Noctua NH-C12P CPU Cooler Review

Installation

This is actually one area where it is obvious that Noctua took the time to improve upon the NH-U12P’s process. Noctua did not start over from scratch so to speak but rather they took a long hard look at it and figured out how to improve it.

Actually, “improvement” may not be the right word as the definition for “refinement” seems to fit this streamlined process better. Now please don’t get us wrong, a lot has been left the same; its just a bunch of little things that have been tweaked to make the installation process easier and more user-friendly; of course you still have to remove the motherboard from the case, but that should be considered a given on any good aftermarket cooler these days (with just a few exceptions that is).


In point of fact nearly all the hardware is the same and can be interchanged, with only the rubber washers being different. In the older installation process you had to balance the backplate and motherboard in one hand as you screwed in one of the two SecuFirm mounting brackets while at the same time keeping a rubber washer in between the mounting bracket and each of the four holes. This was tricky to say the least and the new way is much easier. In the new method you start off by peeling off on of the included rubber washers from their glue saving backing and stick it on the bottom corner of one of those SecuFirm brackets. When this is done you simply repeat the process for the other 3 washers. This may seem like a small thing but it makes thing so much easier when it comes to screwing in those mounting brackets through the motherboard and to the backplate.

When those washers are all stuck firmly in place you literally just tilt the previously removed motherboard up on its side position the backplate into place and then screw in one of the SecuFirm brackets. This is a good time to mention that while you can technically position this in a horizontal or vertical position (front to back or top to bottom) we would recommend the more standard front to back position as the shear length of the this CPU cooling solution may require you to repostion your video card, and you would also lose all that RAM cooling potential. To us this makes it a less than viable alternative but your setup maybe different. In either case the orientation of the two SecuFirm brackets is important!


When you have both SecuFirm brackets in place you should then mount the two mounting brackets to the base of the NH-C12P (with screws just as you would its tower brethren). When this is accomplished all one has to do is place some TIM on your CPU (which should have been properly cleaned before starting this installation procedure!) and then gently place the heatsink into position. We like to give the cooler a good wiggle back and forth to help properly seat the TIM before then screwing in the two long spring tensioned screws that hold the NH-U12P in place. When they are fully tightened down one simply has to place a vibration dampening strip on each end the heatsink face (the long way not across it!) so that you can mount the fan.


Just as with the last Noctua cooler you mount the fan by using the two included fan tensioning wires. This is where it gets a little tricky as the fan wires are 120mm long both this cooler is longer than that, so do not be alarmed when it has to go up through a gap between two fins before the end! When this all accomplished all that is left to the installation is to plug in the fan & voila you are good to go.


Overall it is still a little bit tricky to install this CPU cooling solution as it does take a bit of dexterity to properly place the backplate and screw in the mounting brackets while balancing the motherboard on its side. However, making those washers self sticking is a down right brilliant move that easily halves the hassle factor associated with this cooler. With a little bit of practice this installation process should take you about 9 minutes, or a full two minutes less than the NH-U12P; which I think is safe to say makes this a vast improvement over said cooler.


Now in some instances this size may be a problem, but for most computer enthusiasts you should have no troubles installing this bad boy into any standard mid tower (or greater) case. However, we have a few caveats to add to that statement. The first one is HTPC owners should probably look for a smaller cooler and the same goes if your own overly tall ram coolers (such as OCZ’s Reapers or Corsair Domintaors w/ those fans). This has to do with the fact that this cooler has been designed to overhand your RAM slots and help cool said RAM with the waste air from the cooler. In normal circumstances this can be considered a great thing as it should drop your OC’ed ram temps with all that added air flow. Of course, since it does overhang the RAM slots this means the RAM can’t be over a certain height, nor can your DVD/CD burner be located here as it is in many HTPC cases. As we said this shouldn’t pose a problem for most but be aware of this issue when thinking about purchasing it.