Noctua NH-L12S, Premium Low Profile CPU Cooler with Quiet 120mm PWM Fan (Brown)

Product Information

Noctua always include everything that might be needed for future installations and overall compatibility with all current sockets and processors. Another airflow optimization comes from the staircase design for the frame which adds turbulence to the incoming flow, allowing a gradual transition of the flows. As you open the packaging, you are greeted by the accessory box which is perfect because it depicts exactly what’s included. On the front and top sides of the package there are the model name, a QR code, a basic description of the model and a glimpse of the full technical specification. For example, if a cooler uses a 140mm fan that overhangs the RAM and 46mm tall RAM modules are used, the max.

However, case manufacturers sometimes change parts or details of their products without prior notice or explicitly indicating a revision. By mentioning the fan, let’s proceed with the article by checking the cooling unit added in the package. Noctua’s classic NH-L12 has proven to be the best air cooling solution for Louqe’s award-winning Ghost S1 enclosure. With the silence tuned fan curves, at idle the CPU fan completely stopped, GPU fan completely stopped, SFX fan completely stopped, the only fan spinning being the case fan at 393 rpm which was pretty much silent at this speed.

Thanks to its NF-A12x15 PWM, slim 120mm fan, the NH-L12S provides even better quiet cooling performance than the previous model with its 92mm fan. Since this product is part of Noctua’s portfolio we can expect only high quality, a lot of attention to detail and nothing less. It has the smallest footprint possible, without needing VLP memory and removing heatsinks from the motherboard etc. The coolers that use 120 mm fans clearly show that they cool better hence why they take the advantage. The fan itself features a pretty solid square frame including the typical AAO (Advanced Acoustic Optimization), Stepped Inlet Design and Integrated Anti-Vibration Pads technologies combined with a 7 pretty narrow and at the same time very sharply angled blades forming the propeller working at 450(+/-20%) – 1850(+/- 10%) revolutions per minute range, with maximum airflow level of 94,2 m³/h at maximum noise level of 23,9 dB(A).

Both SilverStone AP181 – 180mm fans were connected together to the chassis 1 connector and were rotating at maximum speed. Supporting Intel LGA1851, LGA1700 ( since 2021), LGA1200, LGA115x (LGA1150, LGA1151, LGA1155, LGA1156) as well as AMD AM5 and AM4 ( since 2019), the SecuFirm2™ mounting included with the NH-L12 Ghost S1 Edition is straightforward to install, provides perfect contact pressure and will stand the test of time even under heavy use. At TechNextDay, we’re not only a seller of PC components, but also a partner in your passion for computing. Other changes include an increase in height of the heatsink up to 70mm (was 66mm) to allow fan clearance above standard height RAM.and when it is used with the fan the maximum airflow level that NF-A12x15 PWM can achieve is 70,8 m³/h with noise level of 16,8 dB(A). For instance the heatpipes interfere with the RAM on this motherboard, but it can be fitted in any of the other 3 orientations. The NH-L12s however, managed a more impressive (although to be expected considering the size) 20 delta on fan control mode, and 14 degrees under 12V mode. Type: Cooler, Fan diameter: 12 cm, Rotational speed (min): 450 RPM, Rotational speed (max): 1850 RPM, Noise level (high speed): 23.

Like all Noctua fans, the supplied NF-A12x15 features an MTBF rating of more than 150,000 hours and the entire NH-L12S package comes with a full 6-year manufacturer’s warranty.

It allows the cooler to be installed on mainboards with Intel and AMD sockets and, in addition to the common platforms, also supports most sockets from both manufacturers.

The next interesting point is that the Noctua fan comes installed as standard to push the air up through the heatsink rather than pull down through the heatsink like its predecessor. As a next step of this article I believe it is time to check the actual cooling capabilities of this product but first, let’s check my testing rig and continue the article. Tweaking the fan curves resulted in a CPU fan speed of 917 rpm and case fan speed of 540 rpm, at these speeds the fans were very quiet, resulting in 27 dB sound level.Using a supplied low-noise adapter, it is possible to limit the maximum speed of the fan to 1,400 rpm and make the fan even quieter. When the game Tomb Raider came out, it was very demanding for CPUs as well, 4 cores didn’t cut it anymore.