With the NH-L12, Noctua has a promising cooler for HTPC's or small form factor desktop PCs in its portfolio. Already at a first glance it shines with a very good build quality and no less than four heatpipes. We're already curious how this thing is going to perform in our test parcours.
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On the following pages we will show you what the Noctua NH-L12 low profile cooler is capable of.
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Preview
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Specifications and included in delivery
Specifications
| Model | Noctua NH-L12 |
| Material | Aluminium / copper / nickel |
| Dimension (D x W x H) | 150 mm x 128 mm x 66 mm |
| Weight | 415 g |
| Fan | 1 x 120 mm x 120 mm x 25 mm - 300 - 1500 rpm 1 x 92 mm x 92 mm x 25 mm - 300 - 1600 rpm |
| On the manufacturer's website | Noctua NH-L12 |
Included in delivery
- Cooling block
- Mounting kit for Socket 775, 1155/1156/1150, 1366 and 2011, AM2, AM2+, AM3, AM3+
- Noctua Thermal compound
- Mounting components
- Manual
The NH-L12 ships well protected, therefore none of the parts included will be damaged during transportation. Noctua ships this cooler also with a mounting kit for AMD and Intel sockets. Therefore the cooler is compatible to both worlds right out of the box. Also included in the delivery are two fans, which measure 120 milimeter as well as 92 millimeter. Rotation speeds can vary between 300 and 1500 rotations per minute in case of the 120 mm fan and 300 to 1600 rotations per minute in case of the 92 millimeter fan. The NH-L12 is a low profile cooler and therefore it is most suitable for HTPCs or small form factor desktop PCs.
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Construction and design
Construction
If we had to define the type of cooler the NH-L12 is, then we would say it is a down-draft, low profile cooler. Down-draft coolers come with the advantage that the air used to cool the CPU also keeps the motherboards power design and partly the memory cool at the same time. Noctua manufacturs their NH-L12 from aluminium and copper. You can find a nickel plated copper base plate which leads the dissipation power to four - also nickel plated - heatpipes which all have a diameter of six millimeters. Altogether there are 39 fins soldered to the heatpipes for perfect heat transfer.
Design
We couldn't find any manufacturing mistakes on our sample, and it seems that it has been very well made which means that manufacturing is on an excellent level. The heatpipes do have almost indentical bending radius, which results in less vortex. Furhtermore this cooler comes with a total of 39 fins. You find holes where you have to reach to the screws for the installation plate. Otherwise the fins are perfectly even. Noctua soldered the fins to the heatpipes ensuring an optimized heat transfer from the heatpipes to the fins.
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Mounting
Noctua ships their NH-L12 with mounting kits that are compatible to the most common Intel and AMD sockets. Installing the cooler is very easy and it's done quickly. In our case we didn't have to check the manual. The installation process is really that simple.
