Noctua NH-U12P CPU Cooler w/LGA 1366 Installation Kit Review

The Intel i7 has been around for a few months now. Most hardware manufacturers are getting on board building new hardware to support it. There are well over a dozen motherboards, all of the major memory manufacturers have come up with triple channel DDR3 kits, and most of the CPU cooler guys have designed coolers or adapters so you won’t have to use the stock CPU cooler.

When it came time to get a cooler for our new i7, we jumped at the chance to get a Noctua cooler. In just a few years, Noctua has acquired a reputation for building very effective CPU coolers.

This will be my first Noctua cooler. It was originally designed for AM2+ and LGA775, but Noctua has designed a kit to convert any of their coolers for use on LGA1366 processors, and provided one along with the cooler. They have now come up with a special edition of this cooler containing mounting hardware for only the LGA 1366. Will the NH-U12P keep the i7 nice and cool? Read on to see!

Specifications:

CPU: Intel LGA 775, AMD AM2/AM2+ (Intel LGA 1366 with conversion kit) AMD K8 on request
Dimensions (H x W x D):
– Without Fan – 158mm x 126mm x 71mm
– With Fan – 158mm x 126mm x 95mm
Weight:
– (without fan) 600g (1.3 lbs)
– (with fan) 770g (1.7 lbs)
Materials:
Base and Heatpipes – nickel plated copper
Cooling fins – aluminum
Heatpipe/Fin joints – soldered
Fan Compatibility: 120x120x25mm/120x120x38mm (two fans can be installed)
Warranty: 6 years

Fan Specs:

Model: Noctua NF-P12
Bearing: SSO-Bearing
Blade Geometry: 9-blade design
Rotational Speed: 1300RPM, w/LNA(Low Noise Adapter): 1100RPM, w/ULNA(Ultra Low Noise Adapter): 900RPM
Acoustical Noise: 19.8 dB(A)/16.9dB(A)/12.6dB(A)
Input Power: 1.08W
Voltage: 12V
MTBF: >150,000h

Packaging

The box has a small window exposing a portion of the included fan, and is covered with features and specs. Inside the cooler is well protected from the hardware, which is in a separate box and separated in bags.

Noctua NH-U12P CPU Cooler w/LGA 1366 Installation Kit Noctua NH-U12P CPU Cooler w/LGA 1366 Installation Kit Noctua NH-U12P CPU Cooler w/LGA 1366 Installation Kit