Noctua NH-U12A - Review

We have received the Noctua NH-U12A heatsink for review. This heatsink offers us the typical quality of Noctua and that is accompanied by the typical fans of the company. It completely lacks artifice such as RGB and it only seeks to cool our processor. We could even say that it is the 'simple' version of the Noctua ND-D15 by dimensions.

As we well know, Noctua has been characterized not by offering beautiful designs, but by offering robust designs. The company uses an unattractive combination of browns on its heatsinks. It is true that they have been modernizing and have the chromax.black line and would be developing a completely blank line. This one brings the fans as standard, but we can buy the black fans separately.

Noctua NH-U12A, CPU Cooler with NF-A12x25 High Performance PWM Fans (120mm, Brown)

• 140mm performance in just 120mm: With 7 heatpipes, larger surface area, and dual-fan configuration with the newest NF-A12x25 fans, the NH-U12A matches many 140mm-sized heatsinks.
• Excellent case, RAM and PCIe compatibility: Fits in most tower cases (125mm high), does not stick out of the RAM slots on LGA17xx, LGA1200 and AM4, does not block the PCi in most of the ATX and Micro-ATX motherboards
• Novel NF-A12x25 120mm fans with noise reduction adapters and PWM for automatic speed control. Maximum cooling under load, practically silent when idle.
• Includes high quality NT-H1 thermal paste and SecuFirm2 mounting system for easy installation on Intel LGA1851, LGA1700, LGA1200, LGA115x as well as AMD AM5 and AM4 (offset mounting option for greater efficiency)
• Renowned Noctua quality for Intel Core i9, i7, i5, i3 (e.g. 14900K, 14700K, 14600K) and AMD Ryzen (e.g. 7950X3D, 7900X3D, 7800X3D, 7700)

119,90 EUR

Buy it at Amazon

NH-U12A Noctua Presentation

The heatsink comes in the typical Noctua box whose front is brown with an image of the product and a white left strip that indicates the name of the product. Inside this box we find the different elements perfectly compartmentalized and packaged. This is typical of Noctua, as it seeks to offer us the best possible quality.

The boxes contain the different pieces to be able to anchor the heatsink. We found the SecuFirm2 mounting system for Intel motherboards and for AMD motherboards. In addition, an accessory box is added that includes the anti-vibration corners, an allen key, a syringe of thermal paste, a fan connection adapter and the fastening systems for the fan.

We have in the AMD kit two metal guides, four screws and four plastic risers. More than enough elements to install this heatsink. While the Intel one has a backplate, two metal guides and the fastening hardware. The backplate is not used on LGA 2011 motherboards.

Noctua NH-U12A heatsink

Let's go to what interests us, which is the heatsink. The Noctua NH-U12S has a single block design that supports up to 2 fans. It has two fans Noctua NF-A12 PWM to offer the best possible heat cooling. The fan operates between 450-2000 RPM, offers a maximum flow of 120.1 m3 / h and a maximum loudness of 22.6 dBA. Something possible thanks to the SSO2 bearings that we will explain later.

To mount the fans we will use the anchor clips that simplify the fan installation process. Vibration reaching the heatsink is significantly corrected by the rubber corners of the fan.

Regarding the Noctua NH-U12A radiator block, it should be noted that it consists of 50 aluminum fins connected by 7 heatpipes in a 'U' design that distribute the heat through the fins. It has a height of 158mm and a width of 125mm. It does not touch the RAM modules, since the fan once installed is 71mm from the motherboard.

We see in the upper area the termination of the five heatpipes that run through the fan. It has a hole to extract the screw from the base and eliminate the predefined anchoring system. This is done with the key that Noctua offers us. The nickel-plated copper base has a semi-polished finish.

Features Noctua NH-U12A

• Height (without fan): 158 mm
• Width (without fan): 125 mm
• Depth (without fan): 58mm
• Weight (without fan): 760 g
• Height (with fan): 158 mm
• Width (with fan): 125 mm
• Depth (with fan): 112 mm
• Weight (with fan): 1220 g
• Fan size: 120x120x25
• Socket Compatible: Intel LGA1150, LGA1151, LGA1155, LGA1156, LGA2011, LGA2066 and AMD AM4, AM3 (+), AM2 (+), FM1, FM2 (+)

Noctua NF-A12x25 PWM fan

• Model: Noctua NF-A12x25 PWM
• Bearing SSO2
• Rotation speed max. (+/- 10%): 2000 RPM
• Rotation speed with LNA max. (+/- 10%): 1700 RPM
• Rotation speed min. (PWM, +/- 20%): 450 RPM
• Max flow: 102,1 m³ / h
• Flow rate with max LNA: 84,5 m³ / h
• Loudness max .: 22,6 dB (A)
• Loudness with LNA max .: 18,8 dB (A)
• Voltage 12 V
• MTTF> 150.000 h

Noctua SSO2 bearings

Fans normally use two systems, bearings and bearings. They both have problems. The bearings are very quiet in their first moments, but over time the noise increases due to wear. Bearings tend to be quite noisy, although they do have a fairly long life.

