KitGuru KitGuru.net – Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards
I was hoping this cooler would be as good as it looks, I have come to expect great things from Noctua and once again they have met my expectations. The NH C12P is beautifully designed and with the giant fan it can keep high end processors in check without generating much noise.
This is the biggest selling point of this product – you would hardly even know it is turned on. The Noctua 140mm fan, once again, is a class leader and for those with extra sensitive ears they give you not one, but two adapter cables to further reduce fan speed (and noise).
The product is suitably marketed, it is ideal for high end processors or those which have moderate overclocking applied, as long as you don't increase voltages … if you want to do that then we advise you to go for the higher end (and much bigger) NH D14 cooler.
As we have seen however, with our 1055T processor the cooler is able to cope at 3.7ghz which is a great achievement for a product classed as ‘low profile'. Using the optional adapters and reducing fan speed to an absolute minimum we were able to effectively turn the cooler into silent mode and still keep temperatures under 50c at all times. Bear in mind also that this was achieved in a budget £40 chassis, not a high airflow case.
It is also worth considering that with the large downward firing fan the motherboard components also receive some additional cooling which will help in a restricted chassis with limited airflow.
The only downside is the price, which again is going to mean this cooler is only targeting those with deeper pockets – its £57 inc vat in the UK right now. Is it worth it? Yes, we think so.
KitGuru says: The Austrian Cooling experts have done it again.
Discuss in our forums over here or leave a quick comment below.
