company is all white and the other is all black, they are, just like people, mostly gray.
Finally no one can shed some light on the minimum RPM of the XPG fan?
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I have checked a few reviews of this XPG Vento Pro 120 PWM fan.
None pick up this odd feature (ie 450 rpm min in DC mode vs 900 rpm in PWM mode).
And, actually this info is only found in the spec of the product webpage. It is not stated on the spec on the back of the box. https://pic.pimg.tw/wolflsi/1607279925-6500900-g.jpg
Another review has tested the PWM vs rpm and confirms that the lowest is ~900 rpm. Check out the graph at the very bottom of the review.
添加串聯與減震功能，ADATA XPG VENTO PRO 120 PWM 風扇測試 - BenchLife.info
老牌溫柔颱風信用好，XPG VENTO PRO 120 PWM 添加實用機能更迎合時代需求。
benchlife.info
I do not know why. But in the above review, it concludes that the emphasis of this fan is performance (over noise). Maybe, this is why Adata sets the lowest rpm higher.
BTW, I notice this fan is ''made in Vietnam''!
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No, I meant the frame, hub doesn't matter that much because most airflow comes from the edge of the blades, and that is why I think it is a problem that they have such a thick frame and small rotor.
Regarding second point, I just wanted to link the same video as BeerNsoup
yeah the difference in minimum RPM is only on the product page and on the datasheet off the product page as well. depending on how noisy the motor is 900RPM might still be not quiet enough at idle. maybe XPG cheap out on the PCB/PWM controller so it cannot down to 400-500RPM as other fans?I have checked a few reviews of this XPG Vento Pro 120 PWM fan.
None pick up this odd feature (ie 450 rpm min in DC mode vs 900 rpm in PWM mode).
And, actually this info is only found in the spec of the product webpage. It is not stated on the spec on the back of the box. https://pic.pimg.tw/wolflsi/1607279925-6500900-g.jpg
Another review has tested the PWM vs rpm and confirms that the lowest is ~900 rpm. Check out the graph at the very bottom of the review.
添加串聯與減震功能，ADATA XPG VENTO PRO 120 PWM 風扇測試 - BenchLife.info
老牌溫柔颱風信用好，XPG VENTO PRO 120 PWM 添加實用機能更迎合時代需求。
I do not know why. But in the above review, it concludes that the emphasis of this fan is performance (over noise). Maybe, this is why Adata sets the lowest rpm higher.
BTW, I notice this fan is ''made in Vietnam''!
from the review if MSRP is really NT 890 (~32USD) then it is squarely positioned as a Noctua-black-beater fan so I'd like to see more mainstreams reviews, especially the noise-normalised thermal performance.
and yes, Nidec has a factory in Vietnam. most if not all GT are made in VN nowadays
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