Lepa LV12 Black Review
Category : Aircooling
Published by Marc Büchel on 10.06.15
With their LV12, Lepa has a tower-cooler in their portfolio, which catches our attention with its matte black color. Other than that, this neat looking cooler comes with four heatpipes, as well as high quality fan. Apart from that even the price tag is on a very competitive level and it looks like this could be an insider's tip.
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Today we are going to take a closer look at the new CPU cooler from LEPA, the LV12. While LEPA made two differently colored versions of the LV12, a white one and the black one, we recieved the the Black version which is technically the same as the white version apart from the different color. The main feature of the LV12 CPU cooler are its four direct touch copper heatpipes.
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The base of the LEPA LV12 CPU cooler is made from copper while the heatsink fins are made out of aluminium. It features four 4mm diameter heatpipes which are in direct contact with the CPU. There is no baseplate through which the heatpipes are routed. The LEPA LV12 is a standard tower-design CPU cooler and the overall quality and design are very good as it looks nice and clean. The most unique feature on the LEPA LV12 is definitely its color as the matte black is something we have not seen on a CPU cooler before. Other than the actual color finish, the build quality is also on a really high level, although, for example, the base could have been lapped.
The bundle includes a 120mm PWM fan with a rotation speed of 800 to 1800 RPM.
Specifications |
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| Model | LV12 |
| Type | Classic 120mm tower |
| Provided Fan(s) | 1x 120x25mm PWM |
| Supported Fan(s) | 2x 120mm |
| Base Material | Copper |
| Fins Material | Aluminum |
| Socket Support | AMD AM2(+), AM3(+), FM1,
FM2 Intel LGA 775, 1150, 1155, 1156, LGA 2011 |
| Thermal compound | Dow Corning TC-5121(Tube) |
| Product Page | LV12 |
The bundle and the box are quite simple. The box is made out of solid cardboard and although it is only protected by a plastic shroud our sample arrived without a single dent or any damage whatsoever. The bundled fan is attached to the tower while the rest of the mounting components are placed in a separate plastic bag. The bundle includes an installation manual, mounting components, two fan clips, Dow Corning thermal compound n.5121 in a small syringe as well as a 120 millimeter fan and the heatsink itself.
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup |
| Page 4 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 5 - PWM Performance |
| Page 6 - Conclusion |
Photo Gallery
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup |
| Page 4 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 5 - PWM Performance |
| Page 6 - Conclusion |
Installation
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The installation of the LV12 is simple and easy. As we said before, the thermal compound is not pre-applied. The installation process does not take too much time as the mounting process is self-explanatory. The pressure on the CPU is good and there are no compatiblity issues with this cooler whatsoever. As far as the support goes, the LV12 can be mounted on Intel LGA 775, 1150, 1155, 1156 and LGA 2011 sockets as well as on AMD AM2(+), AM3(+), FM1 and FM2 sockets. Since the LEPA LV12 is a medium sized tower cooler there should not be any compatibility issues with memory DIMM with large heatspreaders. Installing this CPU cooler on an ATX, as well as a mini ITX motherboard did not cause any issues.
