Noctua NH-C12P heapipe cooler with Nehalem mounting system

Back in June at Computex 2008 we met with Noctua where the guys had been showing me a new cooler and mounting kit for Nehalem processors. So last week we received an email from them asking if we wanted to use their Core i7 cooler in this review. And of course we gladly accepted. See, Noctua is among the highest ranking manufacturers who create silent heatpipe based cooling while also offering high-performance.

So you get the best of both worlds, excellent cooling versus good looks and fine noise levels. Mind though, this cooler needs a special Socket LGA 1366 mounting kit. Noctua will provide this kit to you for free if you show them the receipt ...  that's classy.

At the backside we place a mounting plate. At the front two spacers and two brackets. We secure them with four thumb screws and then the cooler is ready to be mounted.

But first, always apply a little thermal paste okay ?