Noctua NH-U12P

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Caractéristiques
Type	heatsink and fan
Compatibility	775 / AM2
Material	copper and aluminium
Fan size
PWM	no
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Dimensions	126 x 95 x 158 mm
Weight
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Régis Jehl
Test date: October 3, 2008

Compatibility, Installation and Accessories

The Noctua NH-C12P is compatible with the current socket standards, s775 and AM2. Installation is relatively straightforward, and helped along by a some very clear instructions. All you need to do is fit a plate behind the motherboard, add the fittings and finish things off by securing the heatsink with two large screws. We also appreciated the fact that the screws to match different socket architectures were supplied separately. In all, the heatsink ships with three different packets of screws: one for s775 socket, one for AM2 sockets and one for the common components. You also get a tube of NT-H1 thermal grease and a special adaptor for changing the fan speed.

The first thing you need to know about this 'tower' heatsink is that it's pretty sizeable.

With the fan installed, its 16 x 13 cm frame weighs in at 770 g.

To improve compatibility, the Austrian manufacturer has wisely but the first blade quite high, to leave plenty of room for the motherboard.

It's made from both copper and aluminum, with nickel-plated copper for the surfaces directly in contact with the processor and the heat pipes, and aluminum for the other components.

The fan is Noctua's own NF-P12, whose nine large fan blades bring its size up to 120 mm.

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.

Quick, Quiet Cooling

This heatsink offers excellent cooling capabilities, and is very clearly a top-performing model.

Even with its fan turning at its slowest speed, the heatsink is capable of effectively cooling our quad-core processor.

We had thought that this would mean the fan was spinning at top speed, but nothing could be further from the truth.

Even at 7V, the fan is incredibly decent and almost entirely silent, and even though the noise it makes at 8.5V is barely perceptible in all but the quietest of rooms.

At 10V and 12V, the sound is much more noticeable, but we found that as long as we ensured adequate ventilation, it was perfectly possible to use the fan at its slowest speeds with a dual-core processor.

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Pluses

Effective heat removal

Very quiet

Easy to install with clear instructions

Good quality accessories: thermal grease and adaptor

Minuses

Motherboard must be removed to allow installtion

Very large

This is without doubt one of the best heatsinks on the market, even if it is a little chunky. As well as an effective cooling performance, it runs very quietly.