I was on board until the price. I paid £60 for my NH-D14 and expected a price bump considering it's now 8 years old, but nearly double the price is a bit too far.
Thanks for the review. Two questions/comments: 1. You mentioned the Evo212 in some paragraphs and a graph. I also believe that this is a good comparison cooler, as it also addresses price/performance. And, while the Noctua is a bit of a niche product, I would have like to see how it did compared to the higher priced "extra quiet" heatsinks shown. If you have the data, could you share them? 2. I know that many people who are looking for that kind of cooler wouldn't care for whatever setup came with their CPU. However, those have the best price - free (with the CPU). It would be nice to know just how much extra thermal performance one gets by replacing the coolers that come with the CPU. May suggestion is to show the performance of the respective boxed Intel and AMD cooler alongside. With AMD making noise about their Wraith Spire cooler's performance (included with most of their desktop CPUs), I would really like to know just how much better these aftermarket ones are. Thanks!
I'd absolutely love to find out how the newest Noctuas (UH12A, NH-U14S NH-D15, NH-D15S) compare to the older NH-D14, NU-U12S, and the Thermalright TRUE 120.
The results on Noctua's new gear is amazing, but I contacted Thermalright to ask about heat dissipation for my TRUE Black 120 from 2008, and found it's rated for a stunning 240 watts. I have two Noctua Redux 120mm 1300rpm fans on it and it's keeping a Core i9-9900K (running all eight cores at max turbo 4.8GHz at 100% usage in Folding@Home) stable , a bit over 80C at 160+ watts load under constant use. An eleven year old (admittedly heavy nickel-plate copper with six heat pipes) cooler. I'm still impressed.
I'd love to know how far we've really come since the D14 and TRUE120 just to see if there's a significant difference.
Thanks for the review. I'm becoming one of 'those' people that likes silence in their PC. I was waiting for this fan to come out and build a system around it! However, I have since read that the NH-D15 / NH-D15S is quieter and this review suggests that since it performs well at low rpm. Lower rpm than than the NH-U12A. I might also wait for the fanless monster.. for a mITX beast system :)
While this is interesting and I understand why AnandTech would review it, similar to feelings expressed towards the extreme high end PSUs and folks asking for more realistic and everyday reviews to compare to, I'd love to see you folks do a round-up of some of the middle and lower end 3rd-party CPU coolers that are out there.
My last few "utility" builds have used PCCOOLER Corona GI-X2B's and... they're fine. They're really fine. Basically silent under normal use. One 120mm fan with a LED ring, 2 heat pipes, rated for up to 105 TDP, for $15.
Sure, I wouldn't try to do any major overclocking with that but I suspect that for the 99%, these cheaper, less halo-premium CPU coolers are perfectly adequate and still way better than, for instance, stock Intel.
Really wish it was compared to regular budget coolers like the 212 in the graph.
At $100 its hitting the AIO water cooler heatsinks.
I see at newegg the CoolerMaster 212 is $35 with free shipping,
Cooler Master Hyper 212 LED with PWM Fan, Four Direct Contact Heatpipes, Unique Fan Blade Design, Red LEDs, Optimized Bracket
I'd love to know how this compares to that, its sort of the benchmark (pardon the pun) comparison point since its been used for ~10 yrs and on a multitude of platforms.
Using the stock AMD Wraith cooler, and putting that $100 into a better CPU would be much better, you'd get a substantial upgrade in CPU performance.
" At $100 its hitting the AIO water cooler heatsinks." maybe.. but how well would those AIO's cool compared to this one ? here. AIOs start at $65 cdn, but i doubt they would cool as well as this would.. i bought an NH-D15 for my 5930k, and at full speed.. my case fans are louder, and it keeps the cpu pretty cool even overclocked.. i liked the NH-D15 so much.. i grabbed one each for all of my comps, Phenom 2, an AMD FX, and my 2 X58 based cpus.
I think you're misunderstanding the target consumer here. Noctua has made such a solid product for so long now they have established themselves not only as a market leader but as a premium brand. Just look at the NH-U12A for example. While a very good product they raised the price higher giving it likely some of the highest profit margins of any cooler on the market because they can command that price. As their core market segment does not want water coolers no matter the price. Due to too many moving parts, etc. Or simply not have the room in the case and or not want ing to mess around with mounting a radator
There's some very important info missing from the review: the weight!
The first thing I look at with a cooler is its weight, considering how most of them hang off the motherboard. There's a reason AMD and Intel have cooler weight recommendations.
And yes, I know I can simply look up the cooler on Noctua's web site, but that doesn't change the fact that this information should be part of the review.
People always go on about the Coolermaster 212 but it has the suckiest mounting system in HSF history. I detest the things. My heart sinks if a customer brings in a system with one of those.
