Noctua NH-C12P CPU Cooler Review

Manufacturer Product Page: Noctua.at
Model Number: NH-C12P
Availability: Now
Price: Click Here To Compare Prices
Warranty: 6 years



In the past we took a look at Noctua’s flagship tower style CPU cooling solution with our Noctua NH-U12P CPU Cooler Review and we walked away very impressed, but bemoaned the fact that it “only” had 4 heatpipes and wondered how it would perform if it had 6. Well Noctua listened to a certain extent and they sent us a 6 heatpipe CPU cooling solution. It is called the NH-C12P and once again comes with Noctua's legendary NF-P12 fan but unlike the last one this product is not a tower style cooler; rather it is Noctua’s take on how to do a down draft cooler. As with all Noctua products it is available from many retailer and e-tailers around the country and can be purchased online for about $65 of your hard earned dollars.

Before we get started we have to admit that we here at HWC have a certain fondness for down draft coolers. Intellectually, we know that most are not as good as their tower style brethren but they have an edge that makes them very attractive to overclockers such as ourselves. In a nut shell this edge all boils down to the fact that the fan blows air down and over the motherboard, which in turn helps cool the area around the CPU socket. Heck, we all have seen MOSFETS that have literally melted because they got too hot.

Well today is a new day because Noctua hasn’t gone the normal route in building their down draft cooler; rather they have gone in a different direction construction wise that looks awfully promising. As we will see later in the review this is not a modified tower cooler or a hybrid anything, this bad boy has been designed from the ground up as down draft cooler and shouldn’t suffer from many of the design flaws other heatsinks of this type are afflicted with.

Now this is a lofty goal to say the least and while many have claimed to have done it, the end result is usually different than the marketing spin. However, if there is one company that we would trust to design from the ground up the perfect downdraft cooler it would Noctua. So with expectations running high, it will certainly be interesting to see if they have pulled off the “impossible”; so without further ado lets pull the trigger and get this review started!