- Review -

23.11.2017 Forbes.com

NH-U12S TR4-SP3,NH-U14S TR4-SP3,NH-U9 TR4-SP3

First off is the most important result, which is that while the tiny NH-U9 managed to tame the mighty Threadripper 1950X, it couldn't do this when I used the low noise adaptor as the CPU hit 87°C in Ryzen Master and began to throttle back. There's no harm being done when it does this, but equally you'll be losing performance as well as running your CPU at high temperatures. Using the fans at full speed saw it just about manage to keep things in check, which is amazing for such a tiny cooler. The NH-U12S fared much better, with a temperature of 76°C after 10 minutes of full load, rising to 79°C using the low noise adaptor - even this was noticeably cooler than the best result that the tiny NH-U9 managed. However, the star of the show is the NH-U14S, which managed to cool the Threadripper 1950X all the way down to 70°C and 74°C using the low noise adaptor.

"It's rare that there's such a clear choice in tests like this, but the fact that all the coolers are so close in price means that the NH-U14S is the only cooler to consider here if your case has the space for it." (Antony Leather, Forbes.com)