[malfist]

Does it? Not everything is a sign of deception.

Even if it is the case, and not simple an omission to focus the narrative, does it matter? Case fans pull what 4 watts? 5 watts? Who cares if it pulls 200 milliwatts more than a competitor when it's cooling a GPU and CPU that consume more than a hundred times what it can consume

[xxs]

>Case fans pull what 4 watts? 5 watts?

That's really high. Like usually they are 100-150mA (so sub 2W) Lots of controllers would be 1A max.

The tolerances are for noise mostly. I'd consider the noise (and longevity) the single most important part of fans (else most fans can spin close to 3k rpm and cool)

[lostlogin]

Very high. A Mac mini averages about 6w all up. Though with that fan it would sure run cool.

[kllrnohj]

A mac mini uses a lot more than 6w under load. 2024 M4 base mac mini has a rated max of 65W[1] and the M4 more than doubles that number to 140w

1: https://support.apple.com/en-us/103253

[lostlogin]

Yup, but it rarely does that.

Transcoding multiple video streams, running a VM and running various other tasks, mine rarely passes 10, and is currently sitting at 7 (only 2 transcodes at this time).

It’s 30 day average is 5.

[GuB-42]

The question is not about saving milliwatts-hours on your electricity bill, it is about where these milliwatts are going.

One is heat, heat is not great, it puts more stress on components, mechanical and electrical, reducing longevity.

Another, maybe more important is noise. The power that goes into making noise is power that is wasted, noise is inefficiency, and reducing noise is an efficiency problem.

[jordanb]

Tighter tolerance isn't universally a good thing. It might make the fan more susceptible to damage due to mishandling or dust. They might be selling a fan that has a shorter useful life for no real benefit.

[ChoGGi]

I take it you've never dealt with Noctua for warranty issues (or any issues).

They go above and beyond.

[queuebert]

As a physicist, it's not at all clear to me that tighter tolerances would lead to higher efficiency or less noise. I assume it shakes out in the CFD simulations, but I would be curious to know the explanation.

I thought the primary gain in efficiency came from the large blades, with the blade shape the next most important factor. Gaps between the blade and housing feels like a single-digit percent effect.

[paj26]

For the same reason a winglet is used on an airplane, or a ducted fan is more efficient than a propeller: there is a large pressure difference on the end of a wing or propeller, and the high pressure side will jump around to the low pressure side and cause a tip vortex. This causes an induced drag, which moves the lift vector backwards (as drag, but not skin friction drag). Higher aspect (think wind turbine blades or glider wings) minimise this, as do winglets or ducting.

[queuebert]

You are talking about velocities 100x faster than the air in your chassis is moving. You might be right about the effect, but it seems so tiny in this application.

[kllrnohj]

The specific fan in question has a rated max power draw of 1.8 W. In actual deployments it's going to be a lot less since ~nobody is running a noctua fan at 100% speed unconditionally

[lightedman]

"In actual deployments it's going to be a lot less since ~nobody is running a noctua fan at 100% speed unconditionally"

I run dual 36w Delta fans at 100% in my computer case. I use the outflow as positive pressure forced exhaust for my enclosed CO2 laser, which itself has an ultra-weak venting fan.

It isn't that loud. A simple no box does the trick.

[kllrnohj]

Yeah, but those aren't noctua fans. Noctua's claim to fame is being lower noise, not moving the most air. I'm sure somebody is buying a premium low noise-focused fan and then pinning it to max, but that's definitely not going to be typical.

[eep_social]

which is why you went with Delta and not Nocturna I would think? Deltas are fine in an otherwise noisy environment but they’re misery in say a bedroom at night.

[maxerickson]

Case fans pull what 4 watts? 5 watts? Who cares if it pulls 200 milliwatts more than a competitor when it's cooling a GPU and CPU that consume more than a hundred times what it can consume

Yes, exactly. The high precision is marketing, not something needed in the product.

[vladvasiliu]

My understanding is that the precision is supposed to help with noise. Less turbulence, etc.

FWIW, in my setup (10th gen i5, RTX 5070 Ti in an old Define R3 case), the 12 cm Noctua G2 fans run quieter and have a much less obnoxious noise than the old P/F series, which wipe the floor with the Arctic fan I bought for a computer that lives in the basement and sounds like it's about to take off.

[ThatMedicIsASpy]

A 5 pack of arctic pwm fans was 25€. I was considering noctua but the G2 fans were always delayed. But I doubt I would have paid 150-200€ for 5 fans.

They do have the most insane pricing. I could see myself buying some in the 15€ range but not 35€.

[ufocia]

You lead me to believe that they are targeting a niche "audiophile" market and probably not a commercial market. The concern in the commercial market would be energy savings vs. capital expenditure. Some commercial spaces actually introduce white noise into spaces to increase occupant density.

[devilbunny]

They are targeting people who want nearly-silent fans for computing devices and will pay considerably higher than average prices for them. I have several of them, and they are vastly quieter than the competition. Wouldn't be worth it in a commercial space, but I want my house to be quiet.

[ewesddsds]

In my experience fans from manufacturers like Arctic can be almost as quiet similar Noctua, but cost 50% less. The difference definitely isn't vast for most models, although admittedly there's more QC issues and variation than with Noctua.

A lot of Noctua sales come from their brand value. People put Noctua fans into their gaming PC's, use headphones while gaming on them, and then turn off the PC. You don't really need the most silent fan for that, but people buy them anyway for the looks & premium quality.

I do love Noctua's coolers though, I appreciate the well thought design, manuals and free upgrade kits when you upgrade your system to a new socket type. But for case fans I'll jut buy Arctic and save money, except for things like server systems that run 24/7 in my bedroom where noise and durability are top priority.

[greyw]

I want the quitest fans and whether they are 10 or 20 bucks is irrelevant. We are talking about tiny amounts of money here for something thats gonna run for 5y+

[devilbunny]

> except for things like server systems that run 24/7 in my bedroom where noise and durability are top priority

... which is why I only have a few of them, rather than replacing the fans in everything I own. But for the things that need them, there's just nothing else as good.

[ChoGGi]

They target people that want quiet/silent cases, obviously not commerical, unless you're going after the long life/warranty service. Or you go for their industrial line.

[zyx321]

Audiophile products are a known scam.

This is an enthusiast product, as evidenced by the premise that you care about color-coordinating the inside of your computer.