Noctua NH-U12P: Top Performance AND Silence
by Wesley Fink on March 20, 2008 8:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Cooling at Stock Speed
Some users will never overclock their CPU, but they still want to run the coolest CPU temperatures possible to enhance stability and extend CPU life. We compile all temperature benchmarks with CoreTemp, a public domain utility that is quite stable with reproducible results on the Intel platform.
Performance at stock idle with the Noctua NH-U12P matches the best we have ever measured at AnandTech. When we tested with two of the new NF-P12 fans in a push-pull configuration performance actually dropped to ambient room temperature. This is an amazing level of performance, and it is the best result we have ever seen with any normal cooler under any conditions.
Where the very good Intel stock air-cooler keeps the X6800 at 31C at idle, the push-pull NH-U12P reduces that to 21C. This compares to the top Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme at 24C, Corsair water at 24C, Swiftech water at 27C, and ZEROtherm Nirvana at 23C. In comparing results, please keep in mind the test results from the new cooling bed using CoreTemp are not directly comparable to earlier cooling results.
It is more difficult to simulate all the various stress conditions a computer may encounter in different operating environments. For most home users, contemporary gaming is one of the most demanding CPU (and system) applications. Therefore, our stress test simulates running a demanding contemporary game. We loop the Far Cry River demo for 30 minutes and capture the CPU temperature with CoreTemp's "logging" option. We report the highest temperature during the load test. Momentary spikes are ignored, as we report a sustained high-level temp that you are likely to encounter in this type of scenario. This test configuration roughly equates to an 80% CPU load test using Intel TAT, another respected program for thermal measurements.
Let's compare cooling efficiency of the Noctua NH-U12P under load conditions at stock speed to the retail HSF and other recently retested CPU coolers.
The NH-U12P turns in an outstanding performance under load at stock speeds. CoreTemp results are 35C, which again represents the best air-cooling result so far at AnandTech. Performance with two fans in a push-pull configuration is even more impressive, yielding 32C under load. This exceeds our previous best load results at stock by 4C, which is impressive considering the competitors. This is a 15C to 18C improvement in cooling under load compared to the stock Intel fan, which reaches 50C under load at stock speed in our cooling test bed.
Cooling results with the Noctua NH-U12P at stock idle and load are record setting. Test results are the best we have ever seen - matching the top Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme - or coming in a bit better - with the stock single fan. With two fans, the NH-U12P outperforms anything we have ever tested at stock speed.
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Wesley Fink - Friday, March 21, 2008 - link
We covered the Thermalright question head on in the Final Words. The Thermalright is not really set up for push-pull fans so you have to jury rig to get two fans on the cooler. We stated clearly the Thermalright would likely outperform the Noctua with the same fan, but if you wanted to conveniently mount two fans the Noctua was a better choice. Several readers have detailed instructions in the comments on how to mount two fans on the U120 eXtreme with Zip Ties.BTW we have tested every heatsink that was setup for multi-fans with both single and push-pull configurations, so your comment is not fair or accurate. The Thermalright is not really set up for two fans and you end up ripping open the fan wire holders if you try to force two fans. That is why people resort to jury-rigging and Zip ties. We hope Thermalright will address this in the near future as the Thermalright could othwerwise easily mount push-pull fans.
poohbear - Saturday, March 22, 2008 - link
oh ok, i dont recall reading that part of the article, my bad. yea if Thermalright isnt setup for a push/pull config from the factory, it wouldnt make sense to start making customizations just to accomodate it. cheers though.Mr Perfect - Friday, March 21, 2008 - link
At first I was little taken back by the airflow numbers of the fan, but then I noticed they where reporting in Cubic Meters Per Hour instead of the normal Cubic Feet Per Minute. Do you have CFM numbers so this fan can be compared to other fans on the market?Air Flow 92.3/78.5/63.4 cubic meters/hour (1300 stock/1100 LNA/900 ULNA)
poohbear - Friday, March 21, 2008 - link
its 54cfm @ 1300rpm.1 foot = 0.3048 metres; therefore
1 cubic foot = 0.3048*0.3048*0.3048 cubic metres = 0.028316846 cubic metres
and
1 hour = 60 minutes
therefore 1 m3/h = 0.5885778 cfm
hence 92 m3/h * 0.5885778 = 54.1491576 cfm
cheers.
JarredWalton - Friday, March 21, 2008 - link
Some simple math should suffice....1 cubic meter = 35.31467 cubic feet
60 minutes per hour
That gives 54.326/46.203/37.316 CFM, assuming they didn't just put in the wrong abbreviation.
Mr Perfect - Saturday, March 22, 2008 - link
Those numbers make much more sense. Other ~1000RPM 120mm fans also push in the 36ish CFM range.I was hoping Anandtech would put the CFM numbers in the article, it could be misleading if readers don't notice that the rates are not listed in the standard measurement. Anyone who buys a whole bunch of these $21 fans because they think they're putting out 63.4CFM at 900RPM and 12dba is going to be upset.
Baked - Friday, March 21, 2008 - link
If you're not overclocking, Freezer 7 Pro should be the no brainer HSF of choice.Baked - Friday, March 21, 2008 - link
Why bother wasting all that money on trivial performance gain. Just get the Freezer 7 Pro and be done with. Oh wait, I forgot about the epeen factor.poohbear - Saturday, March 22, 2008 - link
freezer pro 7 won't give u a 50%-70% overclock. a 70% overclock is hardly trivial, this is'nt video card overclocking wherein people usually get a 10%-15%.Basilisk - Saturday, March 22, 2008 - link
"freezer pro 7 won't give u a 50%-70% overclock"What am I missing here? As I read the charts in this article, the best listed cooler gave 34% OC on this CPU, while the AFP7 gave 31%. Maybe I'm missing the obvious; or are you reporting un-cited data?
My instinct was the same as others: the AFP7's the better performance/$$ unit, although this new kid has a slight upper end edge.
Not that I don't appreciate the fan improvements. My instinct is there are several further improvements to reduce flow turbulence [noise/efficiency], but we don't see much change in fans.