- Review -

14.03.2018 Anandtech.com

Noctua is one of the few cooler manufacturers that straightforwardly advise against the mounting of their older design on SP3/TR4 processors. As other manufacturers were openhandedly supplying adapters, this choice earned them a bit of distrust, as a few assumed that Noctua wanted to force their customers into buying new coolers. However, our findings today justify their choice and prove that Noctua did the right thing, regardless of any short-term consequences it may have had on the company's reputation. Will using adapters on earlier cooler designs work? Yes, but their performance will be far from optimal and, depending on the size of the cooler’s surface area, they can also be dangerous for heavy load applications. High end air coolers and liquid coolers will be able to cope with the needs of the TR4 processor, but they will run hotter, or louder, or both, than their equal derivatives that were redesigned to properly cover a TR4 processor.

"Instead of spending time and money on adapters, just buy an appropriate cooler specifically designed for TR4 processors." (E. Fylladitakis, Anandtech.com)