While fundamental coolers have lengthy been a typical pack-in merchandise with most retail CPUs, there is no getting previous the truth that many of those coolers are simply that: fundamental. These coolers are ample for operating a CPU at inventory frequencies out of the field, however few inventory coolers are constructed massive sufficient to above and past the fundamentals, to ship spectacular thermal and/or acoustic efficiency. As a consequence, it is nonetheless fairly typical for energy customers and lovers to go attempting to find a extra superior answer – and there is a sizable market of coolers ready to be discovered. From compact fansinks to all-in-one liquid coolers that may fill a case, there is a cooler on the market for just about each price range, configuration, and cooling want.
And if by some likelihood there is not, then it is solely a matter of time till somebody builds it. Which may be very a lot the case for the CPU cooler in right now’s evaluate, Noctua’s budget-friendly NH-U12S Redux. Already famend for his or her high-quality, high-end cooling merchandise, Noctua is working to broaden their market by making their merchandise a bit extra accessible to price range consumers, and so they’re doing so by merchandise just like the Redux.
At a excessive stage, the NH-U12S Redux is a cost-reduced model of the corporate’s very talked-about NH-U12S cooler. With fewer heatpipes and a distinct fan, the NH-U12S Redux is meant to deliver the standard and cooling efficiency of its predecessor all the way down to a less expensive, extra wallet-friendly worth of $50. Which additionally implies that Noctua is extra immediately facing-off with the opposite main cooler producers within the extremely aggressive mainstream market section.
Packaging & Bundle
The very first thing that we observed concerning the NH-U12S Redux is the easy, streamlined packaging, which is in contrast to any packaging of the corporate that now we have beforehand seen. The paintings on the packaging is just about gone, with solely fundamental info relating to the cooler printed on the edges and rear of the field.
Except for the cooler itself, contained in the field we discovered a fundamental bundle consisting primarily of the mounting {hardware} required to put in the cooler onto a CPU. There is also an illustrated leaflet with mounting directions. The NH-U12S Redux, very like its siblings, can’t be mounted on Ryzen Threadripper processors. We didn’t discover a syringe with thermal paste contained in the packaging – Noctua is as an alternative utilizing pre-applied paste – which is without doubt one of the adjustments Noctua made with a view to scale back the retail worth of the cooler.
The Noctua NH-U12S Redux CPU Cooler
The Noctua NH-U12S Redux is similar to the conventional NH-U12S, apart from a heatpipe and the totally different cooling fan. Overall, the NH-U12S Redux has one heatpipe lower than the NH-U12S and three heatpipes lower than the NH-U12A. But maybe extra importantly, the fins on the Redux are additionally not welded onto the heatpipes. Due to its measurement and form, the NH-U12S Redux is appropriate with most business CPU sockets and it’ll not block the set up of (usually sized) RAM modules.
Splitting Image: NH-12S Redux vs. NH-12S
Once the cooler is out of the field, most skilled customers will focus their consideration on the brand new cooling fan. And not due to any characteristic that actually stands out, however as a result of this is without doubt one of the very uncommon events the place Noctua has ditched their iconic brown/beige shade theme. Other than that, the NH-U12S Redux has a comparatively easy design, being a tower cooler with a small base and heatpipes transferring the thermal power away from the CPU and to the fins. Although that is the least costly cooler of the U12 sequence, the NH-U12S Redux is definitely not a compact cooler; although at 160mm tall, it ought to match inside most ATX instances with none compatibility points. The width of the cooler although might restrict the set up of RAM…
