Noctua NH-U12S and NH-U14S review - Article

A Cool & Silent Introduction

You know, I was just thinking anno the year 2013 there really aren't bad performing coolers produced anymore. For every segment and budget you can find something you need. The market stabilized and within the entire range and scope of heatpipe based coolers there's a certain comfort zone with a corresponding product available. As a result, most of these coolers available on the market are all adequate at the very least. There are always exceptions to this, there's a handful of manufacturers out there that offer the really interesting stuff, the kit and gear that really stand out from the cooling crowd, the hardware you and me crave and need so badly... that is in the enthusiast domain of gaming hardware. And that's where we need to make a stop at Noctua as they tick all those boxes.

In the long line of CPU coolers, Noctua recently introduced two new models, the Noctua NH-U12S and NH-U14S CPU coolers. Both coolers have recently been introduced into the channel to offer nice performance created with the help of some really nice airflow PWM controlled fans that are drop-dead silent. So these products are bound to keep any CPU released to date nicely cooled and chilled, even the most high-end Ivy bridge and soon Haswell based SKUs. The coolers features roughly the same heatpipe arrangement used by its predecessors, five for the NH-U12S and six heatpipes for the NH-U14S. The mounting kit is sheer excellence as the CPU coolers are just really easy to install as well.

Armed with a 6-year warranty the NH-U12S and NH-U14S SKUs are selling right now, the NH-U12S and NH-U14S will be available at a suggested retail prices of EUR 59.90 / USD 64.90 (NH-U12S) and EUR 69.90 / USD 74.90 (NH-U14S). Well let's find out and head onwards into a full review of the product where we'll test its baseline performance but also increase CPU voltage for overclocks to see how well these critters behave temperatures wise. 

Below you can see the NH-U14S, next page please.