Test Setup |
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| Cooler |
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| Mainboard | ASUS Z87-Deluxe (BIOS 1602) |
| CPU | Intel Core i7-4770K Stock (Turbo On / HT On) |
| Memory | ADATA XPG V2 2x4GB DDR3-2800 CL12 1.65V |
| Video | Intel HD Graphics 4600 |
| Software |
Windows 7 x64 wPrime Benchmark v2.10 CPUID HWMonitor 1.24.0 |
| PSU | Seasonic Platinum SS-660XP2 |
| Fan Controller | Lamptron FC5 V3 |
| Thermal Compound | Enermax Tube |
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup |
| Page 4 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 5 - PWM Performance |
| Page 6 - Conclusion |
Absolute Performance
Temperatures
| 7V | Idle | Load |
| Deepcool Captain 360 | 31 °C | 50 °C |
| Fractal Design Kelvin S36 | 31 °C | 50 °C |
| Enermax Liqtech 120X | 32 °C | 50 °C |
| Raijintek Triton | 32 °C | 50 °C |
| Deepcool Maelstrom 240 | 31 °C | 51 °C |
| Corsair H75 Single Fan | 32 °C | 51 °C |
| Enermax Liqtech 240X | 32 °C | 51 °C |
| Corsair H90 Single Fan | 33 °C | 51 °C |
| Corsair H110 Dual Fan | 33 °C | 51 °C |
| Noctua NH-D15 Dual Fan | 33 °C | 51 °C |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow IB-E | 33 °C | 51 °C |
| NZXT Kraken X61 | 32 °C | 52 °C |
| Cooler Master Nepton 240M | 33 °C | 53 °C |
| Cryorig R1 Universal | 33 °C | 53 °C |
| Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan | 33 °C | 53 °C |
| Noctua NH-D15 Single Fan | 34 °C | 53 °C |
| Thermalright Archon IB-E X2 | 34 °C | 53 °C |
| Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan | 34 °C | 54 °C |
| Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Dual Fan | 35 °C | 55 °C |
| Deepcool Maelstrom 120 | 35 °C | 55 °C |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow ITX | 36 °C | 55 °C |
| Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister | 34 °C | 56 °C |
| NZXT Kraken X41 | 34 °C | 56 °C |
| Enermax ETS-T40 White Claster | 35 °C | 56 °C |
| Raijintek Nemesis Single Fan | 35 °C | 56 °C |
| NZXT Kraken X31 | 35 °C | 56 °C |
| Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Single Fan | 36 °C | 56 °C |
| Antec Kühler H2O 1250 | 37 °C | 56 °C |
| Fractal Design Kelvin T12 | 36 °C | 57 °C |
| Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan | 34 °C | 57 °C |
| Thermalright Macho Rev.B | 36 °C | 57 °C |
| Raijintek Themis EVO | 34 °C | 57 °C |
| Scythe Ashura | 36 °C | 58 °C |
| Antec Kühler H2O 950 | 37 °C | 59 °C |
| Raijintek Pallas | 37 °C | 59 °C |
| Cooler Master Hyper 103 | 36 °C | 60 °C |
| Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure | 36 °C | 61 °C |
| Prolimatech Lynx | 35 °C | 63 °C |
| Cooler Master Hyper 612 Ver. 2 | 37 °C | 64 °C |
| Thermolab Bada 2010 | 39 °C | 64 °C |
| Scythe IORI Scior-1000 | 39 °C | 65 °C |
| Lepa LV12 | 36 °C | 66 °C |
| Thermolab LP-53 | 38 °C | 69 °C |
| Enermax ETS-N30 | 37 °C | 73 °C |
| Thermolab ITX30 | 38 °C | 75 °C |
| Intel Stock | 39 °C | 83 °C |
To measure cooling capacity we took temperatures in idle and load with the fans at 7 and 12 V. The idle temperature represents the lowest temperature hit by the processor package after 10 minutes in idle. The load temperature is the highest temperature hit by the processor package after one pass of wPrime v2.10. The wPrime test takes 4 minutes and puts load on all 8 threads. Room temperature is 25°C.
