The Cooler

The NH-C12P's heatpipes do a good job of putting the heat where it can be removed in an efficient manner. It is difficult to see here, but the pipes are actually soldered to the joints.

Here we see the fins that extend all the way to the bottom of the cooler.

The heatpipes are made of copper and coated with nickel so they won't tarnish and become unsightly. Along the top of the cooler you can see the wave pattern that is cut into each fin.

The fins that extend to the bottom of the cooler do not make it all the way to the side where the last heatpipe is located. This was intentional since you will need to fit a screw driver through the empty area when installing the cooler to a motherboard.

The area void of fins can be seen better from this angle.

With the fan installed, you can't see the missing fins. Here we see the Noctua NF-12U fan, look closely to the trailing edge of the blades and you can see the cuts made to reduce pressure.

The fan is held in place using the wire hanger method. The overall size of the cooler with the fan installed is only 114mm, much smaller than the NH-U12P.

The base of the cooler is not as reflective as other Noctua products I have tested previously, but I have seen worse from other manufacturers.