At first we would like to thank Noctua for offering us samples of the NF-A14 industrialPPC-24V-2000 IP67 PWM Fans for testing and reviewing.

 

 

About Noctua:

 

“Designed in Austria, Noctua's premium cooling components are internationally renowned for their superb quietness, exceptional performance and thoroughgoing quality. Having received more than 6000 awards and recommendations from leading hardware websites and magazines, Noctua's fans and heatsinks are serving hundreds of thousands of satisfied customers around the globe.”

 

 

Product Features:

 

Award-winning NF-A14 design

Having received more than 100 awards and recommendations from the international press, Noctua's NF-A14 has become a proven premium choice for 140mm cooling needs. Its renowned efficiency has convinced tens of thousands of customers all over the world.

 

2000rpm industrialPPC version

Thanks to its elevated 2000rpm top speed, the NF-A14 industrialPPC-2000 provides a significant performance boost over the 1500rpm retail version. Combined with the industrialPPC series' robust polyamide construction and advanced protection features, this makes the fan ideal for challenging industrial applications.

 

24V version

The industrialPPC 24V models use a dedicated wide input range version of Noctua's NE-FD2 three-phase PWM motor driver IC. Supporting operating voltages from 6 to 30V, these models are ideal for 24V-based industrial applications and voltage- or PWM-based speed control.

 

Lower speed and noise levels in 12V PC environments

While the industrialPPC 24V model has been designed with 24V industrial applications in mind, it runs at a maximum speed of around 1100rpm in 12V PC environments and can be slowed down further via PWM, thus combining industrialPPC features and design with Noctua’s signature quietness.

 

Three-phase motor design

While most axial fans use single-phase motors with 4 slots, Noctua's industrialPPC fans feature a three-phase design with 6 slots, which provides smoother transitions between the slots and thus allows for even higher running smoothness, further reduced vibrations and unprecedented energy efficiency.

 

Certified IP67 water- and dust protection

The motor and PCB of the IP67 version are completely cast in a special, highly heat conductive resin that combines thoroughgoing protection and effective motor heat dissipation. Complying with the ingress protection rating IP67, this fan is not only fully dust tight but also completely waterproof up to 1m water depth.

 

Fibre-glass reinforced polyamide construction

Both the impeller and the frame of Noctua’s industrialPPC fans are made entirely from fibre-glass reinforced polyamide. This material can withstand temperatures up to 140°C and makes the fans even more robust and break-proof than Noctua’s standard fibre-glass reinforced PBT fans.

 

Flow Acceleration Channels

The NF-A14 impeller features suction side Flow Acceleration Channels. By speeding up the airflow at the crucial outer blade regions, this measure reduces suction side flow separation and thus leads to better efficiency and lower vortex noise.

 

Stepped Inlet Design

Noctua's Stepped Inlet Design adds turbulence to the influx in order to facilitate the transition from laminar flow to turbulent flow, which reduces tonal intake noise, improves flow attachment and increases suction capacity, especially in space-restricted environments.

 

SSO2 Bearing

The NF-A14 industrialPPC features the further optimised second generation of Noctua's renowned, time-tested SSO bearing. With SSO2, the rear magnet is placed closer to the axis to provide even better stabilisation, precision and durability.

 

Metal bearing shell

In order to guarantee the highest possible degree of manufacturing precision, minimum tolerance and excellent long-term stability, the NF-A14 industrialPPC sports a CNC milled bearing shell made entirely from brass.

 

6-year manufacturer’s warranty

Noctua fans are renowned for their impeccable quality and outstanding longevity. Like all Noctua fans, the NF-A14 industrialPPC features an MTBF rating of more than 150.000 hours and comes with a full 6-year manufacturer’s warranty.

 

Custom-designed PWM IC with SCD

Supporting fully automatic PWM speed control, the NF-A14 industrialPPC uses Noctua's custom-designed NE-FD2 PWM IC for three-phase motors. The NE-FD2 integrates Noctua's proprietary Smooth Commutation Drive (SCD) technology, which suppresses PWM switching noises and thus makes the fan quieter at lower speeds.

 

Customisable for industry clients

For industry clients, various features, certificates, packaging options and accessories can be customised on requests. For example, we can provide 24V versions, different connectors and speeds, different cable length or UL and TÜV certification. Please feel free to contact us for customised offers!