| 12V | Idle | Load |
| Deepcool Captain 360 | 30 °C | 48 °C |
| Fractal Design Kelvin S36 | 30 °C | 49 °C |
| Raijintek Triton | 31 °C | 49 °C |
| Corsair H90 Single Fan | 32 °C | 50 °C |
| Corsair H110 Dual Fan | 32 °C | 50 °C |
| Noctua NH-D15 Dual Fan | 32 °C | 50 °C |
| Deepcool Maelstrom 240 | 33 °C | 50 °C |
| NZXT Kraken X61 | 31 °C | 50 °C |
| Corsair H75 Single Fan | 32 °C | 51 °C |
| Enermax Liqtech 240X | 32 °C | 51 °C |
| Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan | 33 °C | 51 °C |
| Cooler Master Nepton 240M | 32 °C | 52 °C |
| Cryorig R1 Universal | 32 °C | 52 °C |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow IB-E | 32 °C | 52 °C |
| Thermalright Archon IB-E X2 | 33 °C | 52 °C |
| Enermax Liqtech 120X | 31 °C | 53 °C |
| Deepcool Maelstrom 120 | 33 °C | 53 °C |
| Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan | 33 °C | 53 °C |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow ITX | 34 °C | 53 °C |
| Fractal Design Kelvin T12 | 34 °C | 54 °C |
| NZXT Kraken X41 | 33 °C | 54 °C |
| Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Dual Fan | 33 °C | 54 °C |
| Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan | 33 °C | 54 °C |
| Raijintek Themis EVO | 33 °C | 54 °C |
| Enermax ETS-T40 White Claster | 34 °C | 54 °C |
| Noctua NH-D15 Single Fan | 33 °C | 55 °C |
| NZXT Kraken X31 | 34 °C | 55 °C |
| Prolimatech Lynx | 34 °C | 55 °C |
| Raijintek Nemesis Single Fan | 34 °C | 55 °C |
| Scythe Ashura | 34 °C | 55 °C |
| Antec Kühler H2O 1250 | 35 °C | 55 °C |
| Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister | 35 °C | 55 °C |
| Thermalright Macho Rev.B | 34 °C | 55 °C |
| Antec Kühler H2O 950 | 36 °C | 56 °C |
| Raijintek Pallas | 36 °C | 56 °C |
| Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure | 34 °C | 57 °C |
| Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Single Fan | 34 °C | 57 °C |
| Lepa LV12 | 35 °C | 57 °C |
| Cooler Master Hyper 103 | 36 °C | 58 °C |
| Cooler Master Hyper 612 Ver. 2 | 35 °C | 59 °C |
| Scythe IORI Scior-1000 | 37 °C | 60 °C |
| Thermolab Bada 2010 | 39 °C | 64 °C |
| Thermolab LP-53 | 37 °C | 65 °C |
| Enermax ETS-N30 | 34 °C | 68 °C |
| Thermolab ITX30 | 36 °C | 69 °C |
| Intel Stock | 35 °C | 70 °C |
Fan Speeds
| 7 Volt | 12 Volt | |
| Raijintek Nemesis Single Fan | 840 rpm | 1'180 rpm |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow IB-E | 840 rpm | 1'320 rpm |
| Enermax Liqtech 240X | 750 rpm | 1'300 rpm |
| Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan | 780 rpm | 1'200 rpm |
| Cooler Master Hyper 612 Ver. 2 | 520 rpm | 1'260 rpm |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow ITX | 840 rpm | 1'320 rpm |
| Thermalright Archon IB-E X2 | 780 rpm | 1'380 rpm |
| Cryorig R1 Universal | 960 rpm | 1'440 rpm |
| Raijintek Pallas | 960 rpm | 1'440 rpm |
| Scythe Ashura | 600 rpm | 1'440 rpm |
| Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan | 900 rpm | 1'500 rpm |
| Thermalright Macho Rev.B | 780 rpm | 1'320 rpm |
| Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan | 900 rpm | 1'500 rpm |
| Corsair H90 Single Fan | 960 rpm | 1'500 rpm |
| Corsair H110 Dual Fan | 960 rpm | 1'500 rpm |
| Raijintek Themis EVO | 960 rpm | 1'500 rpm |
| Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure | 660 rpm | 1'530 rpm |
