Popular cooler Noctua NH-U12A will support upcoming Intel Alder Lake processors in LGA 1700 package
Austrian high-end air cooler manufacturer Noctua has confirmed via Twitter that one of its most popular coolers, the NH-U12A, will receive support for Intel’s upcoming Alder Lake-S processor series. For this, the manufacturer will release a special set of mounts.
One Twitter user asked if the company plans to make the NH-U12A compatible with the upcoming Intel LGA 1700 platform for 12th Gen Core (Alder Lake-S) processors. The company representative replied that this information is under a nondisclosure agreement, so he cannot tell much. However, he added that Noctua is already working on the necessary mounting kit for the cooler upgrade.
The dimensions of the upcoming Intel Alder Lake processors will differ from those of the current generation. If the new processors’ width remains the same (37.5 mm), then the height will increase to 45 mm. The 7.5mm difference can make many modern cooling systems incompatible with new processors. To support new platforms with existing CO models, their manufacturers, as a rule, produce special adapter kits, often distributing them to their customers for free or for a small amount.
The Noctua NH-U12A cooler is already compatible with the Intel LGA 2066 processor socket for HEDT platforms. These processors’ dimensions are even larger than the size of future Alder Lake chips and are 52.5 × 45 mm. Thus, all cooling systems compatible with current Intel HEDT platforms should theoretically be compatible with the new LGA 1700 platform.
