Noctua NH-D12L: A breath of fresh air for short twin-tower coolers

Conclusion and evaluation

Noctua has recently launched the Noctua NH-D12L, a fairly compact cooler with a height of just 145 millimetres. This makes it an ideal cooling solution for smaller cases, but also for servers with a height of 4U. Thanks to its interesting design and high-end fan, this cooler should offer very solid cooling effectiveness. But of course this assumption needs to be thoroughly verified, which is the aim of today’s article.

Cooler’s key features

At first glance, it’s clear that the NH-D12L is similar to Noctua’s common NH-D15/NH-D15S dual-tower design. However, compared to these coolers, the NH-D12L is designed asymmetrically. The base of the cooler is two bundles of aluminum fins that are connected by five copper heatpipes. However, the front tower is significantly thinner than the rear one to avoid physical conflict between the heatsink and the DIMM slots for RAM on Intel LGA 115x/1200/1700 or AMD AM4 socket boards (including the already announced future AM5 support).

The second, thicker bundle of fins has an interesting leading edge profile that resembles saw teeth. This design is usually intended to improve acoustics while increasing cooling efficiency by turbulent flow between the fins. Airflow through the passive part of the heatsink is provided by a modified version of the NF-A12x25 fan. This version is designated NF-A12x25r and has a circular frame shape similar to the NF-A15 fan. However, this modified fan has atypical mounting holes and therefore cannot be used in the normal 100 mm position on a radiator and/or in a case.

The main advantage of the NH-D12L is its overall height of just 145 millimetres. This makes it a suitable cooling solution even for more compact cases, which often support coolers up to a maximum height of 150 mm. For example, my favorite SFF case Cooler Master NR200P comes to mind, where this cooler fits like a glove even if you equip this case with a TG panel. Alternatively, it can be used as a cooler for 4U rack-mount server cases.

   
   

The packaging of the cooler doesn’t hide any surprises and you’ll find everything you’re used to with other Noctua coolers. Mounting kits for all current CPU sockets except TR4/sTRX4 are complemented by a second set of clips for mounting an additional fan and an adapter to reduce the maximum fan speed. Also included in the package is a tube of NT-H1 thermal paste that will last you for several applications and of course detailed instructions for installing the cooler.

   

The time-tested and user-friendly SecuFirm2 mounting system has now been updated to support the LGA 1700 socket. It is still one of the easiest and most reliable mounting systems available. Installing the cooler is a matter of a few moments and you should not encounter any difficulties.

The cooler and fan parameters

In the chart below you can easily compare all current Noctua tower coolers using 100 mm fans. Of course, the NH-D12L stands out slightly from this group with its height. I was a bit surprised by the relatively low number of heatpipes, personally I would have expected one more here.

The NF-A12x25r PWM fan is identical in features to the regular NF-A12x25 PWM version. The only difference is the frame design, which is now circular instead of the usual square. This is accompanied by a non-standard spacing of the mounting holes (93 x 83 mm instead of the usual 105 x 105 mm), which makes it unsuitable for normal use. Otherwise, however, it is still one of the best 120 mm fans on the market, which is unfortunately reflected a bit in the higher price of the whole cooler.

Noctua has recently launched the Noctua NH-D12L, a fairly compact cooler with a height of just 145 millimetres. This makes it an ideal cooling solution for smaller cases, but also for servers with a height of 4U. Thanks to its interesting design and high-end fan, this cooler should offer very solid cooling effectiveness. But of course this assumption needs to be thoroughly verified, which is the aim of today’s article.

Testing methodology

As a test processor and heat generator, I am now using an Intel Core i7-11700K on the Asus TUF Gaming Z590-Plus WiFi motherboard. The entire build is mounted on a Streacom BC1 frame with no fans to provide airflow. Acoustic shielding (acoustic foam on OSB boards) is installed around the test setup to eliminate ambient noise.

   

The Voltcraft SL-100 calibrated noise meter is placed perpendicular to the cooler in a fixed position relative to the motherboard at a distance of approximately 35 cm from the processor socket. Stress tests are performed using Prime95 with a duration of 30-35 minutes. The coolers are tested at three standardized noise levels (36, 39 and 42 dBA) and finally at maximum speed. The tests are run in two sets according to the heat output of the processor.

