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Basically just the CPU fan, case, and PSU (if you're lucky). If someone can figure out how to get Doom running on just those 3 things, young people will be able to ascend.
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this post was submitted on 05 Oct 2026
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Yeah this, there's cpu coolers for half the price that cool better now.
You may know this already. The reason Noctua fans are so much quieter is because they spin more slowly and blow less air, so even low priced, entry level fans are more effective. They literally sell a lower performing, if well engineered, fan for a premium price mostly because of hype and brand recognition.
They spin what they are ordered to do by the PWM?
Tell me you don't understand how PWM works without telling me you don't understand how PWM works.
I'm an electrical engineer so I'm really looking forward to the responses to this.
That's why there is a "?" and not a "." or "!". Because I wasnt sure and that's what I thought to understand it as.
No need to be a dick though ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
So sorry! I mistakenly assumed you were amongst the "downvoting for sharing information they don't like" crowd that hit my original comment, so I read your comment as being passive aggressive. My response wasn't any better than what I assumed BUT mine was entirely intentionally, so I was absolutely the one in the wrong. I apologize.
I assumed your response meant "PWM will spin up the fan to equal RPMs regardless of model", which is actually pretty similar to what some Nortua diehards have claimed on Reddit when I've criticized Noctua fans in the past.
The other commenter has the right of how PWM works. Since it only modulates the frequency and therefore duration of on/off cycles, if one fan spins at a max of 6000 RPM while a Noctua equivalent tops out at 4500, PWM will only be able to modulate to speeds below that maximum.
You were downvoted because you're wrong, or at best technically accurate but inaccurate about the results.
Your fan speed is set by your fan controller.
And while it's true that different fans can be set up to spin at different speeds with the same input voltage or PWM signal, if the fan is less effective at cooling at that rate, the controller will end up higher on the fan curve and speed it up to compensate.
The only things that determine your fan's ultimate speed are a) how high the controller allows it to go, b) how much heat the hardware is generating, and c) how efficiently the combination of coolers and fans dissipate that heat into the air (which also depends on the room's conditions).
Now we're just talking about fans, so we can ignore item b entirely as well as the cooler and room conditions. And it then comes down to, can the fan keep up with the heat being generated at the current point in the fan's curve? If not, heat increases and the controller speeds up the fan. Then, when it hits whatever the cap is, if it still can't keep up, the hardware either overheats or throttles.
If it can keep up, then it stays where it is on the curve. If it can dissipate more heat than is being produced, it goes down on the curve and the fan slows down as the temperature lowers.
All this to say, if you have fan A that needs to be at 2000 rpm to keep up with the heat being generated by the hardware at say 65°C and someone says they have a better fan, B, that is just set to spin slower at the same signal from the controller, all that will happen is it will fail to keep up with the heat generated at 65, then the heat will rise until it's spinning at 2000 rpm anyways or the curve hits the cap and the system throttles to reduce the heat generated.
So we couldn't really eliminate that item b above and it could actually be relevant, though if that were the case, I'd assume people would just curse noctura because their fans suck and their systems run hotter or slower. But they have a good reputation where the main complaint I see is about their price, not their performance.
Personally, I use be quiet! fans rather than noctura, but it's a similar principle. They make quieter fans by tweaking or redesigning blades shape and angle, bearings, and the motor. Blades make them more effective at slower speeds, and all three can make them quieter at the same speeds.
Don't be sorry because you're not wrong and dude was just being a dick for no reason. Also a PWM signal is not a complex concept and it certainly doesn't require any degree at all to understand.
Simply put: you have an additional pin carrying the PWM signal, which is a simple squarewave. How much of that wave is high during a period is called the duty cycle and regulates the fan speed. Eg. if for 75% of the period the signal is high, then the duty cycle is 75%.
So, while the phrase "they spin what they are ordered to do by the PWM" is not particularly well worded, it's also technically not wrong.
I really wish people would share their knowledge, instead of gatekeeping it to feel superior.
Ty :)
So the fan decides the max RPM possible and the fan controller (probably the Motherboard) decides the percentage of the available RPM with the duty cycle?
Pretty much. In a typical motherboard, the fan controller is linked to temperature monitoring and the duty cycle is changed in correlation with another variable, generally CPU temperature. The PWM control method actually doesn't require the monitoring of fan speed at all, but it's included for informational and safety purposes.
The username was a bit of a giveaway.
Their claim about Noctua is also not correct, or at least not generalisable to all coolers. I upgraded my CPU recently to a Ryzen 9 5950X, so needed to upgrade my cooler. The NH-D15 came out as one of the best options (that were also available second hand) when looking at cooling performance per dB. That ratio is what matters.
I ended up spending about $45. It ended up not having all fan clips with it, but Noctua sent those to me for free.
If you're going to infer someone is stupid because you disagree with them, at least have the decency to explain how they're wrong.
BTW, the username is 100% bait: a certain fraction of social media users tend to make that "hurr hurr, username sure checks out" comment, letting me know the person making said comment likely isn't worth taking seriously.
It was a joke I assumed you'd be okay with given your username, which signalled an appreciation of self deprecating humor :)
To be frank, I didn't think you were friendly enough in previous comment that I wanted to engage with you, but I had something useful to say. So I referred to your username as hook for the other discussion. I think the person I responded to did a good job explaining why the PWM comment was technically correct, so I had nothing to add to that.
But other than the comment you made I thought could have been friendlier, I have nothing against you. I'm not making any inferences about you as a person based on one comment. I dont actually you're stupid, you're still the stranger on the internet you were before.
I wasn't being a dick for no reason - I was being a dick because I thought THEY were being a passive aggressive dick, much like how you assumed I was "gatekeeping knowledge to feel superior". Bad assumptions all around here.
I assumed they were suggesting PWM will cause an inherently slower spinning fan to spin at any RPM regardless of model, which is actually a response some Noctua diehards have used in the past when I point out what Noctua is omitting when they advertise their fans as being so much quieter.
Regardless, I apologized for my bad assumption and subsequent response. It was out of line, especially given the actual meaning and intent of the comment.
They sell a range of fans, not all are quiet.
Well....sure but there's people who reviee coolers with a decibel reader so they can equalize noise level when testing.
Imo though air cooling is still louder than water cooling. I have both and while i appreciate thaf air colling is great too today and probably peace of mind, but a nice rgb liquid aio is also not expensive these days....specially compared to what the other PC parts cost now...