Noctua NH-C12P CPU Cooler Review

Heatsink Construction & Design con't

Another thing that separates this cooler (and actually ALL Noctua coolers) from most of the competition is the fact that Noctua doesn’t just use friction to hold any of their fin assemblies together; rather they use friction and full length rods (in this instance 4 of them, two high and two low) that make sure that the fins can’t pop off. In the above picture you can see them as the two little bumps near the heatpipes. In testing, this makes for a very secure feeling heatsink that exhibits very little flex and in fact feels like a big solid chunk of metal rather than a bunch of small pieces that have been put together.


When you look down on this cooler two large openings become very apparent. These two gaps are there to allow you easy access to the two “SecuFirm” mounting screws. As we will see later in this review that this makes installation of the C12P very easy and as an added bonus allows a good chunk of cool air (i.e. air that has not gone through any fins and thus picked up any heat from them or the heatpipes) to flow directly down and over the motherboard. If your motherboard is anything like ours and has huge solid heatsinks and heatpipes covering the Northbridge and other parts of the motherboard then you will know that this extra cool air flow is a god send.


After noticing the two gaping sides that almost make this look like a giant H from above, the next thing one notices that Noctua went for a multifaceted face just like the NH-U12P; and in fact except for those missing sides this cooler face looks exactly like it’s more upright brother. To us this is a good thing as this heatsink face design is easily the best we have ever seen and when you mate this great static pressure reducing face with a kick ass fan like the included NF-P12 you end up with another potentially amazing CPU cooling solution. Will this cooler be able to live up to our expectation and take its place along side is sibling as an HWC award winning CPU cooler?


Before we get to the installation phase I would also like to point out the base of this unit is just as well polished and blemish free as the U12P was. However, that comment is a double edged sword as those micro-ridges that we felt on the NH-U12P are also present on the NH-C12P. Overall this level of finishing and attention to detail is above average and was nice to see; now if only Noctua would do something about those ridges!