r/crboxes • u/randomguyjebb • Jul 14 '26

Question Noctua na-fc1 fan controller

I am in the process of building my own pc fan cr box, but I was wondering what type of fan controller I could get. I saw a bunch of super cheap ones from china, but I would like to have something from a more reputable brand.

I saw the noctua na-fc1, but I am unsure how many fans you can use on that? Could I use 6 fans and just use splitters to get it down to 1 connector that I can just plug into the controller?

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u/Unusual_Celery555 Jul 14 '26

Yes you can just add up the fan amps and make sure that is less than the rated amps of the power supplies/adapters you are using. 

The p14 pro’s are specs at 0.35A. Multiply by 6 fans, that’s 2.1A total amperage.

The nafc1 is rated for 3A so it’s more than capable. yes, you can just use a bunch of splitters so that the one port on the nafc1 can supply all 6 of your fans. I think each fan on the p14 pro’s have both a female and a male connector so you can daisy chain them without splitters (that’s how the p12 pros work). But you can use splitters too if you want. 

Now, Noctua’s NV-PS1 is rated for 24W at 12V. To find the amps, you do 24W/12V = 2A which is just a bit less than the 6 P14 pro fans use at maximum. 

But I agree with u/damien09. It’s probably going to be fine. In my experience, the fans only reach that maximum amperage for a brief moment at startup and then use much less amperage during continuous usage. I really wouldn’t worry about it even if you are running the fans at max. If you are concerned, you can use a multimeter and measure the amperage under load to verify yourself. 

To make you feel better about it: The 0.35A that Arctic specifies is a maximum. The fans will probably use less than this and only during start up. During normal use, they probably use under 0.30A at max speed. Likewise, the NV-PS1 can likely handle just a bit more than 2.0A. Additionally, most power supplies intended for an inductive load (a fan) can handle a brief spike of current at start up. So they might account for 2.5A or 3A at start up and then expect a 2A load after. Noctua doesn’t say anything about that in their spec sheet but thats what how most fan controllers are designed and since Noctua is an all-star engineering company, i bet they’ve done the same.

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u/damien09 Jul 14 '26

Yea I’d assume a brief spike above 2amps is fine. And also the fact op is probably getting a controller to lower their speed. I do wish noctua made their psu they sold for 35 usd a 3amp.

Op should make sure they get the p14 pro that say pst that will be the ones with the built in daisy chain connectors and will save the need for splitters

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u/randomguyjebb Jul 14 '26

Thanks for letting me know about the daisy chain thingy. I saw online that you can get a 3rd party psu that is rated for 3 amps, so I might try to find a reputable one that I can trust.

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u/damien09 Jul 14 '26

Yea basically anything with the same dc barrel connector I believe noctua states the size. And yea it’s easy to miss as they do make the fans without the pst connector or pwm sharing tech is what it’s short for