Noctua has 2 new line models which are Redux and IndustrialPPC models and today I’ll be reviewing one of a specific fan models which is Noctua NF-A14 industrialPPC-2000 Fan and do some comparison with their original brown-beige fans which are Noctua NF-A14 and Noctua NF-P14 models in the aspects of cooling performance, acoustic and design. To give a brief overview of these new line ups, the industrialPPC is meant for to installed in industrial applications as it can withstand harsh environments plus its certified with water and dust protection. Let’s take a look on the fan’s specification, testing and usage details.
Noctua NF-A14 industrialPPC-2000 Specifications
| Model | |
| Brand | Noctua |
| Series | NF-A (Airflow) |
| Model ID | NF-A14 industrialPPC 2000 |
| Specifications | |
| Type | Case Fan / Industrial Fan Application |
| Bearing Type | SSO2 |
| Fan Size (W x H x D) | 140mm (140mm x 140mm x 25mm) |
| Power Connector | 3 pin |
| Voltage, Current, Power | 12V, 0.18A, 2.16W |
| Color | Black Frame, Black Fan Blade |
| LED | N/A |
| Corner Type | Open |
| Cable Length | 36cm |
| Performance | Fan |
| Rotational Speed (RPM) | 2000 |
| Airflow (CFM) | 182.5 |
| Noise (dBA) | 31.5 |
| Static Pressure (mmH2O) | 4.18 |
| Others | |||
| Warranty | 6 years | ||
| MTBF | 150,000 hours | ||
| Scope of Delivery | 4 x Fan Screws, Fan with 4 anti-vibration pads. | ||
| MSRP | 26.90 EUR | ||
| Released Date | 2014-05-13 | ||
| Technologies |
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| Notes |
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Packaging
Noctua NF-A14 IndustrialPPC 2000 Front Packaging
I was expecting similar packaging as the Noctua NF-A series but this does not show any fan parts from the outside.
Noctua NF-A14 IndustrialPPC 2000 Rear Details Packaging
Here we can see that its made from Taiwan but designed from Austria. The fan specification is available in electronic PDF downloaded from Noctua’s site. You can use your mobile QR code scanner to visit their site quickly instead of typing the long URL. However, when I tested it with my QR scanner, it led me to a “mobile.noctua.at ***** page was not found on this server”. Perhaps, they could perform a redirect should the page URL has been removed, probably a better method would be linking directly to their main website instead of the mobile as a temporary backup.
Noctua NF-A14 IndustrialPPC-2000 Internal Packaging
Opening the box, we find a fan and 4 screws within a sealed plastic bag. This reminds me of the inexpensive fan packaging from Cooler Master and Enermax. I realized that Noctua has talent with designing compact and functional boxes to organize the components within it, especially swirling cables under the supportive board which also acts as a shock absorber similarly to using thick foam.
Noctua NF-A14 IndustrialPPC 2000 Fan (Front Side)
On the front, it looks exactly as what we have seen from NF-A14 series original model with its superb technologies implemented (AAO Frame, Inner Surface Microstructures, etc). The only difference from the appearance is its designed in all black with no alternating colors for both fan and the exterior case. Both front and back has the pre-installed anti-vibration pads.
Noctua NF-A14 IndustrialPPC 2000 Rear Fan
At the back of the fan, we see the same sticker displaying Noctua’s logo that resembles an owl and includes the label of the fan model and its website. Another thing that I would like to point out is the sticker is also used to covers the entire magnetic bearing shell! Perhaps, its to prevent any liquid and dust from entering it.
Noctua NF-A14 IndustrialPPC 2000 Fan Screw Holes
The screw holes here are same size as Noctua NF-A14, bigger than the ones found in Noctua NF-P12 and Noctua NF-P14s redux-1200 as shown in the picture below. It allows custom third party rubber grommets to be installed with ease such as Prolimatech Magnetic Rubber Grommets. If you are wondering the reason of having 2 additional holes beside the screw hole, its used to hold the anti-vibration pads.
Noctua Fan Comparison (4 Models)
Noctua Fan 140mm Comparison Front
The picture below displays all 4 fan models (black = industrialPPC, gray = Redux, brown = original).
Noctua Fan 140mm Comparison Rear
All fans comes with their own unique sticker label while the industrialPPC hides the magnetic bearing shell compared to the rest.
Noctua Fan 140mm Comparison Color: Original vs IndustrialPPC vs Redux
Here you can compare the 3 types of fans mounted at the rear. The case used here is a Fractal Design Arc Midi with no window side panel. Therefore, less light are shone into the case. It would be difficult for anyone to notice from afar if you had a Noctua fan when its all black. Also, it doesn’t really stand out from within a black PC chassis.