 

 

Product Specifications:

 

 

 

The NF-A4 industrialPPC 24V fans from Noctua are conceived for industrial applications which require enhanced cooling performance and advanced ingress protection. Versus the regular 12V versions, the 24V model is using a dedicated wire input range version of the Noctua’s NE-FD2 motor driver IC so it can support 24V-based industrial applications. These fans can be, of course used in PC builds too and running them at 12V halves the rotation speed while maintaining a good performance at very low noise levels.

Each fan is individually packaged in a separate cardboard enclosure, which features the Noctua iconic color scheme and the name of the product on the top cover; the motor and PCB of this IP67 version we have got for evaluation are completely cast in a special, highly heat-conductive resin that combines throughgoing protection and effective motor heat dissipation:

 

 

 

More advanced product technical specifications can be checked out on the bottom area of the cardboard box:

 

 

 

Inside we will get to see the fan, surrounded by a black cardboard frame so it won’t move during transit:

 

 

 

Noctua has also included silver mounting screws in a separate transparent plastic bag:

 

 

 

Let’s take a closer look at the fan itself! NF-A4 industrialPPC 24V is built from a fibre-grass reinforced polyamide (both impeller and the frame) for withstanding temperatures up to 140 degrees Celsius, but this aspect also makes the fans more robust and break-proof:

 

 

 

Flow-acceleration channels are provided on each blade; by speeding up the airflow at the crucial outer blade regions, we are reducing suction side flow separation and leads to better efficiency and lower vortex noise:

 

 

 

Thanks to the stepped inlet design, turbulence is added to the influx in order to facilitate the transition from laminar flow to turbulent flow, which reduces tonal intake noise, improves flow attachment and increases suction capacity:

 

 

 

The NA-SAVP1 anti-vibration pads in brown color are attached in each corner of the fan (8pcs per fan):

 

 

 

On the back area of the fan we can see the central sticker which has the technical specifications imprinted; Noctua also informs us that this fan is featuring a three-phase motor design with six slots, unlike most axial fans which use single-phase motors with four slots, for providing smoother transitions between the slots and thus allowing for even higher running smoothness, further reduced vibrations and very high energy efficiency. Also, thanks to the improved SSO2 bearing, the rear magnet is placed closer to the axis in order to provide even better stabilization, precision and durability:

 

 

 

As we have been accustomed with the previous Noctua fan models, the cable is fully sleeved:

 

 

 

The cable ends up with a 4-pin black PWM connector:

 

 

 

Next up we will discuss about the NA-SAV2 Chromax white anti-vibration mounts; each set does contain 20 mounts meant to replace the standard fan screws for enabling convenient, quick and vibration-free installation. Being available in different colors, we can adapt and personalize each and every fan depending on our build scheme:

 

 

 

 

By using the included User Manual leaflet, we can learn how the installation must be performed:

 

 

 

 

 

Chromax series does also comprise of the NA-SAVP1 anti-vibration pads; available in different colors, each box comes with 16 anti-vibration pads for up to two compatible 120/140mm fans. These are made from extra-soft silicone material for minimizing the transmission of minute vibrations while maintaining full compatibility with standard fan screws and most other mounting systems. They are also used for fully-customizing the fan appearance so they will fit better with the overall color scheme of the build:

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a closer look at the white model, as-supplied by Noctua:

 

 

 

 

The installation is pretty straight-forward; just remove the stock brown ones and install the white ones:

 

 

 

 

The fans regain another personality right after these are installed:

 

 

 

 

 

Test Bench:

-BIOSTAR Z170X GAMING Motherboard

-Intel Skylake 6700K CPU @ 4.6GHz 1.285V inside UEFI

-Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB DDR4 2666MHz C16 Memory

-NZXT Kraken X60 All-in-One Water Cooler for the CPU

-HIS Radeon R9 390X

-Creative Sound Blaster ZxR + daughter-board

-AMD Radeon R7 240GB SSD

-SAMSUNG HD204UI 2TB drive

-Toshiba MG04ACA400A 4TB drive

-NEXUS 1.1KW Gold PSU

-InWin 909 Case

 

Since the previously-reviewed InWin 909 case was not supplied with any fans at all, we have thought that it is a perfect candidate for testing; besides the stock fans which were pre-installed on the NZXT Kraken X60 AIO cooling system for the CPU, we have had two AlpenFohn WingBoost 2 140mm fans installed as intake on the bottom:

 

 

 

 

 

For the last run, we did also include a set of 12V NF-A4 industrialPPC 2000RPM fans which were mounted on the Kraken X60 rad.