| Noctua NH-D15 Dual Fan | 960 rpm | 1'560 rpm |
| Noctua NH-D15 Single Fan | 1'020 rpm | 1'560 rpm |
| Fractal Design Kelvin S36 | 1'400 rpm | 1'740 rpm |
| Prolimatech Lynx | 600 rpm | 1'740 rpm |
| Fractal Design Kelvin T12 | 420 rpm | 1'800 rpm |
| Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister | 1'020 rpm | 1'860 rpm |
| Enermax ETS-T40 White Cluster | 1'260 rpm | 1'860 rpm |
| Lepa LV12 | 1'100 rpm | 1'850 rpm |
| NZXT Kraken X41 | 1'180rpm | 1'840 rpm |
| Thermolab Bada 2010 | 1'140 rpm | 1'980 rpm |
| Corsair H75 Single Fan | 1'200 rpm | 1'980 rpm |
| NZXT Kraken X31 | 1'200 rpm | 1'980 rpm |
| NZXT Kraken X61 | 1'180 rpm | 1'980 rpm |
| Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Dual Fan | 1'500 rpm | 1'980 rpm |
| Intel Stock | 1'260 rpm | 2'040 rpm |
| Enermax Liqtech 120X | 1'270 rpm | 2'050 rpm |
| Thermolab LP-53 | 300 rpm | 2'180 rpm |
| Scythe IORI Scior-1000 | 280 rpm | 2'220 rpm |
| Deepcool Maelstrom 240 | 1'440 rpm | 2'220 rpm |
| Deepcool Captain 360 | 1'400 rpm | 2'240 rpm |
| Deepcool Maelstrom 120 | 1'500 rpm | 2'280 rpm |
| Cooler Master Nepton 240M | 1'140 rpm | 2'300 rpm |
| Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Single Fan | 1'560 rpm | 2'400 rpm |
| Cooler Master Hyper 103 | 1'580 rpm | 2'400 rpm |
| Antec Kühler H2O 950 | 1'620 rpm | 2'400 rpm |
| Antec Kühler H2O 1250 | 1'620 rpm | 2'480 rpm |
| Thermolab ITX30 | 1'620 rpm | 2'580 rpm |
| Enermax ETS-N30 | 1'080 rpm | 3'080 rpm |
| Raijintek Triton | 1'140 rpm | 3'450 rpm |
Fan speeds (RPM) at 7 and 12 V.
Noise Levels
| 7 Volt | 12 Volt | |
| Cooler Master Hyper 612 Ver. 2 | 33.4 dBA | 34.9 dBA |
| Enermax Liqtech 240X | 33.5 dBA | 37.0 dBA |
| Intel Stock | 33.3 dBA | 37.1 dBA |
| Noctua NH-D15 Dual Fan | 32.2 dBA | 37.4 dBA |
| Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan | 32.3 dBA | 37.4 dBA |
| Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure | 32.3 dBA | 38.4 dBA |
| Lepa LV12 | 34.6 dBA | 38.8 dBA |
| Thermolab ITX30 | 33.4 dBA | 38.9 dBA |
| Noctua NH-D15 Single Fan | 33.7 dBA | 38.9 dBA |
| Raijintek Pallas | 34.7 dBA | 39.3 dBA |
| Cooler Master Hyper 103 | 34.2 dBA | 39.5 dBA |
| Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan | 33.4 dBA | 39.6 dBA |
| Thermolab LP-53 | 31.2 dBA | 39.7 dBA |
| Raijintek Themis EVO | 33.9 dBA | 40.1 dBA |
| Scythe IORI Scior-1000 | 32.8 dBA | 40.3 dBA |
| Thermalright Macho Rev.B | 32.5 dBA | 40.4 dBA |
| Thermolab Bada 2010 | 32.3 dBA | 40.4 dBA |
| NZXT Kraken X31 | 35.5 dBA | 40.5 dBA |
| NZXT Kraken X61 | 35.7 dBA | 40.6 dBA |
| Thermalright Archon IB-E X2 | 32.4 dBA | 40.6 dBA |
| Enermax Liqtech 120X | 33.4 dBA | 40.6 dBA |
| Prolimatech Lynx | 33.0 dBA | 40.3 dBA |
| Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister | 33.1 dBA | 40.7 dBA |
| Enermax ETS-T40 White Claster | 33.3 dBA | 40.7 dBA |
| Scythe Ashura | 32.0 dBA | 41.0 dBA |
| Corsair H90 Single Fan | 34.1 dBA | 41.2 dBA |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow IB-E | 34.7 dBA | 41.2 dBA |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow ITX | 34.7 dBA | 41.2 dBA |
| Corsair H110 Dual Fan | 33.3 dBA | 41.7 dBA |
| Corsair H75 Single Fan | 34.5 dBA | 41.7 dBA |
| Enermax ETS-N30 | 34.2 dBA | 43.0 dBA |
