Noctua NH-U9B SE2 Review

Testbed and Temperatures

Published: 31st August 2010 | Source: Noctua | Price: £44.99 | Author: Milind Chidrawar

Testbed

Intel Core i3 530 @ 2.93GHz 1.20V | 3.60GHz 1.25V | 4.00GHz 1.30V
Biostar TH55XE
4GB Kingston HyperX DDR3-1866 C9 Memory
nVidia GeForce GTX 460 768MB GDDR5
Be Quiet Dark Power Pro 750W
Noctua NH-U9B Heatsink
Windows 7 Home Premium x64


Temperatures

Following an extensive period of idle operation, we ran Prime95's Large FFTs test until a maximum and consistent temperature was determined. The test was repeated at three different clockspeeds and voltages and with either single and twin fan operation.

Our tests have shown that that the Noctua NH-U9B is more than capable of cooling a heavily overclocked dual core processor. While the second fan in push-pull configuration failed to drastically reduce temperatures, its addition did not excessively contribute to overall system noise.

The temperatures themselves are reasonable however not among the best of the coolers we have recently tested. However, it should be mentioned that the U9B was tested on a different Core i3 530 in a room with a different ambient temperature, which will inevitably have an impact on results. As such, I choise to not compare the results directly with other Core i3 530 tests.

It would seem that temperatures are not entirely the cooler's strong point, however noise levels are a major strength due to the included fans. Let's conclude.

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Most Recent Comments

01-09-2010, 14:59:52

SnowWhite
Seems like another great product from them Quote

01-09-2010, 15:13:49

alexhull24
Interesting stuff, seems like a typical high quality offering from Noctua, but you do pay for it. Whether it makes sense as a lower-end cooler at that price will remain to be seen I think. Still, it'd be a mighty-nice upgrade from a stock cooler if you want something of top notch quality, otherwise you might be better with something cheaper that can boast better performance, especially if you're not bothered about the fans. The cost of a single fan alone almost justifies the extra cost of this, they are brilliantly quiet for the performance they offer. Shame it's £5-£10 too pricey in my opinion, we'll see if that puts anyone off.Quote

01-09-2010, 15:22:36

silenthill
Noctua are always going to have hefty prices because of its high quality and unique design so get use to it and if you’re looking for something cheap I think Noctua is not the name that comes to mind.

Quote

01-09-2010, 16:10:39

tinytomlogan
Its deffo not a budget brand. And tbh I wouldnt ask for them to do it either. Its quality and works well, some of their products cant be questioned as class leaders, why confuse it with cheapy stuff.Quote

01-09-2010, 16:46:14

Yewen
Noctua have the low volume high quality low tolerance manufacturing down perfectly.

If they started churning out tens of thousands of units of a £10 cooler their high end would suffer more than the drop in price would suggest.

They are onto a good thing and steadily growing, one of my favourite brands even if I hate with a passion their colour scheme.Quote
Reply

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