Noctua NH-U9S U-Type Tower CPU Cooler Review

Final Thoughts

Price

The Noctua NH-U9S CPU cooler is available from Overclockers UK for around £45, while readers in the US can find it at Newegg for around $58.

Overview

There’s no surprise here in that the Noctua NH-U9S isn’t the most powerful CPU cooler in the world, but given its relative cooler size and fan size, it was never really designed to be. What we have here is a compact cooler, that designed to be compatible with a wide range of systems, chassis and RAM configurations. It does so by keeping the design low and relatively slim, with a smaller fan, although there is room to mount an extra fan for push-pull should you need it (sold separately).

The NH-U9S is a little more expensive that some other coolers in its class, especially in terms of cooling performance. While that seems like a bad deal to some, I’d bet that the NH-U9S will outlive many of its rivals due to its exceptional build quality; you’re really not going to find better quality for this kind of money. The build quality is stunning, but the real star of the show is one of the things that makes Noctua famous, their fans! Unless you’re going crazy and driving thundering overclocks through your system, this cooler runs virtually silent, despite not being passive. I’ve never heard a cooler this quiet and due to the limits of human hearing or without an acoustically silent room, I’ll likely never find one quieter than wasn’t passive.

If I’m building a compact HTPC, workstation or office rig, this will be the cooler I choose. It looks great, it’s easy to install, it’s got exceptional build quality and it’s quieter than a mouse. Those wanting to overclock their gaming rigs would likely need to look a little further up the range.

Pros

• Good stock performance
• Incredibly quiet
• Class-leading build quality
• Nice aesthetics (subjective if you don’t like the brown fan)
• Extremely easy to install
• High-quality fitting components and tools included

Cons

• Not ideal for overclocking

“It’s not cheap, nor is it the coolest, but when you want a premium quality cooler to cool a non-overclocked rig and keep it quieter than a whisper, the NH-U9S is the way to go!”

Thank you Noctua for providing us with this sample.