Closer Look / Product Photos
The cooler arrived in the retail package, which is a well-described box. It could be said to be a classic Noctua box, as in a similar design, all CPU cooler packages have been for many years.
As always, in the case of Noctua coolers, the box’s exterior has full product specifications and features, so we don’t have to check any details on the manufacturer’s website.
Inside the box, we will find everything required for the installation, including a manual, a mounting kit, a Noctua badge, a screwdriver, and a low-noise adaptor.
The cooler is designed to work with all modern desktop sockets, including the LGA1851, for the upcoming Intel processors.
Everything is well-designed and top-quality. One of the new features in the latest CPU coolers is the AMD bracket, which lets us decide whether to install the cooler in a standard way or optimize it with an offset. This is probably the only brand that gives us this option.
The cooler has perfect dimensions, but there is still little space to use a direct die kit for delidded processors. If we decide on a non-standard orientation (like in our photos), then the cooler’s frame will touch the motherboard’s IO cover without any pressure. We used that kit in our tests as the CPU was already delidded before we received the NH-L12Sx77 cooler, and it was working with the NH-U12A chromax.black cooler.
The NH-L12Sx77 doesn’t have competition in this size. Noctua is the only brand that perfectly designed a cooler to work with popular ITX cases that have 77mm space for CPU cooling. Another advantage is the airflow. When most brands design small coolers that take cold air from the outside, the NH-L12Sx77 is used as an exhaust for hot air inside the case. It causes the heat from the graphics card or other components to easily leave the PC case and not cumulate. We have to remember that most small ITX cases don’t have additional spots for exhaust fans.
Below are additional photos of the example build in the Fractal Terra ITX case. The Noctua NF-A12x15 fan (on the bottom) and the PSU fan (which is semi-passive, so it does not even spin most of the time) work as intake. The exhaust goes through the NH-L12Sx77 cooler equipped with the NF-A12x15 fan. It works best with the RTX4070 on the back, heating up the air inside the case.
We will show you how the NH-L12Sx77 performs with the Ryzen 5 7600 processor on the next page.
2 comments
That noctua leaving allot space in that terra for a graphic card?
2.5-slot cards will fit. ASUS RTX4070 Super Dual EVO had enough space.