Noctua NH-U12S SE-AM4 - upgraded with 2x NF-A12x25 PWM (chromax.black)

When I first built my new gaming PC during the Covid lockdown back in 2020 I ordered the  Noctua NH-U12S SE-AM4 to cool the Ryzen 5 3600. And it cooled it very well. the 3600 has a  65 watt TDP and the  NH-U12S handled it easily.

Later on upgraded to the Ryzen 5 5600X, also with a 65W TDP but I did order and add another fan to the back of Noctua NH-U12S SE-AM4. Again this wasn't a problem at all and the system ran very cool and quiet.

In January 2023, I pushed the boat out again and max'd my AM4 system with the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D. I kept the cooling as above but we now had to cope with 105W TDP and it showed.

Cinebench20 would push CPU the temps to 89 degrees(c), a bit toasty!

So I started looking at the Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black as a possible replacement. 

Problem 1, it's a pricey solution at ~£110

Problem 2, this tall boy would be cutting it very close to being able to fit in my case (Phanteks Eclipse P400A)

So I left it for a while...

...

Then I started looking at the NF-A12x25 PWM fans to replace the fans and keep the NH-U12S.

Again not the cheapest solution, with each coming is at ~£30 each, but half the cost of the NH-D15 solution.

So I bit the bullet, ordered and installed them, and re-used the older Noctua from the NH-12S as additional case exhaust fans.  A simple swap over re-jig that probably took less than 30 minutes in total, most of which was giving the case & fans a good spring clean.

They are a bit chunkier and weightier than the old fans but install just as easily.

Now the bit you're interested in, the performance.

I re-calibrated the fans and curves with the 'Auto' function available in my Asus BIOS and booted the system.

All good, already noticeably quieter.

Then I ran Cinebench20 twice, and each time the temperature peaked at a max of 82 degrees(c)!

A 7 degree drop in maximum operating temperature, so now I don't have thermal throttling concerns anymore and it's a better than expected win.

I am very happy!