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Noctua

Noctua NH-C12P 120mm SSO CPU Cooler - Retail

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  • Return for refund within: 30 days
  • Return for replacement within: 30 days
  • Restocking Fee: Yes
Customer ReviewSpecificationsProduct Tour

Review Summary (read all 29 Reviews)

5
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80%
4
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10%
3
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3%
2
0%
1
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7%
Product Rating:
Total Reviews: 29

Great for a Tight Fit

white Reviewed By: EliteSniper177 on 9/26/2009
Rating + 5
Tech Level Tech Level: high - Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
Pros: Has been a great cooler since i installed it in my build. I'm using the Cooler Master Cosmos S case which has a large 200mm fan on the inside making larger coolers an impossible fit. The heatsink and fan fit easily in and have space to spare. Keeps the temps on my i7 920 at 29C on idle and 44C on load. Looks great, doesn't need flashy LED's to sell it. It is also a very quiet fan, partly due to several notches cut into the fan blades which suppress sound. Has a textured CPU contact which helps with thick thermal pastes like Noctua's NT-H1
Cons: Heat pipes and cooling fins are low and can get in the way of taller ram sticks like the Corsair Dominator and north bridge cooling setups, Check Noctua's website for a full list of compatible and incompatible motherboards. Also doesn't include 1366 mounting brackets, but Noctua will send you the bracket free if you contact their support. You can also buy the bracket if you dont want to wait, newegg doesn't carry it at the time of this review but other sites do.
Other Thoughts: Noctua originally sold this model with a very polished contact surface, but switched back to the textured surface after they found in their labs that there was no difference in temperature. Coolers with polished finishes need an oilier paste like artic Silver 5, but with the textured surface thicker pastes like NT-H1 work best to fill the gaps and keep the contact surface air free. If you receive the model with the textured finish be sure you use NT-H1 or you wont get the most out of the cooler.

The new NM-13 SecureFirm 2 bracket they provide free to all customers, allows you to remove the cooler without removing the whole bracket, as is the problem with many heavier cooler brackets on i7 coolers.

My Build:
Case - COOLER MASTER COSMOS S
MB - EVGA E760 CLASSIFIED
CPU - Intel i7 920
CPU Cooler - Noctua NH-C12P
Memory - Corsair Dominator (3x2GB)
PSU - Rosewill Bronze 1000W
GFX - XFX Radeon HD 4890 1GB
HDD - Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB
Optical - HP 24X
OS - Vista Ult
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Overpriced

white Reviewed By: Eric Layne on 8/26/2009
Rating + 1
Tech Level Tech Level: average - Ownership: 1 week to 1 month
This user purchased this item from Newegg
Pros: Overhangs part of motherboard for additional cooling. Fan is completely silent, had to visually check to make sure it was running. Comes with Noctua thermal compound that has been independently tested and shown to cool as well as Arctic Silver 5.
Cons: I had high hopes for this cooler but it is very, very disappointing. This cooler simply does not cool well. Heat pipes stays cool to the touch, even under load. Contact surface is nickel-plated, not smooth, not perfectly flat and has a grooved, machined finish. I installed this cooler three different times using different orientations and varying amounts of thermal compound. As a last resort I lapped the contact surface and removed the nickel plating. In the end I had a cooler with a near-perfectly smooth copper contact surface that still did not cool as well as my stock AMD cooler. This would probably work better with a faster fan, but then it would be noisier and no different from the stock cooler. Hence my conclusion: overpriced.
Other Thoughts: According to Noctua customer support, the purpose of nickel plating is to prevent the copper from corroding since corroded copper transfers less heat than nickel.
Fan is 3-pin, not really a problem but would be nice to have 4-pin.
Noctua thermal compound is not viscous, more like clay and difficult to spread.
This cooler might not work with ram that uses tall heat spreaders. Check the Noctua website for possible compatibility issues.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Cool enough

white Reviewed By: Dustime5 on 8/3/2009
Rating + 5
Tech Level Tech Level: average - Ownership: 1 day to 1 week
This user purchased this item from Newegg
Pros: Replaced defective and leaking Domino ALC CoolIt. So far I am running as quiet as Domino on low and running cooler. This NH-C12P is also more quiet then previous Zalamn 9700led. With BFG GTX 285 and crosshairII and running 24/7 with F@H, I am getting following temp readings. All cores are active.
GPU/65c HD/31c CPU/45c and MCP/56c
Cons: None
Other Thoughts: I have a Lian-Li Lancool K12B modified case with 2 front 1 rear 1top and 1 side 120mm Noctua case fans. All told that's 6 120mm fans running in a case with three open sides so I can not expect whisper quiet running. Under these circumstances I believe I can't get any quieter then I am right now so I am completley satisfied with my choices.
Besides, who's got the time and money to personally check all heatsink fan combo's. Reviewers get paid remember, so it all boils down to personal choice. Be happy with what you select and don't take detractors to heart. All ears are unique.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No
Model
Brand Noctua
Model NH-C12P
Spec
Type Fan & Heatsinks
Fan Size 120mm
Compatibility Socket 754 / 939 / 940 / AM2 / LGA 775
Bearing Type SSO
RPM Rotational Speed (+/- 10%) 1300 RPM
Rotational Speed with L.N.A. (+/- 10%) 1100 RPM
Rotational Speed with U.L.N.A. (+/- 10%) 900 RPM
Noise Level Acoustical Noise 19.8 dB(A)
Acoustical Noise with L.N.A. 16.9 dB(A)
Acoustical Noise with U.L.N.A. 12.6 dB(A)
Heatsink Material Copper (base and heat-pipes), aluminium (cooling fins), soldered joints, nickel plated
Physical Spec
Weight 730g

Introduction

Sporting 6 heat pipes and the award-winning, psycho-acoustically optimized NF-P12 120mm fan, the NH-C12P achieves excellent performance and outstanding quietness. The down-facing c-type design allows for optimal motherboard and case compatibility, and provides additional cooling for motherboard components through two Airflow Gaps. Outfitted with the professional SecuFirm mounting system and Noctua's acclaimed NT-H1 thermal compound, the NH-C12P is a premium-class silent cooler through and through.



Highlights

newegg Opmized for Near Socket Components
The NH-P12 provides additional cooling for near-socket motherboard components due to the down-facing design and two large airflow-gaps.
newegg NF-P12 120mm Premium Fan
Thanks to psychoacoustic optimization and Noctua’s premium-grade SSO-bearing, the NF-P12 achieves outstanding quietness and long-term stability.
newegg Excellent Compatibility for Heat Dissipation
The down-facing c-type cooler allows for low height as well as excellent motherboard and case compatibility.
newegg SecuFirm multi-socket mounting system
Noctua's professional SecuFirm mounting system for LGA 775, AM2, AM2+ and AM3 provides superior reliability and contact pressure. K8 (939, 940, 754) kits are available on request.
newegg Thermal Compound Available
The Noctua NT-H1 high-end thermal compound offers minimum thermal resistance, perfect ease-of-use and outstanding long-term stability.

Quick Specs

BrandNoctua
TypeFan & Heatsinks
Fan Size120mm
CompatibilitySocket 754 / 939 / 940 / AM2 / LGA 775
Bearing TypeSSO
Heatsink MaterialAluminum & Copper
Noise LevelVariable
RPMVariable
WeightMore than 450g
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