Installation
Noctua’s installation manuals are very detailed, well written, and well illustrated. If you have the standard NH-U12P with the LGA 1366 kit, you will not need any of the hardware for the other two CPU types, the 1366 kit is complete.
I highly recommend following the steps in the installation manual.
First, remove the motherboard if this is a replacement cooler. Decide whether or not you want to use the adhesive strips, if this is a “permanent” installation, I would. Personally, I never use them as my installations are never permanent.actually after all testing is done on this rig I will be replacing the motherboard with another. But, though it is a tight fit, the baseplate slipped out easily, so I ended up tearing off a small piece of the adhesive backing so the baseplate would stay in place.
Next, install the mounting bars, which are curved pieces of metal. You should decide at this time how you want the cooler oriented. Be aware that at least on this motherboard, if you use the typical orientation with the fan blowing through the cooler towards the rear of the case, you may be unable to use the memory slot nearest the cooler. My Kingston HyperX has very tall fins, and definitely wouldn’t fit under the cooler, though that slot isn’t used unless there are six modules. Noctua recommends placing the fan on the front of the cooler blowing through the fins, but later I tried placing the fan on the rear, drawing the air through, my temps were just as good.
Once cooler orientation is determined, place spacers on the baseplate screws, then the mounting bars, curves facing outward, and finally thumbscrews. Firmly finger tighten the thumbscrews.
Then, install the fastening brackets to the cooler base using the four supplied screws. Make sure the spring/screw assembly is point upwards.
At this time prep the CPU by cleaning the heatspreader surface with isopropyl alcohol and a lint-free cloth. (I used a coffee filter) Apply thermal compound as per the manufacturer’s instructions. I seldom use thermal compound that is included with a cooler, but Noctua’s NT-H1 is some good stuff. Prep the CPU cooler base.
Next, place the cooler on the base with the fastening bracket screws lined up with the holes in the mounting bars. Tighten each one with the supplied Phillips head screwdriver a turn or two at a time keeping the cooler level. Tighten both screws until they turn no more.
At this point I looked to make sure there was contact between the cooler base and CPU. I felt that the cooler wasn’t pressed tightly enough against the CPU, so I checked. The thermal compound was perfectly spread out across the heatspreader surface, so I guess that there was ample pressure.
Finally, install the fan on the cooler fins. First, install a vibration strip on each side of the cooler. Place the fan on the fins, in my case it was such a good fit the fan remained there after I let go of it. Place one of the fan clips in the slot on the side of the fins, and place the keepers over the fan screw holes. Repeat on the other side. Plug the fan connector in the motherboard power connector on your motherboard.if you look closely, you can easily determine which pins of a 3-pin fan connector you use on a 4-pin PWM motherboard connector. And that’s it.
