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In the ever advancing world of technology, products – even companies – come and go in an instant. One company, Noctua, that was founded in Austria; through cooperation between the Austrian Rascom Computer distribution Ges.m.b.H and the Taiwanese Kolink International Corporation, seems to be here to stay. After having a hit with their split fan range offering higher airflow (NF-S12) vs higher static pressure (NF-P12), while remaining relatively silent throughout! They have returned with an enhanced version of their NH-U12P, dubbed the NH-U12P SE2 Premium CPU cooler.
So, since the NH-U12P performs comparatively well to other coolers according to various sources on the internet, on paper the NH-U12P SE2 should be an interesting product.
An important point to note is that due to the customized back plate the NH-U12P SE2 is incompatible with the Intel Xeon 5500 platform; however, Noctua has an alternative in the form of the NH-U12DX 1366.
The official specifications, which can be found online at Noctua’s website here or below in pictorial format.
As you can see from the specifications, the socket compatibility out of the box is expansive, covering most users’ needs. Additionally they also tell us that the weight is slightly less than 1KG! However, due to motherboards being quite flexible, this would not damage your hardware if the motherboard is installed correctly.
Continue overleaf for the packaging…
As with all Noctua products, the NH-U12P SE2 comes in a box sporting the standard Noctua design of the brown and blue, with crisp white lines breaking up the different sections of information.
| Front | Back |
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| Top | |
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Upon opening the outer box there are two plain white inner boxes which contain all of the different components of the cooler.
Removing the two containers allows you to see which box contains the cooler (if you haven’t already guessed) and also allows you to hazard a guess at what the secondary box contains.
In the second box is a selection of bundles labelled as “Intel and AMD sets” in addition to the “U12P SE2 common parts”. Also in the second box is the second of two NF-P12 premium fans, two instruction leaflets (one for the AMD mounting system and one for the Intel system) and a long screwdriver. The added tool is an indication of the great attention to detail by Noctua and solves the problem of fiddly installations in cramped enclosures.
Let us move on to the more basic components:
As you can see, the common parts include:
- Two Low Noise Adapters
- Two Ultra Low Noise Adapters
- Four wire fan clips
- Four rubber strips
- One tube of NT-H1
- Two mounting brackets
- One Metal case badge
We mentioned previously that the NH-U12P SE2 is supplied with 2 NF-P12 fans! This is rather interesting, considering that each fan retails for ~£15 in the United Kingdom! Overclockers Tech has previously reviewed the aforementioned fans, so to read about them in more detail please click here.
In the past Noctua has never ‘cut corners’ and as such we now expect many things from them, due to the engineering skills employed.
Next are the AMD and Intel mounting kits.
These are as usual made in a rather solid and rigid manner.
So, now moving on to the cooler itself…
Undressing the cooler from it’s cardboard protective cocoon, reveals a somewhat different facial structure in comparison to what is normal. Where the tower coolers generally have a flat face, the NH-U12P SE2 has a many different layers as you can see here.
It is also refreshing to see than the sides of the cooler have been blocked somewhat, which should help reduce waste air flow that in-turn could be used to remove the heat from the fins.
The top of the cooler is adorned with an embossed Noctua owl logo; you can also see the four heatpipes on the top, whilst the base is protected with a plastic cap! The base itself isn’t one of a mirror finish, but it is nice and flat. As we always say here at Overclockers Tech, shininess is not indicative of a flat surface.
It is at this time that it would be prudent to note that the unit feels solidly built and well made, and could potentially take on a few meetings with Mr Floor without sustaining ‘too much’ damage.
Upon installation; we were at first a little disappointed that Noctua had decided to continue to use wire clips to secure the fans to the heatsink surface! However, upon seeing their execution of this strategy our minds were changed, the length of the clip fits into a large recess, which makes installing the fans an easy procedure!
Due to the cooler requiring a back plate, the motherboard needs to be removed from the system (unless you have a case with an access hole), the mounting system can seem a little bit daunting at first as there are numerous components, however, the two instruction leaflets have a step-by-step walk through of how to complete each section for both the AMD and the Intel mounting systems.
It would also be prudent to ensure that your system can accommodate such a beast before purchasing, as when using the included two fans, the cooler is no small-fry.
Next we reach the testing, so does the NH-U12P SE2 live up to the hype?…
Test setup
Motherboard: MSI P55 GD65
Processor: i7 860 @ 3.62GHz
RAM: 4GB GSkill 2000Mhz RipJaw
Video Card: EVGA SSC GTX260 216 55nm
Hard Drive: 640GB WD AAKS
Power Supply: Corsair HX620w
Comparison: Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme (with 2 x NF-P12’s in push-pull) [TRUE]
All temperatures are taken using core temp, to attain the load temperatures the CPU is fully loaded using Prime95. The system is also allowed to ‘rest’ between temperature readings to ensure that the results are fair and accurate.
As shown by the results, the NH-U12P SE2 offers a temperature improvement at idle of 1 degree, however any improvement is a good improvement, especially in the competitive market of coolers.
At load, the NH-U12P SE2 shows a bit more flair and manages to trump the TRUE by 3 degrees, which is very good considering that the TRUE is still regarded by many to be the king of the tower cooling world.
It must also be noted that the Noctua cools well whilst remaining silent straight out of the box, whereas to silence the other tower coolers, or achieve maximum performance, more investment needs to be made.
Moving on to the conclusion…
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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