Noctua NF-A4x10 FLX, Premium Quiet Fan, 3-Pin

Wow! I had to write this review! Based on the other reviews, I purchased this product (thanks to all reviewers!). I saw that another reviewer commented on the accessories this came with...that the accessories allowed a person to tackle any project. I thought "Well, that's nice. But I'm sure I'll just be able to hook this up without the need." In part, I thought this because I saw the fans in my Lorex DVR connected with a TWO pin end, and the Amazon picture displays a TWO pin end. Well, I was wrong...the unit ships with a THREE pin connector as the "default". So, I too was super happy with the additional accessories or else I would have been stuck! Here's more...My Lorex DVR has two fans. The fans in the Lorex DVR are "Fonsoning fsy40s12m." This company is in China. An email to them went unresponded to. An online research revealed only ONE seller that would sell these in lots of 50 each at a minimum...I only needed two! The fans in my Lorex DVR were LOUD already, but, when one started to go (after only about a year and four months), it became unbearably loud! Lorex support is horrible, as is their warranty (one year). I was told to either send in the DVR for a charged repair or replace the entire DVR. After conducting a ton of research, I discovered that the Lorex fans are 40mm (each side length) and 10mm deep...I received quite the education as someone who started out with zero know-how on this.So, I opened up the fan packaging...the cable had THREE pins for the connector...not TWO like what I needed and what the Amazon picture displayed. Okay, well this came with a 3 to 2 pin connector adapter...I thought "no problem." By the way, there is also an extension cable, in the event your fan is placed far from the power supply...very nice. Back to the 3 to 2 pin adapter...I put it in and assembled the entire DVR...a LOT of work (at least for plain old me). After all that work, the fan didn't even budge! Ouch!Then, I saw these other adapters included by Noctua. The instructions stated that, where the polarity is OPPOSITE what the connectors are set up as, then these special adapters can be used (you may be wondering what the heck I'm talking about, but to explain that would be tough here. Perhaps an easy way to explain it is if the wires on the Noctua are opposite what the power supply is in your unit...meaning, the red wire needs to connect to the black wire instead of red, etc.). I thought..."Oh no. Do I need to do this???!!! I can't just use an adapter?" Yes...I did. But, better this than not having a working fan. Unfortunately, you don't know if you have a reversed polarity problem until the fan is plugged in, so I recommend NOT reassembling the entire unit until you've tested the fan first, if possible and if it's safe. So, I went back to the drawing board and took the old fans out and cut their wires close to where the fans are located....because, with this setup, you need to use the pins of the ORIGINAL fans. You then need to insert the ends of the ORIGINAL fans (i.e., the cords with the pins connected to them...not the cord with the original FAN connected to it) into these special adapters with the ends of the NOCTUA fans...no wire stripping is necessary. You just push the buttons down on these special adapters with a pair of pliers and...voila...you have a makeshift fan connection using the NOCTUA fans with the ORIGINAL fans pins. I plugged them in and I had motion!!Now, one of the accessories comes with a special cable that will reduce the RPM's of the fans to make them quieter. I thought, "Hmmmm...the 'normal' RPM's on these things must be a bit loud for Noctua to include such a cable." NO!! They are super quiet! They are quieter than the original fans when I first received the Lorex DVR brand new!!! In fact, had I known about these Noctuas back then, I might have just installed them at that time!!! I need to stand next to the DVR to hear the fans (maybe five to ten feet or so).Oh, I almost forgot...the connections of the fans themselves. So, the old Lorex fans were screwed into the case of the DVR. There was a special nut in the back of the Lorex fans to accept the screw used. The nut wouldn't fit the Noctua since the nut was hexagonal, and the back of the Noctua is round. "Now what am I going to do?" I thought! Well, Noctua included an answer for this too!!!! There are four included rubbery inserts that you put through the case holes for your unit. In this case, I only needed two per fan. I couldn't use four because there were only two holes in the DVR at the bottom. So, I inserted these rubber pieces through the two bottom holes and used only the two bottom holes on the fan. I found that my needle-nosed pliers were very handy here because I didn't have much space and I really wanted a snug fit, so I used the pliers to pull the rubber pieces through. In fact, these rubber pieces are supposed to decrease sound even more, in addition to the rubber bumpers on them.The fans are super secure, super quiet, super efficient, they have accessories that REALLY helped my scenario. I couldn't be happier! And, I didn't have to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on a repair or replacement of my DVR and lose any more time without it. And, they are quieter than the original fans...without the RPM reduction cable! When I looked, these fans are about twice the price of another fan I saw on Amazon, but, in my opinion, WELL worth it. If you have a DVR with fans that are going bad or just plain noisy, these Noctuas just my be your ticket.

