Noctua has a reputation for having some of the best quality and performing PC fans on the market and with that, they are also known for taking all of the time needed to bring even the smallest of products to market. If it isn’t perfect in their eyes, they keep working on it or scrap it altogether. Their desk fan and with it the entire Noctua Home lineup is a great example of that. They had prototypes at Computex back in 2018 and that lineup just hit shelves this year. With that, I’m excited to finally check it out. I have been running a basic USB fan on my desk 24 hours a day for 10 to 15 years, replacing a full-sized fan that would be in my office before then. But that fan does raise the base noise level in my office and I always have to turn it off anytime I’m doing any noise testing. I even toyed around with replacing it years ago when Noctua brought out their 5v lineup of fans using 3D-printed stands. Anyhow, let’s get into it and see what all of Noctua Home lineup has to offer and see how their new fan performs.

Product Name: Noctua Home Lineup

Review Samples Provided by: Noctua

Written by: Wes Compton

Amazon Affiliate Link: HERE

Gaskets

Along with the NV-FS1 fan, Noctua sent over the whole range of components that launched alongside of the fan. That includes the NV-MPP1 Sx4 and NV-MPG1-12 gaskets. The NV-MPG1-12 comes in both black and the signature Noctua brown and they sent over both. In short, it is an extremely thick anti-vibration gasket. It is 10mm thick and the gasket is designed to give a tight seal, cut down vibration and noise, and offset the fan 10mm away when you sit it on top of different devices. The examples they give are anything with ventilation holes on top like home audio equipment, video game consoles, routers, and even home radiators if you want to pull a little more heat into your room. The gasket has the Noctua branding molded into the sides and looks a little like one of their fans from the side profile with the grove in each of the corners. The top has small nubs that you pull through the fan holes to attach it to the fan. For packaging, you get the one gasket inside of a black box. The box has the Noctua Home styling which includes a grey background for the printed center section. That has a picture of the gasket on it along with three features listed. Then the back of the box has a second picture of the gasket and a full description of what the gasket is for.

The gaskets do still have a screw hole which you can use and you might think that Noctua would just toss together a thick pad but the shape does have reliefs in it to help with the airflow on the side away from the fan. When you install the fan the gasket wraps around it locking it into place.

Where the NV-FS1 was a single gasket, the NV-MPP1 Sx4 is a set of four gaskets, but they do work together. These can be paired up with the NV-FS1 as the top gaskets or you can use them on their own. Used on their own they would work similarly, only because they just go on the corners, you have open air space on each of the sides of the fan. When paired up you can use the two gaskets to set a fan up on its edge to blow across something. Their packaging has less of the black background that we saw with the other gaskets but the grey finish on the front and back is still there. The model name is in a small font with the Mult-Purpoose Pads description being the large bold font. There are three features listed, including pointing out that they can be used with 140mm or 120mm fans whereas the FS1 only supports 120mm fans. There isn’t a picture of the gaskets on the front this time but around on the back there is a picture of the top and of the bottom. The gaskets come in both the brown and black and they have the same mounting solution. The two pins that push up into the fan and a lip that snaps around the fan edge once you get it down tight locks it in place.

I will touch on this mode, but here is a picture of both of the gaskets installed to give a better idea of how they work.

NV-FM1 Stand and NV-AA1-12 Amplifier

The two largest components that Noctua sent over other than the combined fan itself was the NV-FM1 Stand and the NV-AA1-12 Amplifier.  The combination of the two along with an NF-A12x25 120mm fan are the main components of the NV-FS1 desk/room/multi-purpose fan set. Starting with the NV-FM1 Stand, its box has that same black box with the information sticker wrapping around from the front to the back. The sticker has a grey background and the Noctua brown along the edge. The model name and the Noctua logo and branding is all small with the description being the big font. The front does have a picture but it is extremely zoomed in and doesn’t really showcase what is inside. The front also lists three of the stand’s features. Around on the back is a full description and a second picture but honestly that picture barely shows the stand as well. When you open the box up on this one the stand is featured there and sitting in a way that you can see and read the Noctua Home branding on the stand as well as on the flap The flap also lists out what all you will find inside of the box which is nice as well. Other than the stand itself you get a bag with a variety of mounting solutions in it. There are fan screws and the pull-through rubber vibration mounts. Then there are four long black zip ties and a set of long black screws along with drywall or mortar anchors.

