Noctua NF-A4x20 PWM Foolishness Review

I’ve moved my blog server to AWS now, but until recently, I was running it on my personal NAS.

Review of Replacing the TAOBAO NAS Fan with Arctic P12 PWM

While running it that way, the noise was quite bothersome, so I replaced the main fan with an Arctic fan.

I was satisfied with it until the power fan started acting up. Since I planned to move to AWS once my blog traffic increased anyway, I decided to replace the power fan and bought the Noctua NF-A4x20 PWM model.

However, the day after I bought it, my NAS suddenly failed, so I had to rush to move my blog server to AWS, which was a huge hassle. The NAS became useless, and the delivery arrived. Sigh…

Still, I thought I might use the NAS later for family photos, so I decided to install it since I had already bought it.

For reference, the NAS was down due to a corrupted boot file, but once I reconfigured the boot file, it powered back on.

Here’s a picture of the fan’s packaging box.

Noctua is known for its high price and performance, earning it the reputation as the pinnacle of consumer cooling fans.

Even though this is one of their cheaper models, the packaging alone gives off a “Wow! Quality brand!” impression.

Opening the front lid reveals illustrations suggesting how they’ve reduced airflow turbulence by adding technology to the fan.

The back lid has various specs detailed.

However, no matter how much a manufacturer praises their products, it often means nothing, especially with computer components. Even with great specs, real-world use can be disappointing. It’s best to buy from well-reviewed brands.

Noctua’s spec claims are not baseless boasting; they are proven.

By the way, this is a review of a product I purchased with my own money.

Inside the box, the cooler and its components are neatly organized.

There were some unfamiliar parts, so unlike my usual self, I read the manual while assembling it.

There were a lot of components.

If you move up to higher models, the price can be burdensome, but given the quality of this one, it seems worth it.

Several cables are included: a resistor cable, an extension cable, and a Y-cable, from left to right.

At first, I wasn’t sure what these were for.

According to the manual, they are used to mount the fan on metal side panels with cooling fan holes. They prevent vibrations from transferring to the metal, which can cause resonance noise.

These are adapters for connecting to a 5V LED header or directly to wires. Match the colors, insert a wire pair into the adapter, and use pliers to squeeze the yellow button tightly.

Here’s the cooler itself.

The finish is impeccable, with no sign of shoddiness.

It just looks high-quality.

To install it, I slightly removed the power supply to expose its belly.

When I compared it to the existing cooler… sigh.

I had read online that this model could replace a flex power fan, and the iPhone measuring app showed it was exactly 20mm, so I bought it immediately. But Apple pulled a fast one on me. Sigh…

Reluctantly, with a mindset of “just make it work,” I started the installation, knowing it would look rough.

The screw holes didn’t align, so I tried to mount it externally using the silicone legs, but they were damaged beyond repair due to the sharp, small holes. Despite matching the power specs of the existing cooling fan at 12V, the fan wouldn’t run after connecting the power.

Frustrated and irritated, I decided to cram it inside and connect the power to the NAS hard bay cooling fan socket, anticipating airflow losses with an external mount.

During this process, the silicone pads on the cooler were, of course, destroyed. Haha.

It looks terrible, but the installation was complete.

Connecting the resistor cable and mounting it, the Noctua fan lived up to its reputation: nearly silent with excellent airflow.

I thought I had transformed it into a silent NAS, but…

Even though I had wiped and reinstalled the boot files multiple times, ensuring it worked, after doing all this, it wouldn’t connect to the network despite a confirmed LAN connection. Haha.

This post might seem a bit rough, but please understand, as it’s quite frustrating.

Honestly, it’s really annoying. Sigh…

I’ll need to fix the NAS later, but for now, I truly experienced Noctua’s low noise and high airflow firsthand.

Feeling this quality, Noctua’s prices no longer seem expensive. When I build a new computer, I’ll definitely fill it with Noctua fans, even if it costs more.

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