May 15 2006, 11:51 PM, updated 20y ago
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
Conclusion:
The first thing that comes to mind is: Wow. I am impressed with the performance of these coolers. Up until this review, the XP-90C had been the best air cooler that I've had the opportunity to review.
Looking at the first four sets of temperature results from the chart above, the Noctua NH-U9 (while using the 29 CFM 80mm fan) matched the XP-90C's performance with the 37 CFM 92mm 922 model fan. I was very skeptical considering the moderate performance of the previously reviewed Tuniq Tower 112 (a cooler similar in design to these Noctua NH heatsinks) compared to the XP-90C. The smaller NH-U9 matched it's performance with the "weakest" fan provided. When using the same 37 CFM 92mm 922 model fan on the NH-U9 at 2700Mhz with 1.55v, the XP-90C falls behind.
The NH-U9 shows clear benefits from higher CFM fans as well as a dual-fan configuration.
The NH-U12 definitely benefits from the higher CFM 120mm fan (1202 model), but it loses a tiny bit of it's cooling capacity when adding a second 120mm fan. I double-checked this to verify my results and sure enough, they were the same.
All of the cooling configurations were suprisingly quiet, especially the NH-U12 with a single 120mm fan pulling through the fins. It would of course be very easy to turn this into an insanely loud cooler using a very high CFM fan, and I'm willing to bet the performance would only get better.
I wouldn't hesitate to recommend these coolers to anyone, however, I would check to see if the NH-U12 is compatible with your motherboard before buying one.
Pros:
Excellent cooling.
Easy installation.
Quality construction.
Cons:
NH-U12 is pretty large, may interfere with components on some motherboards.
The first thing that comes to mind is: Wow. I am impressed with the performance of these coolers. Up until this review, the XP-90C had been the best air cooler that I've had the opportunity to review.
Looking at the first four sets of temperature results from the chart above, the Noctua NH-U9 (while using the 29 CFM 80mm fan) matched the XP-90C's performance with the 37 CFM 92mm 922 model fan. I was very skeptical considering the moderate performance of the previously reviewed Tuniq Tower 112 (a cooler similar in design to these Noctua NH heatsinks) compared to the XP-90C. The smaller NH-U9 matched it's performance with the "weakest" fan provided. When using the same 37 CFM 92mm 922 model fan on the NH-U9 at 2700Mhz with 1.55v, the XP-90C falls behind.
The NH-U9 shows clear benefits from higher CFM fans as well as a dual-fan configuration.
The NH-U12 definitely benefits from the higher CFM 120mm fan (1202 model), but it loses a tiny bit of it's cooling capacity when adding a second 120mm fan. I double-checked this to verify my results and sure enough, they were the same.
All of the cooling configurations were suprisingly quiet, especially the NH-U12 with a single 120mm fan pulling through the fins. It would of course be very easy to turn this into an insanely loud cooler using a very high CFM fan, and I'm willing to bet the performance would only get better.
I wouldn't hesitate to recommend these coolers to anyone, however, I would check to see if the NH-U12 is compatible with your motherboard before buying one.
Pros:
Excellent cooling.
Easy installation.
Quality construction.
Cons:
NH-U12 is pretty large, may interfere with components on some motherboards.
Mod can closed this topic anytime if no discussion anymore.
Quote
0.0508sec
0.92
5 queries
GZIP Disabled