Noctua NH-D12L, Low-Height Dual-Tower CPU Cooler (120mm, Brown)

Product Information

Noctua has not changed up their retail design for their vanilla products and the NH-D12L seems to slot right in. 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. A thick single tower with a pair of fans to cool it, a single tower with a single fan, and even some C-style additions for good measure, but they always seemed to find their niche in the market.

The back of the box explains why this cooler came about, its strengths and compatibility, and is essentially a carbon copy of their introduction on the product page. It has a maximum height of 145 mm, which should fit most 4U rackmount server cases along with a few Mini-ITX cases. Because of its asymmetric design, the NH-D12L does not push against the DIMM installed in their slots on Intel LGA1700/LGA1200/LGA115x and AMD AM4/AM5-based motherboards, allowing for simple access to the modules and complete compatibility with DIMMs with tall heatspreaders or RGB lighting. These fans use an SSO bearing for support and are housed in a round frame to help limit the tower's overall height. In my opinion, the base is good, for 4+, but for such money I would like to see a perfect flat mirror finish and not think about myths and legends in the segment of processor coolers.Testing was conducted both with one fan installed between the radiator sections, which ensures good compatibility with RAM modules, and with two fans. Inside, the kit is enclosed in a separate box, and the radiator and fan are protected by thick cardboard spacers. I was a bit surprised by the relatively low number of heatpipes, personally I would have expected one more here. To be fair, that is a bit of a niche market, but having a top-tier offering for those in need means it should still prove quite popular. New: A brand-new, unused, unopened and undamaged item in original retail packaging (where packaging .

What I’ve found were only Chinese “trashcans”, a couple of cuboids from Corsair, a couple of unremarkable Thermaltake cases. However, it must be noted that the second fan will usually sit on top of either the RAM or I/O panel and thereby increase the total height beyond 145mm. In general, it is said that both the stripes and the hump are for the optimal distribution of the thermal paste.The NF-A12x25r fan is extremely smooth and quiet thanks to the SSO2 (Self-Stabilising Oil-Pressure) bearing and AAO (Advandced Acoustic Optimisation) frame. Thus, we can legitimately talk about a gaming cooler, as long as this designation refers to the visual design. However, if you are space limited, where the NH-D12L shines, you will be hard-pressed to find comparable performance from other 145mm tall CPU coolers, and surely better than what you would see with a 92mm fan-based solution. 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. As mentioned before, the presentation of the product itself is premium, and that quality is evident throughout.