Noctua NH-L12 Overview
With all of the tower coolers we have been seeing it is really nice to see a horizontal cooler, that is what the Noctua NH-L12 is. Not only that it is very compact and small, the official dimensions are 93 x 128 x 150mm (HxWxD). With both fans installed it weighs in at 680g. On the top of the cooler you have a Noctua NF-F12 120mm fan. This fan can run between 300 and 1500 RPM and has anti-vibration pads on the corners.
This cooler is actually designed with a second fan on the bottom of the heatsink. This fan is Noctua’s NF-B9 92mm fan. This fan can run between 300 and 1600 RPM. Both fans are connected to the heatsink via wire clips that hold them into place. On the bottom part of the heatsink there is a small rubber strip on each side that will help keep vibration noise to a minimum. Both fans also have 4pin power connectors. Noctua does include a Y-connector to connect both fans together, then into your motherboard as well as a low-noise adapter.
In between the two fans is a heatsink array. The heatsink is made of aluminum, while the 4 large heatpipes that come up from the base of the cooler are made of copper. The heatsink array is not that big at all, but with both fans it should not be an issue at all.
If we flip the NH-L12 over you can see how it is designed with the 4 large heatpipes coming out of the base and going up into the heatsink array. Since the heatpipes connect directly into the CPU block the heat generated by your CPU will be taken right up to the heatsink array. The CPU block is made of copper and has a nickel plating.
