Noctua presents NH-L12 low-profile CPU cooler

There are basically 3 reasons why anyone buys an aftermarket CPU cooler. Reason 1 is reducing noise as stock fans are notorious for being annoyingly loud. Even Dell springs for their own CPU coolers. Reason 2 is the need for better performance, usually for overclocking. Finally reason 3 is special case needs such as small form factor PC cases and HTPCs. The new Noctua NH-L12 attempts to merge all three.

The NH-L12 is going for the PC enthusiast with  HTPC and SFF (Small Form Factor) cases. The low profile cooler is designed to minimize the height of the overall cooler, without sacrificing performance or increasing noise. The NH-L12 comes with one 120 mm NF-F12 fan and one 92 mm NF-B9 fan. The cooler is design to work well with just the 92 mm fans, but you can add the 120 mm on top if you have the space and/or need for better performance.

The NH-L12 will be available with an MSRP of $59.90. What more needs to be said? It’s a Noctua product. You already know at the worst, it will just fall in the middle of the top tier coolers in the same area, but it will come with a bundle of great accessories such as NT-H1 thermal compound and a Low Noise Adapter. The only way Noctua CPU coolers could be more awesome is if they sold them with coupons for Blue Bell ice cream.

You can find full specs here.

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Noctua presents NH-L12 low-profile CPU cooler

February 21st 2012 – Noctua today presented its new NH-L12 low-profile cooler for Small Form Factor cases and HTPC environments. The NH-L12 features a flexible NF-F12 (120 mm) / NF-B9 (92 mm) dual PWM fan setup that can be configured either for full performance in dual fan mode or extra-low profile (66 mm) with the top fan removed.

“The industry trend towards Small Form Factor and Home Theatre PCs is well-established, but there’s still a lack of suitable high-quality quiet CPU coolers”, explains Mag. Roland Mossig, Noctua CEO. “Building a powerful PC always requires a capable CPU, which in return demands a competent cooling solution. But who wants his HTPC to sound like a jet engine? This is precisely where the NH-L12 steps in.”

Thanks to its exquisite dual fan setup consisting of Noctua’s highly optimized NF-F12 (120 mm) and NF-B9 (92 mm) premium fans, the NH-L12 pushes the bar in terms of low-profile quiet cooling performance. Alternatively, the NH-L12 can also be used with the NF-B9 92 mm fan only in order to reduce the overall height to 66 mm. This way, the cooler is suitable for many typical µATX or Mini-ITX enclosures and ideal for whisper-quiet HTPC systems.

The NH-L12’s NF-F12 and NF-B9 fans support PWM for convenient automatic speed control. In addition, the maximum fan speed can be reduced to 1200/1300rpm using the supplied Low-Noise Adapters for even quieter operation. Bundled with the award-winning NT-H1 thermal compound and Noctua’s SecuFirm2™ multi-socket mounting system, the NH-L12 packs everything a premium quality quiet cooler needs into a highly compact package.

Price and Availability

The NH-L12 will be available immediately at a recommended retail price of EUR 49.90 / USD 59.90.

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