Testing:
To test the idle and load voltages of the Noctua NH-U9 and NH-U12, I installed the following equipment:
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Idle
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Load
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AMD 64 3500 processor
Gigabyte K8NXP-SLI motherboard (default settings)
Thermaltake Tai-Chi Super-Tower Case
1 - Gigabyte 300XT
2gb (4x512) Samsung 2700 DDR
1 - Seagate 80gb SATA
1 - Western Digital 250gb IDE
NEC DVD-R/W
CoolerMaster CoolDrive 4 (used to take temperatures and fan speed)
10-n-1 Media Card reader
2 - 120mm LED Fan (default fans only)
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AMD 64 3500 processor
Gigabyte K8NXP-SLI motherboard (default settings)
Thermaltake Tai-Chi Super-Tower Case
1 - Gigabyte 300XT
2gb (4x512) Samsung 2700 DDR
1 - Seagate 80gb SATA
1 - Western Digital 250gb IDE
NEC DVD-R/W
CoolerMaster CoolDrive 4 (used to take temperatures and fan speed)
10-n-1 Media Card reader
Fans: 4x120mm LED, 6x80mm
1x 40GB Seagate 7200.8 SATA hard drive
1x Hauppauge 350PVR TV tuner
2x USB thumb drives
USB 2.0 Hub
1x USB 2.5 hard drive
Sony DRU-500A DVD-RW
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The idle condition was established by powering the base system at default speeds and voltages with no applications running for a period of at least 30 minutes. The load condition was established by loading the system up with components and fans, while Folding@Home and SiSoft Sandra 2005's Burn-in Wizard ran for a period of at least 60 minutes. The first table below details the idle and load conditions.
Here you are able to see the idle and load temperatures of the Noctua coolers, compared to the Thermalright HR-01 and the Zalman Fatal1ty. As you can see, both coolers did the job incredibly well. The NH-U9 was 3C higher than the Thermalright HR-01, while the NH-U12 provided a 2C drop in temperature. Without any fans, it did not do as well as the Zalman Fatal1ty, with the 120mm high performance fan running. Then again, the Zalman makes noise, where the NH-U12 did not.
In addition to the normal temperature comparisons, I also performed the tests with two different fan configurations. The first test was performed with only one fan, in a push configuration. The second test was performed with two fans, in a push-pull configuration, the exhaust (pull) of the fans, was directed towards my power supply.
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