Our Noctua NH-U9S Chromax.black review will all be about this sleek and elegantly designed black version of the NH-U9S. It’s an excellent cooler with top-notch cooling performance and great compatibility. But aside from that, it’s one to impress with its gorgeous aesthetics.
It doesn’t only look classy and sleek, but the NH-U9S Chromax.black is small and compact. The cooler’s form and size make it perfect for slipping into areas in your rig that can’t fit large coolers.
Plus, the cooler’s fan pads can be changed to something you prefer. If you want to add some hints of vibrant colour to your rig, that’s entirely possible.
Did the NH-U9S Chromax.black pique your interest? Want to add it to your rig to complete the classy and stylish aesthetics you’re aiming for?
If that’s the case, continue reading through our Noctua NH-U9S Chromax.black review to learn more about it. But first, let’s check out its packaging and contents.
Noctua NH-U9S Chromax.black Packaging
We got our NH-U9S Chromax.black in a cool-looking black package. Noctua ensured to keep the black aesthetics all the way down to its packaging, and we think that’s pretty cool.
Looking at the front and top of the box, it features a quick description of the cooler and model name. You’ll also find an image of the CPU cooler to give you an idea of how it looks beforehand.
If you check out the sides of the box, you’ll see a display of the cooler’s technical specifications. One side shows the vital features of the NH-U9S Chromax.black. There’s a description for each feature, as well as monochrome diagrams.
The rear portion of the box displays another short description of the cooler. Yet it’s written in different languages for everyone to understand.
What’s Inside?
We loved that Noctua kept everything neat and categorised in individual cardboard boxes. The NH-U9S Chromax.black was kept in one box, while the accessories had their own.
Inside the accessory box, you’ll find a couple of items. These include three user manuals and a Noctua metal case badge.
For installation, you have the NT-H1 high-grade thermal compound, a low-noise adaptor or LNA, and a Phillips screwdriver. There’s also two metal fan clips, an NM-IBP2 backplate, two NM-IBB2 Intel mounting bars, and two NM-AMB8 AMD mounting bars.
Four NM-APS4 plastic spacers for AM4 are available, as well as four NM-APS5 plastic spacers for AMD. Noctua even included four NM-ALS1 screws for AMD, two NB-AMB11 mounting bars, two NM-IMB3 mounting bars, and four NM-IBT2 bolts. Of course, you get four NM-ITS1 thumbscrews and four NB-IPS1 spacers as well.
Now, we’re taking a look at the design and functions of this cooler in our Noctua NH-U9S Chromax.black review.
Noctua NH-U9S Chromax.black Review – Design and Functionality
The NH-U9S Chromax.black is a pre-assembled tower type cooler that sports an entirely sleek black shade. We tried removing the pre-assembled fans from the cooling fins.
Here, we noticed that this cooler is quite wide compared to other tower coolers today. But despite that, it’s still compact and has a nice form to fit in your rig.
We love its asymmetrical design since the cooler doesn’t end up jutting out into the RAM’s area. That also applies with the mounted fan.
Its tower features a total of 43 aluminium fins that sport a matte black finish like the entire cooler. The distinct aluminium fins are soldered and plugged into six 6mm copper heat pipes that are also black.
The cooling fins of the NH-U9S Chromax.black shows that Noctua really made everything black. Of course, we aren’t complaining since these cooling fins look sleek and classy.
Looking at the outer portion of the cooler, its aluminium fins are bent downwards to increase the fins’ stability. Then, three little prongs are incorporated to both the left and right spots on the aluminium fins. When it comes to the NH-U9S Chromax. black’s front, its fins are also slightly tapered towards its centre.
When looking at the top of the cooler, you’ll get to see the arrangement of all the individual heat pipes. Also, you’ll find an embossed Noctua logo in this area.
Of course, we also included details on this cooler’s supplied fans here in our Noctua NH-U9S Chromax.black review.
The fans used for the NH-U9S Chromax.black is the NF-A9 PWM chromax.black. It’s a 92mm x 25mm fan that doesn’t sport the usual earth tones that Noctua’s known for. Just like its name, the fans sport a matte black finish, giving off a sleek and premium feel to it.
As for the fan’s frame system, it sports the AAO frame that’s introduced by the company with the NF-F12.
Key Features of the Noctua NH-U9S Chromax.black
Now, let’s check out the key features of the cooler in our Noctua NH-U9S Chromax.black review
chromax.black design
The NH-U9S chromax.black features an all-black design, making it a perfect match for your black builds. It’s also easier to use with other colour schemes.
Colour-customisable
Customise your Chromax.black cooler with optional NA-SAVP5 pads for anti-vibration. These are available in red, blue, yellow, green, white, and black.