Noctua Redux vs Original vs IndustrialPPC Video Test Comparison
Here is a short video testing the fan airflow performance.
[youtube url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZQFD3Q371Q]
Testing Outcome
I have tested the Noctua Industrial Fan in a freezer (yes, I really mean the top of the refrigerator) for 8 hours straight and it still spins perfectly. Noctua PR has confirmed that the lubricant used in the fans can withstand extreme freezing temperature of -10 degree Celcius and up to blazingly hot 70 degree Celcius. However, don’t confused this with other product such as NF-A14 industrialPPC-2000 IP67 PWM as its certified with IP67 that can be submerged 1 meter underwater and its dust tight.
In addition to industrial application usage, I have tested for regular PC fan as fan exhaust and fan intake. When plugged directly to the motherboard, it will spin at maximum 2000 RPM which is quite noisy. It reminds me of my previous Intel’s CPU cooler running at 100% when rendering HD videos in 10-bit encoding. For benchmark purposes, I ran Ivy Bridge 3770K at 4.2Ghz at overclock settings with a Noctua NH-D14 and also use AIDA 64 Extreme Edition Stability CPU Test for 15 minutes. I tested first with the original Noctua NF-A14 and later the Noctua NF-A14 industrialPPC-2000, with both fans mounted at air intake slots. The max temperature I got were similar when the industrialPPC version is tuned to pleasantly quiet mode at 10V but when maxed out at 12V which sounded a little louder than Intel’s CPU cooler, the temperature dropped by an average of 1.75 degree Celcius on all 4 cores (CPU Package).
In acoustic aspects, if your chassis is padded with foam, noise can be heard up to 3-4 feet distance at max RPM if by chance your PC case has large ventilation holes. The 10V would be sufficient to start it up at quiet mode but still noise can be heard if you are sitting just beside it within 2 feets. Therefore, users who prefer quietness over performance would need to rethink should you wish to compromise acoustic over performance or for its other great benefits such as the IP certification.
Another discovery found the hard way was Noctua NF-A14 industrialPPC-2000 will not work with LNA (Low Noise Adapters) and ULNA (Ultra Low Noise Adapters). This includes the NA-RC10 (LNA) and NA-RC11 + NA-RC12 (ULNA) from the Noctua A-series packaging. Take note it will not work with the new released accessories which are NA-RC10/NA-SRC10 (LNA for 3-pin non PWM fans) and NA-RC7/NA-SRC7 (LNA for 4 pin PWM fans) which are meant for Redux fan models as warned on Noctua’s website. You will need to use a third-party fan controller to adjust the fan speed, which fortunately I have 1 installed in my case.
Final Thoughts and Conclusion
The NF-A14 industrialPPC 2000 fan offers superb air flow to power consumption and noise ratio and a bonus of having certified with IP52 (water and dust protected). I would highly recommend it more for industrial applications that are suitable for damp or little dust area such as a fridge. Another highlight is all IndustrialPPC models can be customized to suit your needs! Industry clients can request Noctua to provide 24V version, different connectors and speeds, specific cable length or UL and TUV certification! Few companies in this fan industry offers such customization and Noctua is one of the very first to support this. Don’t let the price turn you down as this is product is protected with a solid 6 years warranty. I have tried out their customer support when one of my Noctua’s fans from NH-D14 malfunctioned and they send me a replacement under 2 weeks.
For PC usage its a little bit off. The fan appearance does not stand out especially in a black interior chassis compared to the original Noctua’s unique brown color. It requires a fan controller to tune the fan RPM speed so it does not sound overbearingly noisy and needs approximately 3 times higher start-up voltage than original NF-A14. The cable length is 36cm so you may need to purchase an extension cable if your fan central hub or fan controller is positioned far away such as behind the motherboard tray like NZXT and Phanteks. For PC enthusiast who wants the best for their system, you can still get these fans. However, you will need a high quality fan controller that can controls each specific fan speed instead of having 1 speed fan controller controlling all chassis fan speed as this fan requires different voltage start-up.
I would like to see Noctua to come up with an independent separate knob speed controller accessory similar to Enermax’s fan controller but with an additional feature to adapt to both 3-pin and 4-pin PWM fans. This solution eliminates the need to have different types of cables such as NA-RC10 and NA-RC11/NA-RC12 which sadly both have the same label (LNA) instead of LNA and ULNA. Also, it would be great to have this that fits all models (Redux, Original and IndustrialPPC). If Noctua considered this idea, this can be taken 1 step further by implementing their own fan controller accessory similarly to NZXT coming up with their own central fan hub that supports 6 fans for their chassis, and sold them as part of accessory for non-NZXT computer chassis.
Special thanks to Jakob for making this review possible. For more details on the technologies implemented in this product, please visit their homepage product section at NF-A14 industrialPPC 2000.