Noctua NH-U12A Chromax vs Standard Performance difference?

[Melodist]

Does the black Chromax variant of the NH-U12A peform better than the regular Silver / Brown version? Like updated heatpipes / surface area for newer CPUs or are both the same cooler? Just a black paint job that might also reduce cooling capacity?

[RONOTHAN##]

5 minutes ago, Melodist said:

Just a black paint job that might also reduce cooling capacity?

It's not paint, it's anodization which doesn't affect cooling capacity. 

 

The two different versions should perform identically to each other. 

[OhioYJ]

So I don't know about that NH-U12A, but I'll say I decided to "waste" money and replaced all of my Noctua stuff with Chromax versions (cooler and fans) several builds back (I say "waste" because I did it purely for cosmetic sake). I had the NH-D15, and replaced it with the Chromax version. I didn't notice any difference at all. If there was one,  it would have been so small it would have been in the margin of error. I've run the Chromax version now on a 9900k, 12900k, and a 13900k.

[Melodist]

3 minutes ago, OhioYJ said:

So I don't know about that NH-U12A, but I'll say I decided to "waste" money and replaced all of my Noctua stuff with Chromax versions (cooler and fans) several builds back (I say "waste" because I did it purely for cosmetic sake). I had the NH-D15, and replaced it with the Chromax version. I didn't notice any difference at all. If there was one,  it would have been so small it would have been in the margin of error. I've run the Chromax version now on a 9900k, 12900k, and a 13900k.

Ah okay, great to know, just wanted to make sure. Sometimes manufacturers release new cosmetic versions that actually are built differently, I'm happy it's not the case.