Noctua NH-U12A - Surprisingly Powerful, Insanely Quiet.

[@optimumtech]

Will likely retire the Kraken X52 on my open test bench for this guy. Leave a thumbs up if you enjoyed! - Ali

[@ItsZim0]

I'd still stick with X52 in my case but I'd replace the stock fans with this one!

[@D_Rotter]

The BeQuiet Dark Rock Pro 4 would've been interesting too... I mean then you'd have more or less DR4 vs. NH-U12A and DRP4 vs. NH-D15 which imo is a fairer comparison on the air cooler side if things [+ of course the 120mm (X52) and 140mm (X62) AIOs].

[@Hoad.o47]

how does it compare to the NH-U12S?

[@battosaijenkins946]

@Optimum Tech, After using a crummy cooler master 212 since 2013 I bought the U12A for my 3770k and man it changed my life! CPU temps dropped by 5 degrees from 69 to 63 without even touching fan speeds. And after all those years the only replacement i've done so far was the GPU. I can't wait to try the NH 15 because ivy bridges are hot and I want bigger! Thx!

[@wowpvp4202]

do you think this or a kraken x72 is better for a meshify c case with i9 9900k?

[@suadmemo2412]

Noctua is focusing on the product itself and not on marketing bs like many other brands.

[@kursadmercimek4289]

Exactly. No fancy packaging, leds, flashy colors. Just pure performance and quality.

[@Klexw]

The product markets itself.

[@711jastin]

still remember my first unboxing, just the simplest cardboard and plastic bags for parts.

[@bodhi9937]

Tbh they could at least change the color to all black or something... wouldn't be much of a stretch I guess

[@syncmonism]

I was wary of Noctua's higher prices, but I learned the hard-way that when it comes to case fans, they're actually a great value. I bought some Corsair fans which were a bit cheaper thinking that they would be a better value, but they were nowhere near as good as what Noctua was selling for about 30% more. After getting a Noctua CPU cooler when it was on-sale, I was amazed at just how much better the sound was from the fans. It's not just about having lower decibels, it's about having a good accoustic profile which subjectively sounds quieter. I was using one of the fans which came with the cooler as a case fan, and that led to eventually getting more Noctua case fans when I helped other people build their computers, and whenever I need case fans in my own computers. I keep trying to find other brands of similar or better quality and value, and have yet to find them. BeQuiet is even more expensive in North America (some might be around the same price), and I'm sure they're great, but the price has never made sense to me. I think some noctua fans are probably a better value than others, I prefer to get their simple fan kits which don't come with as many accessories, as they are always cheaper.

[@gordongoodman8342]

Liquid cooling: Nope RGB: Nope Performance and Reliability: Yep

[@Ephem13]

I have only ever used two brands of fans for water cooling loops. Noctua and bequiet! just can't be beat if you care about sound. For those that didn't know, Noctua Chromax are a thing now, they are black with colored vibration pads and identical specs.

[@Bixmy]

daft vagrant and now theres a black version !

[@konarider443]

@@Bixmy I see somebody else is doing research now they are no longer all brown and silver... I opted for the d15 personally, it's due to arrive tomorrow!

[@Bixmy]

konarider443 i use d15s because my ram is in the way lol

[@TheKillerZmile]

Ikr no ones going to see my pc anyway when i play

[@dynastes4938]

The largest tech channels usually do not bother with air coolers anymore - even if they come from Noctua, which usually means amazing quality. Thank you for leading the pack here :)

[@suadmemo2412]

Noctua is focusing on the product itself and not on marketing bs like all other brands.

[@levyroth]

Noctua is severely overrated.

[@dynastes4938]

@@levyroth Nope, Corsair, NZXT and many other AiO brands are :)

[@JvMr333]

@IKSDE XD There are better options, for cheaper? I'd like to know then what they are. Delivering better cfm while at same or lesser noise levels than Noctua.

[@JvMr333]

@IKSDE XD Arctic i have some exp with.. was not good.. it was while ago though. Other two no, experience. You got some links that show tests were these are better than noctua? (not just cheaper)

[@aebisdecunter]

I love the industrial simplicity of no Noctua's coolers and NH-U12A has an even more thought design with it's straight lines and cubic shape.

[@STR33TSofJUST1C3]

7 heatpipes on that tiny block? Holy crap!

[@lunchbox437]

Still rocking my NH-D14. Air cooling for life.