Noctua has looked for a solution that has a very long useful life and the noise level is minimal. For this they have developed the SSO system, a system of self-stabilized bearings with pressurized oil, which has been revised to be improved.

The development of this system is based on its low noise level and the proven and tested quality of the company's products. This system is based on an interesting concept of hydrodynamic oil-based bearings that integrate a magnet. It also adds the function of performing an automatic stabilization of the rotor shaft. Stabilized by a magnetic field, these bearings allow for improved precision and longevity over ball bearing solutions, plain bearings and even traditional hydrodynamic systems.

Noctua has optimized and improved the SSO system in this update called SSO2. Metallic bearings and an injection molding system have been used for this renewed system. They have a magnet closer to the rotor shaft, generating a higher magnetic force on it. It offers, thanks to this system, greater stabilization, precision and durability of the fans.

Noctua Focused Flow Frame

The NF-P12's Nine Blade Design (P stands for Pressure, Power and Performance) has been specifically developed for high impedance applications such as CPU coolers, water cooling radiators, power supplies or enclosures with restrictive vents. Achieve exceptional static pressure and high airflow with very low noise levels.

Whereas most conventional 120mm rotors have seven comparatively narrow fan blades, the NF-P12 Nine-Blade design uses nine large, widely spaced blades with a relatively low angle of attack to achieve maximum static pressure and high air flow. As a result, the NF-P12 delivers no less than 1,68mm H2O at 1300rpm, something other fans only achieve at 1600rpm or higher.

In principle, increasing the number of blades involves the risk of increasing aerodynamic noise in general and noise caused by rotor-stator interaction in particular. Basically, an increase in static pressure usually causes an increase in noise emissions. In the case of the NF-P12, this problem is solved by adding vortex control notches to the trailing edges of the blades. Thanks to the two notches on the trailing edge, the flows along the suction and pressure side mix more smoothly. This allows for less turbulence and loss of speed, leading to a significant reduction in noise emission, as well as an increase in efficiency. For the smoothest possible transition and maximum noise reduction, the vortex control notches have a rounded shape.

Special blade design

In addition to optimizing the junction of the flows at the trailing edge, the Vortex-Control Notches fulfill the task of psychoacoustic optimization: Due to the vortex control notches, the trailing edge vortices are divided into several smaller vortices. In this way, the noise is distributed over a wider range of frequencies and is therefore perceived as much less annoying.

The psychoacoustic optimization effect of Vortex-Control Notches is enhanced by the staggering of the notches. The vortex control notches are staggered from sheet to sheet, so that each sheet creates a different vortex pattern. As a result, the noise emission from the fan is better distributed over the frequency spectrum and thus makes it even more pleasant to the human ear.

AAO frame

These Noctua fans are designed to be as quiet as possible and that is why an AAO frame has been manufactured for them. The advanced acoustic optimization framework has built-in anti-vibration pads, as well as a step-by-step input design and internal surface microstructures, developed by Noctua, leading to a further improvement in energy efficiency and performance. fan performance.

Noctua Stepped Inlet Design

The fans of this professional series have been designed step by step type. This allows Noctua an advanced measure of aerodynamic design first introduced in the NF-F12 fans. This allows adding turbulence to the air inlet of the fan, designed in a step-by-step system that facilitates the transition from laminar to turbulent flow. This measure has an effect very similar to the external structure of golf balls, which allows an improvement in the attachment of the flow of the frame. This enables drive when more air is introduced and therefore improves the overall efficiency of the air flow.

These improvements offer some aerodynamic improvements, which have a step-by-step entry design. It also reduces input tonal noises caused by laminar flow input. Thanks to this modification in the turbulent flow design, it produces a noise profile with a higher bandwidth. Thanks to this improvement in the design of the stepper inlet, it contributes to the improvement of the acoustic qualities of said fan. It allows it to integrate better with background noise and be more pleasant to the human ear.

ADIEX

Gallery Noctua NH-U12A

Conclusion

The Noctua NH-U12A heatsink is a real beast capable of supporting virtually any processor on the market. It even supports the Ryzen 9 3950X and Core i9-9900KS processors, two of the most demanding processors on the market, in terms of temperatures. Unfortunately this heatsink does not support the new Threadripper 3000 from AMD because they exceed the limit of this heatsink.

A heavy mass equipped with two high-performance fans that keep temperatures under control. In addition, due to its great features and its excellent design, this heatsink allows us to overclock. The margin offered to us for this practice will not be excessive, but it will bear it without problems (as long as we do not go overboard).