Taking everything into consideration, we’ve been impressed beyond belief with the Noctua NH-L12S, by all means, the heatsink should not have handled a 130W CPU, one of the most power-hungry CPUs of recent years, at that.
The acoustics took a bit of a hit when fully stressed, but this situation is completely artificial and shows an extreme “worst case scenario.” It’s not really representative of what the cooler is designed to do, so we can’t be too critical.
Regarding its compact size, the CPU cooler should fit within most small-form-factor machines making this ideal for HTPCs and small gaming desktops. Speaking of which, if your PC features a tempered glass or Perspex side panel, you may not find the brown fan to be all that appealing.
Noctua’s reputation of producing class-leading cooling equipment has yet again made an appearance, with the NH-L12S going above and beyond what was expected of it and holding its own. In anything other than stress tests and constant, intensive workloads, the heatsink would be capable of removing that heat.
If you require a small, compact cooler from a reputable, well-known manufacturer, with performance to boot, the Noctua NH-L12S will not disappoint. Guaranteed.
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The acoustics took a bit of a hit when fully stressed, but this situation is completely artificial and shows an extreme “worst case scenario.” It’s not really representative of what the cooler is designed to do, so we can’t be too critical.
Regarding its compact size, the CPU cooler should fit within most small-form-factor machines making this ideal for HTPCs and small gaming desktops. Speaking of which, if your PC features a tempered glass or Perspex side panel, you may not find the brown fan to be all that appealing.
Noctua’s reputation of producing class-leading cooling equipment has yet again made an appearance, with the NH-L12S going above and beyond what was expected of it and holding its own. In anything other than stress tests and constant, intensive workloads, the heatsink would be capable of removing that heat.
If you require a small, compact cooler from a reputable, well-known manufacturer, with performance to boot, the Noctua NH-L12S will not disappoint. Guaranteed.
Pros
+ Quiet, even under extreme load
+ Small form factor
+ Well designed construction and setup
+ Excellent instructions
+ Included NT-H1 thermal paste
+ Will fit almost any CPU socket
+ Solid build quality
Cons
- Brown fan is ugly
+ Quiet, even under extreme load
+ Small form factor
+ Well designed construction and setup
+ Excellent instructions
+ Included NT-H1 thermal paste
+ Will fit almost any CPU socket
+ Solid build quality
Cons
- Brown fan is ugly
Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net.
Stay connected with the Vortez Social Media pages:
