INTRODUCTION

   Ever since Noctua made its first steps roughly 17 years ago their fans have made history, not only because of their airflow and air pressure performance but also due to their durability and low noise levels. One thing that not everyone out there did agree with however was the two-shade brown colour scheme Noctua used and so back in 2014 they decided to cover more people by starting to introduce new models and colors starting with the Redux line consisting by fans painted with a light/dark grey colour scheme. Personally, i can't say that i liked the color scheme of the Redux line that much as i did the original but they did reach high popularity numbers which is why it didn't really come as a surprise when a few months back Noctua announced a Redux version of their very popular NH-U12S CPU cooler released back in 2013.

   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.

   When i first learned that Noctua was planning to release a Redux version of their NH-U12S CPU cooler i honestly thought that the sole thing that would change would be the fan model, i was wrong. You see the Redux fans weren't developed just to introduce a new color scheme, they were also slightly toned-down (in terms of bundle and of course price) variants of the regular two-shade brown fans Noctua had in the market so obviously when they decided to release a Redux version of their NH-U12S CPU cooler they also had to "trim" down the original. Fortunately, both the number of aluminum fins (50) and the size of the cooler remains the same, what does change is the number of nickel plated copper heatpipes which in this case is 4 instead of 5 and its bundle. To somehow balance things (in terms of cooling efficiency) Noctua paired the new NH-U12S Redux with a faster 120mm fan and more specifically the NF-P12 Redux model (1700RPM/70.74CFM/25.1dBA) which is clearly a step up from the NF-F12 fan (1500RPM/55CFM/22.4dBA) used with both the original and the chromax.black NH-U12S models. So, let's see just how well the new NH-U12S Redux performs and whether or not you should consider it for your current or next PC.