Noctua NH-U12P SE2 CPU Cooler and NF-P14 FLX 140mm Fan

Noise & the Test

Well, we have been living with the Noctua NH-U12P SE 2 inside our case for five weeks and we love it for all of our needs including extreme CPU overclocking.  It does not matter how hot your CPU gets, you will not hear your CPU cooler over your videocard fan, especially if you choose a GTX 280 or HD 4870-X2.

The last time we ran a comparison, we got our Core i7 920 to 3.5 GHz on the stock Intel cooler.  However, the temperatures were excessively high – well over 80C in games and thermal protection would throttle the CPU speed if we tried running Vantage or any synthetic test like Everest that stress the CPU.  We would say that relatively safe temperatures can be achieved at 3.2 GHz with the stock Intel cooler.  In contrast, we managed to get our Core i7 to 3.5 GHz with Hyper 212 Plus rather safely.  Unfortunately, at 3.8 GHz we could run games but with either Vantage or Everest, we would throttle our Core i7 920 and once we saw 99C (which is shockingly high) with Hyper 212 – even with two 120mm fans in push-pull.

So, the stock Intel cooler runs out of safety margin at about 3.2 GHz and the Hyper N212 quits after maybe 3.5 GHz.  In contrast, our Noctua NH-U12P SE 2 cooler handled both of these speeds with temperatures maxing out in the low-60s Centigrade.  Let’s see how far we can safely push it.  So we went for a much more extreme overclock on our Core i7, this time raising our voltage +.2V; somewhat dangerous to its chances of its having a long life but definitely raising the 920’s core temperatures for our tests.  This time, we managed to remain stable all the way to 4.0 GHz.  Let’s take a look at our setup:

The Test and Conclusion

Test Configuration

• Intel Core i7 920 at stock, 3.5 GHz, 3.8 GHz and at 4.0 GHz
• Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R (latest BIOS, PCIe 2.0 specification; CrossFire or SLI 16x + 16x).
• 6 GB Kingston DDR3-PC18000 RAM (3×2 GB in tri-channel; 2×2 GB supplied by Kingston)
• GeForce GTX 280 (1GB, reference clocks) by BFGTech
• GeForce 8800 GTX (reference clocks) in PhysX configuration
• 250 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 hard drive
• Silent Pro 600 watt power supply (supplied by Cooler Master)
• Intel stock CPU cooler
• Cooler Master Hyper N212 Plus Direct Touch Universal Cooler (supplied by Cooler  Master)
• Noctua NH-U12P SE 2 Universal CPU cooler (supplied by Noctua)
• Noctua 140mm NF-P14 FLX fan used as a side-panel case fan (supplied by Noctua)
• Cooler Master 120mm fan used as a side-panel case fan
• Cooler Master 140mm fan used as a side-panel case fan
• Gladiator 600 mid-tower case (supplied by Cooler Master)

Test Configuration – Software

• NVIDIA WHQL GeForce Driver 195.62; high quality filtering and optimizations off

• Windows Vista 64-bit SP1; very latest updates
• DirectX August 2008.
• All games are patched to their latest versions.
• Highest quality sound (stereo) used in all games.
• Vista 64, all DX10 titles were run under DX10 render paths
• Everest Ultimate

First, we used the stock Intel cooler and were able to only get about 3.2 GHz safely with synthetic tests under full load.  We were able to manage 3.5 GHz in games but the thermals would rise dangerously to over 80C.  So let’s see what we got with Core i7 920 at 4.0 GHz and Vantage.  In contrast, at (only) 3.8 GHz with our Hyper 212 Plus, we saw over 90 C; and that would be for games as it never could last more than a few seconds with Everest Ultimate’s stress test until the CPU throttled to avoid damage.

Much better!  Temperatures of our Core i7 920 at 4.0 GHz remain in the mid-70s C contrasted with Hyper 212 Plus temperatures in the low 90s C at 3.8 GHz.  And this is pretty much as high as we noted actually playing demanding games.  So let’s give it a real stress test with Everest ultimate and load all the cores at once.

Finally at our i7 920’s maximum overclock, 4.0 Ghz – a full 1300+ MHz overclock – fifty percent over its 2.66 GHz stock clock – we see maximum temperatures remaining in the lowest-80s.  Noctua NH-U12P SE 2 Universal CPU cooler passes all tests with flying colors!  We are talking nineteen (19!) degrees cooler with the Noctua at 4.0 GHz contrasted with Hyper 212 Plus failing at 3.8 GHz; a -200 MHz lower and much hotter overclock of our i7 920 than what we got with the Noctua NH-U12P SE 2.

