INTRODUCTION

   When Noctua made their very first steps roughly 15 years ago CPU coolers where just large chunks of metal (aluminum or copper) paired with fans and since most of those fans where either black, red or white Noctua chose to opt for something entirely different, brown. Even though however Noctua won the hearts of gamers, enthusiasts and professionals alike (due to the performance and quality of their coolers) many people just didn't "agree" with their choice of color. Well it actually took Noctua over 10 years to change that but today black is for good in their product lines (both for their heatsinks and fans) and after testing the NH-D15 Chromax.Black model a while back today with us we have the NH-U12S Chromax.Black.

   Designed in Austria, Noctua’s premium cooling components are internationally renowned for their superb quietness, exceptional performance and thoroughgoing quality. Having received more than 6000 awards and recommendations from leading hardware websites and magazines, Noctua’s fans and heatsinks are serving hundreds of thousands of satisfied customers around the globe.

   Just like with the NH-D15 Chromax.Black and the original NH-D15 the NH-U12S Chromax.Black is identical to the original NH-U12S model released roughly 7 years ago (review here) with just one significant difference, color since the entire cooler features a special black coating (minus the copper nickel plated base that is). So once again we are dealing with a black mid-sized heatsink (158x125x45mm / 755g - covered by a 6-year limited warranty) which Noctua has paired with one of their NF-F12 PWM Chromax.Black fans (1500RPM/55CFM/22.4dBA). Being identical to the original NH-U12S the brand new NH-U12S Chromax.Black is also a zero-interference model which means you should have no issues with either the mainboard components or with the RAM modules. So, although we don't really expect any serious performance differences between the NH-U12S and the NH-U12S Chromax.Black it's time to see just how the all-black version looks and performs.