The NH-U12S is an attempt by Noctua to take everything we like about the larger NH-U12P and cram it into a slimmed down form factor for improve compatibility.
May 7, 2013 by Lawrence Lee
Product | Noctua NH-U12S CPU Cooler |
Manufacturer | Noctua |
Street Price | US$60 |
Noctua is not the most innovative player in the PC cooling market but their brand has withstood the rigors of time better than most. Their strategy of offering a small selection of premium CPU coolers and fans, has for the most part, paid off. Today, the competition is fiercer than ever and we’ve noticed Noctua starting to react to the market more quickly than in years past. The last two of their products we reviewed, the NH-L12 and NH-L9i, were new low profile heatsinks, a response to the increasing popularity of SFF systems.
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Their latest, the NH-U12S, is based on the NH-U12P, a former flagship tower cooler that debuted five years ago. As a testament to its design, a variant is still being sold to this day. The U12S isn’t a replacement however, rather an attempt to take everything we like about the U12P and stuff it into a smaller form factor. The older, bigger U12P measures 71 mm across, making it one of the widest single tower heatsinks we’ve encountered, so wide that it extends over a DIMM slot on most motherboards. If you have standard sized memory, this is a minor inconvenience but over the past few years we’ve noticed a proliferation of desktop memory with large fanciful heatspreaders which pose a more serious problem.
At 158 mm, the U12S is the same height but it’s only 46 mm wide, almost a full inch narrower. While it is more compact, it surprisingly weighs almost the same as the U12P. Noctua equipped the U12S with an additional heatpipe and extra fins packed in a tighter formation, so despite its lack of size, the heat dissipation area remains high. As a result, the heatsink body is fairly dense.
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Once again we applaud Noctua for a fastidiously organized package. The heatsink and accessories are split up into four separate well-organized boxes. The smaller containers hold the mounting gear for AMD and Intel installations, while the longer box houses a screw driver, case badge, thermal compound, 4-pin PWM low noise adapter, fan isolation strips, and dampeners and extra clips for a second fan.
Noctua NH-U12S: Specifications (from the product web page) | |
Socket compatibility | Intel LGA2011 (Square ILM), LGA1156, LGA1155, LGA1150 & AMD AM2, AM2+, AM3, AM3+, FM1, FM2 (backplate required) |
Dimensions (without fan) | 158 x 125 x 45 mm (H x W x D) |
Dimensions (with fan) | 158 x 125 x 71 mm (H x W x D) |
Weight (without fan) | 580 g |
Weight (with fan) | 755 g |
Material | Copper (base and heat-pipes), aluminum (cooling fins), soldered joints & nickel plating |
Fan compatibility | 120x120x25 |
Scope of Delivery | NF-F12 PWM premium fan Low-Noise Adaptor (L.N.A.) NT-H1 high-grade thermal compound SecuFirm2™ Mounting Kit Anti-vibration pads and fan-clips for second NF-F12 Noctua Metal Case-Badge |
Warranty | 6 Years |
Fan Specifications | |
Model | Noctua NF-F12 PWM |
Bearing | SSO2 |
Max. Rotational Speed (+/- 10%) | 1500 RPM |
Max. Rotational Speed with L.N.A. (+/- 10%) | 1200 RPM |
Min. Rotational Speed (PWM) | 300 RPM |
Max. Airflow | 93,4 m³/h |
Max. Airflow with L.N.A. | 74,3 m³/h |
Max. Acoustical Noise | 22,4 dB(A) |
Max. Acoustical Noise with L.N.A. | 18,6 dB(A) |
Input Power | 0.6 W |
Voltage Range | 12 V |
MTBF | > 150,000 h |
PHYSICAL DETAILS & INSTALLATION
The NH-U12S is composed of a copper base, five copper heatpipes, and 50 aluminum fins, all nickel-plated. With the fan installed, it measures 158 x 125 x 71 mm or 6.2 x 4.9 x 2.8 inches (H x W x D) and weighs 750 grams according to our digital scale.
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BASE & INSTALLATION
The most critical aspect of installation is that the heatsink be securely
mounted. A firm mating results in good contact between the heatsink’s base and
the CPU heatspreader and more efficient heat conduction. Ideally it should
also be a simple procedure with the user having to handle as few pieces of
hardware as possible.
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TESTING
Before thermal testing, we took some basic physical measurements.
