We built the ULTIMATE air cooled 12900K PC! But did it work? Benchmarks and Thermals inside!

00:00 - Introduction
01:40 - The Noctua NH-U12A
02:36 - Specs and Setup
04:41 - Tools for Testing and Benchmarking
06:30 - Initial Benchmark
09:06 - Undervolting the 12900K
14:54 - Overclocking the 12900K
17:43 - 3DMark of the Ultimate Air Cool System
19:08 - Closing

Tools we used:

Follow me on social!
@Robeytech - Twitter
@Robeytech – Instagram
@Robeytech – TikTok
@Robeytechdeals - Twitter

Want to support? Robeyone use the below affiliate links when you shop at:

Here are tool recommendations, for building a PC

Newegg:

Amazon:

DISCLAIMER: Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you! Thank you for supporting Robeytech so I can continue to provide you with free content each week!

#12900K #NoctuaU12A #Robeytech

About Robeytech:

Justin Robey (Robeytech) is gamer and tech focused streamer that hosts weekly shows dedicated to building PC's and the latest tech news! Justin, a tech-streamer and TechTuber builds custom PCs, and produces how-to-build tutorials, tech information, and tech news videos on YouTube. Robeytech, is dedicated to gamers and fans who want to hang out and talk about games and tech, plus have fun as they journey across the infinite gaming content and learn about building awesome PCs

Can we air cool an Intel 12900K? We try! (Benchmarks and Thermals)

Robeytech

[calebthomasralph]

Love this vid. Great overall build, very cool stealth theme. All of the parts make perfect sense and the result is excellent. I watched the original stream and this is a very cool and concise way of summarizing the whole purpose of the build and getting quickly to the main takeaway. Great job!

[jdbennett]

Legitimately excited by this video. Right now at Micro Center the 12900K is up for a bangin deal in a bundle. I bought it, look forward to completing the build and then follow your journey to overclock. Making matters better I had already settled on the fractal torrent for case as well. Awesome video!

[Rstails]

Thank you Robey for showing that you CAN air cool an i9-12900K as long as you have the right case that works hand-in-hand with the CPU cooler. That is a perfectly paired chassis to go with the cooler. And no "RGB" strictly performance/business also looks awesome!

[the_gengar_master]

Bro just the video I was looking for! Absolute amazing results! I was looking at upgrading and was honestly pretty worried about 12th gen intel CPU temps because I like to air cool my PCs. So was looking at the Noctua nh-u12a and how the temps might be so this hit the nail on the head. Glad to see it was more than possible without dangerous heat.

[Heat-kdnk]

Thank you for showing Undervolting and OC Big thumbs up!

[RJ-krbs]

Justin, thanks so much for this video! I just ran across it this week while researching a choice between the 12700k and 12900k as I upgrade from 9900k. Currently have a full-size Torrent and Noctua NH-D15 cooler, which do a great job with the 9900k and a 3080 - your video convinced me that I should be able to manage the 12900k with that gear (and maybe an additional rear-panel fan added to the Torrent just in case, using a little undervolting and overclocking. Will also be adding a new CPU holddown frame, replacing the stock lever system, to keep the IHS as flat as possible to optimize cooling. Avoiding liquids in the box is a high-priority to me, but still want a system good for the next few years with GPU and VR-headset improvements along the way.

Your work here is much appreciated, buddy - just the sort of info I was searching for, and more!

[kreygasmed]

been struggling with air cooling the 12900k and wow the noctua is insane, one of the few coolers worthy of the 100+ price tag

[TheArchitect]

Thank God! A build without all of the stupid rainbow lights. Great build!

[thomasl]

Lifetime of an air cooled system is likely double of any AIO and especially custom water cooled. I like this approach, especially if you are not buying a nwe computer every secon-third year.

[WhenTheUhh]

How are your temps this good? With this exact setup (just in a Torrent Compact case - shouldn't make much difference) I'm hitting around 99-100 degrees with Cinebench R23. I tried reapplying the paste 3 times and ended up swapping the NH-U12A for an NH-D15 (which dropped my temps around 2-3 degrees) and with the addition of the -0.075 undervolt it now sits at around 89 degrees, which seems manageable. But still, your temps are way, way lower. How was your room temp during this testing? Or is it just a binning thing or something?

[Hydrogen]

Thanks man, gonna aircool my 13700k with a Noctua NH-U12A and will also aim for 80 degrees with some undervolting and tuning.

[DannyNguyen]

Which fans on the case are doing exhaust and intake is what Im very curious about. Very insightful things going on, great video! Someone who finally doesnt only liquid cool.

[Curt_Randall]

Was this with or without a contact frame?

[dstrawberrygirl]

Great video, thanks! I have one of those N7 NZXT cases you have in the background, I managed to squeeze in an NH-D15 for my current 8700k but I'm looking to upgrade to 12th gen. I have Noctua fans on the front, on the rear, and on the top (getting THAT in place with the NH-D15 was a nightmare!) and with my 3080FE in the build my current CPU doesn't go over 70C. Should I suffer the pain of trying to get the NH-D15 in again or would you say the U12A would be enough for a 12700k in that case (with its really limited front air intake)?

[EDIT] July 5: The NH-D15 wouldn't fit the new motherboard, so I am using the U12A with the 12700k and it's perfect! Temperatures mostly in 50s and 60s when under load. Just make sure you install it the right way round or the plate doesn't fully-cover the CPU!

[xtattedangattedx]

I just found this video 6 months after my build. Same case, i9-12900k, asus tuf 3090, but using an arctic 280 aio. But that i9 runs HOT! Great video!

[BhajanAddict]

Eagerly awaiting your next video. I’m currently buying parts for a very similar build with the same cpu and case and you’ve convinced me to just go for the noctua air cooler as well. Awesome video and eagerly awaiting the others in this series

[henry]

That first shot was crazy 😂 this case is a monster. I’ll definitely stick with the compact 😂

[anthixious]

This brings so much hope specifically to me because my next PC I plan to use Noctua air coolers myself.

[potvinsuks]

Would love to see the DeepCool AK 620 comparison in this very same setup.

[orbitalpunk]

How are you getting 80c on that particular CPU when most people are getting 100c using a the larger Noctua D15?