Performance Results
The Noctua NH-U9B was tested using our new testing methodology that was developed during our recent EPIC heatsink roundup. We now have results for eleven heatsinks included for comparison.
Without further ado, lets see the results!
The above results were taken from CoreTemp 0.95.4. Amazingly, the little NH-U9B bested almost every heatsink on the chart. It was only a degree or two behind its big brother, the NH-U12P and the Thermalright SI-128 SE. Very good!
We see an almost identical trend with temperatures reported by Asus PC Probe. The Noctua NH-U9B is a close third in the rankings!
As we discovered during the last heatsink roundup, Prime95 “Small FFT” testing puts significantly more strain on modern Intel processors than “Large FFTs”. The NH-U9B had no issues coping with the extra heat load and kept its position in third. I have to keep reminding myself that this heatsink employs a 92mm fan! There are heatsinks more than twice its weight trailing behind it.
Asus PC Probe gives us a similar trend with Prime95 Small FFTs.
System idle measurements are not very important but are included for reference. The NH-U9B actually nudged its way into second place with a very low heat load on it.
The mainboard sensor located near the memory VRM gave me a surprising result for the NH-U9B. I was expecting a result similar to the NH-U12P, but it cooled this area of the mainboard much better. I was puzzled by this at first, but because the fin bank is much lower than the NH-U12P, the fan also sits much lower. Its closer proximity to the VRM makes the fan more effective in this regard.
The NH-U9B didn’t fair quite as well in the AM2 rankings, but I believe this has more to do with certain competitors performing much better on AM2 than 775. The Coolink Silenator is especially effective on our AM2 platform, as is the monster Scythe Mugen. Given its size, it is still giving many of the others a run for their money.
Fan Tests
Since Noctua includes a premium grade fan and additional fan clips, I decided to conduct some additional fan testing.
As you can see above, our Reference 92mm ‘Thermalright’ branded fan did a bit better than the NF-B9, reducing load temperature by about 4’C. This was not a difficult feat however, as our reference fan is 2500RPM and 45CFM versus the 1600RPM and 37CFM of the NF-B9. This proves that the increased fin density of the NH-U9B favors higher-flow fans. We didn’t see this sort of delta with the NH-U12P. The NF-B9, however is a VERY quiet fan. The hard drive motor and exhaust fan made it impossible for me to hear. Our reference fan is very loud in comparison, and can be clearly heard at a distance. With two NF-B9 fans, we were able to match the performance of our reference fan, while still producing far less noise. Those who want high performance while keeping noise at a minimum will be very pleased with a dual NF-B9 configuration.
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