Approximate Physical Measurements | |
Weight | 580 g 750 g with stock fan |
Height | 158 mm |
Fin count | 50 |
Fin thickness | 0.45 mm |
Fin spacing | 1.72 mm |
Vertical Clearance* | 43 mm |
* measured from the motherboard PCB to the bottom fin of the heatsink. |
Small Heatsink Comparison: Average Fin Thickness & Spacing | ||
Heatsink | Fin Thickness | Fin Spacing |
Scythe Big Shuriken 2 Rev.B | 0.29 mm | 1.13 mm |
Noctua NH-L9i | 0.44 mm | 1.16 mm |
Scythe Big Shuriken | 0.33 mm | 1.19 mm |
Reeven Vanxie | 0.28 mm | 1.39 mm |
Reeven Arcziel | 0.28 mm | 1.41 mm |
Cooler Master GeminII M4 | 0.29 mm | 1.46 mm |
Noctua NH-L12 | 0.49 mm | 1.51 mm |
Scythe Kozuti | 0.12 mm | 1.69 mm |
Noctua NH-U12S | 0.45 mm | 1.72 mm |
Scythe Samurai ZZ | 0.33 mm | 1.74 mm |
Thermalright TRUE Spirit 120M | 0.43 mm | 1.78 mm |
Prolimatech Panther | 0.53 mm | 1.80 mm |
Phanteks PH-TC90LS | 0.47 mm | 1.90 mm |
Testing on larger heatsinks are done on our
LGA1366 heatsink testing platform, while smaller coolers tackle our LGA1155 heatsink testing platform. A summary of the test system
and procedure follows.
Key Components in LGA1366 Heatsink Test Platform:
- Intel Core i7-965 Extreme
Nehalem core, LGA1366, 3.2GHz, 45nm, 130W TDP. - Asus
P6X58D Premium ATX motherboard. X58 chipset. - Asus
EAH3450 Silent graphics card. - Intel
X25-M 80GB 2.5″ solid-state drive. Chosen for silence. - 3GB QiMonda
DDR3 memory. 3 x 1GB DDR3-1066 in triple channel. - Seasonic X-650 SS-650KM
650W ATX power supply. This PSU is semi-passively cooled. At the power levels
of our test platform, its fan does not spin. - Arctic Silver
Lumière: Special fast-curing thermal interface material, designed
specifically for test labs.
Key Components in LGA1155 Heatsink Test Platform:
- Intel Core i5-2400 Sandy Bridge core, LGA1155, 3.1 GHz, 45nm, 95W TDP, overclocked/volted to 3.6 GHz and 1.300V.
- Intel DP67BG ATX motherboard.
P67 chipset. - Asus
EAH3450 Silent graphics card. - Kingston
SSDNow V 30GB 2.5″ solid-state drive. Chosen for silence. - OCZ Platinum Extreme Low Voltage DDR3 memory. 2 x 2 GB, DDR3-1333 in dual channel.
- Seasonic X-400 SS-400FL
400W ATX power supply. Passively cooled - Arctic Silver
Lumière: Special fast-curing thermal interface material, designed
specifically for test labs.
The systems are silent under the test conditions, except for the CPU cooling
fan(s).
Normally, our reference fans are used whenever possible, the measured details
of which are shown below.
Reference Noctua 140mm fan Anechoic chamber measurements | ||
Voltage | SPL@1m | Speed |
12V | 28~29 dBA | 1250 RPM |
9V | 21 dBA | 990 RPM |
8V | 18 dBA | 880 RPM |
7V | 15~16 dBA | 770 RPM |
6V | 13 dBA | 660 RPM |
Reference Nexus 120 mm fan Anechoic chamber measurements | ||
Voltage | SPL@1m | Speed |
12V | 16 dBA | 1080 RPM |
9V | 13 dBA | 880 RPM |
7V | 12 dBA | 720 RPM |
Reference Nexus 92 mm fan Anechoic chamber measurements | ||
Voltage | SPL@1m | Speed |
12V | 16 dBA | 1470 RPM |
9V | 12 dBA | 1150 RPM |
Measurement and Analysis Tools
- Extech 380803 AC power analyzer / data logger for measuring AC system
power. - Custom-built, four-channel variable DC power supply, used to regulate
the fan speed during the test. - PC-based spectrum analyzer:
SpectraPlus with ACO Pacific mic and M-Audio digital
audio interfaces. - Anechoic chamber
with ambient level of 11 dBA or lower - Various other tools for testing fans, as documented in our
standard fan testing methodology. - SpeedFan,
used to monitor the on-chip thermal sensors. The sensors are not calibrated,
so results are not universally applicable. The hottest core reading is used. - Prime95,
used to stress the LGA1366 CPU heavily, generating more heat than most real applications.
