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Final Thoughts & Conclusion
Coolers seem to come and go all the time, but every so often you get a gem that sticks around for a while, like the Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme which has been the basis against which others have been tested for a few years. Thermalright has let Noctua creep up on them and produce a better product, however, while the product may perform and be presented better, the TRUE still seems to retain its place in everyone’s hearts. Perhaps it is due to its ‘Underdog’ nature of a relatively small company appearing and taking the cooling crown. Perhaps it is unfair for said cooler to retain the crown when others such as the NH-U12P SE2 perform better.
There also seems to be better support from Noctua in general, 6 year warranty and with them offering a free mounting kit to those that had purchased an earlier cooler to enable them to use it on LGA1156 from the get go. It leaves you with a feeling that you are investing in a product and it is something that you will be able to use for a long time coming, possibly on future platforms that don’t even exist yet.
All in all the NH-U12P SE2 is a great cooler, beating the TRUE by a few degrees is not to be sniffed at, however, as we have come to expect from Noctua, there is one main down side – the price.
While the package does include two NF-P12 fans which retail for £15 on their own, accounting for £30 of the package value, it is still hard to outlay the extra cash. However as in all things, you do not get something for nothing. If you want the temperature performance then you have to pay for it!
You do get a lot of real-estate for your cash as the NH-U12P SE2 is one big puppy, and if you’re going to fork out for top end gear, why not add this cooler to your list?
To sum up:
Pros:
- Range of Accessories
- Attention to detail and build quality
- 6 Year warranty
- Silent
- Noctua’s support
- The fan colours (personal preference)
Cons:
- Price (Although 2 NF-P12’s are included)
- The fan colours (personal preference)
Here at Overclockers Tech, we try and take all factors into account when/if awarding products with a badge of honour, we also consider any item that receives an award to be a safe buy; therefore we award the NH-U12P SE2 with an 9 out of 10 and consequently a Gold award.
A big thank you to Jakob at Noctua for providing the review sample.
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