Noctua Cooling Products Review
| Brand | Noctua |
COOLING
Over the past decade of computer development, it has been somewhat of a spectacle to see the exponential increase in the heat output of modern processing units. From back in the day of the Pentium 1 and one of the first heatsink and fan combos, PC cooling has come a very long way. I remember the age of the black delta; the fan to rule them all, promising massive reductions in temperatures, alongside even larger reductions in hearing capacity. Those were the days, when having the loudest PC on your street was almost fashionable (well, on geek street), when cooling a CPU came down to how much air flow you had, not so much about conductive metals, heatpipes, surface area and other aspects of thermodynamics.
How things have changed. Nowadays, it seems as though the delta rage has died down a little, and it’s no longer acceptable to have a screaming metal box at your side when doing simple tasks like typing a word document. Could it be possible to have both a cool and quiet computer? Well, with companies like Noctua around, it seems this day has come at last. 
But enough small talk, let’s move on to the meaty stuff. The products I ordered were as follows:
- Noctua NH-U12F
- Noctua NC-U6 (x2)
- Noctua NF-S12-1200 (x3)
- Noctua NF-R8
While this review won’t be making any comparisons to the noise levels of other fans (unless someone would like to lend me a db meter), it will deal with a large portion of the current range of Noctua products and their application on my current setup. Keep in mind that this is a progressive review, so I’ll add comparisons as I find the time (I have a SilenX and a Coolink 120mm waiting for comparisons).
Today, I’ll be taking a look at the NF-S12-1200. This fan is aimed at providing low-noise airflow solutions, and is ideal for case ventilation. I think it’s important to note here, that case cooling isn’t so much about the speed of air blowing through a case as it is about the net volume of air transport. From personal experience, having a greater surface area of air movement at a slower rate (say, by 2x120mm fans moving at 1200rpm) cools more effectively than a smaller surface area of air moving at a faster rate (say 2x80mm fans spinning at 2400rpm). The other benefit, of course, is noise. These Noctuas are the quietest fans i’ve ever owned.
There’s a few reasons for their silence, which can be attributed to a number of different designs (beyond that of mere voltage regulation), the first of which is the blade design. In the NF-S12-1200, the first thing that you notice is the odd blade design. Instead of the conventional forward-swept blade, Noctua have opted to go for a straight-edge at the leading end, with only a slight curvature of the blades at the trailing side. This results in a great deal of air movement, but not a huge amount of pressure behind the flow. These fans are ideal as a case fan, but are not recommended for use against hihg-density fins of some heatsinks and radiators. That being said, Jakob over at Noctua has said that they are working on a silent, high-pressure fan that will suit these applications.
The other main blade difference is their length. There is a 4-5mm clearance between that and the fan chassis. This is most likely in a bid to reduce turbulence, hence eliminate unwanted noise for only a small increase in airflow. The engineers over at Noctua have certainly put a lot of time and effort into making these fans near silent.
While I don't have a dBa meter to test the noise level of these fans, I can safely say that they are the quietest fans I've heard. The other thing i noticed about them, was their response to low voltages. Hooking them up to a variable fan speed controller, i noticed that they respond well from 5v to 7v to 12v. I couldn't say likewise with some other fans i've owned, noteably the SilenX 120mm fan. Cranked right up, the Noctuas produce a low pitched hum. At 7v (about half way), they are near inaudible. I cannot hear them over the rest of my system, and it is a very quiet one at that! If you are after a case fan, then i have no trouble recommending these.
Noctua NC-U6
Next up is the NC-U6, probably the hands down best designed air cooled chipset solution I have seen bar none. The NC-U6 is a simple design, featuing 2 copper heatpipes running through a series of aluminium fins. While I won't get down to the nitty gritty (I was far too excited to get it all in), I'll say that the finish on the base was shiny, but by no means mirror-like. Noctua have already addresses this here, stating the micro-grooves are designed for modern TIM (thermal interface material) to sit into. This seems like a reasonable explanation, as I'm more concerned over the flatness of the base rather than the smoothness. Still, I would have liked to see something a little smoother.
The package contains the heatsink, 2 mounting brackets (push-pin and latches), some white paste, a foam padding square (for chipsets withough heatspreaders), and an instruction booklet. It is rounded off with a very tasty 6 year warranty.
But enough of that, let's get to the good bits: performance. I own an ASUS P5N32-E SLI Plus motherboard, which is based on the ridiculously hot 650i chipset. I've heard the boad can clock reasonably well, but with the standard cooling the temps just get far too high. So, it was time to take it all off.
Installation was a sinch, placing the foam pad onto the chipset PCB, placing the NC-U6 on top and sliding the screw mount in the middle. This was screwed on with a single screw (with a screwdriver supplied with the NH-U12), which reached down a hole between the fins. From here, you can align the arms of the bracket and push the pins through the motherboard mounting holes. Tighten the central screw and you're done!
Following are picks of the mounted NC-U6. For absolute overkill, I put an extra one on the southbridge. On this motherboard, it fitted easily with the single slot 7600gt pictured below (middle), and I've since replaced it with a 8800 GTS (below right) with a dual slot cooling solution whish fits tightly, but fine. An added bonus was the fan on the card would suck some air through the cooler and out the case, but how this impacts on my cards temp I'm not entirely sure.
Testing was conducted by running ORTHOS for 10 mins under each set of cooling, so while this isn't an exact indication of system stress under a ~4hr stint, it was reasonably consistent across the board. Testing temperature was 22-23C inside during both tests. Asus PC Probe and Speed Fan was used across all tests.
So, there you have it. While only exhibiting a 5C drop at idle temps, under load this thing really shines. A 16C drop in temp under load is astounding. I must say, I am extremely impressed to say the least. I'd recommend the Noctua NC-U6 for any cooling situation. I've currently ordered a whole bunch of CPU water cooling gear, but I think the NC-U6 can stay where it is for a while longer, considering the great temps i am getting at the moment.
Highly Recommended.
