NOCTUA’S LATEST COOLER is big. Yes, it’s
120mm standard, but with fans mounted
on both sides of a beefy heatsink, it takes
up a lot of space inside your case. It’s
not too big to handle, though, with an
asymmetric design that ensures it can fit
alongside your RAM and GPU even if you’re
filling every slot on an AM4 or LGA115x
motherboard. Noctua fully redesigned
its heatsink model for the NH-U12A, the
new design featuring seven heat pipes
(as opposed to the conventional six) and
increased fin surface area. The heatsink
is 6.2 inches (158mm) tall, meaning that
it won’t fit in some smaller cases, but this
size ensures its capability. The objective
was to deliver a 120mm cooler that could
perform at the same levels as 140mm
ones, and Noctua has succeeded there.
With both fans attached, this cooler
is bulky, but it can still comfortably
squeeze in between the RAM and rear I/O
shroud—quite an achievement.
The fans are Noctua’s 120mm NF-
A12x25 PWM models, which come in their
typical brown and beige color scheme,
evoking the faintly kitschy computer
design aesthetics of the pre-2000 era.
The wire brackets that attach them are
awkward, but ultimately quite secure,
rubber pads ensuring minimal vibration
during use. Looking past this, it’s hard
to fault these fans; they run whisper-
quiet, and ensure good airflow through
the heatsink. Pulse-width modulation
support means they deliver variable RPM
based on the temperature of the CPU.
There’s always the option to remove one
and fit it into the case instead, too.
It’s not the easiest cooler in the
world to install. As always, getting the
backplate to remain in place while you
secure the first screw is a hassle, but
that’s the case with any heatsink—a
bigger issue is the thick plastic washers
and the two spring-loaded screws on
Noctua’s newest
CPU cooler is out to
give water cooling a
run for its money
Noctua
NH-U12A
9
VERDICT Noctua NH-U12AHEATSINK Runs quietly;
new heatsink design; good
for overclocking.
ICE RINK Costly for a fan cooler; bulky;
tricky to install.
$100, w w w.noctua.atSPECIFICATIONSSocket Compatibility Intel LGA1150,
LGA1151, LGA1155,
LGA1156, LGA2011,
LGA2066, and
AMD AM4, AM3(+),
AM2(+), FM1, FM2(+)
Cooler Size 120mm
Cooler Dimensions 6.2 x 4.6 x 4.4 inches
Cold Plate Material Copper
Fan Airflow 60.1cfm
Fan Noise 18–23dBA
Warranty Six yearsthe base of the cooler tower. There’s a
lot in the box; the U12A can be fitted to
any AM-series AMD motherboard as well
as Intel-compatible LGA-115x and LGA-
20xx models, so it comes with a variety
of brackets and screws, and backward
compatibility with older mobos is a
pleasant addition. The cooler comes with
the fans attached to the heatsink, but they
need to be removed in order to install it,
and they can be tricky to reattach.STRESSED TO KILL
This cooler does its job well. Even running
multiple benchmarking programs at
once (we forgot that Prime 95 considers
the “close” button to be a mere blue-
sky suggestion, and accidentally left it
running in the background as we opened
Cinebench), our CPU temperature barely
reached 60 C. At idle, the Ryzen 5 2600X
sat comfortably below 30 C. It’s not noisy,
either—even stress tests that had the
f a n s r u n n i n g a t f u l l p e l t w e r e n ’ t p r o d u c i n g
much noise, and while idling they were
almost inaudible. It handles overclocking
well, too; without raising the voltage, we
pumped up the CPU to 4.2GHz, and the
Noctua easily outperformed a standard
AMD Wraith Stealth running at stock
clocks. This cooler means business—it’ll
keep overclocked CPUs cool even when
running more demanding software.
Our system crashed repeatedly during
overclocked processor stress tests with
the Wraith Stealth, while the U12A kept
us afloat.
The main downside here is the cost.
For a cooler devoid of any liquids, $100
is a steep price to pay—even if theperformance is undeniable. It’s still
cheaper than an all-in-one cooler of
similar quality, though, so if you don’t
like the idea of liquid cooling, it’s an
excellent choice. Is it perfect? Not
quite. The chunky design, objectionable
color scheme, and overly complicated
installation process hold this cooler back
a little, but it does perform excellently.
It might not be as elegant a solution as
a high-tech AIO cooler, but you get your
money’s worth—even if the price isn’t
exactly low. –CHRISTIAN GUYTONmaximumpc.com JUN 2019 MAXIMUMPC 87