Performance
The performance of the NH-L12Sx77 cooler has been tested on the AMD platform, which contains the delidded/direct die Ryzen 5 7600 CPU, ASUS Strix B650E-I Gaming WiFi motherboard, Kingston 64GB DDR5-6000 CL32 memory kit, and Acer Predator GM7000 2TB NVMe SSD with the latest version of Windows 11.
There are three settings: idle, which explains itself; a mixed load test, which includes a pretty long PCMark 10 Extended benchmark; and a max load CPU test with AVX/AVX2 instructions, performed by the AIDA64 stability test.
The NH-L12Sx77 handles the Ryzen 5 7600 without problems. Our results (like most results on new processors) can be misleading as the fan balances at about 1200-1800 RPM when the CPU is under load, but because there is still some headroom, it never keeps the maximum speed. The automatic adjustment lets the CPU go up to 95°C and recognizes everything below that as still not too hot, so it won’t force the maximum fan speed.
The cooler was quiet during typical loads, games, and office work. However, we could clearly hear it when the high load lasted longer, and the temperature remained high for an extended time.
Overclocking of the Ryzen 5 7600 is limited and doesn’t raise temperatures much. As with other Noctua coolers, we can go up to 5.35GHz at slightly higher temperatures – +3°C. Overclocking results are the same on the NH-U12A chromax.black cooler, which was used in the comparison. The main difference is the generated noise under full load and the fact that we won’t install the NH-U12A series in such small cases as Fractal Terra.
The NH-L12Sx77 is the best cooler around for small ITX cases. Even though we may think it’s not the best, as there are better-performing coolers that make less noise under high load, we won’t find anything that is better and fits so tight SFF cases simultaneously. There is clearly no competition for the NH-L12Sx77, as most other brands haven’t decided to release anything similar, and the remaining products are worse.
If you plan a PC in an SFF case like Fractal Terra or a similarly sized ITX case, then the NH-L12Sx77 is the best choice.
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.