Noctua NF-A20 PWM, High-Performance Quiet Fan 200mm

Love these fans! Always a win with Noctua. The only wish list I'd I have is if they could do a "slim" version so they aren't exactly square (kind of like some of the Phanteks units) so that they'd fit a wee bit better in the top of my case. Not the end of the world but it's a wish list item. These fans are generally whisper quiet, the performance is as expected, and the speed ranges are exactly what I needed for my system.

Pros: -Silent due to pushing good air at low RPMs -comes with an extension and even a low noise adapter to force its max RPM to be lower if needed -Price isn't bad considering the quality Cons: -Very thick which can cause an issue in some cases Awesome quality fan that I have no issues recommending to people if that are in the market for a good quality low noise fan. Side note for fitting in the Cooler Master h500 case: It fits in the top if you remove the rubber bits on the corner (other wise they'll fold due to pushing), then line it up so when you shove it in then it'll basically be where the holes are lol Yes I said shove it in. You have to force it in, but no worries it won't break the case nor the fan. Secure it with screws in the fan box instead of the silicone options. The Case wasn't made to accommodate a 200mm of this thickness, but it will still work. Just make sure you have the fan oriented the right direction ahead of time so you can have enough room to plug it in, though it does come with a nice extension that I did use for tidy cabling purposes. I did not try the front fan section since there are no mounting standards for 200mm fans. Since the top was a very tight squeeze, there was obviously no planning around making Noctua's 200mm fans fit.

I had never heard of Noctua until recently and pretty much thought of computer fans as just generic fans. My ignorance was suddenly exposed to me and it seems that Noctua was founded on the principle of "we are going to be Rolls Royce of computer fans". I am looking to build a Corsi Rosenthal box for air filtration. I was going to get a box fan until I read all the reviews saying how loud they are. That quickly took me to the superiority (at the noise level at least) of using computer fans instead, and every review I saw on YouTube either used Noctua fans, or said that the box under review was really good and/or quiet but obviously wasn't as good or quiet as if they had used Noctua fans. With so many references to this company, I started reading up about the company and looking up their fan models. I eventually bought two of their NF-A20 fans. Everything about them is quality - from the packaging, documentation, performance, supplies that come in the box with the fans. Noctua don't stint in trying to provide the customer with the best experience and best fans possible. Are Noctua fans expensive - yes, but you certainly get the quality you pay for. The level of performance engineering in the fan design and attention to detail to prevent vibration and noise while maintaining quality performance is evident in every aspect of their product. I have no yet tested the air flow of the fans but I'll be highly surprised if they don't meet (if not exceed) the documented performance advertised. I don't have a sound meter but these fans are SUPER quiet! I cannot believe that anyone could accuse them of disturbing sleep for example. On the contrary, if you can't actually see the fans turning and aren't in the direct line of the airflow, you can easily wonder if they are even on and working as any ambient noise will totally hide the noise of the fans themselves. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

I bought this as a replacement for the stock fan in my CM Trooper since it started making a horrible grinding noise which kept getting worse over the last few months. I was hesitant to buy this particular fan due to many reviews stating this fan being oversized and not fitting, plus my case wasn't listed on the official compatibility table either. But there are not a lot of good options for 200mm fans and most had some kind of flaw. The Noctua's are touted as the best on the market and the only flaw seemed to be its size. So I went ahead and chanced it, with the plan to return it for 2 smaller fans if it didn't fit. To my surprise, it fit great! The screw holes were only slightly off and I was able to install with no issues. The fan comes with several different mounting options - standard mounting screws and also 2 styles of anti-vibration mounts. I went with the anti-vibration mounts which made installation even easier since you just pull the flexible strands thru the holes, no tools required. It took longer to figure out how to take my case apart to get to the top fan than actually installing it. Turned on the PC and no more grinding sound! I'm about a week in, so will be interesting to see how things are a month/year down the road, but so far this thing is quiet and provides great airflow. Definitely lives up to its reputation.