Noctua 140 mm NF-P14 FLX fan

Now we take a close look at the Noctua NF-P14 FLX fan.  This flexible fan’s design is round so that the fan enclosure holes are spaced to place it into the same normal 120mm fan space that a conventional square fan requires.  Since it is 140mm, the blades can revolve more slowly than a 120mm fan and still move the same amount (or more) of air – but with less noise.  And if you need to cool a PC home theater setup, this fan can be slowed into complete inaudibility.

We got our Noctua NF-P14 FLX fan sent along with the Noctua cooler directly from the company headquartered in Vienna, Austria. This fan commands a premium price at NewEgg, $29.99.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608017&Tpk=Noctua%20NF-P14%20FLX

However, by using a 140mm completely round design with the same hole-spacing as common 120mm fans and achieving a better airflow to noise ratio, the NF-P14 FLX is ideal for upgrading case fans.  In some circumstances, it might fit 120mm CPU coolers with the supplied adapters, making for an excellent upgrade especially for home theater PCs where quiet cooling is essential.

This Noctua NF-P14 FLX fan also carries some pretty impressive specifications.  This chart is from Noctua’s web site:

Please note that this fan is warrantied for six (6) years!  The bearings are SSO precision milled CNC brass parts and this diagram explaining their advantages are taken directly from Noctua’s web site and it also applies directly to the two 120mm fans in the Noctua NH-U12P SE 2 CPU cooler.

Noctua’s 140mm FLX fan comes packed with everything you need but a screwdriver; note the two step down adapters which will slow the fan into inaudibility:

Here is how it comes packaged:

The cover opens to describe Noctua’s FLX fan:

The back has this:

We see excellent specifications and a well thought-out packaging and instructions on the box and at Noctua’s website.  Let’s compare Noctua’s 140mm FLX fan to the Cooler Master 120mm fan that it replaces as a side panel case fan directly bringing in cool air right on top of our hot and cramped pair of video cards and overclocked Core i7 920.

Again, we have no db meter that can measure 12 to 20 dbA.  So, we must rely on our fairly trained ears to detect differences.  Since there is no way to hear these rather silent fans with a running video card such as GTX 280 or HD 4870-X2 along with  four other case fans, we took them out of the case entirely and ran them from a silent 12V DC source.

Note the fans spinning side by side.  The Noctua was quieter than either the 120mm or 140mm Cooler Master case fan.  But what about its ability to move air and thus cool effectively?  Well, we designed our own completely unscientific visual test to compare the quieter 140mm Noctua against a 140mm Cooler Master fan.  Both fans are actually set up in the side panel of our (out-of-the-case) Gladiator 600 to demonstrate the airflow and relative air pressure of the two fans using colored ribbons.

At maximum RPMs, we can see the Noctua’s 140mm notched fan moving at least as much air as the Cooler Master’s 140mm fan and it is quieter to boot!  Plus we have two more steps down to lower the Noctua fan’s RPMs into inaudibility.  The low-noise black adapter (L.N.A.) lowers the RPMs from 1,200 down to 900 and the noise from 19.6 db(A) to 13.2 db(A).

The blue ultra-low noise adapter (U.L.N.A.) further lowers the RPMs down to 750 for 10.1 db(A).

Now with the 140mm Noctua Flex fan installed in the side panel and cooling our Core i7 and both hot running Geforce GTXes running in PhysX, we could measure no consistent differences in either the case, CPU or GPU temperatures using either the louder Cooler Master 120mm fan or with the much quieter 140mm Noctua FLX fan.  Of course, we already had excellent airflow in our Gladiator 600 with 4 strategically placed large case fans so this upgrade would be for quietness.

We also like the Noctua FLX’ ability to easily slow the fan down further with the supplied adapters into inaudibility for PC home theater setups. As you can see, the airflow is still quite good and it would be very worthwhile to have Noctua case and CPU fans in your PC when quietness is required.

We note that the ambient temperatures were slightly warm and consistent at 73-75 F during all of our testing. We see Noctua NH-U12P SE 2 doing an excellent job of cooling.  The Noctua 140mm FLX fan helps keep case temperatures down by quietly cooling from the side panel, or anywhere you choose to place it.  We really like Noctua’s $30 140mm FLX fan and especially their $75 NH-U12P SE2 CPU universal cooler.

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