Closer Look / Product Photos
The cooler arrived in a retail package which is a well-described black box. As always, in the case of Noctua coolers, the box’s exterior has a complete product specification, so we don’t have to check any details on the manufacturer’s website.
We will find everything we need for the installation inside the box, including the screwdriver. I counted to see the NT-H2 thermal compound inside, but there is still the NT-H1. Not so big difference, but the NT-H2 is slightly better.
The package also includes AMD and Intel mounting kits and manuals for all sockets. The most important for many users will be the LGA1700 kit, as it’s the first cooler equipped with such. Many cooler brands do not include LGA1700 kits with their products or are not providing them in other ways. In the case of Noctua, if you wish to use your older cooler with a new CPU, don’t hesitate to get in touch with Noctua directly, and you can receive an LGA1700 mounting kit.
The cooler itself is quite big but also small enough to fit every popular motherboard and most PC cases. There will always be exceptions, so better check dimensions before deciding on this cooler or a specific PC case.
The cooler itself is wholly black. It’s hard to take photos of a product like this, but it looks great. It’s clearly one of the best-looking coolers on the market, and you can always cover the top with additional accessories.
As you can see in the photos, everything is top-quality. The only part of the cooler which isn’t black is the nickel-plated, copper base. Any TIM spreads well on its surface.
The installation of the NH-U12A cooler is relatively easy but if you do it for the first time, better check the manual. Noctua also provides videos with guides. Below is a video covering the LGA1700 socket installation, while on the Noctua website, you can find everything else you may need.
Here are some examples of the NH-U12A installed on the MSI Z590I Unify motherboard, which is ITX size with quite tall heatsinks, but there are no problems with the cooler installation.
The test setup will be different, but I will tell you some more on the next page of this review.