"Overall, the NH-U12A is designed to fit top-tier cooling performance into a more compact 120 mm cooler, as opposed to larger and more traditional 140 mm coolers."
This seems like a bit of an odd turn of phrase. AFAIK dual 120mm fan tower coolers have been around almost as long as single 120mm models; which has been a lot longer than 140mm models of any sort started to show up.
This stupid cooler is way overpriced and outdated. Nickel does not transfer heat better than copper. Why 2 fans? They’re only mere 2 inches apart, why not slap another 2 fans on it? Why Noctua always like to make heavy and big coolers? I’ll never support self-proclaimed “engineers” who has no clues about how to make better products.
Scythe Mugen 5 for me too. When I last found comparisons of this against eg Noctua it offered equivalent results for much less money, and has been working great for me.
But I'll probably just go with the Wraith cooler that will come with a top Ryzen 3000 chip. That does depend on 3950X tests when they surface, but current indications are that better cooling won't increase clocks.
This new AMD lineup will go a long way towards making high-end air - and of course any water loops - unnecessary. Those vendors must be getting nervous.
" This new AMD lineup will go a long way towards making high-end air - and of course any water loops - unnecessary. Those vendors must be getting nervous. " how so ??
Because, as I indicated, increasing the cooling on Ryzen 3000 CPUs does not appear to increase their boost clocks. I had certainly hoped otherwise. Beyond that, very few people will manually overclock Ryzen 3000 because that achieves nothing over PBO, except to waste power all the time.
So why go to premium air? And why even consider water? Except on Intel, but any vendor dependent on sales of those chips ought to be very nervous - as I said. The niche markets involved are getting smaller (for air) and much smaller (for water).
Thank you for the article. Lives up to the level of scientific rigor that anandtech has gotten me used to. This is very helpful and the graph of average thermal resistance at 12V will be a part of my go-to reference materials. I would like to request a similar graph for AIO liquid coolers if possible. Thank you once again for this in-depth article.
So funny reading people justifying the pricing. I think Noctua has gotten a little full of themselves. Unless this 120mm cooler equals the D15, $100 is silly. Too many options that will fit that space for half the cost.
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Tunnah - Thursday, July 11, 2019 - link
I was on board until the price. I paid £60 for my NH-D14 and expected a price bump considering it's now 8 years old, but nearly double the price is a bit too far.GreenReaper - Thursday, July 11, 2019 - link
The pound isn't worth what it used to be eight years ago, either:https://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=GBP&to...
nivedita - Thursday, July 11, 2019 - link
Noctua isn’t an American companylogamaniac - Thursday, July 11, 2019 - link
nor the pound an American currencyDug - Thursday, July 11, 2019 - link
Nice to see a new cooler review. Hopefully more can come down the pipeline and get rid of the old coolers on here that you can't even buy.eastcoast_pete - Thursday, July 11, 2019 - link
Thanks for the review. Two questions/comments:1. You mentioned the Evo212 in some paragraphs and a graph. I also believe that this is a good comparison cooler, as it also addresses price/performance. And, while the Noctua is a bit of a niche product, I would have like to see how it did compared to the higher priced "extra quiet" heatsinks shown. If you have the data, could you share them?
2. I know that many people who are looking for that kind of cooler wouldn't care for whatever setup came with their CPU. However, those have the best price - free (with the CPU). It would be nice to know just how much extra thermal performance one gets by replacing the coolers that come with the CPU. May suggestion is to show the performance of the respective boxed Intel and AMD cooler alongside. With AMD making noise about their Wraith Spire cooler's performance (included with most of their desktop CPUs), I would really like to know just how much better these aftermarket ones are. Thanks!
eastcoast_pete - Thursday, July 11, 2019 - link
For question 1. "It refers to the 212 cooler, the Noctua is obviously already shown.Mil0 - Friday, July 12, 2019 - link
I second the suggestion for comparing it to the wraith (spire), esp with Ryzen's PBO.Edkiefer - Thursday, July 11, 2019 - link
I always liked the NH-U14S there going for low 60$ (about same as NH-U12S). You do need a case to support the height.LoneWolf15 - Thursday, July 11, 2019 - link
I'd absolutely love to find out how the newest Noctuas (UH12A, NH-U14S NH-D15, NH-D15S) compare to the older NH-D14, NU-U12S, and the Thermalright TRUE 120.The results on Noctua's new gear is amazing, but I contacted Thermalright to ask about heat dissipation for my TRUE Black 120 from 2008, and found it's rated for a stunning 240 watts. I have two Noctua Redux 120mm 1300rpm fans on it and it's keeping a Core i9-9900K (running all eight cores at max turbo 4.8GHz at 100% usage in Folding@Home) stable , a bit over 80C at 160+ watts load under constant use. An eleven year old (admittedly heavy nickel-plate copper with six heat pipes) cooler. I'm still impressed.
