Noctua NH-U12F CPU Heatsink... opinions?

Richdog · 3 Apr 2007 at 15:20

Been looking for a new quiet and efficient cooler to replace my ageing Thermalright SI-120 + Panaflo combo and stumbled upon this wee baby. reviews seem excelllent on the whole, and the fan is highly respected as one of the quietest and most efficient out there, as well as being worth ~£15 all by itself http://www.neoseeker.com/Hardware/Products/noctua_nhu12f/

I also note it's dual-fan friendly (and comes with fittings for 2 fans) should wou want that all-important extra 1c drop in CPu temps (lol) and while I wouldn't bother with it, it's a nice feature.

The large design if the HSF just looks very very good and geared towards low-cfm fans which is always better than similarly performing heatsinks that rely on high-rpm fans to get their performance.

This baby is supposed to be every bit as good as the Tuniq... so is anyone running one now and how do you find it?

p4radox · 3 Apr 2007 at 16:16

Mishima has one and swears by it. You can't really go wrong with any of the mainstream tower-style heatsinks to be honest.

nicktay2605 · 4 Apr 2007 at 17:14

I've got one on my new build and I think it's excellent. Does a very good job with cooling

Richdog · 4 Apr 2007 at 19:23

Was it easy to install? How silent is it? Will order one of these next week I think.

GreenMint · 4 Apr 2007 at 22:56

I have one too, but not yet fitted, been sitting in the box for 4 weeks cause i keep chickening out of it for som reason, prob some mental delusion as its the first *back of the board bracket* cooler i've had to install and i'm worried about ballsing it up despite building lots of pc's!

I PLAN to install it tomorrow...time will tell if i do! hehe

Richdog · 5 Apr 2007 at 07:54

Ivan sell it to me!

GreenMint · 5 Apr 2007 at 12:29

Richdog said:
Ivan sell it to me!

Oh don't say that! i'll end up doing it then having to put up with my defecting AC7!!!

But i dunno if it'll fully fit on my mobo...hang on...stop putting seeds of doubt in my mind!! /swat!

Richdog · 5 Apr 2007 at 12:31

Ivan Drago said:
Oh don't say that! i'll end up doing it then having to put up with my defecting AC7!!!

But i dunno if it'll fully fit on my mobo...hang on...stop putting seeds of doubt in my mind!! /swat!

To be honest mate I really dont think it'll fit in your rig... i'd check right now if I were you... then come back here and offer it to me!

GreenMint · 5 Apr 2007 at 15:06

Richdog said:
To be honest mate I really dont think it'll fit in your rig... i'd check right now if I were you... then come back here and offer it to me!

Checked, installed, praised

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17713651

yay!! GET ONE!!

mishima · 5 Apr 2007 at 23:10

Didn't spot this thread! As the other chaps say its a fantastic cooler, highly recommended by myself have a look in the sig for some pics and a bit of a verdict

Ivan's thread says it all too.

C64 · 6 Apr 2007 at 00:12

Almost got it myself but was reluctant and went for the tried and trusted safe tuniq tower.

WJA96 · 6 Apr 2007 at 09:40

From the results that have been posted it's better than the Tuniq Tower, but not as good as the Thermalright Ultra-120, and if the Ultra-120 Extreme is as good as reports say it is, then everyone else will have to have a rethink about their designs.

mishima · 6 Apr 2007 at 09:52

The Ultra-120 seems a very good cooler the thing that put me off was the fact it didn't have a fan with it. At most places it retails at £35ish and the additional fan would bump that up to £45-50 depending on what you purchased. Whether its worth the extra £10-15 I'm not sure, all the coolers of this type offer similar results and we're talking a few degrees cooler/hotter here and there.

Richdog · 6 Apr 2007 at 09:55

WJA96 said:
From the results that have been posted it's better than the Tuniq Tower, but not as good as the Thermalright Ultra-120, and if the Ultra-120 Extreme is as good as reports say it is, then everyone else will have to have a rethink about their designs.

The problem is that the Thermalright Core2 mounting system is appalling... absolutely appalling... it doesn't even come with a fan (the Noctua is a quality fan)... and I have seen no reviews yet that compare it to the Noctua. In fact i've seen no decent reviews of the extreme whatsoever. Anandtech doesn't count because their reviews are now reaching the "shockingly bad" stage, I cringe to read them almost.

The Noctua is definately the one for me... the wide-spaced fins just beg for lower rpm fans and lets face it, at worst the difference in cooling between it and the Ultra 120 Extreme i'm going to be 1-2c max... if that. Added to which installation is meant to be very painless and it can be positioned any way you like. No to to mention the possibility of adding another silent fan (mountings included) for improving the cooling 1-3c. I'm ordering this weekend and then get it installed Tuesday or Wednesday when my new Corsair PSU arrives.

mishima · 6 Apr 2007 at 10:18

It does seem to be the better choice as you have said with those advantages listed. You can purchase a bracket for the Ultra-120 that secures it onto the motherboard more securely but thats another £5. Thats £50-55 now inc. fan. For an air cooler it seems very steep when you total it all up, when you can purchase something cheaper that could be either a few degrees cooler/hotter.

WJA96 · 6 Apr 2007 at 11:21

mishima said:
It does seem to be the better choice as you have said with those advantages listed. You can purchase a bracket for the Ultra-120 that secures it onto the motherboard more securely but thats another £5. Thats £50-55 now inc. fan. For an air cooler it seems very steep when you total it all up, when you can purchase something cheaper that could be either a few degrees cooler/hotter.

I've confused you by mixing my Thermalrights! The Ultra 120 comes with the bolt-down bracket, it's the HR-01 that doesn't. You do need to add a 120mm fan, but if you have an Akasa Amber lying about (and lots of people do) it's not that much more expensive. And my PC is worth it!

mcc49 · 6 Apr 2007 at 11:45

My Ultra 120 comes with all the brackets I need for LGA775 sockets and I am glad I got it for my TJ09 over the Tuniq as it allowed me to choose my own quiet fan and the mobo tray can be removed without unscrewing the support bars on the case.

mishima · 6 Apr 2007 at 11:48

WJA96 said:
I've confused you by mixing my Thermalrights! The Ultra 120 comes with the bolt-down bracket, it's the HR-01 that doesn't. You do need to add a 120mm fan, but if you have an Akasa Amber lying about (and lots of people do) it's not that much more expensive. And my PC is worth it!

Sorry yeah I did confuse the HR-01 my mistake, that was right cause I was persuing those brackets for the HR-01 a few months back.

GreenMint · 6 Apr 2007 at 11:51

Just a bit of proof of the results, REALLY happy, this is pretty much light/idle use

MSN with 3 windows, coretemp, outlook express, ie 7 w/ 5 tabs, itunes etc..

Chuffed!

mishima · 6 Apr 2007 at 12:03

Sweet, thats what I was getting at idle too. Overclocked to 3GHz and it moved up to only 35C and 43/44C fully loaded.