Abstract: A nonwoven fabric having a plurality of fibers bonded with a bond pattern on a surface thereof to form a coherent web, the nonwoven fabric having a vertical axis extending in a machine direction and a horizontal axis extending in a cross direction, the bond pattern having a plurality of spaced apart pairs of arrays extending in the machine, cross, and diagonal directions of the nonwoven fabric, wherein each array includes a plurality of spaced apart bond points having an oblong shape, and wherein the nonwoven fabric has a percent bonded surface area less than about 12% and an average bond point packing value from about 6.5 to 8.0 mm?1. Also provided are a thermal calender, a system for preparing a nonwoven fabric, and associated method.