Noctua's NH-U9B SE2 has proven to be a decent performer. Its quality and bundled accessories set it apart from the rest of the competition. As usual, Noctua has bundled the cooler with easy to install mounting hardware for almost every current CPU socket along with a pair of excellent 92 mm fans, thermal grease, and tools to make installation a breeze. The included fans are near silent at normal 12V operation but there are also four voltage regulation adapters that, when utilized, drop the fan to 7V, or 5V to further decrease fan noise. Noctua's design also provides airflow for components around the CPU socket to aid in cooling of secondary heat sources. The cooler comes with a durable Nickel plated finish that is both functional and attractive to score in the looks department. Should you run into any problems, Noctua provides a six year warranty on all their coolers.
As with many coolers today, clearance issues are typically expected. If you choose to mount the cooler as I did in the review, one of the fans hangs over the memory slot(s). A simple fix is to rotate the cooler by 90 degrees which should alleviate the problem. While the NH-U9B SE2 outperforms smaller coolers by a decent margin, it scores a bit lower than its big brother the NH-U12P SE2 but that is expected given its smaller size. The cooler comes with a price tag of $60 and although the accessory kit is nice, as are the included two high quality fans, there are cheaper coolers with similar performance out there.
Overall, the Noctua NH-U9B SE2 is a great choice for anyone in need of a fairly compact cooler seeking good cooling capacity while remaining near silent. It costs a few bucks more than other offerings but that can be justified after taking in consideration the quality put into all of Noctua's products.