Noctua NH-P1 Passive CPU Cooler Review: Benchmarks, Schlieren Photography, & Mechanics
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Date: 2021-06-29
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Comments and reviews: 10
Junker
Its an interesting problem. I guess, primarily, its a spending problem. how much money is one willing to spend on a solution? I buy (for the most part) all Noctua gear including their more expensive quiet fans and I've got to say, it's been well worth the money. The fans and the heat sinks are wonderfully reusable and have migrated between cases numerous times over the years. In that sense, despite the initial expense, I think I have spent less money on average than if I had gone with cheaper solutions which would have required replacing worn-out fans more often.
I gave up on passive coolers years ago. Frankly, the only time I use a passive cooler any more these days is on a Raspberry pi rig. I just don't try for performance cpus any more. Besides, the biggest noise problem in systems today is actually the GPU setup, not so much the CPU setup. That said, the solution I wound up settling on, refined over the years, follows some simple, basic precepts.
Its all about improving laminar flow and managing pressure gradients inside the case. To that end, I strictly stick to front-to-back cooling with, typically, three fans. Two on the tower cooler and one case exhaust fan.
I use PWM fans all around these days, even for the case fan. I always have at least one fan running when the machine is idle. And more often these days, I have all three running at minimum RPMs.
Having some bypass air improves air-flow, particularly over the VRMs. So I offset the front-fan on the tower cooler as low as I can so some bypass air flows under the tower cooler instead of through it (which helps cool the VRMs too, by the way). And I offset the case fan higher (well, usually there isn't much of a choice)... but that results in some bypass air flowing over the top of the tower cooler as well.
The case fan typically generates the most noise, particularly if it is put right up against the grill, so selecting front or back matters and using small stand-offs so the fan isn't smack right up against the case grill can help too. I usually still wind up mounting the case fan in the back because it significantly reduces the amount of work the tower fans have to do by providing a low-pressure exhaust path that would otherwise be somewhat blocked by the grill.
And, finally, I remove all the dust filters (I have a whole-room air-cleaner like a Winnix going in ultra-low mode 24x7). With the dust filters removed, air flow is far better and the fans are able to run at lower RPMs. Frankly, dust filters don't do anything if the room air is already being cleaned up. They will collect dust that would otherwise have simply gone straight through the case anyway and not really make the inside of the case any cleaner.
-Matt
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Its an interesting problem. I guess, primarily, its a spending problem. how much money is one willing to spend on a solution? I buy (for the most part) all Noctua gear including their more expensive quiet fans and I've got to say, it's been well worth the money. The fans and the heat sinks are wonderfully reusable and have migrated between cases numerous times over the years. In that sense, despite the initial expense, I think I have spent less money on average than if I had gone with cheaper solutions which would have required replacing worn-out fans more often.
I gave up on passive coolers years ago. Frankly, the only time I use a passive cooler any more these days is on a Raspberry pi rig. I just don't try for performance cpus any more. Besides, the biggest noise problem in systems today is actually the GPU setup, not so much the CPU setup. That said, the solution I wound up settling on, refined over the years, follows some simple, basic precepts.
Its all about improving laminar flow and managing pressure gradients inside the case. To that end, I strictly stick to front-to-back cooling with, typically, three fans. Two on the tower cooler and one case exhaust fan.
I use PWM fans all around these days, even for the case fan. I always have at least one fan running when the machine is idle. And more often these days, I have all three running at minimum RPMs.
Having some bypass air improves air-flow, particularly over the VRMs. So I offset the front-fan on the tower cooler as low as I can so some bypass air flows under the tower cooler instead of through it (which helps cool the VRMs too, by the way). And I offset the case fan higher (well, usually there isn't much of a choice)... but that results in some bypass air flowing over the top of the tower cooler as well.
The case fan typically generates the most noise, particularly if it is put right up against the grill, so selecting front or back matters and using small stand-offs so the fan isn't smack right up against the case grill can help too. I usually still wind up mounting the case fan in the back because it significantly reduces the amount of work the tower fans have to do by providing a low-pressure exhaust path that would otherwise be somewhat blocked by the grill.
And, finally, I remove all the dust filters (I have a whole-room air-cleaner like a Winnix going in ultra-low mode 24x7). With the dust filters removed, air flow is far better and the fans are able to run at lower RPMs. Frankly, dust filters don't do anything if the room air is already being cleaned up. They will collect dust that would otherwise have simply gone straight through the case anyway and not really make the inside of the case any cleaner.
-Matt
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Edward
If you were desperate to build a completely silent PC with no moving parts, what's going to be your best option for graphics I wonder? Taking a massive triple slot, top end GPU (like a FTW3 or Red Devil) and underclocking it severely I suspect (somewhere in the 100-150W range). Everything else is fairly obvious. Most decent PSUs these days fan-stop when not required and I doubt you're going to be able to dissipate more than 300W of heat passively so you'd probably be fine with a 750W or so. SSDs and NVMe, no hard disks.
