Introduction

From the Noctua website:

Designed in Austria, Noctua's premium cooling components are internationally renowned for their superb quietness, exceptional performance and thoroughgoing quality. Having received more than 1000 awards and recommendations from leading hardware websites and magazines, Noctua's fans and heatsinks are chosen by more than a hundred thousand satisfied customers around the globe.

Noctua is a company every PC enthusiast will recognize. If not for the name on the box, then by the color of their fans. Noctua is easy to spot and impossible to forget, having forged their reputation with impressive cooling, exceptional build quality, and low noise levels.

Such coolers as the NH-D14 and NH-C14 have made Noctua a premiere CPU cooler manufacturer. Their low-noise fans have gained a following in the enthusiast community for providing exceptional airflow whilst being nearly silent. That said, the colors of Noctua's fans may not be for everyone.

Today, I will put Noctua's reputation to the test once more as I take a look at the Noctua NH-L12, a small low-profile CPU cooler. Different from its far larger siblings, its small size will certainly impact cooling performance, but by how much and is it quiet? Let's find out.

Packaging & Contents

Noctua's NH-L12 CPU cooler comes in a compact box measuring roughly 19 cm in length, 18 cm in width, and 14 cm in height. The box has all the information one would expect about the product, such as specifications, socket support, and more.


The sides list the Noctua NH-L12's features: extra-low profile single-fan mode and SecuFirm 2, amongst others. The other side lists a description of the cooler in multiple languages.

Contents

After opening the box, I found the Noctua NH-L12 securely inside an enclosure made up of smaller, tight-fitting and sturdy cardboard inserts. They protect the cooler and all included materials well, which keeps the possibility of damage done during transport at a minimum. Meanwhile, all the mounting hardware was labeled and placed in re-sealable plastic bags. Both fans are, as can be seen, initially pre-installed. I, however, have removed them for a better look.


We can see the AMD mounting hardware on the left and all the Intel mounting hardware on the right. The necessary hardware for installing the Noctua NH-L12 to an AMD socket is minor, since AMD has kept the same socket design for so long, but Noctua has included a lot of mounting hardware to maintain compatibility with Intel systems. The Noctua NH-L12, as with all Noctua coolers, uses the SecuFirm 2 mounting system. That is not all: For Mini-ITX systems, Noctua has also supplied an install kit that does not require a backplate.


The Noctua NH-L12 itself along with the included L.N.A adaptors, extension cable, and y-cable. These extra cables will allow users to lower fan speeds for even quieter performance. Also seen in the first image is the screwdriver that Noctua has included, which makes installing the cooler a breeze as it has a perfect fit. The metal case badge and the instruction manual can also be seen. The fans Nocuta is using on this cooler are the 120 mm NF-F12 PWM and 92 mm NF-B9 PWM.

Common parts supplied for mounting include:

• 4x NM-IBT1 bolts
• 4x NM-IBT2 bolts
• 4x NM-IBT3 bolts
• 4x NM-ALS1 long screws
• 4x Short screws
• 4x Rubber fan mounts
• 4x Black spacers
• 4x White spacers
• 2x NM-IMB2 mounting bars (Intel)
• 2x NM-AMB1 mounting bars (AMD)
• 1x NM-IBP1 backplate
• 1x NM-IRI1 LGA775 rubber inlay