Cooling [SFF Network] Noctua NH-U12S, Mid Range Masterpiece

confusis

John Morrison. Founder and Team Leader of SFF.N
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So, after looking at one of Noctua's largest coolers, it was time to look at something (slightly) smaller from their product range..



Read more here..
 
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Kooki

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Mar 30, 2016
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Nice review as always.
The compatibility issue saddens me though, but I guess it's unavoidable where compromises are made. :(
 

confusis

John Morrison. Founder and Team Leader of SFF.N
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Thanks :)
Part of the issue is the poor board design from manufacturers placing sockets near the PCIe slot. Will add it to my list of rants to write :D
 

confusis

John Morrison. Founder and Team Leader of SFF.N
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Noctua has replied to my mounting concerns.

Hi John,

Thank you very much for your test of the NH-U12S. Unfortunately, things are not as simple with the AMD mounting as you seem to think… The reason why we had to go from our standard 83mm hole spacing to 78mm hole spacing for the U14S, U12S and U9S is that in standard orientation (parallel to the RAM slots), only the 78mm allows the brackets to clear the RAM slots. As your own photo nicely shows, a bar with wider hole spacing would block the RAM:
https://smallformfactor.net/wp-content/uploads/DSCN0560.jpg

This is also why we can not offer 90° brackets for all the coolers using the normal 83mm brackets. So in short, using the same brackets for all coolers isn’t possible and offering the option to turn the coolers by 90° would only be technically possible for the U14S/U12S/U9S. Now the problem is that only a small portion of our customers use AMD and out of these, around 95% use the cooler in standard orientation (parallel to the RAM in the case of tower coolers). So it wouldn’t really make sense to increase the price of the coolers in order to include a second set of AMD brackets. With that being said, things look a bit different on the upcoming AM4 platform, so we aim to offer the option to install all coolers in both orientations on this platform.


Best Regards,
Jakob
 

jeshikat

Jessica. Wayward SFF.n Founder
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Feb 22, 2015
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With that being said, things look a bit different on the upcoming AM4 platform, so we aim to offer the option to install all coolers in both orientations on this platform.

 

drojasxlt

Chassis Packer
Mar 11, 2016
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Lovin' the right up, John, good work. Always love to see how Noctua coolers stack up.

Just one thing: Ouch, those pictures are rough :(
 

confusis

John Morrison. Founder and Team Leader of SFF.N
Original poster
SFF Network
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Jun 19, 2015
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Yeah, I had some technical issues but had to just go with it for timeliness. Working on a solution tomorrow so I will correct them
 

Kooki

SFF Lingo Aficionado
Mar 30, 2016
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Hope the itx AM4 lineup is well thought on the component placement regarding the cpu heatsink.