Testing
The following tests were run in a Fractal Design Node 304 with the cover removed so that I could (try to) hear the noise made by the NH-U12S. The NF-F12 fans were configured to run off the ASUS Standard PWM profile on the P8Z77-i Deluxe motherboard. I did not end up testing with the supplied voltage adapter due to the fan profile’s effectiveness. I recorded the delta temperatures for the results – the difference between the reported CPU temperature and the ambient room temperature. In order to record a valid result, the ambient room temperature has to remain the same from the start of the test to the end of the test and must be between 18 and 24 degrees when starting.
Test Rig
- Intel i5-3570K Ivy Bridge CPU
- ASUS P8Z77-i Deluxe Mini-ITX Motherboard
- 8 GB of Corsair Vengeance DDR3 Blue Low Profile RAM
- Fractal Design Node 304 Case
- SanDisk Extreme SSD – 120GB
- Samsung F4 1TB Mechanical Hard Drive
- Corsair CX-600M Power Supply
I elected to use the onboard graphics and not the GTX580 as the stock cooler on the video card is easily the loudest part of the test bench and I wanted to really listen for the NH-U12S acoustic properties.
As you can see, the NH-U12S fit in the small form factor Node 304 easily and I didnt’ have any issues at all attaching either of the fans. Clearance around the cooler was not an issue, even in a small form factor case. If you are considering the NH-U12S for a standard ATX or even M-ATX case, installation should be a breeze. Connecting and routing the cables was a little fiddly for testing because of the mini-ITX case and motherboard – nothing to do with the cooler itself. If anything, the cable legths on the NF-F12 fans turned out to be just right and easy to manage/conceal.
Fractal Design Node 304 review can be found: HERE
Delta Temperature Results
Please note that these are all Delta temperatures where the recorded temperature is the difference between the CPU and the recorded ambient room temperature which was a typically about 20 degrees. So a delta temperature of 35 degrees translates to a real world temperature of about 55 degrees.
Scenario |
CPU Settings (i5-3570K) |
Fan
|
NH-L12 |
NH-U12S(Single Fan) |
NH-U12S
(Dual Fan) |
NH-U14S(Single Fan) |
NH-U14S(Dual Fans) |
| Idle | Stock (no OC) | PWM | 8.65 | 7.5 | 7.3 | 7.2 | 7 |
| Idle | OC @ 4.6 / 1.15v | PWM | 8.6 | 8.2 | 7.9 | 7.5 | 7.5 |
| Idle | Stock (no OC) | 12v | 6 | 7 | 7 | 5.5 | |
| Idle | OC @ 4.6 / 1.15v | 12v | 9.5 | 8.75 | 7.5 | 7.5 | |
| Load | Stock (no OC) | PWM | 33.65 | 32.25 | 29.3 | 32.25 | 26.8 |
| Load | OC @ 4.6 / 1.15v | PWM | 43.9 | 40.25 | 35.5 | 35.75 | 33.75 |
| Load | Stock (no OC) | 12v | 25.25 | 24.8 | 25.25 | 23.75 | |
| Load | OC @ 4.6 / 1.15v | 12v | 33.8 | 32.5 | 30.5 | 29.25 |
Idle Delta Temperatures
The Idle temperatures are all within a typical margin of error. There is only so low the idle temperature can go an picking idle temps can be finicky. These temperatures have been included in the interests of being thorough. Idle temperatures are of little meaning in the above graph as there are no outliers and the results are within the standard range. For a real comparison,we need to look at how the coolers preform under load.
Load Delta Temperatures
When running the NH-U12S with an i5-3570K in single fan configuration on a standard PWM profile, the temperatures were only marginally higher than when a second NF-F12 fan was attached. Running the fan at 12 volts yielded a better result as expected but with an acoustic penalty. Once again, the addition of a second NF-F12 at 12 volts was of only minimal benefit in our testing.
