Let's see how the Noctua NH-U9B SE2 performs when our Intel Core i7-920 runs at stock speed. The temperature of the CPU was lowered down to 49 degrees Celsius, which is a decent performance for a small-sized cooler. Under the same conditions, Intel's stock cooler would keep your CPU's temperature at 58 degrees C. The NH-U9B SE2 is found somewhere in the middle in the comparison chart seen below:

Pushing the Intel Core-i7 920 to work at 3.60GHz made things harder for the Noctua NH-U9B SE2, and this time the dual 92mm fans had a rather difficult job. The temperature of the CPU reached the 68 degrees C. The performance could be better here but don't forget that we have to do with an HTPC cooling solution:

The Noctua NH-U9B SE2 is following Noctua's tradition to produce quiet coolers. We measured just 44 dB of noise despite the dual-fan configuration of the cooler. This means that the cooler will work at the background without disturbing you when you are watching a movie:

The NH-U9B SE2 is the most affordable Noctua product we have ever tested, priced at ~$55: