The NH-D12L has proven in countless tests that it can keep up with larger 120mm coolers despite its reduced height. Its winning combination of excellent performance and extended case compatibility has earned the NH-D12L awards and recommendations from more than 50 hardware websites and magazines across the world.
The NH-D12L chromax.black is black from head to toe: featuring a black coated heatsink, a black fan with black anti-vibration pads, black fan clips and black mounting parts, it’s right at home in all-black builds and easy to integrate with other colour schemes.
While Noctua’s regular 120mm CPU coolers stand 158mm tall, the NH-D12L measures only 145mm. This allows it to fit not only a wide range of 4U rackmount server cases and many tower-style enclosures that are not wide enough for 158mm units, but also some larger Small Form Factor (SFF) and Mini-ITX chassis.
Introduced in 2018, Noctua’s NF-A12x25 is widely considered to be the best 120mm fan on the market. The round-frame variant used on the NH-D12L provides the same renowned quiet cooling performance yet makes it possible to reduce overall cooler height without risking compatibility issues with tall motherboard heatsinks or shrouds.
In its standard orientation (blowing towards the I/O panel), the NH-D12L does not overhang the RAM slots on Intel LGA1851 / LGA1700 / LGA1200 / LGA115x and AMD AM5 / AM4 based motherboards due to its asymmetric design. This ensures easy access to the installed modules and 100% compatibility with DIMMs that feature tall heat-spreaders or RGB lighting.
The NF-A12x25r 120mm fan supplied with the NH-D12L supports PWM for convenient automatic speed control through the motherboard: full performance under load, virtually silent at idle! In addition, the maximum fan speed can be reduced from 2000 to 1700rpm using the supplied Low-Noise Adaptor for even quieter operation.
Noctua’s SecuFirm2™ mounting systems have become synonymous with quality, safety and easy installation. Supporting Intel LGA1851, LGA1700, LGA1200, LGA115x (LGA1150, LGA1151, LGA1155, LGA1156) and AMD AM5 and AM4, the SecuFirm2™ mounting included with the NH-D12L is straightforward to install, provides perfect contact pressure and will stand the test of time even under heavy use.
The NH-D12L chromax.black includes Noctua’s offset mounting bars for AM5 that make it possible to install the cooler shifted towards the south side of the socket by 7mm, thereby achieving better contact quality right above the CCD(s). This improved contact exactly at the processor’s hotspot can significantly reduce CPU temperatures with typical improvements in the range of 1-3°C.
Thanks to Noctua’s SecuFirm™ ecosystem, the NH-D12L chromax.black can be made compatible with the older LGA2066, LGA2011, LGA1366 and LGA775 sockets using the optional NM-i20xx and NM-I3 mounting kits, which are provided free of charge on request. If technically possible, Noctua will also provide upgrade kits for future sockets, which makes the NH-D12L a safe long-term investment.
Noctua’s much-acclaimed NT-H1 is a pro-grade TIM solution that provides minimum thermal resistance, excellent ease of use and outstanding reliability. Chosen again and again by overclockers and enthusiast users worldwide, it has established itself as a benchmark for premium-quality thermal compounds.
With many heatsinks, the fins are press-fitted to the heatpipes. Due to the different thermal expansion coefficients of copper and aluminium, this fit can loosen over years of thermal cycling, which may lead to reduced performance. By contrast, the NH-D12L’s fins are soldered to the heatpipes in order to guarantee a superior thermal interface that doesn’t deteriorate even after many years of usage.
Noctua products are renowned for their impeccable quality and outstanding longevity. True to this legacy, the NH-D12L heatsink is built to last, and like all Noctua fans, the supplied NF-A12x25r features an MTTF rating of more than 150,000 hours. The entire package comes with a full 6-year manufacturer’s warranty.
