Noctua NH-U12P: Top Performance AND Silence
by Wesley Fink on March 20, 2008 8:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Noise Levels
For many enthusiasts upgrading cooling the goal is maximum stable overclock, and they will live with the inconvenience of a louder system. For other users silence is the most important factor, and these users will forgo maximum overclocking if that increases system noise levels. Those who expect silence to be the domain of high-priced cooling solutions will find the Noctua reputation for silence continues with the NH-U12P. The performance is certainly there, but low noise is not sacrificed to reach those performance goals.
The stock Noctua NH-U12P is one of the quietest coolers we have tested so far in our new cooling test bed. This should not be a surprise as Noctua rates the cooler at 19dB(A) at the highest fan speed. All four test results are at the floor of our system noise, and the new test bed system noise floor is equivalent to a suburban bedroom at night in noise level.
When we test with the NF-P12 fan - or fans in push-pull - at their highest speed, the system remains below the noise floor with one or two fans operating. Those who want to use a fanless power supply or mount their power supply in another room can choose two even quieter configurations with the Low-Noise and Ultra-Low-Noise adapters. We did not reach noise levels higher than our variable speed Corsair 620W power supply even with two fans on high, so there is no point in trying to measure even lower and quieter speeds.
If your goal is silence, we are confident the new NF-P12 fan can meet your expectations, even if they are test results in a lab instead of real-world testing. The NH-U12P is virtually silent, even when pushed hard with push-pull fans and massive overclocking
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Xpl1c1t - Friday, March 21, 2008 - link
http://www.delta.com.tw/product/cp/dcfans/dcfans_m...">http://www.delta.com.tw/product/cp/dcfans/dcfans_m...It would be interesting to see this benched with a high quality oldschool delta fan. I think you might be surprised about the number of people who are still interested in seeing the results of a voluminously high cfm fan... apart from their criticisms...
poohbear - Friday, March 21, 2008 - link
dude, deltas are a thing of the past, nobody will tolerate a helicopter 1m away from them for a few mhz more, not w/ near silent 120mm fans around.bigboxes - Sunday, March 23, 2008 - link
LOL, truth.KainAT - Friday, March 21, 2008 - link
I already did that when doing Noctua Review.What I mean, is that as the autor says, Noctua fans working on TRUE are the best but Noctua already impressed me out by far going well on results.
Now, Im keeping TRUE with 2 fans. It was not difficult to addapt. You can put one clip in one direction and the other to the other direction.
The, just put 2X-NF-P12 fans and tight them by zip ties and all the work is done. Then, you will have the ultimate performance air cooling with very low noises.
I love this kit.
The main part from noctua this time, are the fans for sure. The cooler is very good of course, compared to the top with others but still cant beat Thermalright.
takumsawsherman - Friday, March 21, 2008 - link
I think we would all be interested in that result.PCTC2 - Friday, March 21, 2008 - link
Now all that needs to be done is put two of these Noctua fans on a TRUE in Anandtech's test and see how well it performs...poohbear - Thursday, March 20, 2008 - link
thanks for this awesome review! love to see high end cooler reviews! i gotta get me one of those noctua NF-P12 fans to use on a TRUE. i'll skip their heatsink cause u need 2 fans for best performance, but for ultra silence and best overclocking i dont think u can do any better than a noctua NF-P12 combined w/ a TRUE. gotta love progress and technology!trexpesto - Thursday, March 20, 2008 - link
They Tight!Jedi2155 - Thursday, March 20, 2008 - link
The "vortex control notches" remind me of the of same design in the newest jet aircraft....so you really are getting bleeding edge technology ;).Notches!!!!
http://www.dailyaviator.com/2006-07-pages/images/0...">http://www.dailyaviator.com/2006-07-pages/images/0...
stevemedes - Thursday, March 20, 2008 - link
Now if only they made it in something other than pink...