Noctua NH-L12

crazyeyesreaper · Feb 19, 2013

With more and more of today's CPU coolers getting ever larger, Noctua has released the NH-L12. This small, versatile, low-profile cooler gets put to the test as we find out just what it offers today's PC enthusiasts.

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BigMack70 · Mar 12, 2013

Great review! I was thinking of using this cooler for an upcoming small form factor office PC build I want to do, and now I know it's the correct decision

Nordic · Mar 13, 2013

Has its uses but just makes the evo stand out even more.

crazyeyesreaper · Mar 13, 2013

yet the Evo wont fit where an NH-L12 can and thats the coolers appeal its ment more for an HTPC or Mini ITX build, its also far better in the quality department however under overclock at 4,1 on the 3960x both barely passed the test, 86'c is when SB-E begins to thermal throttle. Both manage to come in just below that point. However if i was using the coolers id rather have the quality of the Noctua. As they say you get what you pay for. Not to say the Hyper is a bad cooler its a budget champ for most, but sometimes build quality is worth the cost. That and the long warranty, and the free socket compatibility for new sockets as they release. aka buy a noctua new socket new mounting holes? no problem long as you have proof of purchase you can ask Noctua for the updated mounting hardware.

Nordic · Mar 13, 2013

crazyeyesreaper said:
yet the Evo wont fit where an NH-L12 can and thats the coolers appeal its ment more for an HTPC or Mini ITX build, its also far better in the quality department however under overclock at 4,1 on the 3960x both barely passed the test, 86'c is when SB-E begins to thermal throttle. Both manage to come in just below that point. However if i was using the coolers id rather have the quality of the Noctua. As they say you get what you pay for. Not to say the Hyper is a bad cooler its a budget champ for most, but sometimes build quality is worth the cost. That and the long warranty, and the free socket compatibility for new sockets as they release. aka buy a noctua new socket new mounting holes? no problem long as you have proof of purchase you can ask Noctua for the updated mounting hardware.

As I said, has its uses. This is great for all the reasons you stated.

crazyeyesreaper · Mar 13, 2013

yea now if i just wanted a cheap cooler to get away from junk stock heatsinks that allows overclocking the Hyper is a great choice.

tamw · Mar 13, 2013

This cooler was my saviour for my mini itx gaming rig.

My case is Lian Li PC-Q07 and its hell to get things inside, but with this cooler using only the small fan under the cooler, it was a perfect fit! the psu gets the hot air right from the cooler out =) I run my 2600k @ only 4ghz, but temps never reach over 85c with prime and furmark on the gtx670. :toast:

Nordic · Mar 13, 2013

It would be perfect for this case.

qubit · Mar 13, 2013

crazyeyesreaper said:
yet the Evo wont fit where an NH-L12 can and thats the coolers appeal its ment more for an HTPC or Mini ITX build, its also far better in the quality department however under overclock at 4,1 on the 3960x both barely passed the test, 86'c is when SB-E begins to thermal throttle. Both manage to come in just below that point. However if i was using the coolers id rather have the quality of the Noctua. As they say you get what you pay for. Not to say the Hyper is a bad cooler its a budget champ for most, but sometimes build quality is worth the cost. That and the long warranty, and the free socket compatibility for new sockets as they release. aka buy a noctua new socket new mounting holes? no problem long as you have proof of purchase you can ask Noctua for the updated mounting hardware.

This is a classic grey area.

Yeah, quality is really important and I always go for quality products, but if the product doesn't do what you want, then it's useless, regardless of how good quality it is. Then again, a lowish quality product that initially meets the spec is useless too, because it won't last, or just gives bad performance eg sleeve fan bearings that wear out quickly and make an awful racket.

However, if you simply have to accept a certain amount of tradeoff, then it might well be worth it. As I said, a classic grey area!

Major_A · Mar 13, 2013

I have the same (roughly) cooler in one of my machines now, it's called the Thermalright XP-120.

Ikaruga · Mar 14, 2013

Thanks for the review. I really like this cooler.

