Noctua unveils NH-U12A CPU cooler with two 120mm fans

Noctua has unveiled a new processor cooler with dual 120mm fans. With this new NH-U12A, the Austrian cooler maker promises to combine the performance of 140mm competitors with the installation compatibility of a 120mm model.

According to the announcement, the NH-U12A is the fifth generation cooler in its NH-U12 series and succeeds the NH-U12S from 2013. The biggest changes from that model are an extra fan, two extra heatpipes and 37 percent more fin surface in the cooling block for heat dissipation. The fans included with the cooler are both NF-A12x25.

Noctua has designed the cooler in such a way that it does not hang over the working memory slots, which means that there is no restriction on the maximum height of the heat spreaders, with the exception of socket LGA2066, where it does hang over. In addition, the cooler is 158mm high, which according to the Austrians is low enough to fit in most midrange and high-end housings. The width of 125mm should also keep it away from the top PCI-e slot, where the video card is often in most cases.

Noctua does not yet announce which TDP the cooler can handle. The maker refers users to its support page for cpu compatibility, but the NH-U12A is not yet included in that database at the time of writing. The NH-U12A supports sockets LGA115x, -2011 and -2066, as well as AM4, AM3(+), AM2(+), FM1 and FM2(+).

The cooler should outperform its predecessor, the NH-U12S, but its price is also higher. The suggested retail price is 99.90 euros, while its older brother is now available for about half that. The cooler is available immediately from Noctua itself; outlets on Amazon, eBay and elsewhere should follow shortly.