[@halistinejenkins5289]

great cooler as well as the NH-U14

[@Altruistic00]

Still using my NH-D14 i bought back in 2011 💪🏻

[@Jzawesak]

exactly mobos and CPUs change but Noctua stay

[@syncmonism]

Yeah, you need literally only one air cooler for your entire life! It will last longer than YOU will, you just need to replace the fans once every 20 years or so (roughly).

[@Dr.WhetFarts]

my custom look stays too, it's 8 years old now. running my 9900k at 5.2 ghz with -0 avx with 69c tops on hottest core. same chip did 4.9 on my noctua d15 in comparison (and was 10c hotter). air cooling is fine, and i use it in several of my builds, but you will never reach a nice oc with air, atleast not on high-end chips.

[@Unhomiee]

Am I the only one that actually *likes* the tan and brown colour scheme of the Noctua fans? They're iconic..

[@kolosersoh9153]

I like it cause when people see it, it screams Noctua. And Noctua is known for having good products and not going for looks, so it screams I have a good product basically.

[@Lucas-yy3dh]

Yes you are!

[@rickymcc9072]

No, me too. Brown & tan has in my eyes become an iconic symbol of cooling excellence. In a world where the vast majority of (mediocre) fans are black then Noctua stand out, proud, different, technically better. IMO they are a triumph of design, where function is valued ahead of form. Truly the 'brown' (aka gold) standard. I like most used to think they looked a bit weird. But after many years use, I now specifically look for Noctua fans from choice. So far as I can tell, nobody does it better (technically). Sure it's smart marketing to also offer black at a premium for those that like windowed cases. Please don't get me started on RGB light shows - I just like seeing my monitor without distractions.

[@tigerd7528]

U12A is 2.7 ℃ lower 6.5 dba quieter than X52 Owned

[@dynastes4938]

The expensive A12x25 fans make this an expensive choice, true.

[@MephistoDerPudel]

@@dynastes4938 It's still cheaper.

[@BrotherO4]

@@dynastes4938 before speaking it is a good thing to double check facts

[@dynastes4938]

@@symetik9625 Sorry, didn't even see your comment. Why so hostile, though? :D Kind of silly, don't you think? xD

[@dynastes4938]

@@BrotherO4 I said "the expensive a12x25 fans make this an expensive choice, true". That in itself IS a fact.Thanks for playing, though. (I never said, it was a bad product, I would get it over an AIO myself - goes to show you, people just like being hostile for no reason, probably got nothing else to do :D)

[@gjdud12]

It's all about that BROWN life.

[@colin8601]

As I immediately swap the brown turds with noctua redux fans.

[@voxelfusion9894]

@@colin8601 worry not, they'll show off the new all black towers at computex.

[@TaiwanBobby]

@@voxelfusion9894 They did that last year. They'll be available to buy by 2022

[@voxelfusion9894]

@@TaiwanBobby true, going by how long the u12a has taken haha. This is just powder coating their existing models and using their already available chromax line, so I'm confident they'll be out this year. Hopefully...

[@syncmonism]

BROWN PRIDE

[@sandidbouha3886]

right to the point, no extra chitchat, love your review ! keep it up

[@optimumtech]

Thanks for watching, glad you enjoyed

[@espen990]

I can't believe that, in the middle of all the RGB and pointless "gamer" marketing, Noctua is just killing it with the most professional products I've seen. The ugly color scheme is a symbol of the focus on actual performance, and that in itself makes it the most attractive brand. Everyone should feel proud of having the brown and tan of Noctua on their build!

[@rcjd7834]

If they are able to squeeze that much thermal performance into that small of a cooler, I can’t wait for them to do a next gen D15. Just imagine the raw cooling power if it scales as well as the U series!

[@rivers8517]

Thank you for making a ice easy graph to compare the different coolers. Its suppressing how few people do that on YT. This is the first video I've seen of yours but subbed.

[@sephrus7784]

You also have to remember that AIOs take a long time to cool down once you have heated them up to max temps vs air coolers with heat pipes quickly going down to low temps.

[@angieagnesson0451]

Man, it took so long for one of the big tech tubers to get around to reviewing this. Thanks for your review!

[@optimumtech]

I received it just a few days ago lol

[@angieagnesson0451]

@@optimumtech I wish Noctua would update the website and state the maximum TDP I can use this cooler with, but your review was helpful. sidequestion, will you be reviewing the Sliger SM550 or SM560 cases that launched this past week? Used your NCase builds to make my own sffpc last xmas, but was curious if it was worth upgrading to something that would fit my larger 3 slot 2080ti.

[@optimumtech]

@@angieagnesson0451 Yep, I'll be reviewing both. Expect a review out by the end of the month, as I haven't received them yet.

