Today we bring to you a versus CPU Cooler test between two companies that come out of RASCOM – Austria. The Noctua NH-U12P and the Coolink Silentator.
Today we bring to you a versus CPU Cooler test between two companies that come out of RASCOM – Austria. The Noctua NH-U12P and the Coolink Silentator.
Heatpipe coolers have improved steadily over the past few years and certainly in the past couple of years CPU coolers have appeared from many manufacturers. The theory behind heatpipe coolers is fairly simple. Liquid transfers heat from the base of the cooler up through the pipes and heat disperses through the fins and the fan which is attached blows off this heat and out of the case (depending on your case fan setup). All this keeps your CPU from melting, since they operate at such crazy speeds nowadays. It is therefore important to invest in something which is quality based, since the CPU is the brain of the PC.
Along with the sudden boom in after market coolers, CPU chips have hit the market at an alarming rate also with a wide assortment of flavours coming under the AMD/Intel umbrella. Choosing a CPU cooler for your new chip can be a difficult decision to make with so many on the market
It’s essential to choose the right product when you are looking to invest in a cooler, especially if you want to squeeze every inch of performance out of your system. It needs to operate cool, and for some – silent.
Noctua NH-U12P
Website: www.noctua.at
Price: £42.29
Noctua Introduction
Noctua aims at establishing a new level of quality and performance “Designed in Austria” through paying attention to the users’ needs in a market burdened with all kinds of frills and furbelows and providing sound-optimized premium components, which serve their purpose in a smart, precise and reliable manner.
Noctua arises from a cooperation between the Austrian Rascom Computer Distribution Ges.m.b.H and the Taiwanese Kolink International Corporation and entertains a development partnership with the Austrian Institute of Heat Transmission and Fan Technology (Österreichisches Institut für Wärmeübertragung und Ventilatorentechnik, ÖIWV). These connections form the key to the achievement of our goal: The partnership with the ÖIWV permits the application of scientific measurement instrumentation, methods of calculation and simulation technology in the R&D process. Rascom’s long, customer-oriented experience in developing and distributing sound-optimized high-end products ensures a clear focus on the users’ needs. The use of Kolink’s advanced manufacturing technology and ultra-modern production plants allows us to efficiently implement our technical edge and provide solutions of the highest standard in quality and performance.
Noctua have a good reputation within the cooling solutions industry. In previous times they have provided us with quality products such as the Noctua NH-U12F which gave exceptional performance for an air cooler. We have with us the successor to the U12F today, and it remains a huge weight of pressure for the U12P to match up to and possibly even break the performance barrier the U12F set.
Technical Specification
Appearance
From the images, you can tell the NH-U12P is very similar to the NH-U12F. It differs by being slightly taller and this time it is nickel plated rather than copper. We also have the addition of Noctua’s latest P12 fan which is a premium fan by all accounts. There is a nice assortment of features in the package, including Noctua thermal compound paste. The installation was simple and the instructions are easy to follow. The only problem some might have is the size of the heatsink inside the case. It is a very tall heatsink. In our test case we had no problems, narrower cases might well struggle. Just check dimensions before purchasing.
Coolink Silentator
Website: www.coolink-europe.com
Price: £27
Coolink Introduction
Coolink is a brand of the Kolink International Corporation and stands for an effective conjunction of no-frills performance, excellent quality and attractive pricing. Coolink – the direct link to affordable high-end cooling!
Kolink International Corporation is a cooling specialist established in 1996 and well known among industry insiders. Throughout the years, Kolink designed and manufactured many top-performing heat-sinks under various brand names that succeeded in international markets. An experienced R&D team and ultra-modern production plants in Taiwan ensure continuous progress, efficient manufacturing conditions and strict quality standards.
Coolink has been around for over 10 years now and whilst they supply excellent cooling solutions they aren’t very well known compared to some of the other cooling giants out there on the market. Over in the UK especially most of the main etailers do not stock Coolink products, which I feel is a shame because they have a great lineup of products.
Today we have with us the Coolink Silentator. Coolink have aimed to produce a cooler which will not only offer great performance temperature wise, but also ensure noise levels are kept to a minimum. As you can see from the below spec, there are some great little items included with this package – including a fan controller.