So the reason I mentioned that the packaging doesn’t really capture what you are getting with the NV-FM1 Stand is because once I got it out of the box I was blown away by its construction. I’ve seen lots of different fan mounts and I’ve 3D printed that were very similar in the overall design of this but this mount is on a completely different level of construction. For starters, it is made out of thick steel and it's clear that Noctua wanted this stand to be very flexible. You can see that on the underside of the bottom. They have everything on the bottom labeled and there is also a QR code to a manual. There are two rubber strips for feet if you are using this on a desk or sitting it on something traditionally. But things get more interesting when you see the double magnets on both sides that let you stick the fan to something. Then closer to the center there are four slotted screw holes, two are slotted horizontally and two are vertical to give you flexibility to adjust it to how you need it. Then in the center, there are longer slots for using the included zip ties to mount. There are also circles around the threaded holes for the arms of the stand which can be adjusted out to fit either a 120mm fan or a 140mm fan. Those arms are held in with thumbscrews. The two arms are A-framed and have the same thick steel construction. There are large thumbscrews at the top of each arm, which hold the fan mounts on each side. The fan mounts are also steel and have mounting holes for both 120mm and 140mm fans. All of the fan mount holes and the stand mount slotted holes are machined for flush mounted screws to keep things flush and looking good.

You might be wondering what an airflow amplifier is and I was wondering the same thing until I saw the NA-AA1-12. Once you see it, it makes sense. This was a big box and where a lot of the products here have the same black box with a sticker for branding, the NA-AA1-12 airflow amplifier has a proper Noctua box with its grey background and brown trim. The top of the box has the model name and description as well as three key features. The front has a big picture of the NA-AA1-12, and then on the back, there is a small picture and a long description of what it is all about.

Inside the box, you get the NA-AA1-12 airflow amplifier and a small baggie with four black fan screws for mounting it to a 120mm fan. The idea behind this is twofold. There are some situations where you want to blow air a longer distance. But also in a desk application for example sometimes you want to amplify the fan effect but be able to run the fan at lower speeds. The NA-AA1-12 airflow amplifier does that by using a helix energy recovery, progressive flow acceleration, and Venturi-effect volume enhancement. In short, this takes the airflow from the full face of a 120mm fan and pushes it into four sections to get more pressure, the helix design recovers more airflow from the axial fan design, and because of the gaps in the outputs it uses the Venturi-effect to pull in more air in behind it. This can be used on any 120mm fan, but Noctua did design it specifically to work with the NF-A12x25 fan.

NV-FS2 Fan

Next up was the NV-FS2 Fan, like with the airflow amplifier, this didn’t have a stickered-up box, it has a box with it all printed on it. The front has a large picture of the NV-FS2 Fan across it with a black to grey fade in the background. The Noctua logo and their signature brown are along the right edge. The NV-FS2 Fan model name is small and sitting above the Multi-Purpose Fan Set For Device Cooling description which is the largest font. They have three features listed out but these are longer than on the others with more of a description for each. Then on the back, there is a surprising amount of black space with a small picture of the NV-FS2 Fan from the top down and a long description. These descriptions by the way are basically word for word what you find on the top of the product page as well (there isn’t anything wrong with that). When you open the box up the NV-FS2 Fan is sitting with cardboard around it and along with that there are openings that hold the NV-PS1 power supply, and the NA-FC1 fan controller as well. You don’t just get the fan, this is everything needed to be up and running with it.

Other than the metal fan grill that comes pre-installed on the NV-FS2 Fan. We have touched on a lot of what you get in this kit already. You get the Noctua NF-A12x25 fan with the chromax.black finish. Then it has the NV-MPP1 Sx4 and NV-MPG1-12 gaskets installed at the top and bottom of the fan. The fan grill is an old-school wire grill with a black finish on it and the Noctua logo in the center. This also shows off what the two gaskets when combined can do. Sitting it down flat the fan will blow down into or pull the air out of anything you sit in on. But you can also sit it on its edge and blow across something because of the thick gaskets as well. In addition to the power supply and fan controller which I will touch on more in future sections. You do get a few accessories as well. You get a fan cable extension that isn’t sleeved like the cable coming off of the NF-A12x25 and there is also a DC to fan adapter cable with a barrel connection on one end and the 4-pin PWM fan on the other, that is what plugs into the other end of the fan controller or if you wanted to skip the controller and get full speed all of the time you can do that as well. Lastly, you get a small baggie with the four matching black fan screws. I was a little surprised these were here, the overall design here is to just sit it on or next to something with the gaskets but if you wanted to use the NF-A12x25 fan anywhere else you have the screws to do it.