| Raijintek Nemesis Single Fan | 35.8 dBA | 43.1 dBA |
| Cryorig R1 Universal | 36.7 dBA | 43.2 dBA |
| Deepcool Captain 360 | 36.6 dBA | 43.4 dBA |
| Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan | 36.1 dBA | 43.6 dBA |
| Cooler Master Nepton 140XL | 34.3dBA | 43.8 dBA |
| Cooler Master Nepton 240M | 34.9 dBA | 44.5 dBA |
| Fractal Design Kelvin T12 | 33.2 dBA | 46.5 dBA |
| Deepcool Maelstrom 120 | 38.2 dBA | 46.9 dBA |
| Fractal Design Kelvin S36 | 37.8 dBA | 48.7 dBA |
| NZXT Kraken X41 | 37.5 dBA | 48.8 dBA |
| Deepcool Maelstrom 240 | 39.7 dBA | 49.3 dBA |
| Raijintek Triton | 37.0 dBA | 49.7 dBA |
| Antec Kühler H2O 950 | 46.3 dBA | 58.2 dBA |
| Antec Kühler H2O 1250 | 47.9 dBA | 65.2 dBA |
Decibel meter (Voltcraft SL-200) has been placed 1 meter away from the cooler. Measurements are conducted in a quiet room, where there are no other noise source. 32 dBA is the lowest we can get in our room. Also here the measurements are conducted at 7 and 12 V.
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup |
| Page 4 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 5 - PWM Performance |
| Page 6 - Conclusion |
PWM Performance
Temperatures
| Idle | Load | |
| Corsair H110 Dual Fan | 33 °C | 50 °C |
| Corsair H90 Single Fan | 33 °C | 51 °C |
| Deepcool Captain 360 | 34 °C | 52 °C |
| Fractal Design Kelvin S36 | 33 °C | 52 °C |
| NZXT Kraken X61 | 33 °C | 52 °C |
| Noctua NH-D15 Dual Fan | 33 °C | 53 °C |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow IB-E | 33 °C | 54 °C |
| Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan | 33 °C | 54 °C |
| Deepcool Maelstrom 240 | 34 °C | 54 °C |
| Enermax Liqtech 120X | 34°C | 54 °C |
| Noctua NH-D15 Single Fan | 34 °C | 54 °C |
| Cryorig R1 Universal | 35 °C | 54 °C |
| Enermax Liqtech 240X | 36 °C | 54 °C |
| Cooler Master Nepton 240M | 34 °C | 55 °C |
| Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan | 33 °C | 55 °C |
| Raijintek Nemesis Single Fan | 34 °C | 55 °C |
| Corsair H75 Single Fan | 35 °C | 55 °C |
| Raijintek Triton | 33 °C | 55 °C |
| Thermalright Archon IB-E X2 | 36 °C | 55 °C |
| Fractal Design Kelvin T12 | 35 °C | 56 °C |
| NZXT Kraken X41 | 35 °C | 56 °C |
| Raijintek Themis EVO | 35 °C | 56 °C |
| Deepcool Maelstrom 120 | 36 °C | 56 °C |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow ITX | 36 °C | 56 °C |
| Prolimatech Lynx | 34 °C | 57 °C |
| Enermax ETS-T40 White Claster | 35 °C | 57 °C |
| Thermalright Macho Rev.B | 35 °C | 57 °C |
| Antec Kühler H2O 1250 | 36 °C | 57 °C |
| NZXT Kraken X31 | 36 °C | 57 °C |
| Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan | 36 °C | 57 °C |
| Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Dual Fan | 37 °C | 57 °C |
| Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister | 35 °C | 58 °C |
| Scythe Ashura | 36 °C | 58 °C |
| Raijintek Pallas | 37 °C | 58 °C |
| Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Single Fan | 38 °C | 58 °C |
| Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure | 35 °C | 59 °C |
| Antec Kühler H2O 950 | 37 °C | 59 °C |
| Cooler Master Hyper 103 | 36 °C | 60 °C |
| Cooler Master Hyper 612 Ver. 2 | 36 °C | 62 °C |
| Thermolab Bada 2010 | 39 °C | 64 °C |
| Scythe IORI Scior-1000 | 42 °C | 66 °C |
| Thermolab LP-53 | 39 °C | 67 °C |