[@vithos]

An idea for future cooler reviews: record temperature and noise data for each cooler at 4 or so different fan speeds. Plot them all on one graph with temperature on one axis and noise on the other, with each cooler's data points connected as a uniquely colored curve. This would be a lot easier to interpret than trying to cross-reference multiple bar charts.

[@DukeDudeston]

So I just recently upgraded from an i7 3770 to a i9 9900k machine and I was debating between AIO and Air coolers and saw this air cooler appear on a lot of channels with a similar opinions. So I bought the Noctua, and boy am I impressed. I am not a hard core user, I have no plans to overclock so this is working fine for my needs. I was happy with my i7 machine just felt like having an upgrade (no point upgrading the i7 anymore, it be the equivalent of putting a spoiler on a 20 year old 1.2 ford fiesta to try to inject new life into it.) But I thank you and the others that have covered this cooler in so much detail. And in the off chance anyone else is planning on buying this.. do it! So easy to install, very quiet, and does the job needed.

[@CrazyCranker]

I'm a die hard water cooling dude, but I must say I'm impressed enough to come back to air cooling. The one clincher for me is, ease of installation and no clearance issues. Another plus is the 12A came with both Intel and AMD mounting platforms which is like the icing on the cake.

[@nevinkuser9892]

I've been running the Noctua NH-U12S for 6 months and it's kept my machine so cool! At idle it's 37 degrees C!

[@faisalamir1928]

I prefer air cooling for sure. Was using a 280 h115i rad on a delidded 7700k 5ghz @ 1.35 volts in an enthoo luxe case. Temps after an hour of Prime95 would average 85c with highest spike at 95c. Decided to change to the nh-d15 and was really impressed by its performance. Same test and OC resulted in average temps of 75c with spikes of 80c highest. So its air cooling ftw! Was contemplating on waiting for the nh-u12a prior to purchasing the d15. After watching this review i've no regrets with the nh-d15 at all.

[@SergiuGothic]

Just bought this one. Really like the industrial design and color scheme. Can't wait for it to arrive and build my open case pc!

[@rickymcc9072]

Bought a NH-D15 which just about fitted into a Silverstone FT02 case on an Asus mobo, albeit sitting virtually on top of low profile memory modules. Also pretty close to GPU. Decided to swap for smaller NH-U12A, although +£15 in UK, for roughly similar cooling performance on CPU but with a theoretical enhanced cooling capability for DIMMs, VRMs and GPU. Triple 180mm PWM lower intake case fans provide good airflow (base to top) inside case and I suspect will play better with components other than CPU. Plan to complete my new build in about one week, when outstanding parts get delivered. Sure, when maxed out, other top flight 140mm air CPU coolers or AIOs can outperform the NH-U12A by a degree or two, but its typically at expense of detrimental heat on other components, or noise. Possibly also expense and long term reliability. I'm seeking 'set/tune and forget' longevity combined with high end workstation capability and pretty quiet trouble free reliable operation. My switch in CPU cooler might or might not (I really don't know) be the absolute optimum choice but I'm confident it will prove to be a pretty decent solution.

[@ainsleybrown2762]

Definitley choosing air as my next method of cooling. Even though my AIO Corsair cooler can run quiet and deliver good thermals, installing it can be a pain in the ass.

[@Alex25CoB]

Man i love your videos! Your Camera B-Roll is top notch and always very informative! Thanks

[@ivey77426]

Thanks for the review, it actually convinced me Dark Rock 4 is overall best choice here. Cheaper than noctuas yet very quiet and cooling performance is good enough for me. Also i think it looks miles better.

[@NK_Customs]

Maybe consider the Dark Rock Pro 4, instead of the non-pro. It is a doubletower with better ram clearance and noice levels then the NH-D15 but only around 1 degree hotter! And it looks very very good (in my opinion even better then the normal dark rock 4)

[@iTzZM7TRF]

I just got one recently and it is amazing. The this is not audible AT ALL, even though my PC sits on my desk right next to me. one of the best purchases for my rig.

[@optimumtech]

No problem, glad to help!

[@ares23dc]

Just mount a 2nd fan on Dark Rock 4, and it's going to get very close to Noctua U12A, for a lot less price and noise.

[@suadmemo2412]

@@ares23dc Bad advise and not true.

[@vongdong10]

I used to be all about custom watercooling but then couldn't justify the expense and depreciation of parts (especially gpu blocks) along with maintenance. Got rid of all of that and used an AIO which was good for a while then the fear of a possible leak and dead pump set in so got rid of that and installed an NH-D15. Zero regrets. Great performance, silent and super reliable. Will never go back to watercooling of any sorts. Simple is best.