For some time these fans have been firmly known in the universe of custom water cooled PCs with glowing lights and fancy cable wrap for gaming and so forth.Now, I’m not that kinda guy but over the years I’ve purchased dozens of these these either as 3-pin or 4-pin PWM as well as the a4x20 model and so on and absolutely love them.Here’s why:I work from home and also have a home lab with a lot of enterprise equipment that would be traditionally found in a Server farm. If you’ve ever been in a Server room, you know how loud we are talking here. These manufacturers simply cram in the cheapest, biggest, loudest fan they can find. ‘Better to protect the hardware’ is their line of thinking. But, why can’t we have it all?A lot of people with Server gear at home mitigate this issue by buying an incredibly expensive and large soundproof Server Cabinet. Me, I’d like to handle the issue at the source if I can manage close to the same airflow using more quiet fan technology. Keep in mind I said close to. You won’t be able to get the same CFM as a 28mm San Ace running at 7,200 rpms but then again you may not need it. However a Noctua at 4,700rpm could be more than adequate. In a home environment there’s much more control over various active / passive cooling methods and you won’t see necessarily the same kind of workload. Also, ive found that even 2x a4x10 at 4,700rpm is quieter (and the noise is of a less irritating pitch) than some of the 7,200rpm and up fans I’ve encountered.Anyhow, while the benefits are great you also must be responsible for fine tuning for your application and paying close attention to system / internal temperatures to ensure the quiet fans are adequate. This could mean a better layout in the chassis, getting better airflow in your rack, heatsinks, and so on... not just fans. So, consider that my disclaimer. Use your head and get the data you need to make an informed decision.If you know what your doing the Noctua makes retrofitting a breeze and comes with just about everything you could concievably need to shoe it in to any kind of build / scenario you can think of. The extras every Noctua comes with may seem excessive to some, but even if you don’t use them immediately they’ll save you in a pinch if you keep them in a spares drawer.In almost every scenario I’ve experienced excellent airflow, huge noise reduction and not a single meltdown thus far. Whenever I’ve done a before and after and clocked temperatures I’ve seen this particular 4,700rpm fan outperform generic faster spinning fans that supposedly have superior CFM. Instead of using the low noise adapters I frequently utilize a separate manual fan controller so I can dial in just the right mix of noise / speed / airflow for a given application. See the photos I’ve provided for where I’ve done exactly this with Supermicro M28SACB cages, disabling the on board fan control. However, you can also get a PWM fan (I’d use the a4x20 in that case) and use Supermicro’s fan and temperature control features.So, even though it’s a home environment the use cases aren’t mild. I’m talking 48 disk raid arrays that I’ve gotten cool as a cucumber AND quiet as a church mouse.In the other photo I posted it’s my latest application retrofitting 4x A4x10 into a Sonnet Tech xMac mini rack mount Server. I’ve also successfully used these fans or similar models in all kinds of other gear. Again, doing a before and after of internal and drive temps is the only way you can determine if this solution can work for you. Don’t be careless- heat is a noble foe.Noctua, I don’t know what I’d do without you. My world would be unbearably loud.However, one small complaint Noctua if you’re listening: you’ve moved from the standard silicone vibration mounts to what you call the NA-AV3. This is the first time I’ve received these so I’m assuming it’s a fairly new change. I find them a bit fiddly and less easy to use compared to their predecessor. It also makes it more difficult to shoe-in with various retrofits because it has no flat side.... although I can work around it. I’m guessing they help with some use case I’m unaware of because I don’t see the utility at all in the change. Also, the stock at amazon seems to be a variety of the older and newer models as it’s been a toss up which kind I wound up with on my last order.

I've always been a fan of Noctua products, and the NF-A4x10 FLX is no exception. These fans are incredibly quiet and efficient, living up to Noctua's reputation for quality. The packaging was top-notch, and I appreciated the variety of cables and adapters included in the box. Although I initially intended to use this fan for a Raspberry Pi, I discovered that the following was the for too high of a voltage. Despite this, I found another use case for it, and it performs exceptionally well, providing great power with minimal noise. If you are looking for one for your Raspberry Pi you can also find the 5v version online as well. If you need a reliable, quiet fan, Noctua is the way to go.

I installed the fan and it worked perfect.Extremely quiet. Has many wiring options.Very pricey but with 150,000 hour MTBF it worth it.