I'd love to know how far we've really come since the D14 and TRUE120 just to see if there's a significant difference.
Oliseo - Friday, July 12, 2019 - link
I run a Corsair 115i Platinum (280mm) AIO on my i9 9900k, running at 5Ghz all cores with no AVX offset. (Uncore at 4.8)It never goes above 72 degrees, when running 100% rendering 3D models. (Where AVX is used heavily).
I do have the Noctua NH-D15 on my sons i7 9700k, but it's simply not as good as my AOI.
Qasar - Friday, July 12, 2019 - link
for $100 bucks more then the NH-D15, i would hope so, or it would be a rip off ;-)FreckledTrout - Friday, July 12, 2019 - link
Yeah this did remind me of my old Thermalright TRUE 120. I have it in a friends computer running an old 2600K I donated. That cooler is/was very nice.mjz_5 - Thursday, July 11, 2019 - link
Would love to see how this compares to the stock Ryzen coolerskeyserr - Thursday, July 11, 2019 - link
Thanks for the review. I'm becoming one of 'those' people that likes silence in their PC. I was waiting for this fan to come out and build a system around it! However, I have since read that the NH-D15 / NH-D15S is quieter and this review suggests that since it performs well at low rpm. Lower rpm than than the NH-U12A. I might also wait for the fanless monster.. for a mITX beast system :)Hyper72 - Saturday, July 20, 2019 - link
I'm with you there. I like my computer out of hearing and sight so it's great to see a nice review!jabber - Thursday, July 11, 2019 - link
Just love that fake limb plastic colour.Ashinjuka - Thursday, July 11, 2019 - link
While this is interesting and I understand why AnandTech would review it, similar to feelings expressed towards the extreme high end PSUs and folks asking for more realistic and everyday reviews to compare to, I'd love to see you folks do a round-up of some of the middle and lower end 3rd-party CPU coolers that are out there.My last few "utility" builds have used PCCOOLER Corona GI-X2B's and... they're fine. They're really fine. Basically silent under normal use. One 120mm fan with a LED ring, 2 heat pipes, rated for up to 105 TDP, for $15.
Sure, I wouldn't try to do any major overclocking with that but I suspect that for the 99%, these cheaper, less halo-premium CPU coolers are perfectly adequate and still way better than, for instance, stock Intel.
webdoctors - Friday, July 12, 2019 - link
+1Really wish it was compared to regular budget coolers like the 212 in the graph.
At $100 its hitting the AIO water cooler heatsinks.
I see at newegg the CoolerMaster 212 is $35 with free shipping,
Cooler Master Hyper 212 LED with PWM Fan, Four Direct Contact Heatpipes, Unique Fan Blade Design, Red LEDs, Optimized Bracket
I'd love to know how this compares to that, its sort of the benchmark (pardon the pun) comparison point since its been used for ~10 yrs and on a multitude of platforms.
Using the stock AMD Wraith cooler, and putting that $100 into a better CPU would be much better, you'd get a substantial upgrade in CPU performance.
piroroadkill - Friday, July 12, 2019 - link
But they did compare it to the 212 in the thermal resistance vs sound pressure level graph.The difference is stark.
Qasar - Friday, July 12, 2019 - link
" At $100 its hitting the AIO water cooler heatsinks." maybe.. but how well would those AIO's cool compared to this one ? here. AIOs start at $65 cdn, but i doubt they would cool as well as this would.. i bought an NH-D15 for my 5930k, and at full speed.. my case fans are louder, and it keeps the cpu pretty cool even overclocked.. i liked the NH-D15 so much.. i grabbed one each for all of my comps, Phenom 2, an AMD FX, and my 2 X58 based cpus.Skeptical123 - Friday, July 12, 2019 - link
I think you're misunderstanding the target consumer here. Noctua has made such a solid product for so long now they have established themselves not only as a market leader but as a premium brand. Just look at the NH-U12A for example. While a very good product they raised the price higher giving it likely some of the highest profit margins of any cooler on the market because they can command that price. As their core market segment does not want water coolers no matter the price. Due to too many moving parts, etc. Or simply not have the room in the case and or not want ing to mess around with mounting a radatormobutu - Friday, July 12, 2019 - link
Way way way too expensive so totally out of the realm of even considering this product.For Ryzen is even totally unnecessary unless your into heavy overclocking. You can get mild overclocking with the free included wraith cooler.
