Reviews & awards

The NF-A12x25 G2 PWM chromax.black keeps what made the original NF-A12x25 a reference 120 mm fan, while changing the blade design, frame, and motor. On our 360 mm AIO with a Ryzen 9 7900X, most of its cooling benefit arrived by 50% fan speed. Going from 25% to 50% lowered temperatures by up to 3.8 °C, while 75% and 100% were within 0.6 °C of each other at every power level. The noise remained at our room’s background level at 25% and 50%, then increased to 35.2 dBA at 75% and 42.0 dBA at full power.

The comparison with the cooler’s stock fans makes the case clearer. The Noctua ran cooler at every speed and power level, and it was quieter at every speed as well. At 35.2 dBA, where the Noctua runs at 75% and the stock fan at 50%, the Noctua was cooler by 2.8 °C to 8.9 °C. The Noctua at 50% was cooler than the stock fan at 100% in all three tests, while measuring 16.0 dBA lower. Impressive.