Technical Specification
Appearance
Visually the Silentator looks great. It’s slightly smaller than the NH-U12P and the heatpipes are made of copper instead of nickel. There is also a great assortment of items in the Silentator package. All the tools for installing, and easy to follow instructions manual and the commendable addition of a fan controller and Coolink premium fan. The installation was again like the NH-U12P simple. Both do require you to remove the motherboard but when you appreciate how big these heatsinks are, It’s essential there is a firm lock down. Again It’s advisable to check dimensions before purchasing the Silentator, although it is smaller than the NHU12P it will fit in most cases.
Testing and Results
Testing
The system used in the testing for both CPU coolers comprised of the following:
E2160 CPU
Asus P5KC Motherboard
2GB OCZ PC6400 DDR2 RAM
XFX 7900GT 256MB
Coolermaster 600W
Coolermaster Centurion 532
For testing the heat of the coolers I monitored the temperatures whilst the system was idle and put both coolers through their paces using Orthos by Johnny Lee – loading the CPU FFT’s. Temperatures were obtained after waiting 48 hours for the thermal paste to set in on the both occasions each cooler was installed. Load temperatures were given a good 20 minutes of labour before recording the result. Room temperature was reported to be 17C.
Temperature Results
As you can see from the results, both the Noctua and Coolink products did exceptionally well. The Noctua cooler triumphs over both the Intel and Coolink offerings, performance increasing significantly on the overclocked results which is suprising, and impressive. The temperatures above from both coolers are a big improvement over the stock intel cooler, this gives you plenty of headroom to overclock your CPU – pushing it to the limits. These results will delight those who are looking for lower temperatures when tweaking the FSB.
Both Noctua and Coolink should be congratulated for producing coolers which attain to such high standards the Noctua NH-U12P results are especially pleasing, Noctua have once again delivered the goods and improved on the NH-U12F.
Sound Results
To monitor the loudness of each cooler I took sound recordings of 10 seconds against the Noctua and Coolink cooler, so that decibels could be obtained and analysed. I have made the files available for you to compare which will give you an understanding of just how loud the fans on the coolers operate at
Noctua NH-U12P Sound (Without low noise adaptors) (175KB)
Coolink Silentator Sound (High) (174KB)
Intel Stock Cooler Sound (175KB)
The Coolink Silentator was the victor in this test. It made the least noise compared to the Noctua and Intel Stock Cooler. So if you are looking for something which will keep noise levels down to a minimum then the Silentator is the CPU cooler to go for.
Conclusion
Impressions of the Noctua NH-U12P
There’s no doubt in my mind that the U12P is one of the best air coolers on the market. It outperforms the stock Intel cooler by over 15C in some cases. Not only this but due to the low noise modifications that are included – the decibel rating is very low making this cooler a good choice for those who find noisy fans an irritation.
I was impressed to see that Noctua have taken previous reviews and included some extras in the package. This is important to the end user. With the U12P you get a box of delight. Not only do you get a heatsink but you also get Noctua’s highly regarded premium fan, a syringe of NH-NT1, and voltage modification cables to control the fan.
Out of all the CPU coolers on the market I would choose the U12P, simply because it performs extremely well and is value for money.
Impressions of the Coolink Silentator
The Coolink Silentator targets those who thrive on a low noise cooling solution, and it performs just what it intends to. The Silentator is very impressive, it gives a signficant increase in performance over the stock intel cooler both in temperature and especially in sound. It looks fantastic inside your case and is hardly heard of when operating. What more could you ask for? The package is also a bonus when you consider how much the Silentator is set at on the market, we love the addition of the fan controller, It’s a superb feature and a valued supplement which I think most manufacturers are sure to mimic in the future.
So to conclude, the Noctua wins on temperature performance but the Coolink on noise performance. This therefore shows that both coolers are really aimed at different customers. Those looking for a better cooling solution ought to opt for the Noctua cooler whilst those looking for something which will be almost silent should choose the Coolink cooler.
Scores
We would like to thank Noctua and Coolink for supplying both coolers!
