Noctua NH-P1 Fanless CPU Cooler Released for $100

[btarunr]

Noctua's ambitious 100% fanless CPU heatsink, the NH-P1, was briefly listed on Newegg for $100. The heatsink offers clearance for standard-height memory and VRM heatsinks of most motherboards; and completely fanless cooling due to the sheer amount of surface area on offer to dissipate heat without the need for an active airflow. The design of the NH-P1 involves a nickel-plated copper base, from which six heat-pipes emerge passing through a gargantuan aluminium fin-stack.

Noctua claims that the cooler can handle mainstream desktop CPUs without the need for fans. These include the Core i9-9900K, Ryzen 7 2700X, etc., which should mean that most non-K 10th Gen and 11th Gen Intel processors; as well as Ryzen 3000 and Ryzen 5000 chips up to 8 cores should run perfectly fine with this heatsink. Among the CPU socket types supported are LGA1200, LGA115x, LGA2066, and AM4. For higher TDP chips, particularly HEDT chips in the LGA2066 package, the heatsink supports the mounting of a pair of 120 mm fans.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[Space Lynx]

this really intrigues me... I wonder how much strain it really does put on a mobo though? hopefully not too dangerous long term?

 

[Nephilim666]

quite ambutious indeed

 

[Space Lynx]

quite ambutious indeed

it will be neat to see reviews of this, and see how much of a different the 2x 120mm optional fans make.

it might even beat AIO water coolers once those are added on with a decent fan curve

 

[dicktracy]

Ryzen 5000 chips up to 8 cores

Yeah no.... 5800x runs hot as hell even with the beefiest coolers money can buy.

 

[tabascosauz]

@iBruceypoo

Might have to prop up the socket with a cardboard box underneath it looks like it would be a beast with a NF-A14 2000rpm A12x25 or F12 2000rpm though

 

[newtekie1]

this really intrigues me... I wonder how much strain it really does put on a mobo though? hopefully not too dangerous long term?

It looks big, but it doesn't have that many fins. Instead it has a small number of fins spaced very far apart. In fact, according to the picture it looks like it only has 13 fins. Compare that to something like the NH-U12 which has like 50 fins. Ths NH-P1 might actually be lighter than most of the other tower style Noctua coolers.

it will be neat to see reviews of this, and see how much of a different the 2x 120mm optional fans make.

it might even beat AIO water coolers once those are added on with a decent fan curve

The thing with these passive coolers is they usually don't benefit greatly from a fan. They are designed to use convection to move the air through the fins. They have a small number of fins, spread very far apart. Fans will help, but not nearly as much as you'd think. If you are going to use fans, you're better off with a traditional style cooler.

Yeah no.... 5800x runs hot as hell even with the beefiest coolers money can buy.

I'm guessing this thing will struggle with anything over a 65w CPU. And it also requires a case with good airflow, the newegg listing says there is a list of recommended cases, but that list doesn't exist yet since the Noctua product page for the NH-P1 isn't up yet. I'm going to guess those cases are all ones with good airflow.

 

[ZoneDymo]

it will be neat to see reviews of this, and see how much of a different the 2x 120mm optional fans make.

it might even beat AIO water coolers once those are added on with a decent fan curve

Plenty of tower coolers are more efficient at cooling given the surface area, AIO's just have other advantages.
Plus designs like.this iirc don't do as well with fans, they are specifically designed with no fan in mind.

On the product itself, it's noctua so it's probably solid but you would really have to go all the way and make everything passive to get the intended value out of it.

 

[newtekie1]

but you would really.have to all the way and make everything passive to get the intended value out of it.

And from the marketing material, it sounds like that isn't an option. The case has to have some active airflow for this to function.

 

[AusWolf]

If you want a silent PC, buy a fanless CPU cooler... but make sure you have a properly ventilated case with lots of high RPM intake and exhaust fans.

 

[newtekie1]

If you want a silent PC, buy a fanless CPU cooler... but make sure you have a properly ventilated case with lots of high RPM intake and exhaust fans.

Yep, that's basically the hook for every passive component that is usually not passive. Passive PSUs were the same way. There's no fan in the PSU, so it's totally silent, but you gotta have fans in the case pushing a bunch of air through it, or it's gonna overheat. Passive CPU coolers are the same way, it isn't like this is the first of its kind.

 

[LTUGamer]

Actually I love what they are doing to remove the noise, but fanless setup it is way worse that virtually inaudible fan spinning at ~500 RPM. Also many fanless coolers requires "good case airflow"

 

[Crackong]

I think this product serves a role in "We have a complete product portfolio" more than the actual profit from its sales.

it shows Noctua had invested in passive cooling so any buyers interested in OEM partnership could test and evaluate based on this product.

