Closer Look / Product Photos
The cooler arrived in two versions. There is a classic silver with a brownish fan and a chromax.black, which is black as its name suggests.
Both boxes give us similar info about the products inside. As always, in the case of Noctua coolers, the box’s exterior has a full product specification, so we don’t have to check any details on the manufacturer’s website.
It’s easy to notice that the package has changed since the last NH-L9x fans we reviewed. Now it’s a bit smaller, but it also contains everything we may need.
Inside the box, we will find everything required for the installation, including a manual, a mounting kit, and additional screws for a thicker fan (if we wish to use it). There is also a Noctua badge and low-noise adaptor.
The cooler is very small. It’s smaller than standard AMD coolers but still precisely designed to cover the whole available surface.
The fan has 92x14mm, but if we wish, then we can install a 25mm thick fan. Previous tests confirmed that the thicker fan isn’t really helping with the performance.
The cooler is, as always in the case of Noctua, top quality. Everything is perfect, and there was no problem with the installation.
The black version contains exactly the same set of accessories and the same mounting kit. Its performance is also the same. The only thing which is different is the cooler’s color. This will cost us about $10 more, but for many users, it’s not a big price for a wholly black cooler.
Below are some additional photos of the chromax.black version of the NH-L9a-AM5.
You can also be interested in the Thermal Paste Guard – NA-TPG1. This simple product protects the CPU from cumulating thermal grease on the sides of the IHS. As far as it’s not required, then computer enthusiasts love to keep their PCs in perfect condition and simply clean.
We will show you how the NH-L9a-AM5 performs with the Ryzen 5 7600 processor on the next page.
