Initial Thoughts
Much like other Noctua heatsinks, the packaging of the NH-L12 looks exactly the same as other Noctua boxing. I like this since it creates brand awareness for consumers when shopping in a brick and mortar store. Most other companies color products from the same line various different colors, this is a nice change. Aside from that, the box comes with different specifications all over the package. Opening the package up, you get a secured heatsink and fans, as well as a smaller box that includes all of the accessories.
Closer Look
The first thing that stood out to me is how small this heatsink is. While it is not super tiny, it is much smaller than other heatsinks we’ve had around here these days. The fins are made of aluminum, while the heatpipes are made out of copper. Looking at the base it is machined well and pretty flat.
One of the things I really like about this heatsink is the fact that Noctua has decided that people who use HTPC’s like to overclock as well, or use processors that put out tons of heat and need a way to cool it off. While this heatsink will not take up a bunch of space in a case, it does pack a bunch of cooling power in its compact size.
Dual fans on an HTPC heatsink is quite impressive. Although one of those fans is a 92mm, they are both very quiet throughout operation. The fact that Noctua has included PWM fans is a nice bonus as well. These fans are not cheap in the least, and it is nice to see that Noctua includes all of these nice little features.
Noctua has gone the extra step by including mounting for pretty much every platform out there. AM2/3, 775,1156,1155,1366 and 2011 are all covered with the included mounting. For testing we will be using a 3930k socket 2011 processor to see how this little heatsink can fare with huge amounts of heat applied to it.