Full Compatibility with RAM and PCIe Cards on Mini-ITX
The NH-U9S Chromax.black features a 95x95mm footprint that prevents RAM slots from overhanging on current Intel and AMD mainboards. This provides full access to the memory modules and ensures compatibility with tall modules and large heat spreaders.
Also, it’s fully compatible with PCIe cards, whether you use it on ITX, ATX, or microATX. This cooler won’t block the PCIe slot.
Dual-fan Ready
The NH-U9S chromax.black comes with additional fan mounting clips, which you can use if you want another fan.
SecuFirm2 Multi-socket Mounting System
Noctua’s proprietary SecuFirm2 mounting systems allow for easy installation of coolers. These support various Intel and AMD sockets to achieve the ideal contact pressure.
The company also offers the NM-I3 mounting kit for compatibility with older LGA1366 and LGA775 sockets. If possible, future upgrade kits will also be provided.
Soldered Fins
To prevent deterioration caused by thermal cycling, the fins of the NH-U9S chromax.black are soldered to the heatpipes. With this superior thermal interface, it will last for long periods of use.
6-year Manufacturer’s Warranty
Like all Noctua products, the NH-U9S chromax.black comes with a 6-year manufacturer’s warranty. Also, its MTTF rating of 150,000 hours shows that Noctua’s products are of impeccable quality.
Now, we’re discussing the different specifications of the fan in our Noctua NH-U9S Chromax.black review.
Specifications
The NH-U9S Chromax.black supports both Intel and AMD sockets. For the latter, these include AM2, AM3, AM2+, AM3+, FM2, FM1, and FM2+. Do note that the FM2+ requires a blackplate to use.
AM4 is also included, but keep in mind that the much older cooler needs the NM-AM4 UxS.
When it comes to the Intel sockets, supported ones include the LGA 2011-0, LGA 2066, and the LGA-201103 (square ILM). It also works with the LGA-1156, LGA-1200, LGA-1151, LGA-1155, and LGA-1150.
The Heatsink
The NH-U9S Chromax. black’s heatsink comes with a base and heatpipes made of copper. It features aluminium cooling fins, as well as soldered joints and nickel plating.
Without the fan, the heatsink is 125 x 95 x 68mm (HxWxD), while its five heatpipes are Ø6mm each. With the fans installed, the total weight of the cooler is 618g.
NF-A9 PWM Fan
The fan used for the NH-U9S Chromax.black is the NF-A9 PWM fan that’s 92 x 92 x 25mm. It comes with an SSO2 bearing type, as well as a 4-pin PWM connector.
When speaking of the fan’s maximum rotational speed, it’s at 2,000 RPM while it reaches 1550 RPM with LNA. When it comes to its minimum rotational speed, the fan is at 400 RPM.
Maximum airflow is 78.9 m³/h and 62.6 m³/h with LNA. For the acoustical noise, it reaches 22.8 dBA while with LNA, it’s at 16.3 dBA.
The NH-U9S Chromax. black’s input power is 1.2W while the voltage range is 12V. For the MTBF of the cooler, it can go more than 150.000h.
Also, Noctua included a 6-year warranty for the NH-U9S Chromax.black cooler which is something we appreciate.
Hands-on with the Noctua NH-U9S Chromax.black
Now, let’s discuss the performance of this CPU cooler in our Noctua NH-U9S Chromax.black review.
The cooler is an excellent performer that provides great clearance for the graphics card and RAM slots. And while it’s already good, you can further optimise its performance by utilising an extra 92mm fan. But of course, doing this will boost the overall cost.
For the build quality of the cooler, its cooling fins’ edges are smooth and uniform. Its baseplate, on the other hand, features a polished surface that gives off a mirror-like reflection.
We liked that Noctua refined their mounting system. So today, we can consider it as one of the best that you can have. It’s tough, solid, and has components that are mostly made out of metal; plus, it’s extremely easy to install.
For a smaller cooler that uses just a single fan, the performance of the NH-U9S Chromax.black is great and for its performance, this cooler provides a great ratio between noise, size, and temperature.
Noctua NH-U9S Chromax.black Review Summary
The Noctua NH-U9S Chromax.black is not only a stylish cooler, but it also comes with superior cooling performance. Additionally, it’s easy to install, and it’s highly compatible with PCIe cards, RAM, and sockets.
Although it’s more expensive than the original NH-U9S, Chromax.black gives you the aesthetics, making it worth the purchase. Together with that, it performs excellently and it’s backed by a 6-year warranty.
To sum up our Noctua NH-U9S Chromax.black review, we highly recommend this CPU cooler. If you want to get your hands on this product, check out the store locator for authorised dealers.
