Noctua NH-U12DX Xeon Heatsink

When running GraphicsMagick on the Xeon 5060 processor, as the Dynatron H6EG cooled it, the CPU temperature varied between 55°C and 65°C. The system temperature when the CPU was encountering this load was about 36°C.

Like the results under idle, the Noctua NH-U12DX was also able to do a much better job when under load. With the NH-U12DX, the CPU temperature varied from 43°C to 57°C while the system temperature was in the low 30s.

Conclusion:

Not only did the Noctua NH-U12DX perform much better than the Dynatron D6EG heatsink, but also it was also much quieter. The NF-P12 is barely audible when running inside of an enclosure, compared to the D6EG 60mm fan that can absolutely scream when Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) is not enabled. The other benefit of this cooler is that two of them can be ran next to each other on a dual Xeon setup to offer enhanced performance. About the only downfall with this heatsink -- besides the possibility that some server/workstation cases may not be able to accommodate this large tower heatsink -- is the cost. Right now a single Noctua NH-U12DX cooler can be found at Xoxide for about $70 USD, which is about twice that of the Dynatron D6EG and other Intel Socket 771 heatsinks.