- Review -

10.12.2013 BenchmarkReviews.com

While the Noctua NH-U12S fits snugly in between the Hyper 212 EVO and V8 GTS (a twin 140mm cooler, remember) it does so with an entirely different character. The noise generated by the Noctua fans at 100% is vastly different than the EVO’s stock fan and the twin 140mm POM bearing fans of the V8 GTS. Exactly how different is difficult to quantify, but I will say all of Noctua’s features are less of a bag of tricks and more serious engineering – all of those little details REALLY add up to a big difference in noise. The result is a product that performs similar to or better than other 120mm coolers without the typical noise penalty. [...] I don’t think it is any accident why Noctua’s brand name gets continually thrown around as a top-tier CPU cooler manufacturer. The NH-U12S is constructed to an extent beyond that of almost every cooler I’ve tested – the very finely machined and polished contact surface, nickel-plated heatpipes (that are soldered to the fins – no rattling aluminum here) and base, and the included NF-F12 PWM fan is an engineering marvel. With a manufacturer warranty of six years, it’s a safe bet there’s a level of construction at work here that you just don’t find in every product.

"At the end of it all, what can I say? It’s Noctua. It’s everything you’ve heard. You can get similar performing CPU coolers for less, but you pay for it with much more noise. If you require premium cooling components for your computer and clearance is a concern, Noctua has a great option with the NH-U12S." (Tom Jaskulka, BenchmarkReviews.com)