Noctua NH-U12P CPU Cooler Review

Installation

U12P installation is not simple. We will show step-by-step how we installed it on our socket LGA775 CPU, but  installation on AMD CPUs is pretty much alike, just using other parts in order to fit the different hole positioning.

First of all you must screw two tabs on the cooler base, as you can see in Figure 10.

Figure 10: Tabs screwed on the base.

Before putting the fan in place you must stick two silicon strips (shown in Figure 11) on the heatsink, which help reducing noise by absorbing vibrations.

Figure 11: Silicon strips.

Installing the fan on the he
atsink is very easy, you just need to put it in place and then fasten two wire clips that hold it.

Figure 12: Fan installed.

The next step is installing the cooler holder on the motherboard. In Figure 13, you can see the required hardware for socket LGA775, one metal plate that stays under the motherboard and two clips installed on component side. Clips for AMD processors are similar. In both cases it is necessary to remove the motheboard from the chassis, unless your case gives access to the bottom of the motherboard through a window cut on the motherboard tray.

Figure 13: Motherboard clips.