Noctua NH-U12S CPU Cooler Review

1. Introduction2. Packaging and Bundle3. The Noctua NH-U12S CPU Cooler4. Installing the Noctua NH-U12S5. Testing Methodology6. Thermal Performance7. Acoustic Performance8. Closing Thoughts9. View All Pages

Overall we are impressed with what the Noctua NH-U12S CPU cooler has to offer.  It's great to see that Noctua is providing an option for those users who want to use tall memory with air cooling, as this model is designed specifically to allow this.

We were suitably impressed with both the thermal and acoustic performance of the NH-U12S in our tests, temperatures were close to the NH-U14S and it beat the Be Quiet Shadow Rock 2 by a considerable margin.

The NH-U12S features the same excellent mounting system as Noctua's other models which makes installation very easy indeed.  Noctua also thoughtfully supply an extra set of clips with the cooler, should you want to install an additional fan on the other side.

At a price of £53 from CCL, we feel that the NH-U12S is a little overpriced, however it offers a great balance between thermal and acoustic performance.  We doubt the coffee and cream colour scheme will be to everyone's tastes, however we don't think it's too bad.

Pros

• Impressive thermal performance.
• Very quiet.
• Leaves RAM slots completely clear on most motherboards.

Cons

• Expensive.

Kitguru says: An impressive cooler, but a little too expensive.

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