Noctua NH-U12P SE2 Silent CPU Cooler

Category: Cooling

Created on Monday, 19 July 2010 23:22

Written by Steve

Testing:

Testing System:
CPU: Intel Core2Quad Q6600 2.4ghz @ Stock Speeds
Motherboard: Asus P5K-E WIFI-AP
Memory: 4 x 1gb Patriot Extreme Performance DDR2 800mhz (4-4-4-12)
HDD: Western Digital Green Series 1TB
DVD+/-RW: Pioneer DVD-R212
Video: Asus 8800GT 1GB w/ Scythe Musashi Cooler
Sound: Mackie Onyx Satellite
Power Supply: Silverstone Strider Plus ST75F-P Power Supply
OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate x64
Cooling setup: 1x800RPM intake fan, 1x1200RPM exhaust fan, 1x120mm PSU fan.

I will run my usual battery of CPU cooler tests on the NH-U12P, except all tests will be run three times; without any fan adapters and then again with the L.N.A adapters and with the U.L.N.A adapters. Load temperatures are recorded after 30 minutes of Prime 95 torture testing and idle temperatures are recorded after 30 minutes of the system being freshly booted and left idle. Results are recorded and discussed below:

What impressed me most was the noise level to performance ratio of this cooler. I wasn't sure what results I'd see after first putting on the U.L.N.A adapter because I had never cooled my CPU with a fan running so slowly before. I monitored the temperatures closely, expecting a huge jump when I started the stress testing. To my surprise, the temperatures still stayed lower than my average stress test temperatures with other much louder coolers. With both fans spinning around 900 RPM, I could not hear them above the fans on my GPU cooler, which are now the loudest in the system. Due to the dual-fan design of the NH-U12P, I also decided to try shutting off my rear exhaust fan entirely to see the results. To my surprise the numbers barely changed and I was able to squeeze even a little more noise reduction out of my already silent system!

With the L.N.A adapter on both fans remained very quiet, but were now entering into the [slightly] audible level. With no adapter at all, the fans were both audible, but still much quieter than most CPU fans I've reviewed when running at full speed.