[@DawidDoesTechStuff]

Just watched this on my new TV and man your videos are beautiful.

[@optimumtech]

Thanks man!

[@DawidDoesTechStuff]

@@optimumtech Out of curiosity, are you still using the A6300?

[@optimumtech]

@@DawidDoesTechStuff Yep

[@DawidDoesTechStuff]

@@optimumtech Cool, you really push that camera to the limit. Good luck on 100K! :D

[@lightspeedlegato]

Thanks for the review. I love my d15 but it is huge and gets in the way of my ram. The 12a is just what I've been looking for. I'm not into liquid cooler as I prefer the reliability of air coolers and air coolers free up the case for more air flow to other components. I just don't see the point in liquid cooling unless I'm doing a custom dual loop.

[@jrzamora6]

Dual loops are even pointless if you have enough rad space. A large single loop with quick disconnects are the way to go.

[@abiola82]

These thumbnails look amazing without being clickbaity, I don't know how you do it.

[@Bandoughha]

Just bought it. Joining the brown life along with my NF-A12x25 case fans.

[@T4gProd]

I'm rocking this with a I7 12700K. I was worried it wouldn't be enough, but the DH-15 doesn't fit my motherboard. Luckily the UH12A works just fine!

[@aaronrochford994]

Wow fans that focus on cooling and not rgb

[@Nick.L.]

Best air cooler by far. Hope they release a black and white version soon, and im definitely getting that

[@alexwhite578]

i know, crazy right

[@JayzBeerz]

@@Nick.L. a year later and still no all black

[@DukeDudeston]

Yes! People complain about the brown colour. In my new rig I cant even see the brown colour. I have... get this... a "normal" PC case with no window side panel, or any RGB lighting. It has a LED for the power indicator and that's it. That is all I need in a PC. I am spending all my time at my PC looking at the screen, not what my case is doing.

[@ricomotions5416]

@@DukeDudeston i can respect that but my pc is on my desk and i have very minimalist setup so i would never put the brown beige fans on it

[@opvask]

its very interesting that you have a aircooler here that beats out a 240mm AIO

[@avidian888]

I prefer air cooling, since it is less maintenance and more reliable and with these new amazing developments, I really don’t bother with water cooling anymore. ✌️😁 I’d have loved for the Dark Rock 4 Pro to be in this test, since it is much better than the old Dark Rock 4, but maybe next time.

[@suadmemo2412]

The new Dark Rock 4 Pro is worse then the old Dark Rock 4 in terms of pure performance...

[@avidian888]

Suad Memo Well my friend got it last week with his Ryzen 2700 and it keeps his CPU mostly around 55 Celsius, 60 at maximum OC. It’s larger than the old one with more advanced fans and it’s super quite. The only downside is that it covers the RAM segment so it’s not ideal for people who wanna brag with their blinking RGB RAMs. 😂

[@DarkPa1adin]

@@suadmemo2412 what? Dark rock Pro 4 is worse performing than dark rock 4?

[@floatyseagull9472]

Suad Memo if large air coolers came with some sort of support brace, then moving it pc with a large cooler wouldn’t be a problem

[@techbuildspcs]

I use water cooler r liquid cooling for my gpus. Never gong back to air

[@Z3rodes]

If I could make a suggestion, noise normalized tests would be pretty good for a comparison between coolers, great video btw

[@VredesbyrdNoir]

I love Noctua's well engineered coolers but nothing beats an open water loop for performance, quietness and "cool" factor for an enthusiast build.

[@pehenry]

Thanks for the review. Going to replace my D15 with this so I can use the extra RAM slots and move my GPU to the first position.

[@anirbansarkar6115]

It has a black edition now!

[@TheEragoon]

I was waiting for this review, thank you.

[@burnbarrelnetwork4013]

One of the few comparisons with both Noctua dual fan coolers. Thank you

[@khanscombe619]

