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Socket 775 and AM2 heatsink roundup II

Socket 775 and AM2 heatsink roundup II

Noctua NH-U12P Dual Fan Performance Tests

Since I’m taking a look at only two heatsinks today, there is time for some additional fan testing. Noctua sent an extra NF-P12 fan and two pairs of fan clips are included with the NH-U12P, so I decided to run a few dual-fan tests. Generally speaking, multiple fan configurations gain only a degree or two, but for hardcore enthusiasts, every degree counts. There are two Scythe S-FLEX fans in the lab, so I ran a pair of them as well for comparison. The testing was conducted on our X2 6000+ AM2 system at 3.3GHz and 1.55V.

I ran into no clearance issues with the NH-U12P on our DFI Infinity board. The second fan did overhang the memory slots but did not prevent their use.

As you can see, the NF-P12 fan is not far behind the Scythe S-FLEX when used with the NH-U12P. I was very impressed with the NF-P12. It is an incredibly quiet fan. The S-FLEX is very quiet, but I can still hear it if I get close—the NF-P12 on the other hand was so quiet that I could clearly hear the squealing of mainboard power regulation components over the noise the fan was producing. This is very good considering the healthy 54CFM it produces. The 2’C difference between the single NF-P12 and the dual Scythe S-FLEX configuration proves that the NH-U12P heatsink is designed with lower CFM fans in mind. The lower fin density means it performs just as well with lower CFM fans as it does in high CFM or dual fan configurations.


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Comments

  1. GHoosdum
    GHoosdum That Noctua looks like a real winner...

    Coincidentally, prices on it seem to be going up since the review was published. Hmm...
  2. lemonlime
    lemonlime It is an excellent heatsink--especially when you consider its footprint, weight and fin spacing.

    It is unfortunate that newegg does not seem to carry Noctua products. Canadian buyers can find it at NCIX in the $49-59 range. There should be other US based retailers that carry it.
  3. Leonardo
    Leonardo Thanks, Mike. Good review. I'm always eager to learn of the latest in air cooling for CPUs.

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