The first set of tests is at 125 W, the PL1 processor’s enforced limit. The second set of power draw is then about 205-210 W (4500 MHz at 1.285 V). However, this second level represents a very high concentration of heat per mm² due to the small size of the chip itself. Thus, not all coolers can be expected to pass this set of tests at all noise levels. At the end of the test, the highest temperature achieved is always recorded.

All data regarding CPU temperatures and heat output are obtained from the HWiNFO64 application. The measured values are then corrected against the room temperature as the resulting Delta T value. Any higher value means a processor temperature over 95–100 °C and a risk of thermal throttling. Therefore, if the cooler does not pass the load with a Delta T value below 75 °C, such a test is marked as a failure.



Noctua has recently launched the Noctua NH-D12L, a fairly compact cooler with a height of just 145 millimetres. This makes it an ideal cooling solution for smaller cases, but also for servers with a height of 4U. Thanks to its interesting design and high-end fan, this cooler should offer very solid cooling effectiveness. But of course this assumption needs to be thoroughly verified, which is the aim of today’s article.

Results – 36 dBA

Noctua has recently launched the Noctua NH-D12L, a fairly compact cooler with a height of just 145 millimetres. This makes it an ideal cooling solution for smaller cases, but also for servers with a height of 4U. Thanks to its interesting design and high-end fan, this cooler should offer very solid cooling effectiveness. But of course this assumption needs to be thoroughly verified, which is the aim of today’s article.

Results – 39 dBA

Noctua has recently launched the Noctua NH-D12L, a fairly compact cooler with a height of just 145 millimetres. This makes it an ideal cooling solution for smaller cases, but also for servers with a height of 4U. Thanks to its interesting design and high-end fan, this cooler should offer very solid cooling effectiveness. But of course this assumption needs to be thoroughly verified, which is the aim of today’s article.

Results – 42 dBA

Noctua has recently launched the Noctua NH-D12L, a fairly compact cooler with a height of just 145 millimetres. This makes it an ideal cooling solution for smaller cases, but also for servers with a height of 4U. Thanks to its interesting design and high-end fan, this cooler should offer very solid cooling effectiveness. But of course this assumption needs to be thoroughly verified, which is the aim of today’s article.

Results – maximum speed

---

Noctua has recently launched the Noctua NH-D12L, a fairly compact cooler with a height of just 145 millimetres. This makes it an ideal cooling solution for smaller cases, but also for servers with a height of 4U. Thanks to its interesting design and high-end fan, this cooler should offer very solid cooling effectiveness. But of course this assumption needs to be thoroughly verified, which is the aim of today’s article.

Conclusion and evaluation

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by the Noctua NH-D12L. It is practically a smaller version of the popular Noctua NH-D15S cooler, without any dramatic loss of efficiency by reducing its size. With a height of 145 mm, it can also be used in compact cases where large coolers usually don’t fit.

As usual with Noctua coolers, the workmanship is top-notch, including the soldered heatpipes. The accessories are not lacking anything substantial and the six-year warranty is now the standard with Noctua coolers.

I tried this cooler also together with a second NF-A12x25r fan on the front tower. However, the measured temperature differences were minimal compared to the base configuration. In addition, the added fan could not be placed as low as the base one because it came into contact with the RAM module (even though I use low-profile RAM with a height of 34 mm). So adding a second fan negated the main advantage of the cooler, which is its 145 mm height.

The only thing that might discourage you from buying this cooler is its relatively higher price. And for some reason, you will find “only” the older version of the NT-H1 thermal paste in the accessories, although the NT-H2 version with improved properties has been on the market for some time. However, these are only minor shortcomings that do not prevent me from giving this cooler the Approved editorial award.

English translation and edit by Jozef Dudáš

• Contents
• Key features
• Measurement methodology
• Results – 36 dBA
• Results – 39 dBA
• Results – 42 dBA
• Results – maximum speed
• Conclusion and evaluation