Test – Noctua NH-U9S – Conseil Config : Specs | CPU | Hashrate | Review | Config

Hi all!

We continue the tests of the coolers of these gentlemen from Noctua with today the NH-U9S, in order to renew the Noctua range last year released the NH-U12S and NH-U14S (tested here) which are both excellent coolers and respectively with 12cm and 14cm fans. Today it’s the turn of a cooler from the same series but in small format with a 9cm fan, if it is in the line of its big brothers it should be excellent, but let’s not sell the skin of the bear before killing it!

The box takes all the colors and the layout of the brand, everything remains sober and you are not attacked by a surplus of marketing, only the main characteristics and a small message saying that the S version offers better compatibility (than the NH-D9L version which will be tested soon!). The equipped fan is an NF-A9 PWM (tested here).

On the sides there is a listing of the different strengths of the cooler as well as the technical characteristics namely the dimensions, the maximum RPMs of the fans, the sound level, the weight etc. There will be everything you need here, not surprises!

Once the box is open we will of course find the Noctua tab, a very rigid box containing the bundle, with a listing of all the accessories present as usual!

Below the box containing the accessories and as usual we find the cooler well protected in a ton of cardboard, there really is no risk of there being any problems during transport by seeing all these protections.

Here is the beast! The first thing that strikes you is the small size of the NH-U9S, indeed even if it has 5 heat pipes it must be admitted that everything is well packed 🙂 The build quality is of course and as usual at Noctua quite simply perfect, nothing sticks out, the fins are not twisted, everything exudes quality. A little tour of the owner is in order.

On the fan side there is not much to see knowing that the latter takes up all the space and completely hides the radiator fins, at the rear we can see the 43 aluminum fins.

In profile we can see something rather unusual at Noctua, the NH-U9S is asymmetrical! In order to ensure optimal memory compatibility Noctua had to shift the heatsink to the opposite side of the memory modules, it is not bad!

From below we find the eternal Noctua logo engraved, everything is still and as usual of a quality of manufacture without reproach.

The copper heat pipes are nickel plated as usual at Noctua to end up with a high-end product and extremely well finished.

The finish is once again excellent, the surface in contact with the processor has a mirror effect with arcuate grooves, like all the other coolers of the brand.

The bundle consists of:

• 1 venterad Noctua NH-U9S
• 1 tube of thermal paste
• 1 kit de fixation Intel
• 1 kit de fixation AMD
• 1 LNA adapter
• 1 Phillips screwdriver
• 2 clips for an additional fan (not supplied)
• 1 Noctua metal sticker
• The different manuals

As usual at Noctua the bundle is really very well supplied, nothing will be missing to connect the NH-U9S, thermal paste, clips for another fan, an LNA adapter for more controlled noise and even the eternal Noctua metal sticker. There is really nothing to say the bundle does not suffer from any defect.

As we can see the Noctua NH-U9S is compatible with all the sockets on the market (exit socket 775 however, it has had its day!) Whether it is Intel or AMD, its dimensions are really very contained with only 12, 5 cm high, 9.5 cm wide and 9.7 cm deep with the fan installed, so it will be quite suitable in small cases. The weight is rather important for a cooler of this size with 618g fan included. Despite its small size, Noctua did not hesitate to install 5 nickel-plated copper heat pipes in its youngest, which suggests very good performance. It is of course possible to install a second fan there in order to have better cooling (which I would do during the tests).
The fan is therefore an NF-A9 PWM (tested here) which runs at a maximum speed of 2000 RPM and 1550 RPM with the LNA adapter, the MTBF of the fan is 150,000 hours so there will normally be no worry about the lifetime, as usual with Noctua.
The price is 54.90 €, generally when we think of Noctua we think of high-end and high price, that does not change here! The 6-year warranty and the excellent Noctua after-sales service are still there.

The assembly does not change from other Noctua products and turns out to be as usual very simple and fast, let’s go!
To start, you have to put the back plate under the motherboard, being careful to put it in the right direction:

Then put the black plastic spacers like this:

Once done, all you have to do is put the 2 fixing plates:

Then you have to screw them like this:

Put a grain of rice of thermal paste, note that there is almost too much in the photo below:

Then nothing could be simpler, you have to put the radiator (without the fan) on the processor and screw at both ends!

