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9.7 out of 10

Noctua NH-U12P

First seen: 1 september 2007

Information found in: from 102 sources in 22 countries.

Best Price: 65.95 USD

  • User Score (124)
    9.5 9.5 from 124 reviewers
  • Expert Score (29)
    8.7 8.7 from 29 reviewers
  • Design (2)
    9.6 9.6 from 2 reviewers
  • Performance (3)
    10 10 from 3 reviewers
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Pros & Cons

  • wonderful manual, cools efficiently, good availability, nf p12 fan included, xeon support possible
  • not so easy installation, overly complicated difficult installation, low cfm fans, flimsy fan clips, price and availability

The NH-U12P continues the legacy of Noctua’s classic NH-U coolers, which won over 150 awards and recommendations from leading international websites and magazines. While retaining the successful design and the well-proven SecuFirm™ mounting system, the newest revision has been reworked for enhanced main board compatibility and now comes with Noctua’s NT-H1 pro-grade thermal compound. Fitted with the new NF-P12 premium fan, the NH-U12P brings its predecessors’ much-acc…

Manufacturer's Specs

  • CPU Compatibility
    Socket LGA1366, LGA1156, LGA775, AM3, AM2+, AM2, 754, 939 and 940 compatible *
  • CPU supported clock speeds
    All speeds
  • Heatsink dimensions (H x W x D) mm
    158 x 126 x 95 (with fan)
  • Weight
    770g
  • Surface area
    5000cm²
  • Base material
    Pure Copper and Aluminium
  • Fan size
    120mm x 25mm
  • Fan model number
    Noctua NF-P12
  • Fan RPM
    1300 (900 with ULNA) **
  • Fan db(A)
    19.8 (12.6 with ULNA) **

Release Date

  • First seen
    1 September 2007

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  • Reviews of Noctua NH-U12P

  1. Noctua NH-U12P

    Reviewer: XSReviews
    21 May 2008
    Overall 10
    10
     

    With their latest heatsink, Noctua have proven that it is possible to have an all-in-one package for a reasonable price with fantastic cooling, great looking and machined heatsink while making little noise. With confirmed compatibility with AM2+ sockets and the ability to grab backwards compatible brackets, there really is little wrong with this heatsink. The size will be a factor for mATX cases but if your enclosure will accommodate, the Noctua NH-U12P is an easy buy.... Read more

  2. Noctua NH-U12P CPU cooler

    Reviewer: XtremeComputing
    3 June 2008

    You could say that I have really bought into Noctua’s marketing hype about the NH-U12P cooler, as I think it is amazing, but even without their convincing scientific theories as to why their coolers perform so much better the results speak for themselves. This cooler excels in every aspect I have looked at it. I’m simply awe-struck that Noctua seem to have found the holy grail of performance cooling with respectable quietness. The Noctua NH-U12P when set up in the... Read more

  3. Noctua NH-U12P

    Reviewer: DigitalVersus
    18 August 2008
    Overall 10
    10
     

    This is without doubt one of the best heatsinks on the market, even if it is a little chunky. As well as an effective cooling performance, it runs very quietly. Read more

  4. Noctua NH-U12P SE1366

    Reviewer: Custom PC
    15 February 2009
    Overall 8
    8.1
    Design 9
    8.7
     

    The Noctua NH-U12P SE1366 is a large heatsink with two quiet 120mm fans bolted to it, which means that it's reasonably effective at cooling while remaining unobtrusively quiet. If low noise is more important to you than pure cooling ability, this HSF is a great choice. Read more

  5. Noctua NH-U12P CPU Cooler

    Reviewer: Overclock3D
    17 January 2010
    Overall 9
    9.0
    Performance 10
    10
     

    The Noctua NH-U12P performs very well, even against some of the top-rated heatsinks on the market. When I pulled the cooler out of the box I was initially impressed with build quality and then once it was in use I was highly impressed with it's cooling ability, as well as the performance of the excellent NF-P12 fans. Add in the fact that Noctua include some top-end thermal paste and we're onto a winner. There are two slight down points to the cooler. Installation isn't... Read more

  1. Noctua Noctua NH-U12P

    Reviewer: ImmortalKenny, Overclock
    30 June 2008
    Overall 9
    9.0
     

    Overall an excellent product, good instructions, great manufactured finished and thermal specs. My OC E6850 @ 3.76MHz running Prime 95 doesn't go over 58ºC, which is certainly very good considering room temperature is 24ºC. I would have preferred PWM fan control but I get by adjusting it with speedfan and not going over 95% speed, to me anything above that becomes loud. The biggest issue I find is its size when fans are installed. They are so close to the DIMM´s that... Read more

  2. Core i7 cooling numbers?

    Reviewer: pratt, maximum pc
    20 June 2008

    I'm curious as to why Maximum PC has yet to include a Core i7 test bed. Core i7 thermals are much higher than C2Q's and it would be nice to see how well these coolers perform on i7 platforms. Granted the old Q6700 isn't the coolest of processors, but an i7 950 would be a better thermal test of these heat sinks because often these things work great with C2Q's but can't quite handle the high end thermals of an i7. Read more

  3. Top Quality CPU Cooler

    Reviewer: James Mulholland, Komplett.ie
    7 November 2009
    Overall 10
    10
     

    Had bought the Intel Core™ 2 Quad Q9550 2.83GHz and an ASUS P5Q Deluxe, P45, Socket-775 from Komplett ( both great value ) and wanted a good quality cooler for OCing the Quad-core - Noctua produce great cooling products, and have motherboard compatibility lists ( the P5Q Deluxe is ok with this cooler mounted horizontally ). This cooler is Top quality, 2 award-winning fans with y-connector, and bracket mounting system for all types of motherboard, so it's future-proof... Read more

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