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The Noctua NH-L12 is an excellent choice for an HTPC or desktop system where space is at a premium. With the 120mm fan installed on top of the cooler it stands just 93mm tall, and if you can manage to run with just the lower 92mm fan installed you can get the height down to 66mm. This will fit a large number of cases, including some of the slimmer units available.
Often built into micro-ATX or smaller chassis, HTPC aficionados demand small size and silent operation over sheer performance. Noctua aims to target the HTPC crowd with the release of their latest cooler, the NH-L12. Following in the footsteps of their C-Type NH-C14 that we reviewed here last year, the L12 offers a similar top-flow design in a slimmer, lower profile, while retaining a dual-fan configuration and incorporating their latest F-Series Focused-Flow PWM fan.
Noctua is a brand name that is very often associated with three things: silence, quality and performance. Yet there is a lot more to Noctua than the NH-D14: that world renowned dual tower heatsink that is the yardstick by which air CPU cooler performance is measured.
In recognition of the growing Home Theatre Personal Computer (HTPC) and Small Form Factor Personal Computer (SFF PC) markets, Noctua has introduced three CPU coolers in recent times which are of note. The newest additions are the NH-L9i and NH-L9a and a slightly older addition is the NH-L12. We will have a review of the NH-L9i coming very soon but in today's review we have with us the NH-L12.
Technic3D hat den Noctua NH-L12 CPU-Kühler im Test. Ob ein Low-Profile Kühler auch mit guter Leistung überzeugen kann, steht im nachfolgenden Review.
Seit mehreren Jahren werden bei Noctua CPU Kühler in verschiedenen Formen, Größen und Leistungsstufen hergestellt. Ein Kühler hat aber bisher noch gefehlt, ein kleiner und Platzsparender HTPC Kühler. Diesen hat man vor wenigen Wochen vorgestellt, den NH-L12 Kühler. Diesen Kühler haben wir uns etwas genauer angesehen.
Dass Noctua nicht einzig und allein darauf aus ist, die Leistungskrone im CPU-Kühler-Markt zu ergattern, wird klar wenn man sich das Produkt-Portfolio der österreichischen Kühlerschmiede vor Augen führt. Der Hersteller möchte für jedes Einsatzgebiet eine möglichst perfekte Lösung bieten. Ein immer populärer werdender Bereich sind platzsparende HTPCs, für die oft nur sehr kompakte Kühler in Frage kommen. Der NH-L12 soll genau hier ansetzen und ein hervorragendes Verhältnis aus geringer Größer und Kühlleistung bieten. Ob Noctua erneut überzeugen kann, erfahrt ihr im Laufe dieses Artikels.
Today we are testing the Noctua NH-L12 CPU cooler, which has a horizontal heatsink, four heatpipes, and two fans (one 120 mm and the other 92 mm wide). Let's test it!
Noctua is well known for their excellent cooling products, when it comes to the enthusiast end of things Noctua knows what it's doing that's for sure. Many of Noctua's products are aimed at the high-end or enthusiast user who likes to overclock their systems and get the most out of them. Not everybody falls into that category though and they just want a decent cooling solution for their CPU, one that's quality made and one that's quiet. I for one prefer both in my systems with quiet being one of the more important things on my list of requirements for a CPU cooler. Making products for enthusiasts usually means big, but Noctua has recently introduced a cooler that's surprisingly not aimed at the enthusiast market, or at least not the overclockers out there anyway. The Noctua NH-L12 is a low-profile style cooler meant for smaller systems like small form factor or HTPC where space is quite limited. The NH-L12 is meant to keep your CPU cooler but yet keep things running quiet. Let's continue on...
In a North American culture, many of us tend to cheer for a favorite sports team, whether it is for football, hockey, basketball, soccer, or golf. Okay, maybe not golf, but you get the idea. This is especially true when teams are sent to the Summer or Winter Olympics. Whenever a team scores a touchdown, a goal, or gets the gold medal, there would be loud roars of voices over a victory. It really doesn't matter if it's a victory for a city or a victory for a nation; it simply feels good for achieving new heights. I remember my first sports event with a large crowd was sitting at a NHL game. It didn't matter whether the opposing team or the team you were cheering for scored a goal; it was either a loud "boo", a loud "yeah", or a loud groan for a near miss. What we have in stock today is a total opposite of that, although it will still give you that good feeling inside of you when you get to the results. Although it still has the letters "N", "H", and "L" in it, it has nothing to do with the National Hockey League, or any other sport, for that matter. Noctua presents the new NH-L12 -- a heatsink that keeps things cool while aiming to remain silent at the same time. "Great things come in small packages", and I think the Noctua NH-L12 delivers just that in a very subtle manner. Keep reading to see what this little beast can deliver!
Noctua is back in the house. It’s always good to have them here. We appreciate the work and effort that is put into these cooler designs and their build quality. Although some of the designs or color schemes might not speak to everyone, the performance is far from lackluster. Noctua is a respectable contender on both fronts. We will be looking at the Noctua NH-L12 today. The Noctua NH-L12 is a top-down low-profile CPU cooler geared towards the small spaces such as HTPC’s and other small form factor scenarios. With a total height of just under 100mm this cooler could even be used in a 3U server rack.
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