This is a perfect drop in replacement for the stock 200 mm fan in the Thermaltake Core V1. No modifications to the case or fan were required. Performance and Quality. The fan is well built, attractive and performs excellently, as one would expect from Noctua. Even at full speed, the fan is barely audible - much quieter than my stock Intel CPU fan even at idle speeds. As a PWM fan, of course, it doesn't have to run at full speed. I'm normally running it at about 60% and I never even hear it. It effectively cools my system built on an Intel 65W Core i5 running at stock speeds, 16 GB RAM, Samsung 970 Plus M.2 SSD and 2 Samsung 860 SATA SSDs. Installation: Use the inner set of mounting holes on the Noctua NF-A-20. They align perfectly with the mounting holes used for the stock fan and make it possible to use the original mounting screws that came with the case. The Noctua fan is a hair thicker than the stock fan, potentially bumping it up against the front cover of the case. I removed the rubber vibration dampers from the Noctua fan just to be sure I had sufficient clearance. Absolutely no issues with vibration noise. I mounted the fan so that the wiring passed through front wall of the of the case by the small rectangular cutout at the bottom. It was close, but the wiring can enter this way with no pinching or rubbing of the wires. If you are happy with the wires entering through the top of the case, that path is wide open. Mounting the fan with the wiring on the side, though, may pinch the wires. Mounting the fan as I did, I needed the included 4 pin extension cable to reach the fan header on my motherboard.

The Noctua NF-A20 PWM is one of those components that immediately earns trust just by existing. It’s a giant 200mm fan that moves an absurd amount of air while somehow refusing to make a scene about it. In typical Noctua fashion, it’s engineered with the quiet confidence of something designed by people who actually care about airflow curves, bearing longevity, and not sounding like a leaf blower in a panic. It spins smoothly, ramps predictably, and does exactly what it’s told—no rattles, no whine, no drama. Where it becomes unexpectedly perfect is in the dad-approved engineering category. When your kid needs “a lot of air” for a science project and the school draws a hard line at anything involving 120V AC, this fan is the loophole. Powered from low-voltage DC, controllable via PWM, and safe enough to pass a school safety sniff test, it suddenly turns into a portable wind tunnel that doesn’t require a permission slip or a lecture from the science teacher. Clamp it, power it, explain “it’s basically a big computer fan,” and everyone relaxes. Meanwhile, the airflow is doing serious work like it didn’t get the memo it was supposed to be a toy. In practical use, the NF-A20 excels anywhere you need high airflow with civilized behavior—workshops, labs, racks, or creative projects where silence and reliability matter. It pushes air evenly, doesn’t vibrate itself into the table, and runs all day without heating up or complaining. The PWM control means you can dial it down to “barely there” or spin it up to “yes, that’s a lot of wind” without it crossing into obnoxious. It’s the kind of component you buy once and then keep finding excuses to use because it just works better than expected. It’s not cheap, but that’s the point. You’re paying for bearings that last, tolerances that matter, and the peace of mind that comes from knowing the fan won’t fail mid-experiment or mid-project. Whether it’s cooling a serious build or helping a kid ace a science fair without violating electrical code, the NF-A20 is peak Noctua: overbuilt, under-noisy, and quietly brilliant. Pros • Massive airflow with impressively low noise • PWM control allows precise, predictable speed adjustment • Safe low-voltage DC operation (school-friendly) • Exceptional build quality and long bearing life • Perfect for labs, projects, racks, and creative use cases Cons • Large physical size limits mounting options • Premium pricing (you know where the money went) • Requires a DC power source or controller • Beige-and-brown aesthetic still divides households

Whisper quiet. Perfect fit. Might have to invest in more!

Best 200mm fan on the market. Quiet as a whisper but moves a lot of air.

Very nice 👍

Noctua fans are some of, if not the best fans around. I've wanted one for a while so when the 200mm fan in my Cooler Master HAF X started making some noise, I bought the 200mm Noctua to replace it. Super quite, great air flow. Don't even hear it running and my case is just a couple of feet from me. I also swear that it dropped the heat down in the case by another degree or 2 on average. I could not care less about the color, can't see the fan anyway inside the case (I have it in the side panel). Best thing I like about it is... NO RGB!!!!! I hate lights in my case, just a waste of money in my books. I have another 200mm (well 230mm) fan that will eventually need replacing so when I get a chance I'll be picking up another 200mm Noctua, maybe even as many as 3 because I might be able to fit 1 or 2 more in the top of the HAF X case, if I modify the case a bit. Though little hard to justify 120 bucks for a total of 3 fans. If these went on sale for 20 bucks CDN each, I'd grab 3 instantly because of great build quality. Are Noctua fans expensive? Yes. But they are well worth the money because of their great build quality.

I now have 7 of those awesome fans. Decent air flow and almost no sound.

Great quality but takes every bit of 12V

It doesn't properly fit in a Coolermaster H500M case but with the help of cable ties and forcefully closing the lid I am able to install 2x fans in the front. Nonetheless, it has a sturdy build and performs well