On these pictures you can clearly see that the NH-L12 is a very compact cooler. There is space for the memory modules next to it and the height of only 66 millimeter makes this cooler perfect for compact PC's such as HTPCs, ultra compact gaming rigs, or office PC's.
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Testsystem and testroutine
| Cooler | |
| Mainboard | ASUS P6T Deluxe |
| Processor | Intel Core i7 920 2.66 GHz 4C / 8T |
| Memory | Kingston HyperX 3 x 1 GByte |
| Graphics card | Gigabyte GTX 285 |
| Hard disk | Samsung Spinpoint F1 640 GByte |
| Power supply | Enermax Revolution 85+ 1050 Watt |
Testroutine
The CPU is being evaluated using Real Temp and with Prime95 we reach nearly 100% load on the CPU. For measuring the noise level we use a Voltcraft SL-200 decibel meter, which is positioned one meter from the CPU cooler with the fan mounted.- 2.66 GHz 12 volts load
- 2.66 GHz 7 volts load
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Results 2.66 GHz 12 volts
| Cooler / fan | Temp. diff. load | Absolute temp. | RPM | Noise | Price | Review link |
| Corsair H110 - Dual Fan | 27 K | 51 °C | 1500 rpm | 41.9 dBA | CHF 125.- (EUR 104.-) | Corsair H110 |
| Cooler Master Eisberg 240L Prestige - Dual Fan | 27 K | 52 °C | 1600 rpm | 46.5 dBA | CHF 186.- (EUR 155.-) | Cooler Master Eisberg 240L Prestige |
| Phanteks PH-TC14PE - Triple Fan | 28 K | 57 °C | 1250 rpm | 41.3 dBA | CHF 124.- (EUR 103.-) | Phanteks PH-TC14PE |
| Phanteks PH-TC14PE - Dual Fan | 29 K | 58 °C | 1250 rpm | 41.1 dBA | CHF 99.- (EUR 83.-) | Phanteks PH-TC14PE |
| Corsair H90 - Dual Fan | 29 K | 53 °C | 1500/1500 rpm | 42.1 dBA | CHF 96.- (EUR 80.-) | Corsair H90 |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow SB-E - Dual Fan | 30 K | 56 °C | 1100/1300 rpm | 41.8 dBA | CHF 70.- (EUR 58.-) | Thermalright Silver Arrow SB-E |
| Phanteks PH-TC14PE - Single Fan | 30 K | 59 °C | 1250 rpm | 40.7 dBA | CHF 99.- (EUR 83.-) | Phanteks PH-TC14PE |
| Prolimatech Megahalems Super Mega - Dual Fan | 30 K | 57 °C | 1400 rpm | 40.8 dBA | CHF 126.- (EUR 105.-) | Prolimatech Megahalems Super Mega Dual Fan |
| Corsair H90 - Single Fan | 30 K | 54 °C | 1500 rpm | 41.4 dBA | CHF 96.- (EUR 80.-) | Corsair H90 |
| Noctua NH-D14 - Single Fan | 31 K | 56 °C | 1300/1200 rpm | 40.9 dBA | CHF 114.- (EUR 95.-) | Noctua NH-D14 |
| Cooler Master TPC 800 - Dual Fan | 32 K | 61 °C | 1400 rpm | 41.2 dBA | CHF 113.- (EUR 94.-) | Cooler Master TPC 800 |
| Enermax ELC240 - Dual Fan | 32 K | 57 °C | 1500 rpm | 43.4 dBA | CHF 107.- (EUR 89.-) | Enermax ELC240 |
| Prolimatech Armageddon - Dual Fan | 33 K | 56 °C | 1100/1100 rpm | 36.4 dBA | CHF 70.- (EUR 58.-) | Proliatech Armageddon |
| BeQuiet! Dark Rock Pro 2 | 33 K | 61 °C | 1400/1400 rpm | 42.0 dBA | CHF 96.- (EUR 80.-) | BeQuiet! Dark Rock Pro 2 |
| Alpenföhn Nordwand - Dual Fan | 33 K | 57 °C | 1500 rpm | 43.0 dBA | CHF 103.- (EUR 86.-) | Alpenföhn Nordwand |
| Cooler Master Seidon 120M - Dual Fan | 33 K | 57° C | 1800/1800 rpm | 43.6 dBA | CHF 75.- (EUR 63.-) | Cooler Master Seidon 120M |
| Gelid GX-7 - Dual-Fan | 33 K | 53 °C | 1800/1800 rpm | 45.5 dBA | CHF 45.- (EUR 38.-) | Gelid GX-7 |
| Alpenföhn Gotthard - Single Fan | 34 K | 60 °C | 1200 rpm | 39.7 dBA | CHF 65.- (EUR 54.-) | Alpenföhn Gotthard |
| Gelid The Black Edition - Dual Fan | 34 K | 60 °C | 1600/1500 rpm | 41.4 dBA | CHF 72.- (EUR 59.-) | Gelid The Black Edition |
| Cooler Master Seidon 120M - Single Fan | 34 K | 58° C | 1800 rpm | 42.8 dBA | CHF 75.- (EUR 63.-) | Cooler Master Seidon 120M |
