Noctua NH U9B Cooler SE 2 with Silverstone Sugo SG07

1. Introduction2. The Noctua NH U9B SE 2 Cooler3. The Installation4. Testing Methodology5. Noctua NH D9B SE2 Testing (full speed)6. Noctua NH D9B SE2 Testing (low noise settings)7. Noctua NH D9B SE2 Testing (ultra low noise settings)8. Noctua NH D9B SE2 Testing (fan disabled)9. Closing Thoughts10. View All Pages

We are using the KitGuru award winning Silverstone Sugo SG07 for the system build today and we dismantled the system which we are currently using as a media center in one of our rooms.

The image above shows the excellent Zotac H55 ITX motherboard and the Thermaltake Slim X3 inside the chassis before we dismantled it. We previously had a GTX460 in the system but today we are going to see if it is possible to passively cool the system.

The Noctua U9B SE2 is supplied with three sets of plastic bags. One contains Intel specific components, another contains AMD specific components and the last has ‘shared' items between the system builds.

Both Intel and AMD builds use the mounting brackets seen above, these actually mount to the upper side of the heatsink and extend to allow mounting to the motherboard kit. This process takes only a few minutes.

The backplate is fitted in exactly the same manner as the NH D14 which can be seen here.

The center bolt on each side then screws into the motherboard mounting plates. It is worth noting however that the mounting position above will not allow graphics cards with any rear mounted passive heatsinks to be fitted. it is a few millimeters from the PCI express slot.

We therefore need to rotate the heatsink 90 degrees to allow for more room next to the Zotac H55 ITX PCI express slot. This obviously would be the best position anyway for fan mounting as the case has airflow holes on the side panels, not the rear.

In this position there will not be enough room for extended heatspreader memory fitting – but our tried and trusted 1600mhz DDR3 Kingston ram fits without a problem.

The images above show one 92mm fitted to the cooler, even though two fans are supplied the fitting of the other one would completely block the PCIe slot on the right. This board does have onboard graphics but as this is going to be used as a 1080p media center we are aiming to include a high quality discrete solution.

We are also going to try this system in a fanless state, although whether the Core i5 CPU can operate without airflow is a question yet unanswered.

The Zotac motherboard installed back in the Silverstone Sugo SG07 chassis. You will see the Sapphire HD5670 Ultimate Edition also installed. It fits barely, as the heatsink of this graphics card extends to the rear of the PCB and also increases the breadth of the card from the slot.

Regular readers will remember that in our original review of the Silverstone Sugo SG07 that there is a 180mm AP181 Air Penetrator fan installed, which we reviewed a short while ago.

This fan however has to be removed for two reasons. Firstly – it takes up a large portion of the inside chassis space meaning neither the Noctua NH U9B or the Sapphire 5670 Ultimate Edition can be installed. Removal is straightforward – three screws hold it in place at the top of the chassis and two tiny screws at the rear of the chassis hold the ‘low' and ‘high' fan speed controller in place.

We can now seal up the chassis and fire the system up.

Become a Patron!