Noctua NH-U12S REDUX CPU Cooler (and Upgrade Kit) Review

A Closer Look

The Noctua NH-U12S REDUX does some pretty much assembled out of the box. A factor which is mildly annoying as you do have to subsequently remove the fan to install it, but admittedly, that’s a very minor niggle. Overall, however, the presentation is excellent. With its stainless steel body and almost greyish fan (not the usual cream/beige) certainly makes it look very attractive.

In terms of size, RAM compatibility will provide no issue here as both the fan and height clearance should be more than sufficient unless you own some insanely beefy memory.

Even with the second fan installed (again, as part of the separate optional upgrade kit), the size is still, overall, smaller than the vast majority of other air cooler designs. Given that this can be installed in practically any direction (based on 90-degree angles), the initial impressions are certainly excellent!

Contact Plate

With 4 pipes leading away from each side of the contact plate, this does appear to be at the absolute limit of what could’ve been fitted without either overly cramping or ruining the aesthetic. Seeing so many in such a compact design, however, is certainly indicative of some solid performance!

The contact plate itself is fantastically large and smooth meaning that for either Intel or AMD systems, this should provide some excellent contact and, by proxy, heat dissipation.

Although we do, of course, remove any pre-applied thermal paste before our installation and testing (even for Noctua products where we utilize their compound solution as part of our methodology), it would be remiss of us not to point out that the NH-U12S does some with some applied to the contact plate in an exceptionally eye-catching honey-comb pattern. Is this the best method? No idea, but it certainly looks pretty! Such a shame we have to wipe it off. Oh well…

Radiator

Despite its relatively small stature, the Noctua NH-U12S REDUX has certainly managed to cram in a lot of fins to its radiator. With each heat pipe being well spaced as well, this should lead to some excellent heat dissipation working in conjunction with the fans.

It would, of course, be entirely remiss of us not to mention how absolutely fantastic this looks in its stainless steel. When contracted against the relatively dull (but still not unpleasant) fans, it really stands out and grabs you attention. And, if that doesn’t, then that ‘REDUX’ branding to the top certainly will.

Fan

It should be noted that the fan provided with the NH-U12S is exactly the same as that provided with the second fan upgrade kit and, as such, by looking at one we are effectively looking at both.

The fans themselves, as you might expect, are 100% Noctua’s own design. Being the NF-P12 REDUX model, however, we have not encountered this design in the flesh before. It will therefore be interesting to see how they perform. Particularly with those interesting blades which, as you can see in the pictures below, have a ribbed effect on the interior edge which, given that it is not visible from the ‘front’, we can only presume is something to do with promoting better airflow.

In something of a very small prior lie, we should note that there is something different with the secondary fan kit model. Namely, that the anti-vibration pads on the corners do not come pre-installed and are only designed to fit on one side. This is a bit unusual in two respects, firstly simply because they are detachable (which we presume is so you can choose which side of the cooler you want it to sit), but also in the fact that when compared to the standard pre-supplied fan, the cushioning is significantly deeper. We have no idea why, but it’s definitely an interesting point. Well… I daresay somebody other than me will find this curious. I mean, why not simply just copy the original design?…

In terms of coverage though, the 120mm fan is absolutely perfect for the NH-U12S REDUX with it providing practically total coverage of the entire radiator.

Overall

Choosing either the standard or fan upgrade kit option, the Noctua NH-U12S REDUX looks absolutely fantastic from any angle. Who knows, it might even manage to sway some of those who believe that it’s practically impossible for an air cooler to both look good and perform well.

Everything we’ve seen with this air cooler suggests that it’s every bit of the premium design the Noctua brand would suggest and while we’re all curious to see how this will perform in our testing, it is, of course, equally important to see just how easy (or hard) this is to install!