I've noticed you've never used or compared any of ThermalRight's top tier comparable offerings to Noctua's popular 9, 12, 14, 15cm. They go back as far & I have had brilliant performance with thier (still using it) ThermalRighT Ultra 120 Extreme copper in 2x fan. They've revised this to fit coming from LGA-775 into 1366 now on 2011/2066 (others as well). I'm curious to revisit them. It's currently on a W3690 on X58 OC'd to 4.5GHz. I haven't seen any new copper but this cools so well even w/o fan on a Xeon X5675 @ 4.2GHz easy, mild loading (just to test). They were blooming brilliant. If only Noctua offered a copper U12. It proly coost a bomb but worth it. Update: I just swapped it out for test on same PC/CPU in same room. The Noctua NH-U12A 2x fans for a 2007 ThermalRight Ultra-120 Extreme aluminium model w/ my custom lapped copper base & exact fans & Q-Fan profile. Right away, it won on both end of low idles 3-4 less to ceiling height temps of under 3-5. I was amazed. What's more, I couldn't be bothered to change out TIM (Artic Silver #5) to I re-used from U12A but re-smoothed it out & it still won. Wow! ASUS P9X79-E WS, E5-1660 @ 4200 / Q-chan 2400 Cl10 1t. 6 core averaged 34-37c idle to 69c Ida64 (ping71-72c) return to desktop work 39-43c. The U12A is still amazing, 71-74c idles 45-48. This is their legendary dense 48 fin winglet design 6x8mm copper pipes. very RAM compatable inside tight quad RAM mobo' (113mm fan to fan). To be fair, I've not tested any RevA or B since I just didn't need to. Had a pile of these for ages & they just work. They were £90 in 2007 w/o fans & a pair of Papst DC 12m or Noctua then another £45. So this was not cheep even then. Blooming brilliant.

[@tomgillotti]

I dumped liquid for the Noctuas a few years ago and have no complaints. I'd buy this new version in a heartbeat if my old one failed!

[@stephenawidjaja1417]

Tom Gillotti that’s the thing, you’re old one will never fail

[@jeneralgod]

@@stephenawidjaja1417 exactly, unless you splash liquid onto the mobo itself, your fans will still run without skipping a heartbeat

[@MrDutch1e]

Lol nobody gets bragging rights for using an aio cooler... Also I'd of liked to have seen the nh-d15 with the u12's fans just to have a direct comparison of how efficient the heatsink actually is.

[@defranken]

Great idea!!! Can you try this @Optimum Tech?

[@Z020852]

Don't the NH-D15 fan mounts only work with 140mm fan screw hole spacing?

[@MrDutch1e]

@@Z020852 no nh-d15 fans have 120mm spaced holes. Same with nh-d14.

[@Z020852]

@@MrDutch1e Now I might get it with the Chromax covers and NF-F12 Industrial so nothing sticks out like a sore thumb (or cat vomit) while being otherwise huge enough to cover the VRM heatsinks as I'm planning to rip out those idiotic, non-functional VRM shrouds on newer motherboards. And without dealing with the annoying installation process on BeQuiet coolers.

[@defranken]

@@Z020852 The fans arent mounted with screws but with these metal clips, you can put a 120mm fan on a D15 no problem

[@thq4941]

Air. Been running a black heatsink with white framed push pull fans sitting over a white 1080 Ti since 2017. Quiet, cool and hassle free black white build working to a 1440p 144hz desktop monitor and a 4K TV. RTX can wait.

[@voxelfusion9894]

I don't like the look of the aio tubes at all, but a custom loop is too much work right now. So I got the u12a and it's amazing, I don't even know what people's problem is with the color, as it reminds me of wood. Can definitely recommend!

[@QuantumBraced]

They need to update the U9S too with an A-style fan and possibly a more optimized heatsink. Great review as always.

[@zoomzabba452]

With Sterrox, they have to re-engineer every size fan. The wait is a pain.

[@CknSalad]

@@zoomzabba452 ndh15 with sterrox fans

[@seeckergaming]

The Noctua color scheme is PERFECT ^^ You shall not insult the color scheme of Noctua! I'm only at 2:01 in the video but it's already a cool video. Good job. Noctua is life [edit] 4:08 I can't understand why people have said that the Dark Rock Pro 4 is competition for the NH-D15. Literally 10°C difference!

[@wpi6705]

I dont like the color scheme

[@SunnyAustria]

Oh my god the image quality of this Footage is soooo amazing. Top Content too -> SUB!! Greetz from Austria, Home of Noctua :-)

[@ryansmithhd3011]

Had my nh u12a for a good few months now cooling my ryzen 7 3700x and I’m super happy with it, very cool and quiet.

[@outdatedTV]

I have a H115i Pro (280mm) on my rig, ofc quiet and very cool. Just installed my old NH-D14 in kids' PC and realized I forgot how genius the mounting system is. And the cooling performance is epic. Noctua is the #1 in air cooling in my book. Great little boy the NH-U12A. Pricey, but best air cooling you can get.

[@LawByLaw]

Is this cooler compatible with the ROG Strix X570-I Gaming motherboard? Will the M.2 Heatsink interfere with the cooler?

[@Gizfreek]

I got the U12A at launch an damn this thing is a beast! My overclocked 2700X never reaches more than 60°C and remains under 30°C in idle (case: Phanteks P600S with open front, 3x 140 intake, 1x 120 exhaust). Yes it's pricey but if you want superior air cooled performance with lots of compatibility there is nothing better. Edit: and yeah, it's a Nocuta cooler so it's dead silent even under load, those A12x25 are amazing

[@ereale3253]

Great video, as usual. However, I would have liked to see this new 120mm cooler compared against the one it replaces: the NH-U12S

[@informitas0117]

I put the a12x25 fans on the old u12s heatsink, and that made a world of difference.

[@kcxy1996]

@@informitas0117 did u put two of them or just one?

[@ThejusRao]

@@informitas0117 I'm planning on putting them myself, did you put one or two of them. How big of a difference was it?

[@rossmpostpro]

Another great cooler for Noctua, good stuff. Although I would have thought a more apt comparison would have been with the Dark Rock Pro 4 as its also dual tower? I've gone back to air cooling from a cooler master 240mm AIO. My reasoning was the pursuit of a super quiet system but also additional VRM cooling delivered by a tower style air cooler. Solid video as always mate!

[@CarbonPanther]

Woah the 100$ price tag on the NH-U12A makes the Dark Rock 4 look like a champ. And even the much bigger and cooler NH-D15 is cheaper.

[@Lork22cm]

Damn, if noctua's new NH-U12A can match up to their old NH-d15 It makes me wonder how amazing the next revision of the NH-D15 will be with the new 140mm fans. btw, I'm the only one that likes noctua's color scheme? I kinda like the retro look and in my mind I've already made the connection between a brown and beige fan with quality, performance and quietness. But also I kinda dislike most rgb gamer stuff so... yeah.

[@MaxBaltzer]

I was thinking the exact same thing, the new version of the D15 will be the best air cooler in history.

[@zoomzabba452]

I have a d15s with the 140 and a LTT edition 120 on it. This inside a Fractal Design R5 Blackout with no window and all led disabled. Silent and invisible. Trying to figure out how to get the same from a SFF build.

[@vovical]

I hate it... I like some RGB but for fans prefer black. I like very little rgb like one or two rgb items in the case. However a noctua cooler destroys any color going on on the system, so I prefer black

[@Ishiku__aka_xchoibitschibihil]

@@vovical noctula sells black fans mate! with optional coloured rubber pads!

[@voxelfusion9894]

The brown reminds me of wood and being brighter than black it looks better with RGB.

[@RJBuildsPcs]

Keys hope Noctua holds their ground when it comes to following trends. I have the NH-d15 and it’s just brilliant despite its color :)

[@sevegarza]

I understand why it's hard to give the heat pipes & heat sink a black ceramic coating. I understand why it's hard to paint the fan blades black or have the plastic be black as it's made out of a special material that gives it such good sound performance. I DONT's understand why the fan frames and corners can't be black! Honestly I think it would look fine with brown blades and exposed heat sink/pipes so long as the rest of it was black. They've created all black versions of the NH-D15 and NH-D12S, so I don't know why they haven't come out of a nearly all black (must have brown blades) version of the NH-U12A. I think it would look excellent.

[@bgm1911]

thanks for this, you made my decision to go with the 14S. Thumbs up. Oh, and a new sub.

[@ZZstaff]

A couple of things that most people do not know upon purchase is that at, over time, the water heats up and once warm or hot and stress is released from the CPU, such as in benchmarking, torture tests or gaming, the water stays warm or hot for much longer than a good air cooler, which can be evidenced by the very rapid decline in temperature after the CPU is not under load. Also, the water pump makes more noise than a good Noctua fan and some water cooler fans are louder as well. And, the pump will fail in 5 or so years of use, depending upon how much the computer is used. Then there are malfunctions such as leaks and filth in the cooler clogging the cooling fins on the metal heatsink, among other things. People that are brain washed, I mean love their water coolers enough to think they know everything will argue my points, however, that does not invalidate them.

[@treefiddy727]

There is also the cost. X62 is $60 more than a NH-15D for the budget conscious.

[@suadmemo2412]

Let the sheeps buy AiO-Watercoolers^^

[@levyroth]

LOL, you keep your stuff for more than 5 years?! Who does that?! I change my AIO every 2 years or less. PC case fans every year because I constantly upgrade my PC and have been doing so for more than 6 years now.

[@bgtubber]

Air coolers always when possible. Simple, reliable and no maintenance except for the occasional dusting. Oh, and I would probably chose the NH-U12A over the NH-D15 due to the size and very similar performance.