 

Multiple tests followed, with the following configurations:

 

Test 1: Stock configuration, 2x AlpenFohn WingBoost 2 140mm as intake, 2x stock NXZT 140mm on the radiator (silent profile)

Test 2: Stock configuration, 2x AlpenFohn WingBoost 2 140mm as intake, 2x stock NXZT 140mm on the radiator (performance profile)

Test 3: 2xNF-A4 industrialPPC 24V 140mm as intake, 2x stock NXZT 140mm on the radiator (silent profile)

Test 4: 2xNF-A4 industrialPPC 24V 140mm as intake, 2x stock NXZT 140mm on the radiator (performance profile)

Test 5: 4xNF-A4 industrialPPC 24V 140mm as intake, 2x stock NXZT 140mm on the radiator (silent profile)

Test 6: 4xNF-A4 industrialPPC 24V 140mm as intake, 2x stock NXZT 140mm on the radiator (performance profile)

Test 7: 4xNF-A4 industrialPPC 24V 140mm as intake, 2x NF-A4 industrialPPC 24V 140mm on the radiator (silent profile)

Test 8: 4xNF-A4 industrialPPC 24V 140mm as intake, 2x NF-A4 industrialPPC 24V 140mm on the radiator (performance profile)

Test 9: 4xNF-A4 industrialPPC 24V 140mm as intake, 2x NF-A4 industrialPPC 12V 140mm on the radiator (silent profile)

Test 10: 4xNF-A4 industrialPPC 24V 140mm as intake, 2x NF-A4 industrialPPC 12V 140mm on the radiator (performance profile)

 

 

 

We could also mention that the NZXT stock fans were rotating in silent mode at about 950RPM while in performance mode at about 1440RPM and were very loud. The 24V fans are not ideal to be mounted on radiators since we can only supply a maximum of 12V to them, at least in the silent mode, because they were only rotating at 300RPM ( barely moving any air around ); in performance mode, the speed has gone up to 740RPM, making a noticeable difference in cooling performance while remaining dead-silent. The NF-A4 industrialPPC 12V 140mm fans were a different story because with the silent profile set they were rotating at about 660RPM (dead-silent), while the performance mode had them rotating at 1150RPM. In this mode they were producing noticeably less noise than the NZXT variants, while having a better cooling performance, at a lower rotation speed! At all times, the ambient inside the room was kept steady at 22.5 degrees Celsius.

 

For you to get a general idea about the sound produced by these fans, we have taken some measurements with the sound meter, which was placed 30cm in the front of the fan, at a 45 degree angle:

 

NF-A4 industrialPPC 24V

 

NF-A4 industrialPPC 12V

 

The NF-A4 industrialPPC 140mm fans are very well built and can be used for both industrial and PC chassis applications; the 24V versions are ideal as case fans because they produce little to no noise at half the voltage they receive inside a computer chassis, but if you are also planning on replacing the fans on the water cooling radiators, you have to get the 12V models. The 12V NF-A4 industrialPPC 140mm PWM fans will be ran at higher speeds in order to cool the radiator fins properly, while keeping the noise levels as low as possible thanks to the integrated technologies.

 

Despite the fact we are discussing about industrial fans from Noctua, their look can be fully customized by using the Chromax accessories: NA-SAVP1 and NA-SAV2. This way the user is able to adjust the fan theme to the rest of the case styling (especially when the chassis does feature windows and the interior can be seen at all times).

 

As we have seen before with high-end products of any kind, the price is higher than mainstream so expect to find the NF-A14 industrialPPC-24V-2000 fans at about 29 Euros, the 12V version for about 25 Euros and if we need extra customization we will have to look at the NA-SAVP1 for about 7 Euros (one box) and the NA-SAV2 for about 9 Euros a box.

 

Noctua NF-A14 industrialPPC-24V-2000 IP67 PWM Fans are Recommended For:

 

 

We would like to thank again to Noctua for making this review possible!