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If you were desperate to build a completely silent PC with no moving parts, what's going to be your best option for graphics I wonder? Taking a massive triple slot, top end GPU (like a FTW3 or Red Devil) and underclocking it severely I suspect (somewhere in the 100-150W range). Everything else is fairly obvious. Most decent PSUs these days fan-stop when not required and I doubt you're going to be able to dissipate more than 300W of heat passively so you'd probably be fine with a 750W or so. SSDs and NVMe, no hard disks.
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John
I admire the ingenuity. I love the concept. Less moving parts. Less demand in mobo and cpu.
How much electricy does an 80mm cpu fan make in the course of a year.
However, I can only see myself putting this in a workstation...
And any stock workstation heatsink should still work just fine on a workstation.
This could be something you can buy once. And keep through out your server/workstation builds.
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I admire the ingenuity. I love the concept. Less moving parts. Less demand in mobo and cpu.
How much electricy does an 80mm cpu fan make in the course of a year.
However, I can only see myself putting this in a workstation...
And any stock workstation heatsink should still work just fine on a workstation.
This could be something you can buy once. And keep through out your server/workstation builds.
reply
zakius
Noctua clearly stated that at reasonable fan speeds (well below 1000RPM) this will be more effective than even D15 so this heatsink IS more effective also as an active cooler than anything else on the market if you're going to put it in your living space, obviously in server room you want something completely different, but as an end-user product it's superior
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Noctua clearly stated that at reasonable fan speeds (well below 1000RPM) this will be more effective than even D15 so this heatsink IS more effective also as an active cooler than anything else on the market if you're going to put it in your living space, obviously in server room you want something completely different, but as an end-user product it's superior
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MoDRun
i have my fans running at like 200-400 rpm, they make pretty much no sound whatsoever at that speed and move atleast SOME air enough for things to actually not be too hot, push pull on my cpu cooler and otherwise like 9 case fans
i havent done any testing but would push pull be actually useful for a situation of very low rpm fans on each side?
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i have my fans running at like 200-400 rpm, they make pretty much no sound whatsoever at that speed and move atleast SOME air enough for things to actually not be too hot, push pull on my cpu cooler and otherwise like 9 case fans
i havent done any testing but would push pull be actually useful for a situation of very low rpm fans on each side?
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Fam
I honestly still don't see a use for it, isn't one of those backwards mounted CPU sockets with that massive heatsink a better way to go if you're going for a server? I don't even see a case for a super silent build because there are coolers that run at lowest RPM with a better performance, and you can actually afford it without having to save up.
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I honestly still don't see a use for it, isn't one of those backwards mounted CPU sockets with that massive heatsink a better way to go if you're going for a server? I don't even see a case for a super silent build because there are coolers that run at lowest RPM with a better performance, and you can actually afford it without having to save up.
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Dragan
It's best to use in some PS case stuck closed big box like working table in some cement factory or any production dust factory which need decent computer to operate. Price wise computer is probably controlling multi milion dollars equipment therefore 50 more expensive is totally non issue
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It's best to use in some PS case stuck closed big box like working table in some cement factory or any production dust factory which need decent computer to operate. Price wise computer is probably controlling multi milion dollars equipment therefore 50 more expensive is totally non issue
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Rapha l
I think it would have been interesting to compare this cooler to the NH-D15 without using the included fans, just to see the impact of fin density on cooling. You might also want to compare it to the Nofan CR-80EH, which is probably the main competitor to the NH-P1
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I think it would have been interesting to compare this cooler to the NH-D15 without using the included fans, just to see the impact of fin density on cooling. You might also want to compare it to the Nofan CR-80EH, which is probably the main competitor to the NH-P1
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Platinum
Why on earth would you choose a cooler that is bigger than your head in 2021? Even if this is as quiet as it can be, still makes no sense for anyone whould choose this over a laptop that will perform better for less tdp and better cooling at no mobility cost.
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Why on earth would you choose a cooler that is bigger than your head in 2021? Even if this is as quiet as it can be, still makes no sense for anyone whould choose this over a laptop that will perform better for less tdp and better cooling at no mobility cost.
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zakius
this is one of few coolers that can handle much higher loads than specified, most of them can handle maybe third of what spec sheet says (due to acoustics) but this one will do just fine with twice as much as long as you are not a complete idiot
reply
this is one of few coolers that can handle much higher loads than specified, most of them can handle maybe third of what spec sheet says (due to acoustics) but this one will do just fine with twice as much as long as you are not a complete idiot
reply
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