[@crylune]

Just ordered this to replace my NH-D15S. Yep, it cools better than it, and actually allows me to maneuver my hands in my case, remove my GPU, and switch NVMes if I so desire, which the D15S doesn't allow me to.

[@JonPYbanez]

excellent review. i was curious of the performance compared to an AIO and learned a lot today.

[@optimumtech]

I was curious too, honestly didn't expect it to beat a 240mm AIO.

[@jaybuff3008]

I have the NH-U12A on a 5950x + MSI Prestige X570 Creation + 4 each 8GB sticks of Corsair LPX DDR4-3200. Previously was on a 3900x cpu. The cpu cooler met all my expectations.

[@ryans3199]

I think it's kind of a 2-in-1 deal. If you're into overclocking, you most likely want liquid cooling for that application because it's all about maximum performance. Personally I have no need for either, so I could give a rip. I'm more interested in sleek, svelte cases with stylish (read: not overdone) rgb effects. I love these kind of informational videos though because I could change my mind at any time, and I know how to do it thanks to creators such as yourself. Great video!

[@MarceloTezza]

Excellent content! I would suggest on next graphs to always show the noise values in somewhere inside all graphs, to me feels easier to cross the values quicker. Thanks!

[@MattSpooner69]

Thank you. Trying to build the quietest pc I can. This was a huge help. Not many video like this out there

[@XxAlexanderProxx]

Thanks. I did not even know about this Cooler. I was going to go with the 15, but I will be going with the 12.

[@onresonance]

Thank you for the awesome content, and for not using clickbait titles.

[@theodorthiele]

Hope they manage to do the 140mm version of that fan soon - oh and in black. A "D14x25" cooler would be a beast!

[@Roflmfaoftw]

im still rocking my NH-U12 original from 2008, even got the 1151 brackets free from Noctua. I might get this one tho, super happy with noctua tbh

[@greggbowers1947]

My Corsair H100i was DOA; while waiting on the RMA replacement, I got the NH-U12S for my Threadripper 1920X. Not sure if I even want to swap it back out for the H100i Pro they're sending me

[@tomstech4390]

They need to make the nh-u14a, pretty much same but in 140mm size. Most people can fit a 140mm and it'll cool even better.

[@MDomi]

I would by that instantly.

[@DarkPa1adin]

Thumbs up for the noise/temp rating

[@Pabula]

Great video, thanks for sharing. One thing that i would like to see is lower rpm, how does the NH-U12A behaves vs NH-D15 on not max rpms, i feel the U12A behaves well under max rpms, but the D15 should win on lower rpms due to the more area of dissipation.

[@_Randwulf]

Thx Ali 4 the comparisons. I thought that it was a good mix with interesting results... 😎👍

[@MrLincoln87]

Hey mate interested to know... seeing as with some rads, there are diminishing results when running a push+pull fan setup. How would that fair with the NH-U12A? Would you be able to throw together a test of a 1 fan vs 2 fan to see how much extra noise is created vs how much cooler it runs? *I've just bought a U12A and potentially planning to run the extra fan as a case fan instead (but also bought 3 other NF-A12x25's anyways)

[@boyburger]

Grabbed this the other day for my i7 4790k and I’m loving it :-)

[@aquilarossa5191]

For my 2700x I'd stick with the stock RBG cooler if it was not for the noise. It does okay for a low profile cooler with just two heat pipes (it's made by Coolermaster). it looks good too. Fan tuning and custom curves help but it still has this tendency to spin up to 2500 rpm every few minutes. Winter is coming which might help. I am not seeing any sign of the CPU not holding its max boost when gaming. It only throttles when stress testing for more than a few minutes. The test in CPU-Z gets it to just over 70. OCCT gets it up over 80 though. AIOs are getting more reliable apparently, but I still do not trust them yet. Getting there, but nah. Noctua appeals because they also have really good socket support as well as low noise and good performance, so the cooler can be used for many years on builds. Could probably bling it out with RGB strips so it fits with all the other parts I have that came with RGB (I had never seen it in person and thought it was a sales gimmick. I like it. it looks good).

[@glbernini0]

I was disappointed when I moved from the old 12 to the 14 6 years ago. Temps were a little better but I didn't realize how good the 12 was.

[@Gmonkeystar]

Revisiting this vid and it seems that Noctua will be releasing a Chromax NH-U12-A pretty soon !

