Noctua NH-C12P

The C12P's design breaks with the tradition set by earlier Noctua models, with the manufacturer here preferring a flatbed shape in place of a 'tower' format.

This traditional form factor allows a current of cool air to pass over the components adjacent to the processor as well as the CPU itself.

A chunky heatsink, it includes six heat pipes and a large heat exchanger.

While most of the components are in aluminum, the parts that are in direct contact with the processor are in nickel-coated copper (hence the silver color), which should allow for a better heat transfer.

As for the fan itself, there's no need to change a winning formula, so the same 120mm NF-P12 that came with the NH-U12P.

Each blade tapers off to a sharp point at the end, which is supposed to reduce noise levels.

Unlike on most other heatsinks, the fan's movement is controlled by high pressure oil, rather than ball bearings, which brings the double benefit of a quieter motion and a longer lifespan.

Slightly slower its sister model

Generally speaking, the C12P performs excellently, and it's very clearly a high-end product.

Nevertheless, it's still a tiny bit behind its sister model the U12P.

The heatsink has a series of variable settings that you can control using the supplied adaptor, but it's perfectly possible to leave at it most basic configuration even when running fairly vigorous applications on a dual-core processor.

It can even manage a quad-core processor at its lowest settings as long as there is plenty of ventilation.

The fan is particularly quiet and it's almost impossible to hear anything when it's running at 7V.

From 8.5V and above, there is a noticeable, but not irritating, deep buzz.

It's only when the fan is turning as fast as it can at 10V or 12V that the breeze is more evident and the heatsink can fairly be said to be noisy.