Noctua NH-U12P CPU Cooler Conclusion

(3.5 star rating) Written by: William Ford

Performance

After installing the cooler, I wanted to give the entire system a good burn-in cycle so I ran 3DMark06 (graphics benchmark program) for about eight hours overnight. I set the temperature alarm for the processor at 60º C and it the alarm never went off. I installed a temperature probe to find out the exact CPU temperature - and from the test results shown below, I was satisfied with the performance.

Overclocking

After several overclocking attempts I found that my PC was not stable and would not finish booting into Windows at my desired speed. The base bus speed of the processor is 333MHz and I wanted to get it to 366MHz, but it just wouldn’t do it. I did manage to get a stable boot at 358MHz which gave me an overall boost of approx. 220MHz raising the chip speed from 3.0GHz to 3.22. I did not adjust the voltages nor the memory bus speed, just the CPU bus speed. My motherboard does not give the option of changing the multiplier but that would be a more reckless shot at overclocking anyway.

It isn’t the most impressive overclock attempt I have made but I am happy to report that the temperature of the CPU barely changed after overclocking. I ran 3DMark06 for a 30 minute loop and check the temperature and it was right at 52º C (125.6º F). This is an acceptable result and shows that if the motherboard were able to handle it I could overclock the processor much higher without worry of overheating. Unfortunately, either my RAM or the ECS motherboard would not run stable with the Core 2 Duo past 358MHz bus speed.

Noctua NH-U12P Up Close		Noctua NT-H1 Thermalpaste

Noise

It may not be the prettiest CPU cooler out there, but it is definitely one of the quietest ones that you will find that utilize a fan. It also comes with two optional low noise adapters which are basically a power adapter with a built-in resistor that lowers the voltage causing the fan to spin slower. The U.L.N.A. (Ultra low noise adapter) lowers the fan speed to 900 RPM. I chose not use them because I need the maximum cooling it can give at its full 1300 RPM for performance. Optionally, you can install a second cooling fan on the opposite side for even more serious cooling capability.

Noctua NH-U12P CPU Cooler

To summarize, the Noctua NH-U12P is a beast of a CPU cooler that gets the job done, and done very well. It is extremely quiet, even as the CPU load ramps up, and keeps the CPU as cool as a cucumber. The large size may deter some users, and you will definitely want to make sure your motherboard and case layout will support a CPU coolers of this size. At an average price online of $65 USD, this level of cooling does not come cheap. But the NH-U12P is definitely worth a look if you are in the market for a seriously effective CPU cooler.

Pros: Very quiet, cools efficiently, compatible with both AMD and Intel CPUs, includes fan and thermal paste.

Cons: Heavy and cumbersome, not as pretty as other CPU coolers, price is not inexpensive.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5