[@haileokbe2097]

Thank you Sir for your scientific comparison and input into these CPU coolers. I liked your highly educational KZbin. Salute, Sir. Haile Okbe, Toronto, Canada

[@ThatBikerGuy-RR]

I got ryzen 9 3900x stock should I upgrade to this cooler in video or should I go for water cooler with anti leak technology will this air cooler can Handel over clocking ?

[@johnniefortune1872]

Single fan performance comparison would have been handy.

[@TheRitualChannel]

Can you please test the U12S with the new fans, vs the U12A? For old owners, is it worth the full upgrade, or just get the new fans and call it a day?

[@jhawley031]

Man! imagine what a BEAST a d15 with 7~8 heat pipes and 2 140mm versions of these fans would be! Its known that the d15 can beat or match most 240mm aios. A d15 with 7 heatpipes and these new fans would probably compete with 280mm and 360mm aios. With the new d15 coming in 2022 who knows. Im suspecting the new one will either be the white version or it will incorporate the new features seen in the u12a and just be an absolute unit

[@hardcorehardware361]

I have a Lian Li Dynamic XL and DRP4 while the DRP4 is a great cooler its a little large, when I upgrade to the 3950x I'll be going for one of these NH-U12A Chromax coolers.

[@tobygreenwood5036]

Probably my first choice cpu cooler for my next build

[@Koyomix86]

I think Noctua is the best cooler and fan company ever, they aren’t overpriced and they are the best fans/coolers out there.

[@9SMTM6]

Noiseblocker eLoops 120mm are the best 120mm fans out there by a stretch. Provided you don't want to use them in a pull config. I'd really probably argue that a eLoop as push fan and no pull fan on the noctua cooler, while it might not reach the peak performance with two fans, would be a far better product in terms of performance / noise

[@tabasumcarpentry5336]

Would u recommend NH-U12A over NH-D15 for 12700k thank u?

[@KebongPHL]

yup mine also 12700k and nhu12a chromax and is so cool

[@Ataturk.13]

Best cooler ? D15 black vs u12A ?

[@Diazor]

Watching this video alone has prompted me to return my h75 (2018) for one of these bad boys, beating a 240mm aio?!?! That's insane, thanks Optimum Tech!!!

[@akdragonpc473]

When I built my PC back in 2012 I got the first Corsair h100, that died after 3 years. I got it replaced with a h100i gtx which as of last month started to give really high temps. I found i had to take the rad out give it a shake and put it back in for it to work properly, but that would only last 48hrs.....I am now getting it RMA'd. It will be replaced but I'm not even going to bother putting it in my PC. I will be building a new PC this year or next and I will never user an AIO CPU cooler again. I would go for the Noctua NH-U12A if they make a black version of the fans, if not I'm going to go for DH15 chromax.

[@Yuu_Touko]

I love my NH-D15S! It's pretty tight fit in my NZXT S340 Elite, but it fits with the side window on, it's very queit and effective!

[@HassanMohamoud-lg2xw]

It's the best air cooler and the ugliest at the same time in my opinion (bad english :)

[@Yuu_Touko]

@@HassanMohamoud-lg2xw i am a fan of how Noctua's coolers and fans looks. So, it's not ugly for everyone.

[@Rowie66]

Honestly such a great video. Helps me so much.

[@Krauser1226]

Noctua tower coolers are the best. I have an NH-D9L tower in my InWin 901 cooling an overclocked, albeit not aggressively overclocked, 4790k for the last few years and it's been bulletproof, silent, and provides excellent cooling performance. I prefer air cooling to liquid AIO for the quiet performance and reliability. There's nothing to go wrong short of a fan dying.

[@goblinphreak2132]

those new sterrox fans are incredible. i use them on my 360mm radiator and holy shit the difference is insane. also, my 360mm liquid cooler doesnt require extra wires. pump gets 12v power from the motherboard pump header and the fans hook up to the cpu_fan header. no sata no usb. i skipped on the RGB so all those extra wires were put back in the box cuz i dont need them. super minimum. for anyone wondering, fans are rated stax speed. on the minimum pressure side they give you CFM aka airflow because there is no pressure. at max pressure, they rate in mmh2o. the sterrox fans are epic because its mid range use is higher than other fans. so at 1000-1500 it will outperform any fan at that rpm. now if we went max stats, my noctua ippc 3000 will flow 10.5mm2o at its max performance.... however thats 3000 rpm and loud as balls. now of i run both fans at say 1500rpm, the sterrox fans will outperform the ippc fans.

[@farmerboe]

I've been using Noctua coolers for over 10 years now. I've messed with custom water cooling but have gone back to passive NH-D14's for 24/7 use on my main rigs. Something about the simplicity of air cooling that can't be beat.