Introduction

Performance air cooling often times means tall and large heatsinks inside spacious high-airflow chassis.  If one wanted a lower profile air cooling solution for a microATX or HTPC case the options are limited to stock and downward blowing coolers, which are not as efficient as tower style heatsinks because the hot air is recirculated inside the cramped spaces instead of flowing in and out of one direction. The hotter air circulating inside the small area also means the fans are working extra to keep things cooler, spinning at a higher RPM and generating noise which is the last thing you'd want in an HTPC.

To create a product that meets these needs not only is the heatsink's design important since it has to make do with less surface area the functional design of the active fan cooling solution must also meet the acoustical requirements of a home theatre setting. For a company to create such a product that meets all this criteria their pedigree must speak for themselves.  A line of cooling products whose designs are so effective that a reduced surface area will still result in performance level temperatures. Noctua believes it has the answer with the NH-U9B-SE2.

The NH-U9B-SE2 continues Noctua's tradition of award winning heatsink design. With 25% less width and 30% shorter than the U12P, the NH-U9B-SE2 is aimed squarely at the micro-ATX and HTPC users who want the performance of a tower heatsink in a quiet, compact form.  With a pair of Noctua NF-B9 premium fans keeping things cool and quiet, the Noctua U9B-SE2 is perfect for keeping those CPU temperatures in check inside those cramped HTPC spaces.