This ought to be an interesting contest. Here’s the tested configuration:

The Zalman CNPS9700 NT cooler was tested with Zalman’s ZM-STG1 Super Thermal Grease that comes with the cooler. The Noctua NH-U12P with Noctua’s NT-H1 Premium Thermal Compound. I felt that by using what was provided by the manufacturer would paint a much more accurate picture of your “out-of-the-box” experience with the cooler. The CPU head spreader was thoroughly cleaned with Arctic Silver’s ArctiClean when switching between coolers.

With room temperature at 68°, the test bed was booted cold and allowed to run for thirty minutes before recording idle temperatures with EVEREST Ultimate Edition.

EVEREST Ultimate Edition’s System Stability Test was used to fully load the E6600’s dual cores, cache and FPU while providing critical and comprehensive monitoring of temperatures, fan speeds and voltages, and reporting minimum, maximum and average temperatures of the CPU.

Removing as much extraneous noise from the room as possible, a Galaxy Audio CM-130 Check Mate SPL Meter was used to obtain the decibel readings for both CPU coolers used in the test. The meter was placed six inches from the cooler and positioned to minimize the impact the fan’s airflow would have on the readings. Noise levels were recorded over the length of the Stability Test and then averaged. Keep in mind that the results obtained are specific to the particular configuration of the test bed used, which is an open-air environment to facilitate faster and easier hardware changes. Your results will vary depending on your specific hardware configuration.

Let take a look at the cooling results first.

As expected, the Noctua NH-U12P CPU Cooler provides better cooling under idle and load conditions than the Zalman CNP9700 NT. With a second NF-P12 fan installed, the improvement in cooling isn’t as dramatic as you might expect. For my particular configuration, the single fan NH-U12P is probably optimal, and adding another fan isn’t going to give me much more than additional weight. A higher overclock would definitely be a different story, where a second NF-P12 would be more beneficial in driving down the increased CPU temperatures.

Now let’s look at the noise results.

The Noctua NH-U12P outperforms the Zalman again. Even better, adding a second fan didn’t result in a major increase in noise. There are several reasons for this. First, Noctua’s NF-P12 is a very quiet fan to begin with compared to other fans—even when it’s running full speed at 100%. Second, the fan header that the second fan was connected to on the motherboard was set in the BIOS to run at 50% until the CPU hit 60° C—which it never did during the tests. It’s always good to have as many flexible, user configurable BIOS features on a motherboard, particularly when overclocking. You can fine-tune the board for performance while adjusting fan speeds so you don’t end up going deaf from all the fans maxed out, or droning at some generalized pre-selected speed. Of course losing your hearing from excessive fan noise is less likely to happen if the fans are made by Noctua…

Final Impressions and Conclusions

Nowadays, it’s rare getting a product that does everything right straight out of the box. But when the company is Noctua, you come to expect that sort of thing—and they deliver. Everything from packaging to the quality and execution of the Noctua NH-U12P CPU Cooler kit is top-notch. Even their NT-H1 Thermal Compound rocks—it sets up fast with no “break-in” time, works great and cleans up even quicker (look for a more comprehensive review of Noctua’s NT-H1 here soon). The NH-U12P is easy to install, upgrade with an additional fan, and cranks out some serious cooling power while remaining satisfyingly quiet. Provided you select the right case and components, there’s no reason why you couldn’t put together a killer gaming rig or workstation that you’d have to do a double-take to see if it was actually turned on.

Drawbacks? Well, there’s the most obvious—the fan’s looks. I suppose if aesthetics is worth as much or more to you than performance (if it is, fair enough), you can always replace Noctua’s tan and brown NF-P12 with something more to your liking. Good luck finding one that can cool just as well and just as quietly as the NF-P12…

Fitment, depending on your motherboard and case, might be an issue. Again, when you’re dealing with oversized CPU coolers, there’s no substitute for a little advanced research and the generous use of a tape measure. Noctua tests motherboards on an ongoing basis. Measure your case—particularly if it’s one of the smaller tower case—check around the CPU socket for any possible obstructions (don’t forget that tape measure), and check Noctua’s Motherboard Compatibility Listing for the NH-U12P. Noctua evaluates motherboards on an ongoing basis. And while it’s impossible for them to do so for every motherboard in existence, if you don’t see your particular board on the list—contact Noctua Tech Support. You may find that your board just might work fine with the NH-U12P.

Unless your CPU is really pushing the safe limit for air-cooled overclocking, I don’t think that adding a second fan is worth the extra expense or weight. A single NF-P12 is more than capable of getting the job done.

As long as we’re on the subject of expense, we might as well talk about cost. A Noctua NH-U12P runs in the neighborhood of the mid-to-upper $60 range on the street—not exactly a cheap neighborhood. Add a second NF-P12 and you’re looking at over eighty bucks worth of cooling (forget neighborhood, you just entered Penthouse territory). With a highly overclocked processor, that’s cheaper than most entry-level water-cooling kits. And it’s not unheard of for a dual-fan NH-U12P to perform just as well—or better—than those entry level kits. Still, if you’re building a budget system or one that you’ll never overclock, you can save yourself some money and get by with a much cheaper CPU cooler that will work just as well for you.

But the NH-U12P isn’t a CPU cooler for those who can “get by” with average cooling. It’s a premier cooler for enthusiasts who are fanatical and passionate about impeccable engineering, no-compromise air-cooled performance and quiet—or all of the above. If you’re that kind of enthusiast, then the Noctua NH-U12P CPU Cooler deserves a place inside your rig.

Barry’s Rigs ‘n Reviews would like to thank Jakob Dellinger of Noctua for providing the sample for this review, and making it possible!

NH-U12P Home Page

Motherboard Compatibility List

Noctua Tech Support