The Noctua NH-U12A is a cooler that has previously proven that with a little effort, it is possible to offer the performance of high-end dual-tower coolers in a more compact design. However, the last time I tested it, I was still using the older methodology, so with the release of the chromax.black version, there’s an ideal opportunity to conduct new tests. The question also remains whether the NF-U12A chromax.black can justify its high price tag.
Results – 39 dBA
Why is there a missing value in the cooler chart? Either because the cooler could no longer handle the load in the specified mode, or because the fan could not be slowed down to the required level, typically the mode with the lowest noise level.
“but at 50–60 % of maximum speed it is a very quiet fan that you will be virtually unaware of”
absolutely not, it becomes clearly audible at around 600-650RPM, which admittedly is impressive and provides the best performance at this noise level across all 120mm fans on the market, but is far from your claims