FYI Noctua NF-F12 Users: Noctua recommends to run them in Push, not Pull.

[kd1011]

I know for dust reasons Linus and others like to run radiator fans in Pull, but specifically for the NF-F12, Noctua support has advised me this:

 

 

Dear #######,

thanks for contacting Noctua and for your interest in our products.

Due to the design of the fan as well as for acoustic reasons I would recommend to use the NF-F12 in a push configuration.

Kind regards,
Andreas Karner
Noctua support team

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I know the FAQ/Sticky states that push or pull (not to be confused with push/pull) makes no real difference, but this is something unique to the NF-F12.

 

Since Linus and others recommend them so much, I thought it might be useful to note that the F12s are specially designed for push, unlike other fans.

 

 

EDIT: The difference may not be all that significant, and there are other reasons for running in pull, see below:

[Shaqo_Wyn]

I know for dust reasons Linus and others like to run radiator fans in Pull, but specifically for the NF-F12, Noctua support has advised me this:

 

I know the FAQ/Sticky states that push or pull (not to be confused with push/pull) makes no real difference, but this is something unique to the NF-F12.

 

Since Linus and others recommend them so much, I thought it might be useful to note that the F12s are specially designed for push, unlike other fans.

I think this is something that most people using them on rads know. Otherwise you're just wasting the direct airflow feature.

[kd1011]

I think this is something that most people using them on rads know. Otherwise you're just wasting the direct airflow feature.

 

Yeah, after reading up on the features some more, running pull didn't seem right, and that's why I messaged Noctua about it.

 

The main thing that threw me off was Linus running them in pull on the overkill build, and that Noctua don't mention anything about push vs pull in their FAQ, only about push/pull.

[KamiKatze]

I think Linus is aware that push is better - allthough with a negligable difference - but he prefers pull for other reasons. (dusting, you don't have to see them)

[LinusTech]

What O15 said. I'm aware that there can be a slight difference, but particularly with a high quality, high pressure fan, it's less than you might think, and the benefit of being able to clean a rad without pulling off the fans FAR outweighs an extra degree or two for me.

[kd1011]

What O15 said. I'm aware that there can be a slight difference, but particularly with a high quality, high pressure fan, it's less than you might think, and the benefit of being able to clean a rad without pulling off the fans FAR outweighs an extra degree or two for me.

 

I agree 100%, your video about the crap hiding inside fans in a push setup is why I wanted to go pull in the first place. Overtime the performance loss due to crap building up between the fans and rad would probably negate the initial performance gain.

 

I think I'll probably end up going pull not only because of the ease of cleaning, but because you can hide the "distinctively" coloured Noctua fans behind the radiators 

[VegetarianBoy]

Can anyone explain what push/pull exactly means to a newbie?

[ROK]

Can anyone explain what push/pull exactly means to a newbie?

Push: you set the fan up to push the air through heat fins/the radiator

Pull: you set the fan up to pull the fans through heat fins/radiator

[kd1011]

Push: One set of fans blow or 'push' air thru the rad. (Sticker faces radiator)

Pull: One set of fans suck or 'pull' air thru the rad. (Sticker faces away from radiator)

Push/Pull: Two sets of fans, on both sides of the rad. One set pushes, and one set pulls.

NB: intake and exhaust (air going in or out of the case) are not related to push, pull or push/pull, which is to do with radiators / heatsinks.

[Leonard]

I agree 100%, your video about the crap hiding inside fans in a push setup is why I wanted to go pull in the first place. Overtime the performance loss due to crap building up between the fans and rad would probably negate the initial performance gain.

 

I think I'll probably end up going pull not only because of the ease of cleaning, but because you can hide the "distinctively" coloured Noctua fans behind the radiators 

You brown noser 

 

If i lived in a country with a low ambient i would put my fans in pull  configuration no matter what Noctua recommendations are.

 

Off Topic

 

I bet the owner of Noctua is bipolar. Company starts, puts out a product with excellent performance and acoustics but expensive and one upsetting color scheme........customers and reviewers complain..."yuck this color is disgusting".....Noctua's response, they hate the color well lets give them it in a color they would like and now F*** up the acoustics....this will show them.

[kd1011]

Hahahaha, if you would have asked me what "push/pull" and "compression fittings" were 6 months ago, I would have no idea, so gotta respect Linus for getting me started on the path to system coolness (literally).

Noctua know full and well that we want either black, gray or white fans. The PPC fans aren't really suited for consumer use, because you said, apparently even when PWM'd down they are noiser than the "poop" ones.

I bet if Gentle Typhoons were still around and made PWM models they'd probably fix the color problem quite quickly...

[flaviu.vlaicu]

Hello,

 

I am planning to use in push-pull configuration two NF-P12 instead of one NF-F12.The guys from Noctua told me that The NF-F12 should be used only as a single fan and not in push-pull configuration because, despite the fact that the pull fan has higher air flow.What do you guys recommend? Any one of you using NF-P12 in push-pull ?