8 instances are used to ensure that all 4 cores (with Hyper-threading) are
stressed. - CPU-Z,used to monitor the CPU speed to determine when overheating occurs.
- Thermometers to measure the air temperature around the test platform
and near the intake of the heatsink fan.
Noise measurements are made with the fans powered from the lab’s variable DC
power supply while the rest of the system was off to ensure that system noise
did not skew the measurements.
Load testing was accomplished using Prime95 to stress the processor and the
graph function in SpeedFan was used to ensure that the load temperature is stable
for at least ten minutes. The temperature recorded is the highest single core
reading. The stock fans were tested at various voltages to represent a good
cross-section of airflow and noise performance.
The ambient conditions during testing were 10~11 dBA and 21~23°C.
Stock Fan Measurements
Specifications: Noctua NH-U12S Stock Fan | |||
Manufacturer | Noctua | Power Rating | 0.6 W |
Model Number | NF-F12 PWM | Airflow Rating | 93,4 m³/h 74,3 m³/h with LNA |
Bearing Type | SSO2 | Speed Rating | 1,500 RPM 1,200 RPM with LNA |
Frame Size | 120 x 120 x 25 mm | Noise Rating | 22.4 dBA 18.6 dBA with LNA |
Hub Size | 41 mm | Header Type | 4-pin |
Blade Diameter | 113 mm | Corner Type | Open |
Cable Length | 20 cm | Weight | 170 g |
Starting Voltage | 5.5 V | Retail Availability | Yes |
Additional notes: 4-pin LNA (low noise adapter) included |
We’ve encountered the NF-F12 PWM previously on the NH-L12. It’s one of the more radical designs we’ve seen in recent years featuring a series of thin, straight struts arranged like a clock around the hub with a few notches cut into each. The blades have very little curvature with the edges almost lining up perpendicular with the struts. This is the worst possible structure for limiting tonality. Interestingly, Noctua’s latest line of fans, the A series, has a design that goes completely against this, with struts and blades curved in opposite directions.
Above 1,000 RPM, the acoustic profile was buzzy with a prominent high pitched tone. At ~900 RPM, it smoothed out considerably, though up close we could hear some bearing chatter. At ~800 RPM and below the fan became very quiet though it was plagued with a dull drone.
Compared to the sample from the NH-L12, this fan had a slightly poorer sound quality, a bit more tonal at high speeds. We far prefer the old trusty NF-P12 to either. Interestingly, the F12 is not equipped on any of Noctua’s other coolers, nor has its design been carried over to any of their larger fan models. The F series may simply have been a short-lived experiment that has reached its conclusion.
Stock Fan Measurements | ||
Voltage | Speed | SPL@1m |
12V | 1400 RPM | 27 dBA |
9V | 1080 RPM | 19 dBA |
8V | 970 RPM | 17 dBA |
7V | 850 RPM | 13~14 dBA |
6V | 730 RPM | 12 dBA |
Measuring mic positioned 1m at diagonal angle from the center of the heatsink. Ambient noise level: 10~11 dBA. |
The fan had a range that should satisfy both casual and hardcore silencers. The top speed of 1,400 RPM generated a noise level of 27 dBA@1m, which is quieter than the vast majority of stock heatsink fans. It became quiet at about ~1,100 RPM and was practically inaudible at ~700 RPM.
Test Results
Noctua NH-U12S | ||||
Fan Voltage | Fan Speed | SPL@1m | °C Rise above Ambient | |
CPU | VRM | |||
Stock Fan | ||||
12V | 1400 RPM | 27 dBA | 31 | 26 |
9V | 1080 RPM | 19 dBA | 33 | 29 |
8V | 970 RPM | 17 dBA | 34 | 30 |
7V | 850 RPM | 13~14 dBA | 35 | 31 |
6V | 730 RPM | 12 dBA | 38 | 33 |
Reference Nexus 120 mm Fan | ||||
12V | 1070 RPM | 17 dBA | 34 | 32 |
9V | 880 RPM | 14 dBA | 35 | 34 |
7V | 740 RPM | 11~12 dBA | 36 | 34 |
Tested on our mildly overclocked/overvolted Core i5-2400, the CPU temperature stabilized at 31°C and 38°C above ambient at 12V and 6V respectively, a low and tight range befitting a good performance cooler. As the speed was lowered there was no sudden significant drop off in efficiency, except going from 7V to 6V, at which point the cooler was already quieter than the background noise generated in a most working environments.
