Tuesday, February 21st 2012
Noctua Presents the NH-L12 Low-Profile CPU Cooler
Noctua today presented its new NH-L12 low-profile cooler for Small Form Factor cases and HTPC environments. The NH-L12 features a flexible NF-F12 (120 mm) / NF-B9 (92 mm) dual PWM fan setup that can be configured either for full performance in dual fan mode or extra-low profile (66 mm) with the top fan removed.
"The industry trend towards Small Form Factor and Home Theatre PCs is well-established, but there's still a lack of suitable high-quality quiet CPU coolers", explains Mag. Roland Mossig, Noctua CEO. "Building a powerful PC always requires a capable CPU, which in return demands a competent cooling solution. But who wants his HTPC to sound like a jet engine? This is precisely where the NH-L12 steps in."
Thanks to its exquisite dual fan setup consisting of Noctua's highly optimised NF-F12 (120 mm) and NF-B9 (92 mm) premium fans, the NH-L12 pushes the bar in terms of low-profile quiet cooling performance. Alternatively, the NH-L12 can also be used with the NF-B9 92 mm fan only in order to reduce the overall height to 66 mm. This way, the cooler is suitable for many typical µATX or Mini-ITX enclosures and ideal for whisper-quiet HTPC systems.
The NH-L12's NF-F12 and NF-B9 fans support PWM for convenient automatic speed control. In addition, the maximum fan speed can be reduced to 1200/1300 rpm using the supplied Low-Noise Adaptors for even quieter operation. Bundled with the award-winning NT-H1 thermal compound and Noctua's SecuFirm2 multi-socket mounting system, the NH-L12 packs everything a premium quality quiet cooler needs into a highly compact package.
Price and Availability
The NH-L12 will be available immediately at a recommended retail price of EUR 49.90 / USD 59.90.
"The industry trend towards Small Form Factor and Home Theatre PCs is well-established, but there's still a lack of suitable high-quality quiet CPU coolers", explains Mag. Roland Mossig, Noctua CEO. "Building a powerful PC always requires a capable CPU, which in return demands a competent cooling solution. But who wants his HTPC to sound like a jet engine? This is precisely where the NH-L12 steps in."
The NH-L12's NF-F12 and NF-B9 fans support PWM for convenient automatic speed control. In addition, the maximum fan speed can be reduced to 1200/1300 rpm using the supplied Low-Noise Adaptors for even quieter operation. Bundled with the award-winning NT-H1 thermal compound and Noctua's SecuFirm2 multi-socket mounting system, the NH-L12 packs everything a premium quality quiet cooler needs into a highly compact package.
Price and Availability
The NH-L12 will be available immediately at a recommended retail price of EUR 49.90 / USD 59.90.
6 Comments on Noctua Presents the NH-L12 Low-Profile CPU Cooler
I would love to see a comparison to the c14 and c12p se14 with different fans (120mm/140mm) and configurations during overclocking to get an idea of maximum performance and maximum performance while running quietly. The others mentioned are similar noctua low-profile coolers which pretty much dominate this niche. This looks proportionally smaller than the c12p as it is to the c14.
I've always wondered ever since x-bit gave kind of a stinging review to the c14 (where-as everyone else has universally praised it) if there was a better mix of fans/surface area/height that could still fit in a htpc and provide similar or better cooling with less space and/or noise. Cheaper never hurts either, if performance is similar.
I have the c14, love it...it's approx 1-2mm from hitting the top of my pc-c50b which is perfect as it's right under a fan mesh in the top of the case...wish it had come pwm fans though, especially considering the price...adapters are a PITA. Glad they have fixed that. That said, had someone done a similar round-up like I'm interested in, I may have gone with a different case. Maybe not, but maybe...finding good information on the niche was pretty difficult at the time and I pretty much winged it hoping it would work. I'm sure it would help the droves that will continue to flock to this setup from a traditional enthusiast desktop as we move forward.
I'm curious how they fit into miniITX boards... It looks like not much high end CPU coolers for such systems...
for now i prefer cooler with top down design than tower cooler since tower cooler get bigger and bigger more than the case could handle
:: the smaller fan looks too close to the base, i wonder how well it would help coz it may lead more turbulence
For this particular form factor I don't know that overclocking would be especially important.
What people would be looking for is absolute silence, ease of fitting and compatibility - e.g. will it fit in most SFF cases, will it clash with RAM etc.
Overclocking is an issue - what kind of thermal load can it dissipate and can it do it quietly, but I would imagine most people considering it are looking at a HTPC or the like and are concerned that they don't want to hear a fan blowing during quiet parts of a film.