Noctua NH-U9S 92mm U-Type Heatsink Review

With the popularity of MiniITX and MicroATX motherboards there has been a push for smaller computer cases.  The Noctua NH-U9S is a cooler designed to meet the demands of the small formfactor chassis market by giving you a high performance alternative to the Intel OEM cooler.  This is a shift from the larger coolers like the NH-U14S that are focused on performance through silence whereas the U9S is maximizing performance in a limited space. 

As always the installation hardware is extremely good and features a universal mounting system that is easy to install and works on almost every Noctua cooler.  Keep in mind that while the backplate and risers are completely universal the rails are often tweaked slightly to accommodate the cooler.  Some might bow outwards more while others might be relatively straight.  In this review we tested on the Z68 platform and while the chipset may be different the installation method applies to all LGA 115X motherboards including the latest Z97.

Overall performance was very good.  Our heat tests showed that the Noctua NH-U9S could handle a very healthy overclock which also put it in range of handling a default clocked LGA 2011.  As expected at these higher speeds increased the cooling demands and caused the 92mm fan(s) to spin up to 2000rpm.  This introduced a little more noise but was still less than a midrange video card given the 22dBA limit of the NF-A9 PWM fans.  We did see a good drop in load temperatures by installing a secondary NF-A9 so you may consider that when installing the NH-U9S in your build.

Small Form Factor
Excellent Performance
Noctua Mounting System
Five Heatpipe Configuration
Dual Fan Options

Works best on low wattage processors
Can interfere with motherboard heatsinks