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Noctua are one of our favourite companies when it comes to high end cooling and it would be accurate to say that their NH D14 ‘Austrian Sandwich' shattered all our preconceptions of just what can be achieved on air.
Today we are looking at a model further down their range, called the Noctua NH C12P SE14. Many people reading this may have already seen reviews of the plain NH C12P version – so what has changed?
Well Noctua have switched over the 120mm fan to a bigger 140mm unit and added the “SE14” moniker after it (Special Edition – 14cm). In theory this larger fan should improve cooling and possibly reduce noise levels even further.
| Socket compatibility | Intel LGA1366, LGA1156, LGA775 & AMD AM2, AM2+, AM3 (backplate required) |
| Dimensions without fan | 90mm x 126mm x 152 mm (HxWxD) |
| Dimensions with fan | 114mm x 140mm x 152mm (HxWxD) |
| Weight without fan | 550g |
| Weight with fan | 730g |
| Materials and composition | Copper (base and heat pipes), aluminum (cooling fins), soldered joints and nickel plating |
| Fan Compatibility | 140x140x25mm/120x120x25mm |
| Included accessories | Low Noise Adapter (L.N.A.), Ultra Low Noise Adapter (U.L.N.A.), NT-H1 high grade thermal compound, SecuFirm 2 Mounting Kits, Noctua Metal Case Badge |
| Warranty | 6 years |
The Noctua NH C12P SE14 Cooler is supplied in a very stylish box, almost identical to the NH D14 we reviewed a few weeks ago. We like Noctua's packaging, its elegant and well designed.
The cooler is enclosed in strong cardboard for shipping and it is a c type down facing design which is low profile and supports a huge array of chassis design, particularly media cases.
The box contains a lovely fold out booklet with Intel and AMD fitting instructions on either side as well as clearly labeled pouches with AMD and Intel kits, and then a shared bag with items for both platforms, such as thermal paste and voltage cut down cables (to reduce fan speed and lower noise).
The cooler is beautifully designed and the mount and heatpipe design is similar to the NH D14. There are six chunky heatpipes transferring the heat between base and fins.
Some people dont like the Noctua fan colours, but I have to say, I think they are beautiful. This fan is a high end model which is 140mm in diameter and comes with a set of 120mm mounts meaning Noctua didn't need to redesign the cooler itself. We like the face down cooling approach as with a fan this large the motherboard components will also get cooled.
Fitting the Noctua cooler is as easy as it comes. You simply attach two bars to the motherboard and connect to the cooler to these bars. There are no issues with components nearby and even ram with double length heatspreaders can be used on the motherboard.
For testing today we are using an AMD Phenom 1055T based system and have overclocked it to 3.7ghz. We tend to concentrate often on Intel systems, but in regards to value for money the 1055T is one of the best processors on the market right now.
Comparison Coolers:
ThermalTake Contac 29 Cooler (review here)
Noctua NH D14 (review here)
Xigmatek HDT S1284EE
Coolit Domino ALC
Zalman CNPS10X Flex
Coolermaster Hyper Z600
Vantec VAF-1225 AeroFlow FX120
Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme
OCZ Vendetta 2
CoolerMaster Hyper 212
Asus Silent Square EVO
Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro
Processor: AMD Phenom 1055T
Motherboard: MSI 890 GXM-G65
Graphics: Sapphire HD5670 Crossfire X (review coming soon)
PSU: Thermaltake 675W
Hard Drive: Intel 160GB X-25M SSD
Chassis: Silverstone Precision SST PS05 (1 extra intake fan applied)
Memory: Kingston 8GB DDR3 1600mhz
With air conditioning, room ambient temperatures were kept at a steady 25c, comfortable conditions for most people. Load temperatures were recorded by looping Cinebench R11.5 for a 30 minute period under 100% load and recording the maximum results. These are real world conditions … the application uses the Cinema 4D rendering engine.
When possible fans were set to high positions.
We use the following for measurements as many onboard software based results are not accurate.
MultiMeter Thermal Probe
Digital Sound Level Noise Decibel Meter Style 2
Raytek Laser Temp Gun 3i LSRC/MT4 Mini Temp
The Noctua NH C12P SE14 delivers great results with our overclocked processor hovering around the 40 degree mark under load. This is the same result as the Domino ALC, which is a liquid cooling solution.
These results are incredible, the cooler is almost inaudible and manages to keep temperatures within 2 degrees of the awesome Xigmatek HDT S1284EE. Bear in mind this is without using the optional adapters to reduce fan speeds further. Let's see how they work.
When we reduced the fan speeds with the optional adapters Noctua (supplied in the box) the noise level drops even further. Normal speed is quiet, Low Noise is barely audible and Ultra Low Noise is almost silent. We will see how these affect temperatures however with our overclocked 1055T processor.
Well I think these results speak for themselves – even with the Ultra Low Noise Adapter installed the temperatures never reach 50c under load. Bear in mind with the passively cooled Sapphire graphics cards in this system you wouldn't even know it was turned on.
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.
They do build some lovely coolers. this is beautifully designed and big fans are a winner.
Everyone loves Noctua, if they don’t they dont know what they are talking about. My big problem with them is the price. They are overpriced IMO. Great products, fantastic cooling, but do they actually sell a cooler under £50?!
Another great review KG – I concur with previous views. love their fans in particular as they have such a long life and high quality internals. only concern is the price again. I dont mind paying for a high quality product but there are many others out there and sometimes they cost considerably less.
This particular product would appeal to me more than the austrian sandwich you reviewed a while ago. Its more compact, less fitting restrictions and probably quieter. Obviously if I was overclocking a 980x I might have a different view, but im not.
I recently bought one of the 120mm fans and I was stunned how good it was, after I replaced my old akasa unit. Pushed more air, was quieter and didnt rattle. (I can hear weird noises with most fans).
Nice cooler indeed, shame about the massive price.
The Noctua 14cm fan on this cooler is exceptionally well designed, uses all the best components with no corners cut, the rated life is 4-5 times that of a standard fan.
This is most impressive, I particularly like the noise levels. or lack of.
In a lot of situations, there is a really simple test you can apply to see if the more expensive cooler is worth buying
Comparing a budget cooler, like the Contac29, to a top end cooler like the Austrian-Sandwich, look at the price difference and ask yourself “Can I upgrade to a better CPU for the difference ?”
With something like a Core i3 530, the answer will be YES, but with an i7 930 the answer will be NO
Cannot promise this is 100% foolproof in all cases, but it is a decent rule of thumb
If you’re into games, apply the same price difference to your graphic card selection – where the CPU cooler saving might make a 5670 into a 5770, but it will never make a 5770 into a 5850
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