Noctua NH-U12A chromax.Black, 120mm Single-Tower CPU Cooler (Black)

It’s a premium product for a premium price. If you can swing the price the cooler is definitely worth it. It was packaged well, easy to install and it works. Keeps my 9900X cool while gaming. I have always preferred air cooling because they dont require disassembly for maintenance like AIOs. I have always herd that Noctua is the best around when it comes to air coolers and I now see why. My temps range from 41c idle to 45-65+ C while gaming. Ease of installation, low noise, looks and performance are the reason I recommend this cooler to any PC builder if you can afford it. The only real con is the price, it’s not cheap but it’s probably the best 120mm air cooler on the market

I have had cooling problems on my 11th gen Intel i7 for three years. Every AIO system I’ve purchased has failed, the pump goes out or it just isn’t effective enough. So I decided this time to try a fan cooler. This thing is perfect. It holds my computer temperature to idek levels (30-50 degrees Celsius,) even with heavy loads like gaming or the video editing I do every week for work. It is big enough to have the power necessary, but not so big it won’t fit in my case. It’s not loud at all, and with how cool my system is now, my case fans aren’t running on high all the time. It isn’t just as quiet as the all in one system, it’s made the computer noise go down all together. With two more fans, I was a little worried about the power draw, because that’s where I’d had problems before where the pump would give me issues. I have a 750w supply, and it has not even come close to the danger zone. All in all, I won’t buy another liquid cooling system again. This cooling rig is absolutely worth the money, it’s the best cooler I’ve ever had in my PC, and it is also the least expensive. It’s got the bang for your buck that you’re trying to achieve when building a PC that can perform under heavy loads so you can take what you were going to invest in a cooling system and put it toward more RAM or a better GPU.

I am thoroughly impressed by the quality and performance of this cooler. Running a Ryzen 7 5700g, and upgrading from a coolermaster A17C (similar to stock), that idled/performed at 72/85c. The NH-U12A is currently idling/performing at 36/53c! With auto-overclocking pushing the processor past 4ghz, that is a monumental improvement, and far greater that I had ever dreamed I would get for the price. This is a small case sharing space with a 3090ti, 2xNvme, 2xSSD, and 2xHDD; so it already has it's challenges, but even my PWM case fans are running 20-30% slower than before. Mobo and GPU temps dropped by 1-2c as result of lower ambient and probably better airflow in the case, overall. The install used my existing AMD backplate, and the tower is offset to one side to allow for RAM clearance. I am running a micro-atx board in a somewhat cramped mid-tower case, and I was still able to install and work the fans in place fairly easily. Judging by the cramped conditions of my board, I would vouch for 100% universal RAM clearance, as the offset tower just does what it says it does; and the included fans are not thin by any means. As a bonus, the fans seem to be positioned just perfectly to draw intake air across the RAM an works well with my VR heatsink on the exit side of things. The included fans are smooth as glass, and surprisingly quiet at full speed; but I had to manually run them to full, as the CPU wouldn't heat past 53c (Fan RPM 1300'ish). Primo fans, no RGB, but that's what I wanted for this rig. The wires are well sheathed in tubing and heatshrink- wire management approved. If you've never dealt with this type of fan clip system, practice with them before you install the cooler. lol. I bought the add-on, decorative cover NA-HC7, which looks amazing on the installed cooler, and requires less effort to install than removing the side panel to get to it. This add-on should be RGB, as the cutout design is just too perfect not to be backlit. This kit did add height to the cooler, and my case is fairly small, but the glass panel clears everything by about 2mm. Everything came professionally boxed, shiny, and new; and you can just feel the care and quality in everything you touch, even the packaging. I rarely write reviews, and I am rarely impressed; but I was on the fence for weeks about a cooling solution on this particular rig, and I wanted to ensure others in my position can absolutely trust this cooler. Even versus watercooling, maybe. Dang.

I have used Noctua cooling products exclusively over the last several years of building PCs for myself and for my family, friends and clients. There is always a consistent level of quality that comes from Noctua that has more than served me well. I just completed another DAW PC build using the Noctua NH-U12A chromax Black CPU cooler. I used this cooler on an Intel i9 processor and an ASUS motherboard in a 4U rackmount case with 3 other Noctua fans. This system now runs much cooler than the prior i7 based system I had running for my recording studio. This massive heat sink with two 120 mm fans gets the job done. The only slight issue that I encountered but I fully anticipated was the height of this unit in terms of the 4U rack case. It did fit but without any room to spare for the top of the case. There was a slight bulge where the very top bullet shaped protrusions of the cooler were slightly touching the top of the case lid. I remedied this by installing a 6" x 6" fan vent in the top of the case. It probably would have been fine the way it was but I did not want to cause any stress on the processor. Noctua now makes a special CPU cooler for a 4U rack enclosure but I preferred the two fan and larger heat sink of this particular model. All things said and done I am extremally happy with this product for my studio needs in terms of being dead quiet and being able to keep my system cool. The installation was straight forward and the instructions were intuitive and easy to follow. This is a well engineered and designed product that is well worth it's price tag. I am sure it will render years of reliable service as all of the prior Noctua products I have used in the past.