Hub and Power Supply

The NV-FS2 Fan in the previous section and the NV-FS1 fan both have to be powered and both come with the NV-PS1 power supply. You can also get it individually if you are piecing together your own setup. The box that the NV-PS1 comes in is one of the standard black boxes with a sticker on it that wraps around from the front to the back. The sticker has the grey background that all of the Noctua Home products have on their packaging along with the Noctua brown trim on the side along with the logo. The model number is small up top with the 24W AC/DC Power Supply for Powering 12V Fans description being in the big bold font. There is a picture down at the bottom on the front that shows the three different power connection options and slightly shows the power supply itself. Around on the back, there is a longer description and a picture of the power supply from the back this time around that gives you a better idea of what you are getting. When you open the box up you have the Noctua Home branding again along with a list of what you will find inside. The NV-PS1 power supply is sitting there in a hole cutout in the cardboard to keep it from moving around and up top the adapter cable is in a small tray in the cardboard as well.

For powering fans, you don’t need a lot of power but you do have to convert it down from the 110 or 240 volt AC down to 12-volt DC and that is where this power supply comes into play. Noctua has kept things simple for use in most regions with a swappable AC plug that snaps onto the power supply. It has a thin two-wire cable and a barrel power connection at the end. The power supply itself is what we would call a power wart, all of its size is right around the power plug and it takes up a lot of space if you are using it in a quad plug or in a power strip. I would always prefer an in-line style power supply over this. Especially given that the goal here is to use this in AV racks and other situations where you will have a lot of devices plugged in one area. With that, you are a lot more likely to be using a power strip, UPS, or other device that is going to have all of the plugs together. The back of the NV-PS1 is clear of any branding so if it is visible it will blend in a little more, all of that is hidden up under the bottom on the plug side. It outputs at 12 volts with 2 amps which gives it a 24-watt max output. The included adapter cable has the 12v barrel power input on one end and a 4-pin fan power connection on the other end.

Another accessory that Noctua has in their Home lineup is the NV-FH2. The Noctua NV-FH2 is their 8-channel PWM fan hub. Its packaging is similar to the NV-PS1 with the black box and sticker that wraps from the front to the back with a grey background but the box here is a lot larger. The photo of the NV-FH2 on the front shows a few of the PWM connections but doesn’t show off the entire hub all that much. They list off three of the main features on the front then around on the back there is a full product description. The back has two smaller pictures, one of the NV-FH2 and the other is the NV-PS1 power supply that is also included with the hub. When you open the box up there isn’t a list of what you will find inside this time around. The hub and the power supply are featured in their own cutouts that keep them locked in place. Then up under that the power supply cable and all of the snap on AC plugs are all hidden away.

The NV-FH2 has a black plastic housing which on top has the Noctua logo molded in as well as labels for each of the 8 connections. The bottom of the housing also has the Noctua branding on the bottom. That bottom has wings on all of the corners to mount it using screws but the bottom does also have magnets built in as well for an easier installation if you have something ferrous to be able to stick it to. The PCB itself is black and has labels for each of the connections as well right on the PCB. There are four 4-pin PWM fan headers along the top edge and four more along the bottom. Then on the left end is the barrel connection from the power supply and on the other end, it has a PWM 4-pin input as well.

NV-FS1 Desk or Room Fan

The main product from the Noctua Home line is their NV-FS1 which is their desk/room/multi-purpose fan set. This is the product that everyone saw with the Noctua Home introduction. It is also the biggest box out of all of the lineup and it didn’t get the black box treatment, this has its own dedicated box design. The front of the box has a large picture of the fan across the middle with the black to grey fade in the background. Up top the model name is in a small font with the more descriptive name being the big visible font. The side of the box has a specification listing on it. The left side has three pictures that show off the way the airflow amplification works. Then on the back, there is a small picture and a copy of the product description. When you open the box up there is a cardboard flap holding everything in place with a window letting you see inside. The fan sits down inside and under that is a tray with all of the accessories inside, this has a line drawing of the fan on top as well as a listing of the accessories inside.

The NV-FS1 comes with a few different accessories for it to work. All of these we have seen with some of the other products already touched on. You get the NV-PS1 power supply along with the three different swappable AC adapters to make it work in most locations around the world. Because the NV-FS1 comes with the NV-FM1 stand, you get the same bag as the stand when sold individually. That includes the four long zip ties, four wall anchors, for screws to go with the anchors, and four fan screws which in this case you don’t need because the fan is already installed but I’m guessing they just keep the bag the same to keep things simple. There are two cables, one PWM 4-pin extension cable with a female PWM connection on one end and a male on the other end then you also have the barrel to 4-pin adapter that adapts the barrel connection from the power supply to your fan.

The only accessory that is unique or different with the NV-FS1 that didn’t also come with one of the other Noctua Home products is the in-line fan controller model number NA-FC1. This isn’t new or exclusive to the Home lineup, this is a product that they have had around for a while, in fact, I took a look at one back in 2017. That said it does play an important role with this setup, allowing you to control the fan speed/noise. It has PWM 4-pin fan connections on both ends with one female and one male connection so you can plug it in line with this or any PWM fan. There are two status lights, one amber and one green. Then there is a button on it as well. The button and the green light work together, the button turns on no-stop mode to keep the fan from dropping below 300 RPM. The amber LED changes brightness depending on how far you turn the speed knob in the middle to give you a visual indication of the fan speed.

Then we have the NV-FS1 itself. This combines a few of the other products into one design. You have the NV-FM1 Stand and with it a Noctua NF-A12x25 PWM chromax.black fan mounted to it. The NF-A12x25 is Noctua’s best fan, it runs anywhere from 450 RPM and 2000 RPM. It has SSO2 bearings and at full speed they have it rated at 22.6 dB. It’s Noctua’s next generation fan and uses LCP to keep the fan as ridged as possible so they can have a tighter clearance between the fan and the housing. The fan then has the NV-AA1-12 Amplifier mounted to the front and on the back they have a wire fan grill just like on the NV-FS2 Fan. The combination of everything gives the focused airflow that we spoke about when talking about the NV-AA1-12 Amplifier and the multiple mounting options with the NV-FM1 Stand. It looks like a desk fan and that was part of their goal, but the entire Noctua Home lineup is also designed for other situations where you would want to keep equipment cool while keeping noise under control like with AV equipment and consumer network equipment.

Performance

For performance testing, my focus was on the NV-FS1 Desk/Room/Multi-Purpose fan. For years I have been running a small Silverstone desk fan on my desk to get airflow, my goal was to try out the NV-FS1 as a replacement for that to see what my experience would be. I had no doubt that the NV-FS1 would be quiet and would perform well, the NF-A12x25 at its core is an impressive fan by itself, and without the fancy mount or airflow amplifier would still be a big upgrade from my old desk fan. But what was it like using the NV-FS1? Well for starters, it is significantly larger and bulkier than my previous fan. The old fan could sit under my monitor just slightly but this is taller and when using it in that same spot it would be in front of my monitor slightly. On top of that, the base is larger and that doesn’t even include the air amplifier sticking off of the front. So I did have to change things around a little, but once I made room on my messy desk for the fan I was impressed with its performance. At 1/3 fan speed, it matched or beat the airflow I saw with my old desk fan and it did that while being nearly silent. Turning things up it does get into an audible range. As someone who is always trying to keep things quiet in my office, I wouldn’t run it at full speed unless I REALLY needed the airflow. That isn’t to say it is loud, our meter was reading 39.5 decibels and my office with the fan off sits at almost 35dB. Setting the fan where I like it, it runs quieter than the fans in my PC which are also Noctua as well.

