Noctua NH-D9L CPU Cooler Review

Final Thoughts
Just like the last CPU cooler we took a look at from Noctua the NH-D9L is made for smaller form factor builds, which are becoming more and more popular. It is great to see Noctua offer air coolers of this size because not everyone is going to want to go for an AIO water cooling unit and some of the other smaller air coolers do not offer the same type of quality as Noctua provides.

With the NH-D9L you are guaranteed 3U rackmount case compatibility, 100% RAM compatibility, and 100% compatibility with PCIe cards on mini-ITX motherboards. That really gives you quite a lot of options when choosing a motherboard and set up for your new system. Also I cannot talk about it enough, but Noctua’s SecuFirm2 mounting systems make their coolers some of the easiest to install in the industry, which is always a plus.

Like all of Noctua’s coolers this one ships with one of Noctua’s own fans. All of these fans are quality-made and come with vibration dampeners built in. You also have a low-noise adapter if you don’t need the high performance and want a quieter system. You have the ability to add up to two more fans as well if you want to get more performance out of the cooler.

As far as performance goes this cooler was not able to compete with some of the larger CPU coolers we have tested lately, but again based on its size it did perform well and the performance numbers were well within respectable temperatures. I think that if you do have size constraints this is going to be one of the better performing air-coolers for its size.

If you are building a small form factor system or even have a rackmount system and you are looking for a good air cooler that will not have and size restrictions then the NH-D9L is a great choice. Right now you can pick up the NH-D9L at my favorite online retailer for $59.99. Noctua also backs the cooler with a 6 year warranty. Overall ThinkComputers gives the Noctua NH-D9L an 8 out of 10 score.

rating8 10 small

Pros:
– Easy to install
– 3U rackmount case compatibility, 100% RAM compatibility, and 100% compatibility with PCIe cards on mini-ITX motherboards
– Runs quiet
– Ability to add 2 more fans
– 6 year warranty

Cons:
– Could for $10 cheaper
– Performance is not as good as some coolers

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