NoctuaNH-U12S, Premium CPU Cooler with NF-F12 120mm Fan (Brown)

I've been looking over the past few months for the perfect cpu cooler, and I think I may have found it with the NH-U12s.At first I got a great deal on an H100 from corsair, but it didn't fit well in my case (corsair 300R at the time)(Now a Fractal Design R4 W/ Window), and I thought the tubes looked ugly. So I sold it and bought a H80i. I also had an Antec 620 laying around as well. (Note. All my coolers prior the NH-U12s used Artic Silver 5 as the Thermal compound)H80i cooled decently, the tubes were really thick and hard to adjust it look nice; plus it was very, very loud (Even with one Noctua 120mm fan and link software on quiet mode) and corsair link software was a big headache, worked once in a while. The pump noise on the H80i was really loud as well. Eventually had to RMA it, and sold the new replacement to buy the Noctua NH-U12s. Corsair does have great support though, so I can't say stay away from them. I love their support team.The Antec 620 was nice, especially visually with those long flexible tubes, however it also had a buzzing noise from the pump. Also, the NF-F12 fan I already owned didn't work off the pump header (3-pin) because the NF-F12 has a 4 pin PWM. So I used a system fan header on my motherboard which ran it at a higher (louder) rpm then I'd like. It got so loud I eventually used the Low Noise Adapter. The stock fan for the 620 was relatively loud as well. I just wanted something really quiet and nice to look at. So doing my research, and having a bad experience with water cooling pumps, I decided to look into Air cooling. Loud on the Antec 620 (3770K @ 4.0Ghz, were from 70-80 degrees (in a push pull configuration with a NF-F12 and stock Antec fan)I was debating between this one, the NH-U14s, and the NH-D14. I was leaning towards the D14, because it includes two noctua fans, was only $15-$20 more and it cooled better. However, it only offers marginally better cooling compared to the newer u12s and u14s. And in-case you guys haven't figured out yet, I'm huge onto physically looks on my computer components, because I have a window I like to see my components. If I bought the D14, I wouldn't be able to see basically the whole top of my build.The reason I didn't get the NH-U14s, was because the NH-U12s included another NF-F12 fan, (and I had one in my build already, so it would work well in push pull). Plus the NH-U12s was cheaper lol.I also did some research on this vs a Coolermaster 212 Evo, but the noctua offers a 6 year warranty (which I heard great things about), Noctua includes an amazing pacakge with all the accessories including the thermal compound, along with amazingly quiet fans already included, so that's what sold me. (plus the cooler looks better with nickel plating compared to the bare copper on the CM coolers.)Installation was a breeze, instructions are very straight-forward. Only thing I had problem with was mounting the cooler on the steel frame, I had to use an electric screw driver for the spring-loaded screws to tighten the cooler without the screws coming off. Which wasn't too bad, maybe 5-10 minutes.System: Gigabyte Z77-UD5H, Intel Core i7 3770K(Note. All temps are with 2 NF-F12 fans in push pull)Idle temps ranged in the 30-36 for both 4.0ghz and 4.3ghz3770K Load @ 4.0Ghz: temps ranged from 58-65 c on Prime95.3770K Load @ 4.3Ghz: temps ranged from 64-69 c on Prime95.Playing games such as Metro last light with a MSI GTX 660, temps on the cpu @4.3Ghz were from 50-57 c which is pretty good.Obviously, I can go a bit higher of a OC, but I don't do anything that requires the extra horsepower. On a Gigabyte Z77-UD5H Mobo, the NF-F12 fans (both connected to CPU fan header) never ramp up to the max RPM's, even at full loud. So the temps I recorded, the fans were still super silent. In fact, I don't think the RPM's on both fans changed at all.So overall, I would definitely recommend this cooler. Out of all the CPU coolers I have tried, included closed loop water cooling systems, the NH-U12s is the most quiet and performs exceptionally well.

Got this to replace an EVO 212 - had it for a while, one of the fan brackets broke during cleanup, swapped back to stock while researching options, and this one just stuck out above all others.Plus, wanted to OC a bit, and the EVO couldn't really handle it.Where to begin? Everything is about this cooler is perfect. But, I'll break it down anyway.- Packaging: Everything is neatly packed inside and well secured. Everything you can possibly need is in there.- Installation: I'd like to take a moment to point out that have been building system for over 20 years now, been through hundreds of fans and mounts, I've installed fans that took a good couple of hours to get installed properly and made you wish you had 4 more hands (Zalmans back in early 2000's anyone?), and I've installed some that made you wish who ever designed that mounting solution would design EVERYTHING! The U12S is one of those wonders. I consider the EVO very simple to install, this one makes the EVO installation looks like a pain.Seriously, from the moment I remove the stock fan, cleaned up the CPU to the moment is was up and running with the new cooler - not even 5 minutes. Kept looking to see if I missed something.- Noise level: while I can give you numbers here, what I can tell you that at full speed (~1600RPM), you have to put your ear to it to hear anything, dead silent.- Clearance: Doesn't require you to remove you RAM or anything else to install and doesn't touch the RAM when the fan is installed.- Performance (compared to stock fan - pics included [sorry, don't have pics for the EVO, only test results I wrote down a little while ago]): Night and day!Room temp: ~22c (70f)Idle temps:Stock fan: ~60cEVO 212: ~43cNH-U12S: ~40cSounds good yes ? it gets better.Prime95 stress test - 45mins (Small FFTs - maximum power / heat):Stock fan: ~88cEVO 212: ~71cNH-U12S: ~59cThat's 29c degrees difference from stock, which is crazy. I fully expected to see a big gap between the two, but that is a lot better than expected. The EVO is also far behind.OC test - 4.4Ghz @ 1.14v - Prime95 stress test - 2 hours:Stock fan: system blue screened in about 30 seconds (fully expected that one).EVO 212: hit 90c and cpu was throttled down.NH-U12S: ~77c stable.- Price: Acceptable, you definitely get what you pay for here.If I had to try really hard to find a con here I'd say:- Fan color: Noctua and that brown.. sigh. But, you buy a cooler for it to cool your CPU, not for you to look at it all day, so it doesn't get dinged for that in my book.(people who reduce stars for fan color - really?)Summary:This is one of the best overall air cooler I've ever worked with, I just have to mention again how easy it is to install, doesn't get in the way of anything, silent, and performance are amazing. For the price, I doubt there is anything out there on that level.