Performance

Testing methodology:
For idle temperatures the PC is run at idle for three hours and temperature is measured using Realtemp 3.4. For load temperatures Prime95 is run using the "In-place large FFTs" test for three hours then temperature is measured again with Realtemp. Ambient temperature was kept to 24° Celsius (+/- 1°C) and was measured by a standard mercury thermometer.

The system being used to test the heatsink is as follows:

Fan Noise

Noctua is well known for their high quality silent fans. The NH-C12P comes with one Noctua NF-P14 which is 140 mm in size. The fan is extremely quiet during normal 12V operation, and measures at 19 dB, but Noctua has gone the extra mile and included their Ultra-Low-Noise Adapters (U.L.N.A.) to reduce the fans' voltage down to 7V or 5V to further decrease fan noise. I found that at 12V the fan is plenty quiet for my ears but die hard silence enthusiasts may want to make use of the included U.L.N.A. adapters for complete silence.