So far it keeps my CPU nice and cool. Easy to install and no excess frills

First thing you need to know is that I do not write reviews lightly or even at all really, but I was really blown away by the performance of this CPU cooler and I felt like I needed to let people know to just pull the trigger on it and don't think twice. I also am not paid or associated in any way with Noctua. It improved my thermals by over 40° C. I had a 3 year old Lian Li 360 AIO that was showing it's age. I have a great Fractal case and it moves a ton of air. I also am running a i9-12900k which is power hungry at all moments and tends to run hot. I did not know there was a problem with temps until my computer shut down while I had a game open and I wasn't home. My computer shut down on it's own, warning that the CPU temps are way to high and that it shut down. I was unable to restart my computer for about 15 minutes and my AIO felt pretty warm near the CPU. I started seeing artificing after a OCCT stress test. So I started first with trying the two main things which were replace thermal paste and try and reorient my tubes so they face down. Well I could not do the tubes down due to no flexibility in the tubes, so I knew there was a reason why I put them near the top of the AIO. I replaced thermal paste, and it did not do anything. So I replaced with this cooler and man, it has far exceeded my expectations. It is so quiet even under load, I cannot tell it's running. Install was overall pretty easy, but just be careful and follow directions closely. There is a lot of value for the money. It is overall more expensive than a competitive AIO, but I digress. I know Noctua's quality, so I expected nothing less. I thought I would need the G2 since I have that power hungry i9-12900k, but I needed to ensure clearance of the RAM. The size is great to clear ram, it still has a little space. So I'm glad I compensated for that and did my research beforehand. The quality is top notch, and it looks great inside of my case. Worse case scenario, I spent a little more money, but air cooling just makes sense for my particular build since it's literally built to move a ton of air. I may have to replace the fans in like 7 years, but that'll still be cheaper than buying another pump that will eventually fail in 3 years. I would do this over again 100x.

Just finished building a new PC. I use my computer for office work during the day and gaming in the evening. I went with a Ryzen 7800x3D and an MSI 4090 Slim. For cooling, I used this U12A with a combination of Noctua 120mm (exhaust) and 140mm (intake) case fans. This is my first time using Noctua parts and I am impressed! My wife commented that the hum of my monitor is now louder than my PC , and that is not an exaggeration. It is absolutely silent during anything less than gaming. And, even then, it's MUCH quieter than my old PC which used an AIO cooler. Temps are good, too. As I write this, my average CPU reading is 32.3c. The average while gaming is around 60-65c. (The CPU's thermal limit is 89c.) I looked into different Noctua coolers before deciding on the U12A. Here's why I chose this cooler: First, the D15 G2 is just too big/overkill for this Ryzen CPU, and would take up a lot of space in my case unnecessarily. I considered the D15S, thinking I could use it down the line with other processors that might need more cooling. But Noctua is scheduled to release a new, updated D15S G2 in 1-2 years, so the current version wouldn't be as "future proof" as I originally thought. I almost settled on using the smaller U12S. However, after researching the U12A, I realized that with only one fan it would be more than enough for my needs. This cooler comes with two Noctua A12x25 chromax fans, which are identical to the case fans they sell. Only using one to push air through the fins, instead of the stock push/pull configuration, means I had an extra fan for my case. Considering the MSRP of that fan at the time of this review, that saved me $39.99 and made the U12A a no-brainer. It's the cheapest option, considering that savings; it's more than enough for my current CPU, so I could use it with more power hungry ones in the future; and it isn't too big, so I have plenty of room in my case. Overall, I'm very happy with this choice. If you're using a glass case, I'd recommend checking out the optional covers (Noctua part NA-HC7 or NA-HC8). It just clips on and makes the cooler look better, in my opinion. But that's purely for aesthetics.

Having run this cooler for the past five months, I believe that although it is very expensive, the cooler is will-worth the money. Here’s some notes I would like to make: - Excellently well-built fans: The fans here is unlike other PC fans. The fins on the fans are reassuringly stiff, the fins spin up and runs with minimal noise, and the noise that does appear does not bother me. It can be described as a wind blowing noise, without much whirring. - Heatsink: It is very easy to install per Noctua instructions. It’s still recommended to follow the instructions carefully to avoid any problems, but if you do, installation is a breeze with this cooler in contrast to other coolers I have installed. Coupled with the included fans, the coolers runs very well. The system I used had a liquid cooling system in the past, which kept the CPU at around 65 degrees. This cooler does run slightly hotter at around 70, but as an air cooler, this performance is excellent regardless, especially considering the longer reliability for air coolers in comparison to liquid coolers. - Accessories: There is abundant accessories included. From adapters to mounting hardware for all sorts of platforms. For Noctua coolers, they even have a program for users to ask for mounting brackets for future sockets, making this cooler a good investment. (If noctua keeps their support, which historically speaking, they have.) This cooler is definitely expensive compared to others. But I believe that it is a sound investment that is very performant.