Noctua NF-F12 annoying "whine"

[Pat-Roner]

Hi,

 

I just bought two Noctua NF-F12 iPPC pwm 2000 fans.

 

when they are connected, they make this high pitched sound.

It seems to be related to RPM since when I increase the speed the sound gets "faster" and when I slow it down vise versa.

 

Is this common?

 

I thought noctuas where supposed to have a absolutely silent motor..

 

I have tested Silverstone, Cooler master Silecio, EKWB Vardar and Be Quiet Silent Wings and none of them emits this noise, and all of them are silent. (except for garbage EKWB ball bearing).

 

Edit:

 

Got this reply from Noctua;

 

I'm afraid that these noises are normal for iPPC fans. These use three phase motors which can be louder than regular motors especially when running at reduced speed.
Increasing the fan speed might help though.
In case this isn't acceptable, I would suggest that you have your retailer replace these fans with regular beige-brown NF-F12-pwm fans as these are quieter.

Best regards,
Alexander Dyszewski
Noctua support team

Edited March 11, 2016 by skjetne
Added response from Noctua

[Beeeyeee]

I got one too, I think its because they spin at super high RPM's. Noctuas really kinda suck. I don't know why everyone praises them so much. I replaced it with a Fractal design Venturi HP fan. SO much quieter and the same performance.

[Pat-Roner]

But mine spin at super low speed <500rpm.

 

I really want to go an change them, but I've changed 3 sets of Vardar 120ER fans, (terrible bearing) and now I went with these since they're so "good", and will be kind of embarrassing to change them again. lol.

 

I used to have Venturi HF fans, and I loved them, annoys me that I didn't just go with the HP ones this time around.

[PalladianPD]

I have the same experience, I have 2 3000 RPM fans cooling my CPU and if they exceed about 900 RPM they make a substantial whining sound. Which is fine, unless the day is hot or I'm putting any kind of stress on my CPU. I really was not expecting this since I researched their noise output spec compared to the standard NF-F12 and I didn't see much difference, especially since they run at much higher speeds. This does seem to be a common aspect of these fans though because a review video I saw yesterday also demonstrated the same whining noise, even though the reviewer pretty much ignored it.

 

My conclusion is that these are simply not good fans from a silent computing point of view. The undoubtedly work extremely well and they are most likely extremely reliable but their noise output is too high for comfortable desktop computing.

 

That said, I don't know yet what if anything I'm going to do about it. I may leave them on just the CPU and get used to it or change to regular F12s since I don't have a case window. Let me know what you think.

[Pat-Roner]

46 minutes ago, PalladianPD said:

I have the same experience, I have 2 3000 RPM fans cooling my CPU and if they exceed about 900 RPM they make a substantial whining sound. Which is fine, unless the day is hot or I'm putting any kind of stress on my CPU. I really was not expecting this since I researched their noise output spec compared to the standard NF-F12 and I didn't see much difference, especially since they run at much higher speeds. This does seem to be a common aspect of these fans though because a review video I saw yesterday also demonstrated the same whining noise, even though the reviewer pretty much ignored it.

 

My conclusion is that these are simply not good fans from a silent computing point of view. The undoubtedly work extremely well and they are most likely extremely reliable but their noise output is too high for comfortable desktop computing.

 

That said, I don't know yet what if anything I'm going to do about it. I may leave them on just the CPU and get used to it or change to regular F12s since I don't have a case window. Let me know what you think.

 

Interesting.

 

So this problem isn't on the regular NF-F12's?

 

i also dont have a window, so I actually don't care. No point in choosing noctua for their "silent" fans and all their "gimmicks" when the motor ruins it all. I just can't express how dissapointed I am - in noctua and in fact Linus (for praising these fans so much. Makes me think how much Noctua sponsored him to endorse them)

[PalladianPD]

50 minutes ago, skjetne said:

So this problem isn't on the regular NF-F12's?

As to this, I don't know for sure since I've never had one in the flesh, but the build logs where Linus uses them generally show them producing very little noise. I know he likes to keep it below 1000 RPM but that may well be for pure airflow noise considerations. See if you can find a video where someone puts one of these close to a mic.

[Deli]

6 hours ago, PalladianPD said:

As to this, I don't know for sure since I've never had one in the flesh, but the build logs where Linus uses them generally show them producing very little noise. I know he likes to keep it below 1000 RPM but that may well be for pure airflow noise considerations. See if you can find a video where someone puts one of these close to a mic.

Regular Nf-F12

 

 

 

Industrial PPC NF-F12

 

 

I can't quite hear any high pitch noise in both videos when the fans are under 1,000rpm, except a little bit of fan noise. That is 8v for the regular version and 6v for the PPC version. After that the fans noise increase exponentially.

 

I'd say both fans are very quiet under 8XX rpm, and acceptable under 1,000rpm.

[Pat-Roner]

I just got this reply from Noctua, so it seems to be intended with the iPPC range. 

Swapped them for regular NF-F12's and they are dead silent.

 

"I'm afraid that these noises are normal for iPPC fans. These use three phase motors which can be louder than regular motors especially when running at reduced speed.
Increasing the fan speed might help though.
In case this isn't acceptable, I would suggest that you have your retailer replace these fans with regular beige-brown NF-F12-pwm fans as these are quieter.

Best regards,
Alexander Dyszewski
Noctua support team"

[scottyseng]

17 hours ago, skjetne said:

-snip-

The iPPC fans aren't really meant to be run at low RPMs, and so you hear that high pitch noise. My Delta 120mmx25mm @ 3,400RPM fan does it too at low RPMs (800s). However, my 120mmx38mm Deltas at 3,600 RPM can go down to as low as 400RPM without any high pitch noise. I'm going to have to say the thicker motor of the Delta lets them handle the speeds better. I also prefer Delta over Noctua for lifespan.

[Pat-Roner]

1 hour ago, scottyseng said:

The iPPC fans aren't really meant to be run at low RPMs, and so you hear that high pitch noise. My Delta 120mmx25mm @ 3,400RPM fan does it too at low RPMs (800s). However, my 120mmx38mm Deltas at 3,600 RPM can go down to as low as 400RPM without any high pitch noise. I'm going to have to say the thicker motor of the Delta lets them handle the speeds better. I also prefer Delta over Noctua for lifespan.

Yeah, that may be the case.

 

I just swapped them for regular NF-F12's and I can't hear a thing now @400rpm - dead silent. 

[Elektroschocker]

i have 3x 120 iPPC's and 3x 140 IPPC's running between 300rpm at idle and 800rpm at load on radiators.

i never experienced any kind of hiph piched noises from them.

only when they are running at 250rpm-300rpm you can hear a very silient clicking form the motor running so slow. but that's only in the first 5-10 minutes after turning on the pc. it seems like they have to run "warm" like an engine

[Deli]

I never hear any high pitch noise from the PPC fans. I don't care what other people hear or not hear.

[Octavialicious]

Are these being used for case airflow???

[Benji_w]

I love my NF-F12s, they do vibrate on full speed but honestly they're really really great fans, do not regret my purchase at all.

[Pat-Roner]

14 hours ago, Benji_w said:

I love my NF-F12s, they do vibrate on full speed but honestly they're really really great fans, do not regret my purchase at all.

I swapped them for a pair of regular NF-F12s and the issue is completely gone. I'm really impressed with the air pressure/silence  they provide.

 

14 hours ago, Octavialicious said:

Are these being used for case airflow???

No, they are used with a heatsink.