System Name	Old reliable
Processor	Intel 8700K @ 4.8 GHz
Motherboard	MSI Z370 Gaming Pro Carbon AC
Cooling	Custom Water
Memory	32 GB Crucial Ballistix 3666 MHz
Video Card(s)	MSI RTX 3080 10GB Suprim X
Storage	3x SSDs 2x HDDs
Display(s)	ASUS VG27AQL1A x2 2560x1440 8bit IPS
Case	Thermaltake Core P3 TG
Audio Device(s)	Samson Meteor Mic / Generic 2.1 / KRK KNS 6400 headset
Power Supply	Zalman EBT-1000
Mouse	Mionix NAOS 7000
Keyboard	Mionix

Processor	Intel i9-9900KS @ 5.2 GHz
Motherboard	Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Master
Cooling	Corsair H150i Elite
Memory	32GB Viper Steel Series DDR4-4000
Video Card(s)	RTX 3090 Founders Edition
Storage	2TB Sabrent Rocket NVMe + 2TB Intel 960p NVMe + 512GB Samsung 970 Evo NVMe + 4TB WD Black HDD
Display(s)	65" LG C9 OLED
Case	Lian Li O11D-XL
Audio Device(s)	Audeze Mobius headset, Logitech Z906 speakers
Power Supply	Corsair AX1000 Titanium

Processor	7800x3d
Motherboard	Gigabyte B650 Auros Elite AX
Cooling	Custom Water
Memory	GSKILL 2x16gb 6000mhz Cas 30 with custom timings
Video Card(s)	MSI RX 6750 XT MECH 2X 12G OC
Storage	Adata SX8200 1tb with Windows, Samsung 990 Pro 2tb with games
Display(s)	HP Omen 27q QHD 165hz
Case	ThermalTake P3
Power Supply	SuperFlower Leadex Titanium
Software	Windows 11 64 Bit
Benchmark Scores	CB23: 1811 / 19424 CB24: 1136 / 7687

System Name	Old reliable
Processor	Intel 8700K @ 4.8 GHz
Motherboard	MSI Z370 Gaming Pro Carbon AC
Cooling	Custom Water
Memory	32 GB Crucial Ballistix 3666 MHz
Video Card(s)	MSI RTX 3080 10GB Suprim X
Storage	3x SSDs 2x HDDs
Display(s)	ASUS VG27AQL1A x2 2560x1440 8bit IPS
Case	Thermaltake Core P3 TG
Audio Device(s)	Samson Meteor Mic / Generic 2.1 / KRK KNS 6400 headset
Power Supply	Zalman EBT-1000
Mouse	Mionix NAOS 7000
Keyboard	Mionix

Processor	7800x3d
Motherboard	Gigabyte B650 Auros Elite AX
Cooling	Custom Water
Memory	GSKILL 2x16gb 6000mhz Cas 30 with custom timings
Video Card(s)	MSI RX 6750 XT MECH 2X 12G OC
Storage	Adata SX8200 1tb with Windows, Samsung 990 Pro 2tb with games
Display(s)	HP Omen 27q QHD 165hz
Case	ThermalTake P3
Power Supply	SuperFlower Leadex Titanium
Software	Windows 11 64 Bit
Benchmark Scores	CB23: 1811 / 19424 CB24: 1136 / 7687

Noctua NH-L12

crazyeyesreaper

Not a Moderator

BigMack70

Nordic

crazyeyesreaper

Not a Moderator

Nordic

crazyeyesreaper

Not a Moderator

tamw

Nordic

qubit

Overclocked quantum bit

Major_A

Ikaruga

System Name	Quantumville™
Processor	Intel Core i7-2700K @ 4GHz
Motherboard	Asus P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3
Cooling	Noctua NH-D14
Memory	16GB (2 x 8GB Corsair Vengeance Black DDR3 PC3-12800 C9 1600MHz)
Video Card(s)	MSI RTX 2080 SUPER Gaming X Trio
Storage	Samsung 850 Pro 256GB \| WD Black 4TB \| WD Blue 6TB
Display(s)	ASUS ROG Strix XG27UQR (4K, 144Hz, G-SYNC compatible) \| Asus MG28UQ (4K, 60Hz, FreeSync compatible)
Case	Cooler Master HAF 922
Audio Device(s)	Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty PCIe
Power Supply	Corsair AX1600i
Mouse	Microsoft Intellimouse Pro - Black Shadow
Keyboard	Yes
Software	Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

System Name	2600k
Processor	i7 2600K
Motherboard	ASUS P8Z77-V PRO
Cooling	Phanteks PH-TC14PE_BK
Memory	16GB
Video Card(s)	ASUS GTX 760 OC
Storage	120GB Agility 3/2TB WD Caviar Black x 2/Intel 311 (Cache Drive)
Display(s)	Dell S2340M
Case	Lian Li PC-8FIR (Silver)
Audio Device(s)	X-Fi Titanium Fata1ity
Power Supply	Cooler Master Silent Pro M 1000W
Software	Win 7 Pro x64 SP1
Benchmark Scores	Logitech G500 \| Razer Lycosa Mirror \| Logitech Z-5300