By the way, when Noctua NH-C12P cooler just launched I assumed that the gaps in the heatsink array were designed to simplify the installation procedure, although once I took a closer look at it and studied the corresponding documentation, it turned out to be absolutely not true. Besides, the photos also show that losing one plate in the heatsink array was more than enough to allow easy access during installation procedure and there was simply no need for gaps like that:

A few words about proper cooler positioning. The manual suggests two ways of doing it: with heatpipes ends facing upwards and sideways:

Since the cooler heatpipes are bent, we didn’t have any problems installing the cooler both ways on our ASUS P5K Deluxe mainboard, however, we decided to stick to the option when the heatpipe ends are facing upwards:

I would also like to add that there is a 45mm gap between the mainboard PCB and the lower heatsink plate. So considering how compact the center of the cooler is it shouldn’t cause any problems to the electronic components around the processor socket.

Before putting the fan on top of the heatsink, you should stick enclosed silicon strips across the plate edges. They should absorb fan vibrations and lower the noise:

However, these “silencers” also have another useful role: they lift the fan another ~1.5mm above the heatsink, which allows the airflow from the fan to speed up more before entering the heatsink. Together with variable height of heatsink plates it contributes to higher cooling efficiency.

The fan is attached to the heatsink with wire clips that should go into the corresponding holes in the heatsink and then lock in the corresponding holes in the fan:

This is what Noctua NH-C12P looks like inside the system case:

Now let’s move on to the specifications