At first glance, it may look like a giant CPU cooler, but the Noctua NH-P1 is much more exciting than that. Its passive design means you don't need a fan to keep your CPU at a steady temperature. Yes, even while gaming. And in case you haven't already guessed, this is a pretty big deal for a quiet PC build.

The NH-P1 can cool a high-end CPU using only natural convection. This is why it has become a major topic of discussion in the cooling world. This is made possible by a design that is very different from the usual chip chillers.

Comparing the NH-P1 to Noctua's high-end CPU cooler, the NH-D15, one will notice quite a few differences between the two. The most direct is the density and thickness of the fins, which account for the majority of the cooler's large size. These fins serve as the basic heat dissipation method for air-cooled coolers, but strangely enough, the NH-P1 has fewer of them than the tightly packed NH-D15.

This seems somewhat counterintuitive for a passive unit. We typically assume that the greater the surface area, the greater the cooling capacity. However, as Noctua points out, reducing airflow resistance is critical for passive coolers, since there is no fan to feed air into the dense fin stacks.

The NH-P1 also features a grid of cutouts that run horizontally through the cooler design, which should also help airflow flow naturally across the cooler and, importantly, take away heat transferred from the heatpipes to the fins.

There is no doubt that the heatpipes are important; if you put the NH-P1 and NH-D15 side by side, you will notice that they are oriented differently. This definitely affects heat dispersion, as the heatpipe relies on gravity to function.

Noctua has also expanded the heat pipe layout to distribute heat more evenly over the surface area, and each heat pipe is soldered to a fin to ensure a continuous connection between the two different metals forming the cooler (copper for the base and heat pipes, aluminum for the fins) over time The cooler is then soldered to the fins.

The NH-P1 is mechanically sound.

The important question here is what the optimization of this cooler will bring under different conditions, especially in gaming. To find out, I tested this cooler.

I set up the NH-P1 on a test bench in an air-conditioned office (it should be noted that the ambient temperature has a significant impact on performance) and ran several benchmarks: Cinebench R20, x264 benchmark, Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition, and Horizon Zero Dawn.

This is a mix of game benchmarks and, frankly, spine-chillingly intensive CPU benchmarks.

The most important thing to note about the test bench is that it is powered by a Core i7 10700K. This is a 125W chip at stock frequency, slightly above the cooler's optimal specs; Noctua's CPU compatibility chart rates it as "compatible with certain limitations." That limitation is that "the CPU may fall slightly below base clock under continuous full load conditions."

Not too bad for a CPU architecture known for its high thermal and power requirements.

However, I would like to see how far I can push the Noctua NH-P1. If you are considering a system with this cooler, I suggest you think more deeply about overall thermal management.

When operating, idle performance is immediately a bit higher than I would expect from today's top-tier liquid coolers. However, it is still within the normal operating range that I am comfortable with.

Gaming performance is also quite impressive, with multiple runs of Horizon Zero Dawn registering up to 89°C, a testament to its thermal performance, while Metro Exodus recorded 81°C.

Of course, the cooler certainly doesn't fare much better in aggressive CPU benchmarks; bursts of Cinebench R20 are not enough to hit the CPU's Temperature Junction Maximum (Tj Max) but long runs do hit it. After a few runs, the CPU temperature exceeded 100°C and began to throttle down. This is why Intel has set this temperature to Tj Max, but it will affect performance for longer runs.

It is also worth noting that the CPU did not boost to 5.1 GHz, the Turbo Boost Max 3.0 frequency, even once during my testing, as Turbo Boost 3.0 relies on thermal headroom to boost to the maximum frequency the chip offers, system clearly felt the NH-P1 was lacking.

However, what we can see from this test is that the Noctua NH-P1 provided sufficient cooling for gaming benchmarks, even in a less optimized setup such as an open-bed test bench with minimal airflow. This is quite impressive, especially considering how the system can be optimized to better support the NH-P1.

Noctua explains in detail how to do this. Still, the general idea is to get a case with good ventilation, buy a motherboard with adequate VRM cooling, choose a graphics card (or APU) that doesn't spit out excessive heat, and don't overchoose your CPU. Zero-rotation and semi-passive modes are also advantageous.

All of this is common sense. [We also tested the NH-P1 with the optional NF-A12x25 LS-PWM fan, as Noctua's NH-D15 is less expensive and often very quiet. At least in the niche of high-performance PCs that cannot be easily repaired, redundancy may be necessary in case a fan breaks.

Here are the results with the optional fan:

But clearly, the NH-P1 is a niche product with a specific use case, which comes with some drawbacks.

It is unlikely to exploit the maximum potential of the chip and cannot be paired with huge triple-fan enthusiast graphics cards for good reason. All of this is reason enough for many to rule it out.

Also, at a higher price point than regular air-cooled coolers ($110/£100), this cooler's features come at a considerable price.

But what if the NH-P1 is not the right CPU cooler for every PC? A CPU cooler that is quiet, trouble-free, dust-proof, and far more powerful than the underpowered passive designs of the past is a big win for PC builders who are limited by their environment. And with just a little cleverness in how the machine is assembled, everything can work relatively harmoniously without even a whiff of active cooling.