The Noctua NH-U12A CPU Cooler Review: Big Performance in a Small Space
by E. Fylladitakis on July 11, 2019 12:30 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Noctua
- CPU cooler
Testing Results, Low Fan Speed (7 Volts)
Switching things up a bit, let's next take a look at cooler performance with the NH-U12A fans taken down to 7 Volts.
| Core Temperature, Constant Thermal Load (Low Fan Speed) |
With the speed of its fans reduced down to 800 RPM, the NH-U12A becomes virtually inaudible to a user that sits one meter away from it. The thermal performance still comes close to 140 mm coolers, with the NH-U12A being unable to match it but landing near them, all while outperforming most other similarly-sized cooling solutions.
A closer look at the charts reveals that the NH-U12A actually is rather efficient with the handling of very heavy thermal loads even with reduced airflow. This suggests that the cooler will be able to handle overclocked processors without the thermal control of the motherboard having to shoot the speed of the fans too high, maintaining low noise levels.
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beginning - Saturday, July 13, 2019 - link
Thank you for the article. Lives up to the level of scientific rigor that anandtech has gotten me used to. This is very helpful and the graph of average thermal resistance at 12V will be a part of my go-to reference materials. I would like to request a similar graph for AIO liquid coolers if possible. Thank you once again for this in-depth article.Showtime - Saturday, July 13, 2019 - link
So funny reading people justifying the pricing. I think Noctua has gotten a little full of themselves. Unless this 120mm cooler equals the D15, $100 is silly. Too many options that will fit that space for half the cost.Orange_Swan - Sunday, July 14, 2019 - link
I love Noctua’s performance, but I really hate their color choice.Surfacround - Monday, July 15, 2019 - link
great, the be quiet! dark rock pro 3 is not available, and it is a copy of the noctua cooler... no wonder it beats the noctua cooler. moot point.max347 - Wednesday, July 31, 2019 - link
Ah good, I was hoping to find a review of the new Ultra 120 TRUE....oh wait...