| Lepa LV12 | 37 °C | 70 °C |
| Thermolab ITX30 | 39 °C | 70 °C |
| Enermax ETS-N30 | 38 °C | 71 °C |
| Intel Stock | 39 °C | 75 °C |
At this point we plugged the fan(s) to the motherboard CPU fan header and let the motherboard take care of fan speeds. In other words the motherboard will adjust the fan speed via PWM signal according to CPU temperature. The idle temperature is the lowest temperature hit by the processor package after 10 minutes idle. The load temperature is the highest temperature hit by the processor package after one pass of wPrime v2.10. The wPrime test takes 4 minutes puts load on all 8 threads. Room temperature is 25°C.
Fan Speeds
| Idle | Load | |
| Thermalright Macho Rev.B | 306 rpm | 680 rpm |
| Scythe Ashura | 436 rpm | 550 rpm |
| Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan | 380 rpm | 687 rpm |
| Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan | 450 rpm | 740 rpm |
| Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure | 471 rpm | 770 rpm |
| Thermalright Archon IB-E X2 | 580 rpm | 805 rpm |
| Cooler Master Hyper 612 Ver. 2 | 413 rpm | 825 rpm |
| NZXT Kraken X31 | 750 rpm | 830 rpm |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow IB-E | 637 rpm | 854 rpm |
| Noctua NH-D15 Single Fan | 466 rpm | 860 rpm |
| Scythe IORI Scior-1000 | 424 rpm | 880 rpm |
| Enermax Liqtech 240X (600 - 1300 rpm Preset) | 790 rpm | 950 rpm |
| Noctua NH-D15 Dual Fan | 560 rpm | 955 rpm |
| Raijintek Triton | 955 rpm | 955 rpm |
| Corsair H75 Single Fan | 800 rpm | 969 rpm |
| Enermax Liqtech 120X | 580 rpm | 970 rpm |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow ITX | 490 rpm | 990 rpm |
| Cryorig R1 Universal | 800 rpm | 980 rpm |
| Corsair H90 Single Fan | 870 rpm | 1'000 rpm |
| Prolimatech Lynx | 765 rpm | 1'077 rpm |
| Deepcool Captain 360 | 710 rpm | 1'090 rpm |
| Corsair H110 Dual Fan | 950 rpm | 1'100 rpm |
| Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister | 820 rpm | 1'110 rpm |
| Raijintek Themis EVO | 990 rpm | 1'115 rpm |
| Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Dual Fan | 740 rpm | 1'140 rpm |
| Deepcool Maelstrom 240 | 760 rpm | 1'150 rpm |
| Enermax ETS-T40 White Claster | 920 rpm | 1'170 rpm |
| Raijintek Pallas | 952 rpm | 1'170 rpm |
| Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan | 1'120 rpm | 1'190 rpm |
| Fractal Design Kelvin T12 | 715 rpm | 1'200 rpm |
| Fractal Design Kelvin S36 | 800 rpm | 1'210 rpm |
| NZXT Kraken X61 | 840 rpm | 1'270 rpm |
| Raijintek Nemesis Single Fan | 1'120 rpm | 1'270 rpm |
| Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Single Fan | 800 rpm | 1'280 rpm |
| NZXT Kraken X41 | 1'190 rpm | 1'320 rpm |
| Deepcool Maelstrom 120 | 790 rpm | 1'360 rpm |
| Lepa LV12 | 870 rpm | 1'400 rpm |
| Cooler Master Nepton 240M | 700 rpm | 1'430 rpm |
| Cooler Master Hyper 103 | 950 rpm | 1'465 rpm |
| Thermolab Bada 2010 | 1'250 rpm | 1'500 rpm |
| Antec Kühler H2O 950 | 1'280 rpm | 1'610 rpm |
| Intel Stock | 1'230 rpm | 1'630 rpm |
| Antec Kühler H2O 1250 | 1'390 rpm | 1'690 rpm |
| Thermolab LP-53 | 1'475 rpm | 1'672 rpm |
| Enermax ETS-N30 | 970 rpm | 2'250 rpm |
| Thermolab ITX30 | 1'475 rpm | 2'253 rpm |
Values are in RPM, we took the lowest speed hit by the fan(s) in idle and the highest under load.
