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Why does it take so long to release black fan versions?

noctua.at

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Re: Why does it take so long to release black fan versions?

#221

Post by kllrnohj »

lightedman wrote: post #210
kllrnohj wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

"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.

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.

Re: Why does it take so long to release black fan versions?

#222

Post by ewesddsds »

devilbunny wrote: post #176
ufocia wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

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.

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.

Re: Why does it take so long to release black fan versions?

#224

Post by fwipsy »

cjbgkagh wrote: post #223

This seems to be AI written, or co-written, hard to tell though. It seems AI is converging on a more terse information dense style that is closer to my own, which is good but I do worry that it’ll make my writing look like AIs.

"AI style" is an artifact of certain writing styles being overrepresented in training data. I expect in the long run it will be impossible to distinguish AI writing reliably. https://marcusolang.substack.com/p/im-kenyan-i-dont-write-li...

Re: Why does it take so long to release black fan versions?

#225

Post by dangus »

cjbgkagh wrote: post #223

This seems to be AI written, or co-written, hard to tell though. It seems AI is converging on a more terse information dense style that is closer to my own, which is good but I do worry that it’ll make my writing look like AIs.

I don’t agree, it seems pretty normal.

I also don’t really like policing writing style when there aren’t any glaring errors.

Re: Why does it take so long to release black fan versions?

#226

Post by atoav »

kllrnohj wrote: post #200
maxerickson wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems a little revealing that they tout the clearance and not the difference in efficiency.

Fan tip clearance is the main driver of fan efficiency at the price bracket this fan is competing at

Maybe it is just my limited production knowledge, but wouldn't it be possible to injection mold a bigger part and then mechanically shave off the last few fractions of a millimeter using any number of ways? Tooling costs too high. But in the simplest form you could essentially spin the fan against some adjustable abbrasive to shave off the final bits.

Granted, there may be other places in which the molding precision may matter, which would make this an impractical solution.

Re: Why does it take so long to release black fan versions?

#227

Post by dyauspitr »

VorpalWay wrote: post #63
wolvoleo wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This colour combo is more 1970s than 80s. 80s was more gaudy neon and transparent stuff. The 70s loved their murky browns. OK PC boxes of the 80s and 90s were all beige too but they didn't have any brown. It also fit in with manufacturing in those days: In the 70s a lot of wood was still used, whereas in the 80s everything shifted to plastics. But whether you love or hate (as I do) the brown Noctua colours, the one t…

I love Noctua fans and I don't care about their colour. For all I cared they could be pink as long as they are best in class on noise and reliability. They are going inside the computer where they aren't visible. The point of a computer to me is to be powerful while being as discrete about it as it can be (i.e. quiet and no blinking rgb lights). I don't have a glass side panel, I run an older Fractal case with alumin…

Hunh now that you bring it up, I would care if they were pink. I wouldn’t have them in my build if they were.

Re: Why does it take so long to release black fan versions?

#228

Post by ewesddsds »

gspr wrote: post #84

Somewhat unrelated anecdotal praise of Noctua: due to various life factors, I hadn't built a PC since maybe 2010 or thereabouts - something I did relatively often before then and had quite a bit of experience with. Then a few months ago I finally did it again. Forgetting about the absurdity of the RAM situation, I gotta say my biggest surprise was cooling. I wanted a quiet media center machine. The internet and frien…

I agree! For case fans there are cheaper, good enough alternatives for most use cases, but their coolers definitely are worth the premium. The design, manuals and specifications online are just so good compared to competitors, plus they give away free upgrade kits when new CPU sockets come available, so you could probably use same cooler for decades as you upgrade the system.

Re: Why does it take so long to release black fan versions?

#229

Post by stronglikedan »

cjbgkagh wrote: post #223

This seems to be AI written, or co-written, hard to tell though. It seems AI is converging on a more terse information dense style that is closer to my own, which is good but I do worry that it’ll make my writing look like AIs.

> This seems to be AI written, or co-written, hard to tell though.

I didn't get that at all. Calling out AI for the sake of it is the new virtue signal, unfortunately.

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