Noctua NH-P1 – Fanless cooling, passive CPU cooler

An easy glimpse on the Noctua NH-P1 is sufficient for anyone to realize this is no run-of-the-mill PROCESSOR cooler. To commence with, the pure proportions of the NH-P1 are huge beyond comparison. In 15. 8cm by 15. 4cm by 15. 2cm (essentially a 6. 5-inch cube), the NH-P1 dwarfs typical tower system coolers – that are already pretty large – taking around three times the volume of the full assembled NH-U12S. As well as one. 1,18kg weight makes it heavier than some laptop computer systems.

Considering both the size and the nature of the Noctua NH-P1, it is bound to face compatibility issues with both systems and cases, as well as limited suitability with CPUs. In order to that end, Noctua provides detailed suitability tables that include both system components and PC instances, to help purchasers get an improved idea in advance over where the plus-sized unaggressive cooler can fit.
Case compatibility apart, the NH-P1 facilitates practically all modern CPU sockets, including Intel’s LGA-11xx/1200 outlet and latest LGA-1700 socket, as well as AMD’s outlet AM4. Threadripper is left out in the cold, nevertheless , as it would not have to get possible for the NH-P1 to handle the extreme thermal requirements such a high-end processor chip.
6 heatpipes are in charge of transferring the mass of the heat energy created by the CPU on to the fins of the cooler. The particular heatpipes begin with the base of the cooler, positioned exactly in parallel to one another, and extend to a single side of the bottom towards the top half the fins in a symmetric fan design. They are made out of copper mineral but are completely nickel-plated to prevent surface corrosion.
The particular base of the NH-P1 is almost typical for any modern heatpipe-based chillier, with the exclusion that six of the fins lengthen and are straight attached to the bottom itself. This is mostly to raise the mechanical strength of the NH-P1, as the colossal b array could hardly be reliably maintained the heatpipes alone. However it may also be playing a little part in the thermal performance of the chillier as well by allowing some heat energy to move directly from the bottom towards the bout.
The Noctua NH-P1 are designed for loads lower than 100 W rather well. The particular temperatures will be high, but modern processors should gladly operate at temps up to 50°C above ambient : assuming that the interior temperature of the PC situation is actually near that of an average home room (~22°C). Extented loads more than 120-140 Watts will have the temperature delta widening too much for the NH-P1 to keep a chip from thermally throttling. The good news is that modern CPUs are designed to manage just such a thing (see: almost any compact laptop in the final decade), but our testing equipment is another story: we had to stop our testing after 200W in order to avoid harmful our equipment.

All of us should explain again that these results require excessively extented testing time than normal, as the thermal inertia of the NH-P1 is outworldish. For typical PCs, where the CPU is not constantly running at full load, the thermal performance of the NH-P1 is bound to seem to be far better. Still, we would not recommend using it on infamously hot cpus and/or on an overclocked processor. Believe something closer to AMD & Intel’s standard 65W components, rather than their extreme K/X components. Video: YouTube/Noctua

Noctua any of the most reputable PC cooling manufacturers for a reason: their products typically are well-designed along with excellent quality. The particular Noctua NH-P1 is no exception to that particular tip, and the time of its release definitely is not coincidental. For example, with AIO chillers becoming increasingly popular over the earlier few years, typical PC cases nowadays are somewhat larger and roomier, which allowed for the NH-P1 to greatly lengthen its abiliyy table, as it would unfit the width of countless aged case designs.

Employing a passive CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT cooler does have disadvantages, the most significant being the (relatively) low thermal performance. Typically, the Noctua NH-P1 triumphs over that issue, with the cooler offering passable thermal performance for almost all modern computer PC processors. It is steady-state thermal amount of resistance is comparable to regarding a basic stock CPU cool but its cold weather inertia is huge, meaning that it can maintain good operating temperatures under typical operational circumstances, for the reason that processor will only be confronting near-maximum loads for short amounts of time. This kind of massive thermal masse comes from the respectively huge size of the Noctua NH-P1, which limits the compatibility of the cooler and greatly increases its making cost.

SecuFirm2+™ Torx-based multi-socket mounting system

In words of quality, Noctua never disappoints. In the event anything, their products have proven to be the standard for how top-tier designers and manufacturers should practice their business. The NH-P1 is very sophisticated mechanically, excellently set up, which is built from premium materials, all as we’d expect from a luxurious Noctua product. Nonetheless designing and building such a advanced system is costly, and that is mirrored by the $110 price tag of the Noctua NH-P1. Typically the sheer mass of the NH-P1 concludes up as a major factor here, as the costs of the virtually a split kilo of additional machined copper and aluminum needed to build such a sizable heatsink tally up quickly.

Ultimately, it is clear that Noctua does not have the well known market in head, but instead is going after state-of-the-art users who understand and accept the implications of employing a passive cooler. Owing to that the NH-P1 is certainly much a niche market product, but they have also a product that fills that niche well. Making quiet PC systems has always recently been a popular design choice, and that ending Noctua’s NH-P1 should find itself right at home in the private PC community. Photo: Noctua