Noise Levels
| Idle | Load | |
| Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan | 32.0 dBA | 32.0 dBA |
| Thermalright Macho Rev.B | 32.0 dBA | 32.1 dBA |
| Noctua NH-D15 Dual Fan | 32.1 dBA | 32.3 dBA |
| Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan | 32.0 dBA | 32.4 dBA |
| Noctua NH-D15 Single Fan | 32.1 dBA | 32.6 dBA |
| Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure | 32.0 dBA | 32.7 dBA |
| Thermalright Archon IB-E X2 | 32.5 dBA | 32.7 dBA |
| Enermax Liqtech 120X | 32.1 dBA | 32.8 dBA |
| Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister | 32.3 dBA | 33.0 dBA |
| Corsair H75 Single Fan | 32.2 dBA | 33.2 dBA |
| Enermax ETS-T40 White Claster | 33.0 dBA | 33.2 dBA |
| Thermolab LP-53 | 33.0 dBA | 33.2 dBA |
| Scythe Ashura | 32.0 dBA | 33.4 dBA |
| NZXT Kraken X61 | 34.6 dBA | 35.8 dBA |
| Cooler Master Hyper 612 Ver. 2 | 33.1 dBA | 33.5 dBA |
| Enermax Liqtech 240X Dual Fan (600 - 1300rpm Preset) | 33.2 dBA | 33.5 dBA |
| Cooler Master Hyper 103 | 32.0 dBA | 33.6 dBA |
| Prolimatech Lynx | 33.3 dBA | 33.9 dBA |
| Raijintek Nemesis Single Fan | 33.5 dBA | 34.2 dBA |
| Corsair H90 Single Fan | 33.7 dBA | 34.2 dBA |
| Thermolab Bada 2010 | 33.8 dBA | 34.2 dBA |
| Corsair H110 Dual Fan | 33.3 dBA | 34.4 dBA |
| Intel Stock | 33.3 dBA | 34.4 dBA |
| Scythe IORI Scior-1000 | 33.2 dBA | 34.6 dBA |
| Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan | 33.7 dBA | 34.6 dBA |
| Lepa LV12 | 34.4 dBA | 34.7 dBA |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow IB-E | 34.0 dBA | 34.8 dBA |
| NZXT Kraken X31 | 34.5 dBA | 34.9 dBA |
| Deepcool Captain 360 | 33.9 dBA | 34.6 dBA |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow ITX | 33.8 dBA | 34.6 dBA |
| Fractal Design Kelvin T12 | 34.1 dBA | 35.1 dBA |
| Fractal Design Kelvin S36 | 34.2 dBA | 35.3 dBA |
| Raijintek Themis EVO | 34.8 dBA | 35.3 dBA |
| Deepcool Maelstrom 120 | 34.9 dBA | 35.7 dBA |
| Raijintek Triton | 36.2 dBA | 36.2 dBA |
| Enermax ETS-N30 | 33.8 dBA | 36.9 dBA |
| Cryorig R1 Universal | 33.5 dBA | 37.1 dBA |
| Thermolab ITX30 | 34.1 dBA | 37.6 dBA |
| NZXT Kraken X41 | 34.8 dBA | 37.9 dBA |
| Deepcool Maelstrom 240 | 36.1 dBA | 37.9 dBA |
| Cooler Master Nepton 140XL | 34.8dBA | 39.4 dBA |
| Cooler Master Nepton 240M | 33.8 dBA | 40.1 dBA |
| Raijintek Pallas | 35.9 dBA | 41.4 dBA |
| Antec Kühler H2O 950 | 41.7 dBA | 45.8 dBA |
| Antec Kühler H2O 1250 | 43.5 dBA | 47.9 dBA |
Decibel meter (Voltcraft SL-200) has been placed 1 meter away from the cooler. Measurements are conducted in a quiet room, where there are no other noise source. 32 dBA is the lowest we can get in our room. Also here the measurements are conducted at lowest and highest fan speeds in idle and under load respectively.
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup |
| Page 4 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 5 - PWM Performance |
| Page 6 - Conclusion |
Conclusion
| General | + | - | |
| Overall, the LEPA LV12 is a decent cooler with an attracitve price point. While the LEPA LV12 is an affordable model aimed at mid-range market, it comes with impressive manufacturing quality as well as a good performance, comparing to same price-level offerings from competing products. The overall performance could still be much better. While some coolers might be cheaper, they are also much cheaper in terms of design, simplicity and build quality. What we really loved was the black matte coating, as it makes this cooler stand out from the crowd of similar products and looks really special. We are quite sure that there are a bunch of modders out there waiting exactly for such a CPU cooler. The overall performance is not bad for the price, and noise levels are decent. The cooler comes bundled with a 120mm PWM fan and possibility to select three different rotation speed profiles. The fan is not noisy at 7V and 12V and neither when set to work in PWM mode. We also liked the compatibility with a vast variety of sockets. |
- Socket compatibility
- Build quality
- PWM - Design |
- Cooling capacity | |
| Installation | + | - | |
| Mounting the LEPA LV12 is quite simple as well as practical and you also get a backplate, which means that cooler mounting is quite a breeze. Basically, the installation is self-explanatory and really isn't hard to do. When it comes to thermal compound, you get a of Dow Corning thermal paste which is even enough for one more mounting. |
- Basic mounting easy and practical
Thermna Paste Tube - Compatible to AMD sockets |
||
| Performance | + | - | |
| The cooling performance of the LEPA LV12 is not very good for its size and we know that we are not talking about a big, high-end, tower-design CPU cooler. The overall perfomance is not at the level that we would like it to be since taking a closer look at our test results reveals that at 7V and 12V, it scores very close to end of our chart in our comparison table. When the PWM mode is enabled, it shares the place with the last five CPU coolers in the chart, which is basically not a good score. While taking the price into a consideration, LEPA did a decent job in terms of cooling performance with the LV12, where we have to underline, that performance is rather convincing for the price. | - Cooling capacity | ||
| Noise Levels | + | - | |
| The overall noise levels are not bad but the LEPA LV12 was also not the most silent cooler we tested in our lab. The fan features three different rotation profiles and closer look at the PWM mode reveals that it stays in middle of our chart. When checking the 7V and 12V modes, it is quite surprising that the LV12 managed to get in the top five in our chart. It seems that LEPA has been working hard on tuning the bearings lately. If you are wondering about the overclocking capabilites, bear in mind that we did not have any issues running our test CPU at 4.4 GHz while the fan was set in 7V mode. | - Silent 7V and 12V | ||
| Recommendation / Price | + | - | |
| Should you be looking for a cooler with nice looks, good manufacturing quality and attractive price tag, then the LV12 from LEPA is definitely a safe bet. When it comes to pricing, we believe that the 30 Euro price is definitely fair in this case. | - Price - Mini-ITX Gaming | ||
| Rating | |||
| We gave the LV12 from Lepa 4 out of 5 stars. | |||
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup |
| Page 4 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 5 - PWM Performance |
| Page 6 - Conclusion |