It’s nice to see Noctua making a budget cooler now. This should broaden their appeal to more than just the hardcore overclockers market.

And if by some chance there isn’t, then it’s only a matter of time until someone builds it. Which is very much the case for the CPU cooler in today’s review, Noctua’s budget-friendly NH-U12S Redux. Already renowned for their high-quality, high-end cooling products, Noctua is working to broaden their market by making their products a bit more accessible to budget buyers, and they’re doing so through products like the Redux. At a high level, the NH-U12S Redux is a cost-reduced version of the company’s very popular NH-U12S cooler. With fewer heatpipes and a different fan, the NH-U12S Redux is intended to bring the quality and cooling performance of its predecessor down to a cheaper, more wallet-friendly price of $50. Which also means that Noctua is more directly facing-off with the other major cooler manufacturers in the highly competitive mainstream market segment.