| SilverStone Heligon HE01 | 35 K | 61 °C | 1900 rpm | 48.2 dBA | CHF 84.- (EUR 70.-) | SilverStone Heligon HE01 |
| Prolimatech Megahalems Megashadow - Dual Fan | 34 K | 58 °C | 1400 rpm | 40.5 dBA | CHF 79.- (EUR 66.-) | Prolimatech Megahalems Megashadow |
| Enermax ETS-T40-VD - Single Fan | 34 K | 57 °C | 1900 rpm | 42.4 dBA | CHF 43.- (EUR 36.-) | Enermax ETS-T40-VD |
| Noctua NH-C14 - Dual Fan | 35 K | 57 °C | 1250 rpm | 41.0 dBA | CHF 91.- (EUR 76.-) | Noctua NH-C14 |
| Alpenföhn Nordwand - Single Fan | 35 K | 59 °C | 1500 rpm | 42.4 dBA | CHF 79.- (EUR 66.-) | Alpenföhn Nordwand |
| Gelid GX-7 - Single Fan | 35 K | 55 °C | 1800 rpm | 45.0 dBA | CHF 45.- (EUR 38.-) | Gelid GX-7 |
| Coolink Corator DS - Single Fan | 35 K | 57 °C | 1900 rpm | 47.9 dBA | CHF 45.- (EUR 38.-) | Coolink Corator DS |
| Prolimatech Megahalems Megashadow - Single Fan | 36 K | 59 °C | 1400 rpm | 37.0 dBA | CHF 79.- (EUR 65.-) | Prolimatech Megahalems Megashadow |
| Prolimatech Armageddon - Single Fan | 37 K | 60 °C | 1100 rpm | 35.9 dBA | CHF 88.- (EUR 73.-) | Proliatech Armageddon |
| BeQuiet! Shadow Rock - Single Fan | 37 K | 60 °C | 1500 rpm | 42.7 dBA | CHF 63.- (EUR 53.-) | BeQuiet Shadow Rock |
| Corsair H5O - Dual Fan | 37 K | 59 °C | 1600 rpm | 44.4 dBA | CHF 133.- (EUR 111.-) | Corsair H5O |
| Noctua NH-C14 - Single Fan | 38 K | 60 °C | 1250 rpm | 39.4 dBA | CHF 91.- (EUR 76.-) | Noctua NH-C14 |
| Thermalright Macho 120 - Single Fan | 38 K | 64 °C | 1400 rpm | 40.8 dBA | CHF 38.- (EUR 32.-) | Thermalright Macho 120 |
| BeQuiet! Dark Rock 2 - Single Fan | 38 K | 65 °C | 1400 rpm | 42.0 dBA | CHF 77.- (EUR 64.-) | BeQuiet! Dark Rock 2 |
| Noctua NH-U12P - Dual Fan | 38 K | 62 °C | 1400 rpm | 41.6 dBA | CHF 125.- (EUR 104.-) | Noctua NH-U12P |
| Corsair H5O - Single Fan | 38 K | 60 °C | 1600 rpm | 44.0 dBA | CHF 113.- (EUR 94.-) | Corsair H5O |
| Cooler Master Hyper 412S - Single-Fan | 39 K | 62 °C | 1200 rpm | 41.6 dBA | CHF 57.- (EUR 48.-) | Cooler Master Hyper 412S |
| Cooler Master Hyper 212Evo - Single-Fan | 39 K | 62 °C | 1500 rpm | 42.9 dBA | CHF 50.- (EUR 40.-) | Cooler Master Hyper 212S |
| Noctua NH-U12P - Single Fan | 40 K | 64 °C | 1400 rpm | 40.5 dBA | CHF 85.- (EUR 71.-) | Noctua NH-U12P |
| Noctua NH-L12 | 41 K | 66 °C | 1500/1600 rpm | 42.7 dBA | CHF 53.- (EUR 44.-) | Noctua NH-L12 |
| Thermalright AXP-100 - 140mm Fan | 46 K | 72 °C | 1300 rpm | 40.2 dBA | CHF 48.- (EUR 40.-) | Thermalright AXP-100 |
| Thermalright AXP-100 - Standard Fan | 46 K | 72 °C | 2400 rpm | 43.1 dBA | CHF 48.- (EUR 40.-) | Thermalright AXP-100 |
| Prolimatech Samuel 17 - Single Fan | 56 K | 85 °C | 1400 rpm | 40.1 dBA | CHF 49.- (EUR 41.-) | Prolimatech Samuel 17 |
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Results 2.66 GHz 7 Volts
| Cooler / fan | Temp. diff. load | Absolute temp. | RPM | Noise | Price | Review link |
| Corsair H110 - Dual Fan | 30 K | 53°C | 650 rpm | 32.1 dBA | CHF 125.- (EUR 104.-) | Corsair H110 |
| Cooler Master Eisberg 240L Prestige | 32 K | 56 °C | 800 rpm | 43.8 dBA | CHF 186.- (EUR 155.-) | Cooler Master Eisberg 240L Prestige |
| Corsair H90 - Dual Fan | 34 K | 58 °C | 650/650 rpm | 32.1 dBA | CHF 96.- (EUR 80.-) | Corsair H90 |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow SB-E - Dual Fan | 34 K | 60 °C | 500/900 rpm | 35.0 dBA | CHF 70.- (EUR 58.-) | Thermalright Silver Arrow SB-E |
