Performance
The performance of the NH-L9a-AM5 cooler has been tested on the latest AMD platform, which contains the Ryzen 5 7600 CPU, ASUS Strix B650E-I Gaming WiFi motherboard, Crucial 32GB DDR5-5600 CL46 memory kit, Acer Predator GM7 1TB NVMe SSD with the latest version of Windows 11.
Since results on the classic and chromax.black versions of the NH-L9a-AM5 coolers are exactly the same, then in the comparison is only one result. To show a higher load, we also added overclocked settings at 5.4GHz, which gives us about 100W, so around 20W more than standard Ryzen 5 7600 settings.
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-L9a-AM5 handles the Ryzen 5 7600 without problems. Our results can be a bit misleading as the fan balances at about 1600-1800 RPM when the CPU is under load. There is clearly some headroom as the maximum fan speed is 2500 RPM. The automatic adjustment lets the CPU go up to 90°C+ and isn’t forcing the fan to spin at its full speed. The cooler was very quiet, with the CPU at its default settings. Even under full load, it was hard to separate the fan noise from the ambient.
To see 2200-2400 RPM, we had to overclock the CPU. Then the fan wasn’t loud but clearly audible. For most users, it would still be not bad, but I assume all who think about overclocking buy other and larger coolers.
As far as the L9a-AM5 isn’t recommended for overclocking, then we could go as far as up to 5.4GHz on our Ryzen 5 7600. If we wish to use PBO overclocking, then it won’t let us pass 5.35GHz, regardless of the cooler. A quick conclusion is that we can max out the Ryzen 5 7600 using nothing but a small NH-L9a-AM5 cooler. It’s impressive, especially when we compare our results to the previous CPU generations.
Below is our result in Cinebench R23. The same settings were working in a long loop without problems, and the temperature wasn’t higher while the CPU wasn’t showing overheating. It’s not recommended to keep a CPU at such a high temperature, but it clearly shows that if you wish, then the NH-L9a-AM5 handles some overclocking or a CPU with more cores.
I’m sure that anyone who wishes to build a small PC but still fast will be fully satisfied with an NH-L9a-AM5 cooler. Especially combined with 65W TDP processors, it provides great results and quiet work.
