Noctua NH-P1 – First impression with some preliminary testing

Test methodology

It’s been a long time since we’ve seen the prototype, but the first passive cooler from Noctua with the designation NH-P1 was finally introduced this week. Its design is rather different from usual coolers as the main priority is maximization of heat dissipation to its surroundings. And to increase its efficiency, a new A12x25 LS-PWM fan with very quiet operation was also introduced as complementary accessory for semi-passive cooling.

Test methodology

This text does not aim at in-depth analysis, that will be the subject of another article to be published later. In addition, our usual methodology cannot be used for passive and semi-passive coolers. For these reasons, I had to adjust the conditions of the stress tests. But as a heat generator, I still used the Intel Core i7-5820K processor in the ASRock X99 Taichi motherboard.

I left the whole setup on the Streacom BC1 benchtable without fans that would provide airflow. The stress tests were performed as usual using the Aida64 Extreme application with a duration of 45–60 minutes. For obvious reasons, I only tested the cooler on the base clock of the processor without overclocking. At the same time, however, I expanded the range of tests by more speed levels. So I first tested the Noctua NH-P1 cooler in passive mode, followed by two sets with the added NF-A12x25 LS-PWM fan at four speed levels (300, 600, 900 and 1,200).

In the first set, the fan was placed on top of the cooler and the air flow was directed upwards. In the second set, I then placed the fan on the side of the cooler so that air could flow from the PCI Express slot through the fins toward the top edge of the motherboard. The CPU power consumption during these tests was 85–90 watts, a similar value to current mid-range processors.

At the end of the test, the highest temperature reached was always read. I got all the data regarding temperatures and energy consumption of the processor from the application HWiNFO64. The measured values were then corrected against the room temperature as the resulting Delta T value. The noise level was measured using a calibrated sound level meter Voltcraft SL-100 at a distance of 50 cm from the cooler.

  •  
  •  
  •  
Flattr this!

Now in black… Noctua’s shortest high-performance cooler

For users who don’t sympathize with Noctua’s traditional brown and beige color scheme, the NH-D12L cooler is now out in chromax.black. The cooler differs from most competing models by its lower profile (while still having plenty of fins). And the NH-D12L chromax.black is also one of the few dual-tower CPU coolers which never collide with memory modules on the motherboard when oriented vertically. Read more “Now in black… Noctua’s shortest high-performance cooler” »

  •  
  •  
  •  

Lower price high-end. DeepCool releases the Assassin 4S cooler

Minus one fan makes the Assassin 4S 20 EUR cheaper than the Assassin IV it’s based on. The heatsink seems to be the same, and the only difference is the number of fans – one instead of two. The cooling performance will most certainly be lower, but we expect that its drop won’t be as significant as the amount of money that you can save with this cheaper model. In addition, there’s also wider compatibility. Read more “Lower price high-end. DeepCool releases the Assassin 4S cooler” »

  •  
  •  
  •  

Release of Noctua’s 140mm next-gen fans sticks to schedule

The title couldn’t fit a “despite complications with the frame”. Even though Noctua figured out that the fan blades could collide under adverse circumstances due to deformation of the frame in a more advanced stage of prototyping, it seems that the fix for this inconvenience didn’t take too long. We’re again at the point where it looks like Noctua’s 140mm LCP fans are right outside the doors of the retail market. Read more “Release of Noctua’s 140mm next-gen fans sticks to schedule” »

  •  
  •  
  •  

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *