We have a new review up which takes a look at Noctua's recently released 120mm silent fan, the NF-S12-800. If you have the bones to drop on a fan of this caliber you won't be disappointed by it's performance. Here is a snip from the review:

"If my understanding is correct, a standard fluid dynamic bearing must "spin up" to develop enough pressure in the fluid to suspend the spindle the fan revolves on. Before this pressure builds up, the spindle can bang around at startup, causing friction and cumulative wear over the fan's lifetime. Noctua's approach utilizes magnets to suspend the spindle even during startup, thus theoretically eliminating even this minor amount of wear or potential noise. These folks did their homework."



Link: PC Apex