Once screwed, simply put the fan back in place and you’re done!

PCIe and memory compatibility

As usual the big fear when buying a cooler is compatibility with the motherboard, by that I mean the memory as well as the PCIe port which can be stuck to the socket. Let’s see what this gives for the first PCIe port first:

No problem there, there is enough space not to have to worry about a possible incompatibility with the first PCIe port. Now let’s remember:

There again no problem, the Corsair Vengeance installed is doing wonderfully and absolutely does not touch the cooler, even installed in the closest slot.

The test platform

The Noctua NH-U9S has been tested on the configuration below:

• Processor: Intel Core i7 875K @ 3,2 Ghz
• Motherboard: Asus P7P55D
• Memory: Kingston HyperX 4 x 2 Go 1600Mhz
• Hard disk: WD Raptor 150 Go
• Graphic card: Sapphire Toxic 5850
• Food: Seasonic X650

The test protocol

The core i7 875K has been slightly overclocked to 3.2Ghz. The temperatures under load are an average of all the cores for 3 tests of 30 minutes on OCCT, the temperatures at rest were taken after 15mins on the desk (still an average of the 4 cores). All the tests will be done with a 5V, 12V and PWM fan managed by the motherboard then with a second fan.

The cooler has been tested against:

• be quiet! Pure Rock (tested here)
• be quiet! Dark Rock 3 (tested here)
• be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 (tested here)
• Noctua NH-U12S (tested here)
• Noctua NH-U14S (tested here)
• Noctua NH-D15 (tested here)
• Scythe Mugen 4 PCGH (tested here)
• Thermalright HR01 + 1 Nexus real silent 120 fan (tested here)

The temperatures

First observation, the NH-U9S is able to cool the slightly overclocked Core i7 875K very easily, except in 5V with only 1 fan where the temperature rises to 73 °, which is not dangerous for the processor anyway. In 12V and PWM with only one fan the temperatures are really very good compared to the small size of our test NH-U9S. With 2 fans the temperatures drop a few more degrees to reach 53 ° in 12V, 57 ° in PWM mode and 66 ° in 5V, we are of course very far from the tenors in the field but the processor remains very well cooled and its duration life will not be affected.

Noise pollution

Attention : Part to be taken with a grain of salt, unfortunately not having access to the appropriate equipment and using an android application to take the readings the measurements below are only indicative! The readings were taken 15cm from the cooler.

Once again I am surprised by the noise pollution of the NH-U9S, they are really very good in 5V (inaudible) and in PWM with 39dB, in 12V on the other hand the NH-U9S is clearly heard and it will be of good quality. lower the speed of rotation if you want to make a minimum silent PC. In 5V the fans do not suffer from any parasitic noise, you have to stick your ear to hear a very slight noise, in 12V as I said they are not silent but the noise remains very neutral because there is still no extraneous noise, only the sound of the air flow.
The best understood remains the PWM mode which will be quiet at rest and rather pleasant under load, with 39dB it will not break the ears and will most certainly be drowned out by the noise of the graphics card if of course the PC is equipped with it.

Here we are at the end of this test, what about the NH-U9S from Noctua?
The build quality is simply excellent, the bundle is very complete, the assembly is very easy and the memory compatibility is complete. On the performance side and given the size of the youngest it’s also very good, whether with 1 or 2 fans. The noise pollution if connected in 5V or PWM are very good, in 12V on the other hand the fan will be heard clearly even if the noise is rather neutral.

Available at a price of 54.90 € including VAT, the Noctua NH-U9S is an excellent choice when mounting a mini-ITX PC configuration or even a very small HTPC, because of its very good performance for its size.

A big thank you to Jakob from Noctua who allowed me to do this test.

Where to find the Noctua NH-U9S?

[phpzon asin= »B00PIPCEQA » country= »FR » trackingid= »conseil-config-21″ merchantid= »Amazon » templatename= »conseil »]