| Phanteks PH-TC14PE - Triple Fan | 34 K | 63 °C | 750 rpm | 35.1 dBA | CHF 124.- (EUR 103.-) | Phanteks PH-TC14PE |
| Corsair H90 - Single Fan | 35 K | 59 °C | 650 rpm | 32.1 dBA | CHF 96.- (EUR 80.-) | Corsair H90 |
| Phanteks PH-TC14PE - Dual Fan | 35 K | 64 °C | 750 rpm | 34.9 dBA | CHF 99.- (EUR 83.-) | Phanteks PH-TC14PE |
| Prolimatech Megahalems Super Mega - Dual Fan | 35 K | 62 °C | 800 rpm | 40.8 dBA | CHF 126.- (EUR 105.-) | Prolimatech Megahalems Super Mega Dual Fan |
| Noctua NH-D14 - Single Fan | 36 K | 61 °C | 1000/900 rpm | 37.2 dBA | CHF 114.- (EUR 95.-) | Noctua NH-D14 |
| Noctua NH-C14 - Dual Fan | 37 K | 59 °C | 800 rpm | 34.1 dBA | CHF 91.- (EUR 76.-) | Noctua NH-C14 |
| Cooler Master TPC 800 - Dual Fan | 37 K | 66 °C | 800 rpm | 34.2 dBA | CHF 113.- (EUR 94.-) | Cooler Master TPC 800 |
| Cooler Master Seidon 120M - Dual Fan | 37 K | 61 °C | 1200/1200 rpm | 37.1 dBA | CHF 75.- (EUR 63.-) | Cooler Master Seidon 120M |
| Prolimatech Megahalems Megashadow - Dual Fan | 37 K | 61 °C | 1000 rpm | 38.9 dBA | CHF 79.- (EUR 66.-) | Prolimatech Megahalems Megashadow |
| Enermax ELC240 - Dual Fan | 37 K | 62 °C | 1500 rpm | 37.0 dBA | CHF 107.- (EUR 89.-) | Enermax ELC240 |
| Prolimatech Armageddon - Dual Fan | 38 K | 61 °C | 650 rpm | 32.1 dBA | CHF 70.- (EUR 58.-) | Proliatech Armageddon |
| Phanteks PH-TC14PE - Single Fan | 38 K | 67 °C | 750 rpm | 34.6 dBA | CHF 99.- (EUR 83.-) | Phanteks PH-TC14PE |
| SilverStone Heligon HE01 | 38 K | 64 °C | 1000 rpm | 34.7 dBA | CHF 84.- (EUR 70.-) | SilverStone Heligon HE01 |
| Gelid The Black Edition - Dual Fan | 38 K | 64 °C | 1100/1000 rpm | 34.8 dBA | CHF 72.- (EUR 59.-) | Gelid The Black Edition |
| Cooler Master Seidon 120M - Single Fan | 38 K | 62 °C | 1200 rpm | 36.7 dBA | CHF 75.- (EUR 63.-) | Cooler Master Seidon 120M |
| Prolimatech Megahalems Megashadow - Single Fan | 39 K | 63 °C | 1000 rpm | 36.2 dBA | CHF 79.- (EUR 66.-) | Prolimatech Megahalems Megashadow |
| Prolimatech Armageddon - Single Fan | 41 K | 64 °C | 650 rpm | 32.3 dBA | CHF 88.- (EUR 73.-) | Proliatech Armageddon |
| BeQuiet! Dark Rock Pro 2 | 40 K | 67 °C | 500/500 rpm | 33.3 dBA | CHF 96.- (EUR 80.-) | BeQuiet! Dark Rock Pro 2 |
| Alpenföhn Gotthard - Single Fan | 41 K | 67 °C | 700 rpm | 35.5 dBA | CHF 65.- (EUR 54.-) | Alpenföhn Gotthard |
| Gelid GX-7 - Dual Fan | 42 K | 62 °C | 700 rpm | 34.0 dBA | CHF 45.- (EUR 38.-) | Gelid GX-7 |
| Noctua NH-C14 - Single Fan | 42 K | 64 °C | 800 rpm | 33.5 dBA | CHF 91.- (EUR 76.-) | Noctua NH-C14 |
| Corsair H5O - Dual Fan | 42 K | 64 °C | 900 rpm | 37.5 dBA | CHF 133.- (EUR 111.-) | Corsair H5O |
| Alpenföhn Nordwand - Dual Fan | 43 K | 67 °C | 700 rpm | 37.0 dBA | CHF 103.- (EUR 86.-) | Alpenföhn Nordwand |
| BeQuiet! Shadow Rock - Single Fan | 43 K | 66 °C | 800 rpm | 36.7 dBA | CHF 63.- (EUR 53.-) | BeQuiet Shadow Rock |
| Cooler Master Hyper 412S - Single Fan | 43 K | 69 °C | 800 rpm | 35.8 dBA | CHF 57.- (EUR 48.-) | Cooler Master Hyper 412S |
| Noctua NH-L12 | 43 K | 69 °C | 800/900 rpm | 33.9 dBA | CHF 53.- (EUR 44.-) | Noctua NH-L12 |
| BeQuiet! Dark Rock 2 - Single Fan | 44 K | 70 °C | 500 rpm | 32.9 dBA | CHF 77.- (EUR 64.-) | BeQuiet! Dark Rock 2 |
| Thermalright Macho 120 - Single Fan | 44 K | 70 °C | 700 rpm | 34.2 dBA | CHF 38.- (EUR 32.-) | Thermalright Macho 120 |
