Noctua NH-L12 Low Profile CPU Cooler Review

When you are building a home theater PC or small form factor PC it is really hard to find a CPU cooler that will not only fit, but provide adequate cooling as well.  We know Noctua for making extremely large CPU coolers, some of the largest air coolers that we have seen actually.  Today we are checking out one of their latest CPU coolers the NH-L12.  What is interesting about it is that it is a low-profile cooler made for home theater PC’s and smaller systems.  Will this cooler still provide the great cooling power we are used to seeing with Noctua CPU coolers? Read on to find out!

Special thanks to Noctua for providing us with the NH-L12 Low Profile CPU Cooler to review.

Specifications

Socket compatibility Intel LGA2011, LGA1366, LGA1156, LGA1155, LGA775 & AMD AM2, AM2+, AM3, AM3+, FM1 (backplate required)
Height (without fan) 66 mm
Width (without fan) 128 mm
Depth (without fan) 150 mm
Height (with fan) 93 mm
Width (with fan) 128 mm
Depth (with fan) 150 mm
Weight (without fan) 415 g
Weight (with fan) 680 g
Material Copper (base and heat-pipes), aluminium (cooling fins), soldered joints & nickel plating
Fan compatibility 120x120x25mm & 92x92x25mm
Scope of Delivery 1x NF-F12 PWM premium fan
1x NF-B9 PWM premium fan
2x Low-Noise Adaptor (L.N.A.)
Y-Split Cable
NT-H1 high-grade thermal compound
SecuFirm2™ Mounting Kit
Mini-ITX Mounting-Kit
Noctua Metal Case-Badge
Warranty 6 Years

Fan specifications

Model Noctua NF-F12 PWM & Noctua NF-B9 PWM
Bearing SSO-Bearing
Max. Rotational Speed (+/- 10%) 1500 / 1600 RPM
Max. Rotational Speed with L.N.A. (+/- 10%) 1200 / 1300 RPM
Min. Rotational Speed (PWM) 300 / 300 RPM
Max. Airflow 93,4 / 64,3 m³/h
Max. Airflow with L.N.A. 74,3 / 52,6 m³/h
Max. Acoustical Noise 22,4 / 17,6 dB(A)
Max. Acoustical Noise with L.N.A. 18,6 / 13,1 dB(A)
Input Power 0,6 / 0,96 W
Voltage Range 12 V
MTBF > 150.000 h

Packaging
Noctua has always done a great job on making their packaging very informative, so if you are at the store looking at different CPU coolers you can learn all about the NH-L12.  There is information on almost every side of the retail box.

Noctua NH-L12 Low Profile CPU Cooler Noctua NH-L12 Low Profile CPU Cooler Noctua NH-L12 Low Profile CPU Cooler Noctua NH-L12 Low Profile CPU Cooler

Getting everything out of the retail box you have the NH-L12 CPU cooler, bag of Intel mounting materials, bag of AMD mounting materials, bag of accessories and installation instructions.

Noctua NH-L12 Low Profile CPU Cooler

To give you a good idea of how the NH-L12 comes and for a brief overview check out our unboxing and overview video below.

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