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Noctua NH-U12F - The Silent Type

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7:57 AM - 02/20/2008 by Daniel Schuhmann

The NH-U12F by Austrian company Noctua relays the heat produced by the CPU to the cooling fins via four heatpipes. We should note that the manual that comes with this cooler is the most easily understandable one in the entire roundup - thank you, Noctua! Only a few glances at the manual tell you everything you need to know about how to install the cooler. Commendably, Noctua also includes a Phillips head screwdriver with its product. The only thing we could criticize about the installation is that it requires the motherboard to be removed from the case. Overall, the Austrians prove that even a cooler that is mounted using screws can be very easy to install.

Noctua NH-U12F

Whether the cooler is used at its highest or lowest speed, it remains completely inaudible inside the computer enclosure. A fan-speed regulator is not included.

Underside

Mounting Components

We recommend setting the cooler to run at its maximum fan speed, where it cools the CPU to 71°C. This is average cooling performance.

Retail box

In light of the cooling performance offered, we consider the price of $65 rather steep.

Technical Data
CPU 100% load idle
Temperature 12V 71.5°C 37.5°C
Temperature 5V 84.5°C 42.5°C
Noise 39.4 dB(A) 36.4 dB(A)
Fan Speed 1300 RPM 500 RPM
Weight 802 grams  
Intel Socket 775  
AMD Socket AM2 AM2+
  939 754
  940  

Installation
Talkback
Anonymous 05/17/2008 6:51 PM
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Thank you, been wondering what cooler to buy for an OCed Quad, and high temps are good when dying :D

sorrii 06/26/2008 3:33 PM
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... must be stupid ...! The fan is istalled at wrong side of the cooler ...

Anonymous 06/30/2008 12:34 PM
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Thermalright FTW!! Every time.

suspect 07/11/2008 9:32 AM
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I cant believe that photo...sorrii I am with you only a nutjob would use or test it in that configuration!!!
Noctua clearly state orientation of their coolers and that is ass about.
Every other review I have read rates the NH-U12F much more highly... always near best in class

wkornf 07/11/2008 10:32 AM
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your numbers of near 70C on every cooler is outrageous, if those numbers are true not a single one of these coolers would keep a computer stable in a closed case outside the northeast. and a couple minutes isnt a good measure of cpus final temp, if u look over a temp log after a long game session you know it creeps up. to many factors.

dragunover 07/11/2008 2:48 PM
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Bullshit article.I agree with wkornf.

If my Artic silver 5 + Scythe Katana 2 cooler(for only a massive price of 25 USD! I can keep my outdated Pentium D under 100 degrees fahrenheit,infact around HALF of these tests,even under water cooling? Wow,according to this,I should actually worry about getting a quad core because of the heat.And no,I don't have any fans in my case,it's open,only fans are from my GPU,CPU,and my PSU.
No extra 4 250mm performance fans.And an X38? That's just unbelievable.

eaglestrike7339 07/12/2008 6:24 AM
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Do you guys get the point? They maxed out everything, so the cooler could show off the best that it could do in the most extreme conditions.

A good article, i especially like the tests for installation and sound, as those are what i would look into most when purchasing a cooler, and unlike CPUs, there are usually no charts to go along with.

suspect 07/12/2008 6:48 AM
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eaglestrike... do you see mounting the noctua fan in the wrong direction as good testing???
They have it on the top side of the sink flowing in a downward direction!!!
it goes against basic laws of physics and logic.

cliffro 07/12/2008 9:25 AM
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alot of the coolers listed of a particular design are installed all goofy like, Of course on their open setup it doesn't make much difference(i think)

but when installed in a normal ATX case, would be detrimental to the coolers performance. Especially coolers designed similar to the Noctua and Scythe Ninja plus.

I can't be certain about others but Arctic Cooling's Freezer 7 Pro is supposed to be installed like this(one would assume others of similar design would be the same)
http://bigrockies.com/media/cooler.jpg

suspect 07/12/2008 11:35 AM
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cliffro I think to some degree you are correct but it still does not follow good practice when supposedly collecting data to represent consumer products.
As these have published manufacturer recomended installations why would you reverse it.
I recently read a review of the latest Noctua cooler at Legitreviews
where Noctua actually contacted them on this very issue... as a result they retested and found some improvement in cooling.
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/741/1/

Anonymous 07/12/2008 11:17 PM
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You guys might want to reexamine the Zerotherm Nirvana NV120... I just picked one up (after much research), and all of the problems mentioned in the review seem to be fixed in the newer models... no more metal base, no more metal shavings, and near silent operation except at full speed. I've been using Zalman CNPS coolers ever since the 7000 series, and will likely be switching to the NV120 for performance systems now. Just my 2c

ibender 07/13/2008 12:46 PM
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Any cooler that uses the push pin system should get a zero for installation. That system completely sucks. I'd rather remove a motherboard and install a backplate than use that push pin garbage.

wkornf 07/13/2008 8:27 PM
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what exactly did they "max out" to achieve these temps. to me it looks like a qx6850 quad core running stock settings. which is a processor i know doesnt have load temps of 70c with those coolers.

wkornf 07/13/2008 8:28 PM
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what exactly did they "max out" to achieve these temps. to me it looks like a qx6850 quad core running stock settings. which is a processor i know doesnt have load temps of 70c with those coolers.

guyladouche 07/14/2008 7:12 PM
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sorrii :
... must be stupid ...! The fan is istalled at wrong side of the cooler ...



Nothing's wrong or stupid with that setup--two fans are used in a push-pull arrangement--the bottom fan is blowing into the cooler, the top fan is pulling air away from the cooler to exhaust it from the cooler.

suspect 07/15/2008 6:36 AM
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@guyladouche... actually it all depends which cooler you are talking about,

As said the Noctua is setup with the fan on top blowing down, which is the only config that Noctua dont support.
The Thermalright has the fan in the middle blowing up so it looks like there is no real consistancy in the test methods... but I would like to hear from the testers in case they found some reason to use each particular setup.

random_2 07/24/2008 5:38 AM
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I'm still looking for the chart!!!!!! Ummmm...Am I missing something? I keep clicking on these Cooler Chart links and keep getting lengthly articles. Would be great ...I mean if we are going to call this a chart... to have an "at a glance" single page so we can make easy comparisons.

suspect 07/24/2008 7:04 AM
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page 17 click on index and scroll down...:o)

random_2 07/25/2008 7:20 AM
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Thanks bro.....:-)

paranoja 07/30/2008 3:59 PM
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Well my Scythe Mugen (Infinity) does the job...and it`s cheap + it can be equipped with 2 120mm fans ;)
Actually I`m wondering why it is not included in these tests!?


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