| Noctua NH-U12P - Dual Fan | 44 K | 68 °C | 1000 rpm | 38.0 dBA | CHF 125.- (EUR 104.-) | Noctua NH-U12P |
| Enermax ETS-T40-VD - Single Fan | 45 K | 66 °C | 650 rpm | 32.7 dBA | CHF 43.- (EUR 36.-) | Enermax ETS-T40-VD |
| Gelid GX-7 - Single-Fan | 45 K | 65 °C | 700 rpm | 33.5 dBA | CHF 45.- (EUR 38.-) | Gelid GX-7 |
| Noctua NH-U12P - Single Fan | 45 K | 69 °C | 1000 rpm | 37.4 dBA | CHF 85.- (EUR 71.-) | Noctua NH-U12P |
| Coolink Corator DS - Single Fan | 46 K | 68 °C | 800 rpm | 35.0 dBA | CHF 45.- (EUR 38.-) | Coolink Corator DS |
| Corsair H5O - Single Fan | 46 K | 68 °C | 900 rpm | 35.4 dBA | CHF 113.- (EUR 94.-) | Corsair H5O |
| Alpenföhn Nordwand - Single Fan | 48 K | 72 °C | 700 rpm | 36.4 dBA | CHF 79.- (EUR 66.-) | Alpenföhn Nordwand |
| Cooler Master Hyper 212Evo - Single-Fan | 52 K | 75 °C | 750 rpm | 35.3 dBA | CHF 50.- (EUR 40.-) | Cooler Master Hyper 212S |
| Thermalright AXP-100 - 140mm Fan | 48 K | 74 °C | 900 rpm | 35.6 dBA | CHF 48.- (EUR 40.-) | Thermalright AXP-100 |
| Thermalright AXP-100 - Standard Fan | 57 K | 83 °C | 900 rpm | 37.0 dBA | CHF 48.- (EUR 40.-) | Thermalright AXP-100 |
| Prolimatech Samuel 17 -Single Fan | 67 K | 96 °C | 800 rpm | 36.2 dBA | CHF 49.- (EUR 41.-) | Prolimatech Samuel 17 |
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Conclusion
| General | + | - | |
| With the NH-L12, Noctua shows a perfectly manufactured and beatifully crafted low profile cooler. The fact that the block measures only 66 millimeters in height makes it compatible to all HTPCs cases as well as small desktops. From such a compact cooler one shouldn't expect miracles in terms of cooling performance. Never the less it is still sufficient to keep a powerful desktop CPU at reasonable temperatures. | - Dimensions | ||
| Installation | + | - | |
| Installing a Noctua cooler is usually simple and easy and there is no exception with the NH-L12. In our case it wasn't necessary to check manual to do the installation which is always a good indicator for an easy mounting process. Of course this cooler is compatible to all recent sockets, which is why you find several small bags in the delivery containing the different socket kits. | - Compatible with Intel and AMD sockets - Simple mounting process | ||
| Performance | + | - | |
|
During our tests we used the fans, which were in the delivery. At 12 Volt the noise level is subjectively loud. Using an adapter and regulating the voltage to 7 Volt made the noise level drop to subjectively silent. At 12 Volt and 1500/1600 rotations per minute we measured 66°C core temperature, which is a good result for a low profile cooler. Driving the fan at 7 Volt and 800/900 rotations per minute made the core temperatures increase to 69°C, which is a surprisingly good result. Overall cooling performance of this little thing is very good compared to other small form factor coolers. |
- Sufficient cooling capacity - Cooling capacity at 7V | - Loud at 12V | |
| Recommendation | + | - | |
|
If you're looking for a capable cooler for you HTPC build or a small form factor desktop PC, then the NH-L12 from Noctua is a good choice. These days you can get this cooler for CHF 53.- (est. EUR 44.-). |
- Desktop-PC - HTPC |
- Gamer - Overclocker |
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Author: Marc Büchel m.buechel@ocaholic.ch