Noctua has been producing cooling solutions for over 4 years now and whilst in the early years they weren’t very well known, in the last 2 years they have grown to be a big name in the field of cooling. I would go as far as saying they are at the very pinnacle of the cooling giants out on the market.

Other companies such as Asus, OCZ, and Thermalright have all been in the business for a vast amount of years, Noctua have risen through the ranks so rapidly because of their determination, expertise and customer support. Taken from their website the below extract characterises Noctua very well.

“Scientific know-how pooling and state-of-the-art simulation environments allow for advanced, highly optimised products that set new benchmarks for performance to noise efficiency. Over the years, Noctua has put itself on the forefront of quiet cooling innovations with its unique, psycho-acoustically optimised impeller designs as well as new bearing and drive technologies such as the SSO-Bearing (Self-Stabilising Oil Pressure Bearing) or the Smooth Commutation Drive (SCD) system. Thanks to advanced aerodynamic design measures like Vortex-Control Notches and Bevelled Blade Tips, Noctua's products are renowned for pushing the envelope in axial fan technology.”

It falls into our hands today to review the new successor to the much loved S12 case fan – the NF-S12B. I will be analysing the S12B today and evaluating whether this new arrival is an improvement over its predecessor and how it compares against some other favourites on the market.



Specifications (taken from Noctua)



Over the page we will take a closer look at the S12B fan.