Noctua NH-U12P: Top Performance AND Silence
by Wesley Fink on March 20, 2008 8:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Conclusion
Past test results with Noctua coolers taught us to respect Noctua's claims. Like Thermalright, Noctua has a track record of delivering what they promise. However, the two companies really come to cooling with different areas of expertise. Thermalright has a long history of top-performing coolers. Thermalright doesn't ship coolers with fans, so Thermalrights require top-performing fans to end up as top performers. You can also control noise by selecting a fan that exhibits ultra low noise. Fans than can provide good performance with low noise tend to shine on Thermalright heatsinks.
Noctua on the other hand has a sterling reputation for developing the lowest noise coolers around. Their fans are masters of low noise, with respectable performance that is always near the top but rarely challenging for first place performance. For this reason, we were a bit skeptical when Noctua claimed top performance with incredibly low published noise levels. Noctua is capable of some brilliant engineering so we did not dismiss the claim, but we really didn't expect to fully validate their claims in our testing.
We are happy to report that our skepticism was not justified in this case. Noctua really has produced a top-performing cooler with incredibly low noise in the NH-U12P. The combination of staggered Vortex Control notches, SC Drive, and SSO bearings in a nine-blade design does the trick as promised. Paired with the venerable and continually refined Noctua heatsink, performance of the stock Noctua NH-U12P mirrors the top Thermalright all the way to 3.91GHz. Noise remains below our system noise floor throughout the entire range of testing.
The Thermalright goes on to 3.94GHz with a single fan, indicating the design may be slightly more efficient. However, add a second NF-P12 to the Noctua and it also reaches 3.94GHZ and sets new records for cooling temperatures along the way. Even with two fans, noise remains below the noise floor - and you can reduce it even further with shunts if you choose. We saw no reason to do this as two fans at full speed were still as silent as we could measure in our system - with noise levels below a quiet suburban bedroom at night.
For those who don't care about overclocking, the Noctua NH-U12P is still a great choice. It cools as well as the best so far with one fan - at idle and under load at stock speeds. Add a second fan and the stock temperatures are all new records. We haven't tested a cooler that does a better job of cooling at stock speeds. However, the Noctua cooler with two fans at $90 is not cheap, and the Alpine coolers we recently tested do almost as well at about 1/6 the price. For most who won't overclock the Alpines are fine, but if you want the best stock air-cooling you can buy the Noctua NH-U12P with an extra NF-P12 fan is the ultimate.
These test results for the Noctua are truly impressive, but they do not dethrone the Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme - at least not yet. The superb component here is the Noctua NF-P12 fan, which is a brilliant piece of engineering. We doubt our Thermalright or any air-cooler will top the 3.94GHz that seems to be the limit of our test bed Core 2 Duo. However, we suspect the Thermalright combined with the NF-P12 could match or even exceed the results with the Noctua heatsink. Having said that the practical reality is it is not easy to mount two NF-P12 fans on a Thermalright, whereas the Noctua heatsink is designed for push-pull and even comes with the extra wires to make it easy.
There is no doubt the Noctua NH-U12P has joined the ranks of the best performing coolers ever tested at AnandTech. With two NF-12P fans in push-pull, it turns in the best cooling results at the highest overclocks we have ever seen. We can also recommend the Noctua NF-P12 fan for performance plus silence on the Thermalright. If you want a complete cooling kit balanced for performance with silence, the NH-U12P is an excellent choice.
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n7 - Friday, March 21, 2008 - link
I can't believe no one here knows Thermaltake sells additional clips for fans for their coolers.You don't have to do any ghetto zip tie mods either.
Simply purchase an extra set of clips, install two Noctuas, & you have what i run:
http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/9930/img2383cop...">http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/9930/img2383cop...
I am a huge Noctua fanboi too.
I own over 15 of their fans, as they just exude quality with their lovely sleeved cables, nice design & color, & low RPM adaptors, nevermind the packaging.
But as much as i like Noctua, they don't make the best CPU heatsinks. Not yet anyway.
So i use a TRUE + their fans.
Syzygies - Friday, March 21, 2008 - link
It's Thermalright, not Thermaltake. What isn't clear is that buying additional clips also buys you additional gel strips. That's the only part one can actually use, as the Thermalright clip holes are sized for one fan clip, not two. Been there. Zip ties are wonderful, they're my universal modeling clay.Sargon - Monday, March 24, 2008 - link
Yes, buying the additional clips will get you additional gel strips. You do not use the same holes but the ones next two it. In other words you just place the second clips over one cooling fin.The reason I actually posted is that I just replaced a Scythe Ultra Kaze (3000rpm) with two of these Noctura fans om my Thermalright 120 Extreme (push/pull). Not only is the setup very quite it works very well due to the air pressure these fans produce.
n7 - Friday, March 21, 2008 - link
Sorry, i'm asleep :(I have a TT case...but run a TRUE.
FWIW, i'd rate the Noctua cooler + fan as a better overall package.
But for those wanting the best, a TRUE + a couple P12 fans is a bit better...though you might have the lap the TRUE (poor TR QC IMO vs. excellence from Noctua in that regard).
And yes, i know the holes are technically designed for just one set of clips, but i didn't find it impossible to clip in a second set by any means.
KainAT - Friday, March 21, 2008 - link
I think many users know that they sold that separately.But if you dont buy the clips when you buy your heatsink or any other hardware you may need to pay extra for the shipping and just for a par of clips.
Thermalright could give 1 USD on price for the cooler including 2 pairs if they want, but this is the important part of the noctua service as I see.
Also, gheto is not really difficult.
On the other hand, Thermalright has 2 holes for thwe clips and the other ones even they can be used for clips are not really meant for it as you can see.
Anyway. Im not defending Noctua or anything here. Im big Thermalright user so I have no problems there.
Finally, for the reviewer: When you said about the Noctua inluding the fan which is another cost, you may also want to say that thay also include the NT-H1 Thermalpaste and also has a value for the user.
Regards.
Kain.
Ytterbium - Friday, March 21, 2008 - link
Could you test the Thermalright IFX-14, this looks like an interesting designWesley Fink - Friday, March 21, 2008 - link
The early versions of the IFX-14 were not competitive with the other top coolers from Thermalright. Thermalright has promised us a revised version for months now but we have yet to receive it.In our converstaions with Thermalright we have been clear that we can't recommend the IFX-14 unless it actaully outperforms the U120 eXtreme since the IFX-14 costs a good deal more. Perhaps your question will light a fire.
KainAT - Friday, March 21, 2008 - link
Im in this with you.For the ones who really want to know the performance, I already did the tests,. and yes, the TRUE wins by 2-3 degrees depending on wattage created when OCing. The more heat you create, the more difference (which ios ionly 1 degree or 2 aprox).
What you can do to have 2 fans on TRUE is simple. One clip for one side and one clip to another.
I have some photos for you here:
http://bandwidth.se/view/6253">http://bandwidth.se/view/6253
http://bandwidth.se/view/6254">http://bandwidth.se/view/6254
I think the analisys on this working on TRUE is not the most properly because the article is from Noctua, not thermalright.
Anyway, the analysys later would be very good :)
varneraa - Friday, March 21, 2008 - link
Given how close the 120-Extreme is in performance to the stock noctua unit, I wonder how a 120-Extreme with push-pull fans would do?poohbear - Friday, March 21, 2008 - link
i know, i hate it when reviewers just omit these questions that they KNOW everybody will be asking. c'mon anandtech, why give us a review of a TRUE without a push/pull config and test the other heatsink with it?