A Closer Look

Embossed into the top fin is the Noctua logo to let people know what cooler you are running. Noctua uses a serrated edge fin design which reduces turbulent fan noise and helps to promote better airflow through the cooler. The cooler can accommodate 92 mm or 80 mm fans which are held on by metal clips and clip into the four slots cut into the side of the cooler's fin structure. Thirty aluminum fins are used to remove heat from the four 6 mm copper heat-pipes. The entire cooler is plated in a durable, protective Nickel plating finish which also provides an elegant look to the cooler.


Noctua makes sure all the bases on their coolers are perfectly flat. While not polished to a shine, the base is very smooth and reflective and optimal for best contact with the CPU's IHS (integrated heat spreader).


Supplied with the NH-U9B cooler are two Noctua NF-B9 92 mm fans. Noctua is well known for their unique fan designs that reduce fan noise significantly while still maintaining plenty of airflow to keep the cooler functioning as designed. Upon a closer look, the Vortex-Control Notches can be seen near the outer edge of the fan's blades. These notches split trailing edge vortices, that typically cause a fan to be noisy, into smaller vortices so the noise is spread across a wider range of frequencies which reduces the fan noise a good bit. Like all of Noctua's fans, the NF-B9s come with plenty of wire to reach almost any 3pin fan header on your motherboard, however, some users may find the wires may be a bit too long at 15 inches (38.1 cm). For accurate size comparison a coke can is seen here placed next to the cooler. As you can see, the cooler is quite small which allows it to be mounted in tight spaces such as HTPC and small form-factor builds. You can think of it as the little brother to the popular NH-U12P which is ranked among the best tower coolers on the market.