Noctua heatsink question

Associate
Joined
18 Nov 2007
Posts
121
Has anyone used a Noctua NH-U12F CPU fan on an Asus P5N32-E SLi motherboard with a quad core Q6600?

Just want to check if it fits (due to the copper heat pipes on the mobo) before I place an order.
 
I have the Noctua on an EVGA 680i board with a QX6700 and I must say I'm less than impressed with it's performance.

Stock speeds, I'm getting 49 degrees at idle.

The more I read, the less I think it works well with quad core CPUs...
 
I have the Noctua on an EVGA 680i board with a QX6700 and I must say I'm less than impressed with it's performance.

Stock speeds, I'm getting 49 degrees at idle.

The more I read, the less I think it works well with quad core CPUs...

Would the Tuniq Tower 120 be a better option?

The size of this one also worries me slightly.
 
Has anyone used a Noctua NH-U12F CPU fan on an Asus P5N32-E SLi motherboard with a quad core Q6600?

Just want to check if it fits (due to the copper heat pipes on the mobo) before I place an order.

Put a Noctua NH-U12F on my motherboard the other day, no problems.
 
With it in place I couldn't slide the motherboard tray back into my case! Luckily with the Silverstone case, everything strips down, so I was able to move the side strut out of the way. Thinking of going for the Tuniq next.
 
Yeah i've gotta say it was a bit hard to put back in but i figured it was because i didn't clear the case.
 
I have the Noctua on an EVGA 680i board with a QX6700 and I must say I'm less than impressed with it's performance.

Stock speeds, I'm getting 49 degrees at idle.

The more I read, the less I think it works well with quad core CPUs...

49 idle is NOT a good temperature, even for a QX6700.

my Q6600 at 3ghz at load is at 51 degrees.
 
same one. and i hate it.

i should have gotten an Ultra-120 extreme, because the fan i would have put on that is the same as the one i've got on my noctua-rubbish.
 
I'm not alone in being more than happy with Noctua.
Apart from performing very well they are very quiet.

I've had my Q6600 up to 3.6 GHz, Stress tested for 8 hours with Prime95 and the highest temp on any core was 66 C - Noctua heatsink - Link

If I was building another PC tomorrow it would have a Noctua on it.

It doesn't matter what piece of kit you consider, some will be happy and some won't - for a variety of reasons.

Have a look at the Quad Database - Link.

The best performances come from water cooling but amongst the air coolers there is more than one Noctua.
 
Last edited:
I'm not alone in being more than happy with Noctua.
Apart from performing very well they are very quiet.

I've had my Q6600 up to 3.6 GHz, Stress tested for 8 hours with Prime95 and the highest temp on any core was 66 C - Noctua heatsink.

If I was building another PC tomorrow it would have a Noctua on it.

It doesn't matter what piece of kit you consider, some will be happy and some won't - for a variety of reasons.

Have a look at the Quad Database - Link.

The best performances come from water cooling but amongst the air coolers there is more than one Noctua.

Nice one, thanks for that :)
 
Just to clarify.

If I were building a PC, in the near future, I wouldn't put a Noctua NH-U12F on it.

I'd wait and put a Noctua NH-U12P on instead.

You may have spotted This.

It's due 28th November - or thereabouts.
 
Last edited:
There's absolutely nothing wrong with the Noctua cooler. Apart from the Thermalright ultra-120 it's the best of the bunch by 2-3C as proved by many benchmarks I read before buying it. I've used it in my own build and on an E6320 on my bosses computer. Both times I was very happy with it. On the E6320 at 3Ghz the idle temps were 28C and never topped 45C. On my E6300 at 3.15 the load temps never top 50C.

I know quad cores run hotter but maybe you installed it wrong. The Tuniq tower is certainly not better then it. It might be a bit cheaper but you're only gonna be getting higher temps with one.

Personally If I spent all the money on a quad core then I'd most likely go for a Thermalright Ultra 120 just because they are the best and with a good fan they can beat the noctua by a few degrees.
 
Agreed - I don't want to start an argument, honestly, but some have problems with the base on the Thermalright units which is something to take into account :)
 
Back
Top Bottom