In order to test the CPU cooler we used the following configuration:

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
• Thermal compound: bequiet! DC1
• Case: bequiet! Silent Base 802
• Case fans: 2x140 bequiet! Silent Wings 3 High-Speed RPM speed controllable via SmartFan BIOS + Asus Xpert4 software
• CPU Fan: Stock 2x120mm Noctua
• Motherboard: Asus X570 E-Gaming with 4021 BIOS
• Memory: 2x16GB G.skill Trident Z RGB CL14 @ 3200MHz CL14 (XMP Profile) @ 1.35V
• PSU: be quiet! Straight Power 11 650Watt
• HDD: Crucial MX500 SSD
• VGA: Asus 1060 6GB Dual
• Ambient room temperature ~ 25 Celsius (with AC climate control) - Environment Temperature measurements: Precision Gold N09AQ Envirometer Meter
• Sound measurements at 1m distance: miniDSP UMIK-1 microphone with calibration file and latest REW software
• Operating system: Windows 10 x64 with all the latest updates installed
• Software: AIDA64 / HWInfo / OCCT Enterprise Edition (Latest builds)

Before each run we left the CPU cooler cooled down and we reset the HWiNFO values to be accurate. Before starting our tests, we set the CPU fans speeds at "Smart Mode" with the Asus Xpert4 software. The case fans were also set at SmartFan mode with the option for Auto Fan Stop at low loads down to 0% for the two front fans and auto for the back case fan. The CPU fans were detected from them Asus motherboard and gave us the following fan curve

Bios settings:

• Ai Overclock Tuner: D.O.C.P -> XMP DDR-3200 CL14
• BCLK Frequency: 100MHz
• FCLK Frequency: 1600MHz
• CPU core ratio: Auto
• TPU: Keep Current Setting
• Performance Bias: Auto
• VDDCR CPU Voltage: 1.100V
• VDDCD SOC Voltage: 0.900V
• DRAM Voltage: 1.350V (XMP)
• Precision Boost Overdrive: Auto
• Rest BIOS options: Auto

For further evaluation, we also used OCCT Enterprise Edition with a 30min run and we noted all temperatures as were noted from the software. For maximum temperature we used the following settings:

• Data Set: Small
• Mode: Extreme
• Load Type: Steady

With stock running speeds, the Noctua NH-U12A chromax.black will perform very well, almost in par with the much bigger Dark Rock Pro 4 and we cannot say that three Celsius difference from the Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black is a bad performance difference. For sure the under 60 Celsius performance is very good, considering the size of this CPU cooler.

Placing the miniDSP UMIK-1 microphone around 1m from the closed case, we got good noise levels, in any case we didn't exceeded 46db (including the three fans from the case).

Overclocking

Bios settings:

• Ai Overclock Tuner: D.O.C.P -> XMP DDR-3200 CL14
• BCLK Frequency: 100MHz
• FCLK Frequency: 1600MHz
• CPU core ratio: 45Χ
• TPU: Keep Current Setting
• Performance Bias: Auto
• VDDCR CPU Voltage: 1.180V
• VDDCD SOC Voltage: 0.900V
• DRAM Voltage: 1.350V (XMP)
• Precision Boost Overdrive: Auto
• Rest BIOS options: Auto

Lastly, we wanted to see how this CPU cooler will handle even higher temperature loads, so we set CPU multiplier to 45X and set CPU Vcore at 1.18V. At this test, the Noctua NH-U12A chromax.black, gave again a run for its money at much bigger CPU coolers like the bequiet! Dark rock pro 4 and even the Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black, with almost 1.20celcious difference (average), which is more or less at the margin of error. Top performance from such a small CPU cooler.