Spending that 100 usdollars into a better cpu/gpu is a no brainer.
sonny73n - Friday, July 12, 2019 - link
+1Only idiots overclock the CPU and spend more money for the cooler.
azrael- - Friday, July 12, 2019 - link
There's some very important info missing from the review: the weight!The first thing I look at with a cooler is its weight, considering how most of them hang off the motherboard. There's a reason AMD and Intel have cooler weight recommendations.
And yes, I know I can simply look up the cooler on Noctua's web site, but that doesn't change the fact that this information should be part of the review.
jabber - Friday, July 12, 2019 - link
People always go on about the Coolermaster 212 but it has the suckiest mounting system in HSF history. I detest the things. My heart sinks if a customer brings in a system with one of those.DanNeely - Friday, July 12, 2019 - link
"Overall, the NH-U12A is designed to fit top-tier cooling performance into a more compact 120 mm cooler, as opposed to larger and more traditional 140 mm coolers."This seems like a bit of an odd turn of phrase. AFAIK dual 120mm fan tower coolers have been around almost as long as single 120mm models; which has been a lot longer than 140mm models of any sort started to show up.
vailr - Friday, July 12, 2019 - link
For half the price, the Scythe Mugen 5B (~$45 on Amazon) seems to offer equivalent CPU cooling.D@ Br@b($)! - Saturday, July 13, 2019 - link
+1 and it's more quiet too.djayjp - Friday, July 12, 2019 - link
Yeah sure 250W load at 7v and only like 55C lol. BsSoulkeeper - Friday, July 12, 2019 - link
What was the RPM on the fans ?Did they manage to spin at their rated 2000rpm during the testing ?
Ryan Smith - Friday, July 12, 2019 - link
https://images.anandtech.com/graphs/graph14621/111...We reached 1920 RPM, which is well within the manufacturer's margin of error for the fans.
sonny73n - Friday, July 12, 2019 - link
This stupid cooler is way overpriced and outdated. Nickel does not transfer heat better than copper. Why 2 fans? They’re only mere 2 inches apart, why not slap another 2 fans on it? Why Noctua always like to make heavy and big coolers? I’ll never support self-proclaimed “engineers” who has no clues about how to make better products.Korguz - Friday, July 12, 2019 - link
ok sonny73n if you think you can design something better for less.. then go do it...D@ Br@b($)! - Saturday, July 13, 2019 - link
He doesn't have to. There are already coolers with similar performance for less money.keyserr - Friday, July 12, 2019 - link
I would like a section for performance @ normalised sound, maybe at 32db, 33db, 34db etc because 7volts gives different rpms and noise.Arbie - Friday, July 12, 2019 - link
Scythe Mugen 5 for me too. When I last found comparisons of this against eg Noctua it offered equivalent results for much less money, and has been working great for me.But I'll probably just go with the Wraith cooler that will come with a top Ryzen 3000 chip. That does depend on 3950X tests when they surface, but current indications are that better cooling won't increase clocks.
This new AMD lineup will go a long way towards making high-end air - and of course any water loops - unnecessary. Those vendors must be getting nervous.
Qasar - Saturday, July 13, 2019 - link
" This new AMD lineup will go a long way towards making high-end air - and of course any water loops - unnecessary. Those vendors must be getting nervous. " how so ??Arbie - Thursday, July 18, 2019 - link
Because, as I indicated, increasing the cooling on Ryzen 3000 CPUs does not appear to increase their boost clocks. I had certainly hoped otherwise. Beyond that, very few people will manually overclock Ryzen 3000 because that achieves nothing over PBO, except to waste power all the time.So why go to premium air? And why even consider water? Except on Intel, but any vendor dependent on sales of those chips ought to be very nervous - as I said. The niche markets involved are getting smaller (for air) and much smaller (for water).
D@ Br@b($)! - Saturday, July 13, 2019 - link
+1beginning - Saturday, July 13, 2019 - link
Thank you for the article. Lives up to the level of scientific rigor that anandtech has gotten me used to. This is very helpful and the graph of average thermal resistance at 12V will be a part of my go-to reference materials. I would like to request a similar graph for AIO liquid coolers if possible. Thank you once again for this in-depth article.Showtime - Saturday, July 13, 2019 - link
So funny reading people justifying the pricing. I think Noctua has gotten a little full of themselves. Unless this 120mm cooler equals the D15, $100 is silly. Too many options that will fit that space for half the cost.Orange_Swan - Sunday, July 14, 2019 - link
I love Noctua’s performance, but I really hate their color choice.Surfacround - Monday, July 15, 2019 - link
great, the be quiet! dark rock pro 3 is not available, and it is a copy of the noctua cooler... no wonder it beats the noctua cooler. moot point.max347 - Wednesday, July 31, 2019 - link
Ah good, I was hoping to find a review of the new Ultra 120 TRUE....oh wait...