Fan noise is subjective, so measuring it is basically pointless. I've already made a video about the matter of perceived loudness and would encourage you to check it out. As for making the fan "seem" bad...It's below spec, performs quite poorly in all the tests, and costs a fortune. Would you prefer I held back on the factual information and instead wore a Noctua T-shirt or released a Noctua-coloured screwdriver like some of the other content creators?! :D

​​​​​@@FanPhysTL;DR version: why bother to test fans at the same RPM in the first place? Wouldn't it make more sense to compare them at the same wattage, noise level (it's hard to measure objectively, but the single most important property for a lot of people), or its max design speed? Why should I care about how a fan performs at a specific RPM? I think that's useful if you're interested in aerodynamics, but pretty much doesn't matter to end users. If it's at an acceptable price, has a good PQ curve for the application, and doesn't produce much noise, fail frequently, or cost too much, I don't care if the fan runs at 30k RPM (so long as there's blade-off testing to ensure it won't send me to the hospital). If I get a 7200 RPM hard drive, run it at 5400 RPM, and see worse performance than other 5400 RPM drives, that doesn't make the 7200 RPM drive worse. If I downclock a modern ARM processor to match an old x86 one and see worse IPC, that doesn't mean the modern processor is slower (or uses more power). Engineers often make a product that's able to run faster with fewer drawbacks in order to increase performance. Maybe they made a tradeoff that the user doesn't like, but the issue is what running it faster made worse, not running it faster. PS: Noctua fans are very expensive, and I have lots of fans lying around which work fine. I'm not defending Noctua here.

@@FanPhys You are not testing how good the fan is for the end user, you are testing how good it is compared to others at the same RPM. RPM however isn't a metric that matters to the person sitting next to the pc, only noise and cooling performance is, and a more aerodynamically efficient fan will deliver better performance at the same noise level. Look at the technical report from November 2021 from Sanyo Denki for the development of their 120RA25 fan where they compare the new G speed model to the older one(TR52 Page 18/21). The newer fan has a max RPM of 4500RPM and the older fan maxes out at 4100RPM, at those speeds the air flow and static pressure ratings are identical on the dot. However, even though the newer fan has to spin faster, it has a later stall point, consumes 40% less power and produces significantly less noise across the board (8 db! even when the old fan is stalling but the new one is not). But in your test, the old fan would likely win. Is the old fan thus, a better fan than the new one? I'm not saying that you are testing wrong, or that you are doing something wrong because Noctua isn't on top. You are testing the wrong thing

​@@or2kr I'm testing the fans for a physics-focused channel, not a product review channel. Very occasionally I'll share some opinions, as I do here regarding the inflated price of the fan, but all other content is empirical and reproducible. There is no right or wrong when it comes to what tests are carried out - I'll test what I find most interesting, and invariably a few will come along and tell me I'm doing it wrong. This is how KZfaq works. :)

@@FanPhys Sound is also part of the physics of the fan, it's importance will vary depending of where and how it is used, and how much weight you put into each variable, but it's a crucial piece of information, even more if you are going to compare it to other fans and state a conclusion on if it's good or bad. And trying to shrug it off with "This is how KZfaq works" when constructive criticism is given doesn't change the conclusion, it just makes your credibility tank.

Thank you for your comment.

Here's the sheet with all the results from both coolers: tinyurl.com/3tre2wmr

THANK YOU!@@FanPhys

Yep absolutely. It has been suggested before and it seems that the best approach is to get a good 120mm AIO and see how the fans compare on a beefy radiator. It will take some time but rest assured it will happen. :)

Not at the moment I'm afraid - I'm limited to 120mm for the time being, and after that it'll likely be 140mm. :)

All fans were tested first at 1600rpm / 1100rpm. This comparison is between the T30's 1600rpm performance and the A12x25 flat out. I very much doubt there'll be much variance between fans. Likely the ones that don't make the cut just go in the bin rather than on the shelf.

Academic is a very good word - that's precisely my approach to these tests. I will occasionally comment on aspects of fan choice (as I do here in terms of price) but the main thrust of this channel is to look at the physics of fans from an engineering perspective, because that's what I care about. This channel isn't QVC for fans, that's for damned sure. :)

Nice. Some years ago I had four Noctua NF-P12 as case fans and they were great. I changed them because at the time I decided I wanted LED fans.

Thanks for the comment. I understand the perceived need for SPL testing and I've already given clear reasons for not doing it (I even made a separate video). The primary goal of my testing is to address the relationship between static pressure performance and cooling performance, and this requires an objective metric of standardisation, the most suitable of which is fan speed. Moreover, the preoccupation with specific fan noise and so-called "noise-normalised" testing is a relatively recent thing, and I'm just not interested in boarding that particular hype train.

The Delta AFB series are high quality 120mm fans, not very expensive, and are available with PWM control. Most people probably won't like the basic colour scheme or the ball bearings. :)

I don't. :)

I dont give a shit about RPM. Only Noice and Livetime matters.

Nah, plenty of other review channels that cater to "most people". I love channels that focuses on the niche , like that Snark Domain channel that is purely about TIMs.

Yes I will eventually get hold of one - Nidec themselves released a newer version of the Gentle Typhoon, and I'd also like to get one of the high-speed versions too. Stay tuned! :)

@@FanPhysHype tbh xD

Hmmm interesting for sure but for pc fans is it really relevant?

Indeed. They are a very successful company with an extremely effective marketing strategy. The fans are niche, completely unique, and very high quality. It's likely they have a strict QA procedure, because you generally don't hear about their fans failing (I never have).

Scotland, UK :)

The tests were for a static pressure performance comparison, first and foremost, which is why fans are set based on speed. If I was conducting a test to establish which fan is the quietest, then naturally I'd standardise the fans by sound level. And I'd wager that there are more than just the T30 that can beat it. :)

@@FanPhys So why frame your opinions on the A12X25 in such a disingenious way? You obivously know (or I should hope you do) two different fans with different blade designs can't be directly compared by RPM alone. There are no useful conclusions to be drawn from this video.

He mentions towards the end of the video that it's a very quiet fan.

You make good points. It's been established that people will be more aware of noise if they are familiar with it, and us PC gamers love to listen out for fan noise. The best answer to low noise cooling has always been liquid cooling. Nothing has changed markedly in 20 or so years, since the very first air coolers to use heat pipes in the early 2000s.

that's just not practical.

Not sure I've ever heard liquid cooling advocated as a low noise solution before. Certainly not for AIOs, and even on custom loops ddcs aren't quiet. In general just minimize the number of mechanical components == air cooling.

​@@Svennigbro what? Liquid cooling has always been at the top when it comes to pc cooling. Either if you want overclocking or lower noise, simply because liquid cooling is better at thermal dissipation. You can get away with way lower fan speeds thus lower noise

@@FrankOnline007 I've run a custom loop with a ddc that I threw out for a d5 because the ddc was awful. I've run a system with an h150i that was disgustingly loud and had barely any pwm pump control. And I've run a d15. The d15 was easily the quietest and it wasn't close.