 

[ioannis]

Nice as a proof of concept but in my opinion a bit unnecessary. Noctua fans can barely be heard over the case fans anyways..

 

[AusWolf]

Yep, that's basically the hook for every passive component that is usually not passive. Passive PSUs were the same way. There's no fan in the PSU, so it's totally silent, but you gotta have fans in the case pushing a bunch of air through it, or it's gonna overheat. Passive CPU coolers are the same way, it isn't like this is the first of its kind.

To be honest, I'd love to have a completely passive build, though I can only imagine it with low-power components like T-series Intel CPUs and GeForce GT 1030.

 

[Caring1]

Nice as a proof of concept but in my opinion a bit unnecessary. Noctua fans can barely be heard over the case fans anyways..

Totally unnecessary as a proof of concept even, as most people know a passive cooler will work if you make it big enough.

 

[Crackong]

Totally unnecessary as a proof of concept even, as most people know a passive cooler will work if you make it big enough.

But "How big is enough" will be determined by the design.

 

[bonehead123]

Can anyone say what a "hunka hunka burning love" hehehehe....

Hopefully it's lighter than what it's size would suggest, guess we gotta wait for the reviews/tests & official specs

 

[Shou Miko]

Nice if there is enough airflow and yes even my old AMD Ryzen 9 3900X ran hot in idle and load with my Fractal Design Celsius S24.

Now that I am currently on a Intel Core i7-11700K I see loading temps in hwinfo, Gigabyte IVS and MSI Afterburner at max 55c which is really lower compared to my 3900X using the same fans and several mountings.

I know I cannot compare 8c/16t to 12c/24t but with all my gaming, streaming and so on I actually feel more happy with my temps and general performance now then before.

 

[TheDeeGee]

If you want a silent PC, buy a fanless CPU cooler... but make sure you have a properly ventilated case with lots of high RPM intake and exhaust fans.

All you need a D15 with the fan running no more than 400-500 RPM, and case fans at 500 RPM.

There's your silent system.

 

[Calmmo]

Nice as a proof of concept but in my opinion a bit unnecessary. Noctua fans can barely be heard over the case fans anyways..

I've 4 noctua nfa14 fans in my case. I wouldn't describe them as quiet. At ~900-1k rpm they are rather loud, at 1200 they're insuferable.

 

[TheDeeGee]

I've 4 noctua nfa14 fans in my case. I wouldn't describe them as quiet. At ~900-1k rpm they are rather loud, at 1200 they're insuferable.

True, i can hear my D15 fan clearly above 750 RPM.

Hopefully the new 140MM fans later this year will be better.

 

[Dristun]

I've 4 noctua nfa14 fans in my case. I wouldn't describe them as quiet. At ~900-1k rpm they are rather loud, at 1200 they're insuferable.

Yep. Only become "inaudible" (still noticeable if the room is quiet enough) below 500rpm. I always have a laugh when Steve from GN or some other reviewers say that something is "quite", then you check the numbers and they have fans spinning at 1000rpm. No way in hell that's quiet, lol!

Quite excited by this cooler, though I feel like with sockets changing and rumours pointing toward both AM5 and LGA1700 being incompatible with older coolers Noctua are about to miss the boat here.

Re: the paradox with having good airflow to enable passive - I feel this thing is just perfect for open-air builds and everyone attempting to do one. Yes, you probably won't get away with something hotter than 5600X but you get total silence in return. Raijintek's Morpheus can easily handle something like 1660/3060 with a couple 120mm coolers spinning at unnoticeable 300-400rpm. Seasonic's passive 600W PSU will do just fine without any airflow other than what you have in the room already unless you load it to 600W, which you shouldn't be doing when going for a truly silent build anyway. In gaming with 5600X-3060 total system load is going to be around 300W max - perfectly manageable, many 1000W PSU's won't even start spinning fans at these loads. Unless your room is constantly at 30C completely silent builds are well within reach now, that's really amazing imo. Might try something like that when the great shortage ends.

 

[Chrispy_]

Price is actually reasonable for something so large and so niche.
I still think the idea of a fully passive home PC is a stupid idea but I'm sure this will make some people happy.

 

[ioannis]

Totally unnecessary as a proof of concept even, as most people know a passive cooler will work if you make it big enough.

Theoretically yes, but you must build something as a proof of concept, otherwise there is no proof of concept, but just, well.. concept