Noctua NH-L12 Low Profile CPU Cooler Review

[sam.cpcr]

Noctua Goes *Ultra* Low Profile Since 2005, Noctua has been producing some of the most well known cooling products in the PC accessory market. Their most well known products are quiet fans and very large CPU coolers designed to be used by extreme PC enthusiasts who want to get the absolute most out of their [...]
Noctua NH-L12 Low Profile CPU Cooler Review - Custom PC Review

[Hasoonie17]

Interesting, how would this compare to the CM Hyper 212 you think?

Edit: nvm my bad lol, just saw the chart comparison

[mike_89]

I made sure to compare it against the CM Hyper 212 just because I knew how wildly popular that cooler is. Size to performance I'd have to say the Noctua is the better performer, but it's also priced a bit more.

However, the Noctua has just dropped to $59.99 on amazon right now!

[Vanhodid]

i don't think this was designed to be overclocking ready, more towards the HTPC and very small PC market
altough you can remove the top 120mm fan and have it run on just the 92mm fan for ultra low profile operations.

looks nice.

[mike_89]

i don't think this was designed to be overclocking ready, more towards the HTPC and very small PC market
altough you can remove the top 120mm fan and have it run on just the 92mm fan for ultra low profile operations.

looks nice.

Indeed it wasn't, I made sure to quote Noctua in the article as they have said that it's not suitable for being used in an overclocked machine. My overclocked tests were essentially just to make sure everyone saw that it wasn't suited for that use.

[sam.cpcr]

Fantastic first review, Mike. Looking forward to more from you.

[Vanhodid]

Indeed it wasn't, I made sure to quote Noctua in the article as they have said that it's not suitable for being used in an overclocked machine. My overclocked tests were essentially just to make sure everyone saw that it wasn't suited for that use.

yeah the 95C was a quite toasty result, the cooler is only slightly higher than most mosfets right?
or double the height?

nice review, very nice pictures

[mike_89]

yeah the 95C was a quite toasty result, the cooler is only slightly higher than most mosfets right?
or double the height?

nice review, very nice pictures

The cooler is only slightly higher than the VRM cooling on my Sabertooth P67, but in your average SFF system you won't have nearly as much VRM cooling as on a board like mine.

Thanks, I'm always skeptical of my pictures. My own worst critic