At full speed, the NV-FS1 puts out air like a room fan, not a desk fan so it is a good thing that they include the in-line controller to let you fine tune where you want it. I like the status LED but the built-in no-stop mode doesn’t work with the NF-A12x25. The no-stop mode prevents the fan from dropping below 300 RPM but the NF-A12x25 will turn off at 450 RPM so it does nothing. I do wish that the controller was built in or at least attached to the stand though. Because it has PWM fan connections on both ends, it doesn’t take much for either fan cable to work its way loose and come out. Long term for my setup I am planning on using a few zip ties on the cables and the controller to keep that from being an issue and to tuck the controller out of the way. My desk collects things that I am working on quickly and with the controller being 6-8 inches away from the fan I had to dig for it often.

The NV-FM1 Stand has multiple mounting options including the magnets and mounting screw holes, so depending on your setup you could mount it completely off of your desk and out of the way which is where this fan's design shines compared to one of the standard desk fans. In my case, I ended up moving it up on top of the rack my PC stays on. This got it out of the way but also each shelf has sheet metal shelf covers and the magnets for the fan combined with the rubber feet locked it in place. There is no way it will get bumped. I did have to zip tie the controller up to clean things up and prevent it from coming unplugged in the future. In the end, though, it has worked perfectly. That stand is far enough away that my old desk fan wouldn’t have blown hard enough to reach me but with the airflow amplifier on it, this did reach. I should note, and you can see it a little here, the amplifier does collect dust in the center section as well as inside so keep an eye on that if you have a dusty house.

Overall and Final Verdict

Honestly, when I heard that Noctua was working on a desk fan years ago I was expecting something simple, similar to what I had before from Silverstone only quieter maybe. I should have known better though, they never go halfway into anything. Not only did they design a better desk fan, but somewhere in that process they realized that there are other applications where a PC fan can be used around a house for cooling other things. You see people cut holes in routers and other electronics and zip-tie fans to improve cooling. With a lot of what Noctua has to offer in their Home line, they are just giving options for that type of user. The NV-FS2 Fan just has its gaskets on top and bottom so you can sit it on top of equipment or prop it up on its side to get good airflow. The NV-FS1 has its stand to be mounted in different locations and the air amplifier takes the already good performance of the NF-A12x25 fan inside and helps it reach farther and with more volume. They have the NV-FH2 fan hub which isn’t new but works well here if you are trying to run multiple fans and of course the NV-PS1 power supply to power everything. You can buy each component individually and piece together what works for you.

Now with all of that in mind, none of this is cheap. Noctua has always put performance, quality, and design ahead of pricing and that is no different here. If the price is your main concern, you could get away with a cheap fan and zip ties. I have most of the Noctua Home lineup pricing below but the two main components I was curious about on pricing is the NV-FS2 fan and the NV-FS1 Fan. The FS2 is the gasketed fan and the FS1 has the stand and amplifier built in. Both come with a power supply. The FS2 sells for $79.90 and the NV-FS1 sells for $99.90. If someone told me that there would be a desk fan for almost $100, I wouldn’t have believed them. It’s a lot of money and frankly, I can think of other ways to spend it. But that doesn’t mean that you are getting fleeced. The build quality and versatility of the stand and the performance that you see with the NF-A12x25 fan paired up with the airflow amplifier is impressive. There is still room to improve, especially around the  controller and I do wish there was a USB option, I already have multiple USB power options at my desk but the 5 volts that USB outputs complicates that.

NV-FS2 Fan - $79.90

Live Pricing: HERE

NV-FS1 Desk Fan - $99.90

Live Pricing: HERE

NV-SPH1 Powered Fan Hub Set - $59.90

Live Pricing: HERE

NV-FM1 Pivoting Multi-Purpose Fan Mount – 39.90

Live Pricing: HERE

NV-AA1-12, Airflow Amplifier – 14.90

Live Pricing: HERE

Author Bio

Author: garfi3ldWebsite: http://lanoc.org

Editor-in-chief

You might call him obsessed or just a hardcore geek. Wes's obsession with gaming hardware and gadgets isn't anything new, he could be found taking things apart even as a child. When not poking around in PC's he can be found playing League of Legends, Awesomenauts, or Civilization 5 or watching a wide variety of TV shows and Movies. A car guy at heart, the same things that draw him into tweaking cars apply when building good looking fast computers. If you are interested in writing for Wes here at LanOC you can reach out to him directly using our contact form.