Our reference Nexus 120 mm fan performed similarly to the stock fan, matching it decibel for decibel, degree for degree, only taking a slight lead at inaudible levels. The stock fan was actually better by a couple of degrees when it came to VRM cooling but all and in, there was no real benefit or detriment to swapping fans. We’re pleased the NF-F12 was able to keep up as the Nexus is one of our better performing models.
Heatsink Comparison Table
°C Rise Comparison: Reference 120 mm Fan (CPU Temperature) | |||||||
SPL (dBA@1m) | 18 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 |
Thermalright TRUE Spirit 120M | – | 31 | – | 32 | – | 34 | |
Prolimatech Panther | – | 31 | – | – | 33 | 36 | |
Noctua NH-U12S | – | 34 | – | – | 35 | – | 36 |
Noctua NH-L12 | – | – | – | 34 | – | 37 | |
Scythe Big Shuriken 2 Rev.B | – | – | – | 36 | – | 39 | |
Scythe Big Shuriken | – | – | – | – | 41 | – | 43 |
The results using our Nexus 120 mm as a reference point shows the U12S slightly lagging behind the Prolimatech Panther and the TRUE Spirit 120M, both of which are also modestly sized tower coolers, though the U12S is narrower than both.
°C rise Comparison (CPU Temperature) | |||||||||
SPL (dBA@1m) | 20 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 |
Noctua NH-U12S (ref. 120 mm fan) | – | – | – | 34 | – | – | 35 | – | 36 |
Noctua NH-L12 (120 & 92 mm fans) | 33 | – | – | 34 | – | 35 | – | 36 | |
Thermalright TRUE Spirit 120M | – | 32 | – | – | – | 34 | 36 | 38 | |
Noctua NH-U12S | – | 33 | – | 34 | – | – | 35 | 38 | |
Noctua NH-L12 (120 mm fan) | – | – | 37 | – | – | 38 | – | 39 | 42 |
Prolimatech Panther | – | – | – | – | – | 35 | – | 42 | – |
Scythe Big Shuriken 2 Rev.B | – | 39 | – | – | – | 43 | – | 48 | |
Reeven Arcziel | – | – | – | – | 42 | – | – | 47 | – |
Scythe Samurai ZZ | – | – | 45 | – | – | 46 | – | 52 | |
Noctua NH-L12 (92 mm fan) | 42 | – | 44 | – | 47 | – | 51 | 57 | |
Scythe Big Shuriken | 43 | – | – | – | – | 46 | – | 61 | |
Cooler Master GeminII M4 | – | – | – | 53 | 56 | – | 64 | ||
Noctua NH-L9i | – | – | 56 | – | – | 61 | – | – | – |
Scythe Kozuti | – | – | 57 | – | – | 62 | – | 65 | |
Phanteks PH-TC90LS | – | – | 67 | – | – | – | 69 | – | – |
Reeven Vanxie | – | 66 | – | – | – | – | 77 | – | F |
The U12S fares a bit better when stock fans are used, just a single degree off the TRUE Spirit 120M’s mark, while also having a better sounding fan. The Panther’s fan has the best acoustic profile of the three, but its cooling performance is noticeably worse at very low noise levels.
