NH-L12
Low profile CPU cooler
Award-winning NH-L12 heatsink
with a compact low-profile design
Dual NF-F12 / NF-B9 fans
With PWM support and Low-Noise Adaptors
SecuFirm2™ mounting system
Synonymous with quality, safety and easy installation
220 reviews & awards
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First off, you need to understand what the Noctua NH-L12 is….and isn’t. The NH-L12 is a low profile, dual fan cooler made specifically for small case applications, most notably HTPC. It has the ability to run in a single fan mode that drops the height of the installed NH-L12 to a miniscule 66mm. It is not a behemoth made for overclocking. It is specifically meant to sit on lower wattage CPU/APUs in tight spaces and cool them effectively and efficiently in near silence, and do so in even the smallest and tightest of HTPC cases with a simple installation. This is what the NH-L12 was made to do, and it does it to perfection with room to spare.Looking at the cooling characteristics, they are absolutely outstanding. In dual fan mode the NH-L12 actually manages easily outperform its much larger sibling the NH-C12P and is in a whole different (and much better) cooling class than the other low profile coolers we have tested. At stock CPU speeds the NH-L12 cooling results look like they came from a similarly priced full sized tower, and a good one at that.Taking off the top fan and running the NH-L12 at 66mm in height, the cooling naturally took a hit, but remained impressive. Even under full load for extended periods, the CPU remained 14 degrees from its thermal danger zone at a cool 41 degrees.
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