Manufacturer:
Price: Noctua NH-U9 - $70
Price: Noctua NH-U12 - $50

Noctua, a new name for us here at Overclockers Online, first launched their website late October of 2005 and since then, they have been targeting users who demand superior cooling performance and silence alike. To make this possible, Noctua partnered with the Austrian Rascom Computer distribution, the Taiwanese Kolink International Corporation, and the Austrian Institute of Heat Transmission and Fan Technology to develop high-end sound-conscious cooling products at a low price.



Tower or vertical style coolers are extremely popular among enthusiasts and for a good reason too! Vertical coolers have numerous advantages over conventional coolers, a major one being the ability to directly expel hot air dissipated from the heatsink. The nature of vertical coolers allows the heatsink to be aligned in a manner that removes air that has been heated by the heatsink through an exhaust fan or auxiliary power supply fan instead of recycling it. This type of cooler can also be very tall which increases surface area while leaving only a small footprint. Today, we are going to take a look at two heatsinks from this Austrian company: the NH-U12 which harnesses the power of two 120mm fans and, its sibling, the NH-U9 which utilizes two 92mm fans.