°C rise Comparison (VRM Temperature) | |||||||||
SPL (dBA@1m) | 20 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 |
Noctua NH-L12 (120 & 92 mm fans) | 17 | – | – | 19 | – | 21 | – | 23 | |
Thermalright TRUE Spirit 120M | – | 21 | – | – | – | 24 | 26 | 27 | |
Prolimatech Panther | – | – | – | – | – | 24 | – | 30 | – |
Noctua NH-L12 (120 mm fan) | – | – | 24 | – | – | 26 | – | 27 | 32 |
Noctua NH-U12S | – | 29 | – | 30 | – | – | 31 | 33 | |
Noctua NH-U12S (ref. 120 mm fan) | – | – | – | 32 | – | – | 34 | – | 34 |
Scythe Big Shuriken 2 Rev.B | – | 29 | – | – | – | 34 | – | 39 | |
Noctua NH-L12 (92 mm fan) | 28 | – | 31 | – | 33 | – | 38 | 43 | |
Reeven Arcziel | – | – | – | – | 38 | – | – | 41 | – |
Scythe Big Shuriken | 28 | – | – | – | – | 30 | – | 47 | |
Cooler Master GeminII M4 | – | – | – | 34 | 38 | – | 49 | ||
Scythe Kozuti | – | – | 36 | – | – | 40 | – | 45 | |
Scythe Samurai ZZ | – | – | 38 | – | – | 39 | – | 47 | |
Noctua NH-L9i | – | – | 40 | – | – | 46 | – | – | – |
Phanteks PH-TC90LS | – | – | 46 | – | – | – | 48 | – | – |
Reeven Vanxie | – | 45 | – | – | – | – | 56 | – | F |
The U12S is not nearly as efficient cooling the area around the processor, losing to the TRUE Spirit by a whopping six degrees in VRM temperature at noise levels of 14 dBA@1m and below, but it’s still superior to most of the smaller downblowing models.
MP3 SOUND RECORDINGS
These recordings were made with a high
resolution, lab quality, digital recording system inside SPCR’s
own 11 dBA ambient anechoic chamber, then converted to LAME 128kbps
encoded MP3s. We’ve listened long and hard to ensure there is no audible degradation
from the original WAV files to these MP3s. They represent a quick snapshot of
what we heard during the review.
These recordings are intended to give you an idea of how the product sounds
in actual use — one meter is a reasonable typical distance between a computer
or computer component and your ear. The recording contains stretches of ambient
noise that you can use to judge the relative loudness of the subject. Be aware
that very quiet subjects may not be audible — if we couldn’t hear it from
one meter, chances are we couldn’t record it either!
The recording starts with 5~10 second segments of room ambiance, then the fan
at various levels. For the most realistic results, set the volume so that
the starting ambient level is just barely audible, then don’t change the volume
setting again.
- Noctua NH-U12S with stock fan at 1m
— 7V (13~14 dBA@1m)
— 8V (17 dBA@1m)
— 9V (19 dBA@1m)
— 12V (27 dBA@1m)
FINAL THOUGHTS
The NH-U12S follows a long line of high performance heatsinks that have kept Noctua a premium brand over the years. As slimmer tower coolers go, the U12S is certainly the best choice we’ve encountered. It offers strong performance, a nice set of accessories focused on noise and vibration reduction, and a solid mounting system. It’s yet another complete package from Noctua that’s worthy of your attention.
The U12S currently carries a street price of about US$60, a bit costly considering its size. However, if you’re looking for a very thin 120 mm tower, the next closest competitor is the slightly thicker Prolimatech Panther, a US$50 cooler that isn’t widely available and is hampered by an underperforming stock fan. There are also few HDT models to consider like the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus, an old favorite of ours and an excellent value at US$30, and the US$40 TRUE Spirit 120M, but both are about a full centimeter thicker than the U12S.
Whether or not the U12S is the right choice for you boils down to how thin a heatsink you truly need. The problem heatsinks like the U12S solve is memory interference — for which desktop memory with tall heatspreaders seem to be the root cause; Perhaps the best advice we can give is to avoid them altogether seeing as they offer no benefit outside of aesthetics. If you use a set of standard height DIMMs, you’ll have infinitely more choices for a cooling solution, and if it hangs over a stick of memory, it’s at worst, a minor inconvenience.
A final factor that hangs over every consumer product is distribution and availability. We seen many reader references in the forums recently that specialist brands Thermalright and Scythe are suffering in both categories. In contrast, Noctua remains one of the best distributed, widely available heatsink brands. Easy availability trumps price and even performance: If you can’t find the others, there’s simply no choice.
Our thanks to Noctua for the NH-U12S CPU cooler sample.
Noctua NH-U12S is Recommended by SPCR
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SPCR Articles of Related Interest:
Cooler Master Seidon 240M: Dual Fan Liquid CPU Cooler
Phanteks PH-TC12DX CPU Cooler
Phanteks PH-TC90LS Mini Cooler
Thermalright TRUE Spirit 120M CPU Heatsink
Noctua NH-L9i Low Profile CPU Cooler
Prolimatech Panther CPU Cooler
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