woh interesting, I wonder what kind of motor they have to be able to do this, some kind of stepper I'd assume.

I then ask myself how long such a motor would last!

I'm still sceptical it will be silent, I've bought many fans and have to undervolt even the best.

mark22
I'm still sceptical it will be silent, I've bought many fans and have to undervolt even the best.

I think the interesting part isn't that it may be silent… but the possibility that you can now run fans at a higher speed with no increase in loudness, increasing cfm/db.

Would these fans only run at one consistent speed?

This is interesting! I'm might need something like this, as I always sneak out of bed during midnight and play on my PC. Unfortunately, my noisy chassis fans always end up waking up my nephew who's sleeping beside me, ruining my moment, LOL.

Seems like a very interesting invention. Hope it does work and not too dear to buy. Well we'll see when Computex starts. Looking forward to Hexus.TV.

I wonder how much noise cancelling these will be able to cope with. Is it going to pick up ambient noise from other components and attempt to cancel that out as well, or is it just noise from itself so it becomes silent?

I would be really interested in the former, something that can offset the noise of hard drives and CPU coolers would be fantastic for when I build a mini data centre in my study. Might mean I don't have to hid it all in an insulated stud wall cupboard ;)

this is incredible, I will definitely buy this on release - as vdbswong said: better cooling with decreased noise, genius!

“Our performance target is to achieve about 80% more airflow and 120% higher static pressure at the same noise level as the original NF-F12”

That should clear things up a little!

Funkstar
Is it going to pick up ambient noise from other components and attempt to cancel that out as well…

Quick, someone patent the idea for a whole noise-cancelling case, Funkstar's onto a winner! :clapping:

vdbswong

mark22
I'm still sceptical it will be silent, I've bought many fans and have to undervolt even the best.

I think the interesting part isn't that it may be silent… but the possibility that you can now run fans at a higher speed with no increase in loudness, increasing cfm/db.

You're right, it's needed on graphics cards definately, a good case doesn't need that high a fan speed to create good enough airflow.

I have 2 pairs of noise-cancelling earphones, and the difference they make is substantial. I'm not sure how these things will compare, since what they attempt to do is different, but there is potential for something good here.

Judging from my experience with this technology, I would say that Vdbswong is likely to be correct. My earphones are never “silent” (in low noise conditions there is a clear hiss coming form them when the noise-cancellation is on) but if there is ambient noise in the room they take a huge chunk out of it, more than any noise-blocking earphone I've ever tried.

The fact that they are going to put the emitter in the fan itself is also a great idea. Separating the 2 sources of sound will create an interference pattern, meaning that you would have to position yourself at exactly the right place to perceive the silence. Move a little bit this way, and suddenly the noise is amplified! Noctua are on to something with this.

Thats a superb idea. Cant believe we all knew the Physics already.

bing_raga
Unfortunately, my noisy chassis fans always end up waking up my nephew who's sleeping beside me, ruining my moment, LOL.

Woooh! Hold on….. I thought noise cancelling fans was intriguing but ‘your nephew sleeps beside you’?! WTF is going on there? :)

mark22
I'm still sceptical it will be silent, I've bought many fans and have to undervolt even the best.

Technically they are not silent at all, they are going to generate two noises, one is the sound fo the motor spinning the fan and the other is the cancelling sound and when the two are heard at the same time it's as if you can't hear anything at all.

I like the sound of this…. ;)

=assassin=;2472041
I like the sound of this…. ;)

That was cheesy… but at least it was mature!

They just need to improve their colour scheme now.

interesting, but does it mean we have to pay twice as much (or more) for the already expensive Noctua fans?

I'll believe it when i hear it. Interesting none the less

I lub Noctua

their range is astonishingly good. With one of their inline fan slowing resistors it's possible to cool a good cooler and a case with no noise.

But with a noise negating fan ….. this is gonna be FUN :)

Genius. I almost daren't hope for too much in case I'm disappointed. For those of us who are HTPC / silence junkies, a dream come true if they can pull it off.

Wonder if they can miniaturise it for nasty laptop screamers / graphics card fans etc ?

Noise cancelling? Whatever happened to the law of conservation of energy? You can't just cancel out noise, the energy has to go somewhere. Turning it into heat might be an idea but it sure isn't being cancelled.

Jimbo75
Noise cancelling? Whatever happened to the law of conservation of energy? You can't just cancel out noise, the energy has to go somewhere. Turning it into heat might be an idea but it sure isn't being cancelled.

It's still there as noise energy, it's just not intrusive :p

robertirwin
For those of us who are HTPC / silence junkies, a dream come true if they can pull it off.

Wonder if they can miniaturise it for nasty laptop screamers / graphics card fans etc ?

Sure would like to see Noctua succeed with this, to deliver improved cooling with noticeably improved silence. I don't know for sure but maybe noise cancelling tech with all the cooling could possibly be the norm, or just lead to better performing quieter fans. Either way sure looks interesting and promising along with comments already posted here too.

blokeinkent

bing_raga
Unfortunately, my noisy chassis fans always end up waking up my nephew who's sleeping beside me, ruining my moment, LOL.

Woooh! Hold on….. I thought noise cancelling fans was intriguing but ‘your nephew sleeps beside you’?! WTF is going on there? :)

I'm not going to ask what you mean by ‘play on my PC’ either… By the sound of it, an audience would definitely ‘ruin the moment!’

:D