Noctua NH-U12A chromax.Black, 120mm Single-Tower CPU Cooler (Black)

It’s expensive, but it seems to be worth it. Dropped my cpu temps on a ryzen9 5900x by 10c.

Typical of Noctua, this product is phenomenal!

I have a Ryzen 9 5900x this doesnt really get the job done on that CPU. I have no idea why the reviews say this thing is quiet, even at 80% Fan speed I could hear the fans going even more than my GPU fans.

The U12A is a great air cooler albeit the most expensive one. I use it in a small mATX case (inwin 301) where airflow is poor. Does a great job cooling an r5 3600 idling in high 30s to low 40s. In cinebench r23 max temp 74 degrees and while gaming up to 78 degrees max spike. I know the 3600 is not hard to cool. The U12A gives slightly better cooling performance than the wraith prism. About 4-6 degrees delta but its much better at being silent. At 100% max fan spin, while audible it is not very loud. Ive also used this cooler with a 5900x in the same case and that CPU is a hot one! It can cool the 5900x in cinebench r23 at high 70s to mid 80s and idle at around 45-50 degrees. While gaming I saw the 5900x temps spike really high. CPU package up to 89 degrees and CCD1 go up to 93. That being said the U12A chromax black is still a great cooler that I can easily recommend. If your case is limited to 158mm cooler height and youre thinking about purchasing this... do it, you wont regret it.

This cooler is extremely quiet and definitely outperforms most of the other coolers out there. I would highly recommend.

Not sure what else you could want from an air cooler. This checks off all the boxes. Keeps temps low and stays quiet. I love the all black look as its very sleek in my all white case. Plenty of ram clearance as well with this bad boy. Worth the investment since two of the 12x25 fans from noctua will cost you 65+ USD alone. Not sure it even needs the exhaust side fan but Im keeping it because 5800X3D runs hot.

I upgraded from a ryzen5 1600 with wraith cooler to a ryzen 7 5800x. The wraith can be used but doesn’t keep temps as low as other options. Install was very easy especially if i have AMD as it required being able to use the existing mounting equipment. For $100 its bulky and quiet, no LEDS but does the job. Could spend $130-$200 on liquid cooled options. Worked for me and my budget and needs.

Works like a charm, keeps cpu temps nice and cool, and was so effortlessly installed. A great choice for an Air Cooler!

Using this with a 12700k & It idles around 30c and is around 50c-60c while gaming, max temp Ive seen was 85c under 100% load but thats expected with the 12700k and air cooling. (ambient room temp is around 25c)

The Stock Cooler on an Intel i7-8700 was not cutting it when pushed hard. When importing point cloud scan data the CPU would constantly hit thermal limits at 99-100c hindering performance and putting the hardware in a dangerous temp zone. The U12A keeps an average temp of 62c with individual core peeks at 78c during extended 100% cpu utilization. CPU performance now remains consistent and no more loud fan noise ramping up and down. Good investment to prolong the useful life of my existing hardware. The Cooler, Fans & contents of installation kit are exceptional and well worth the money.