Noctua NH-D12L, Low-Height Dual-Tower CPU Cooler (120mm, Brown)

I normally have built systems from every aspect, including case and cooling solution. However, with desperation of wanting an upgrade to a 6 year old system, and some scarcity of sourcing parts, I opted for a prebuilt solution, that had a stock intel cooler on the i7-11700KF, on a ASUS B560-G board, within a ASUS ROG G15CE designed prebuilt/case. I am literally writing this after installing this cooling upgrade. I was doing research for possible solutions to my current situation. I saw some other user's ways of possibly adding a taller cooling tower, which one version meant cutting a hole in the side of the metal side panel case they had. However, my side panel is of the glass version, and that was not an option. I saw this week that this came out via an online article and writeup of this being released this week. Thankfully Amazon had stock and I immediately placed the order. I was not disappointed. It fits, and it cools much more efficiently than I had even expected. I ran some loads that I normally ran the device under, which were most likely thermal throttling the system as the system was spiking in the 90C/212F areas according to HWMonitor. I believe I am now not thermal throttling as we speak, with the temperature under same load now reading 84C/183F at max readings. This is a mind easing solution that I was weary of working at first for the height limitation of the cooling tower I thought I might run into. However, Noctua has hit this out of the park and has provided the prebuilt narrow cases breathing room and doubled the cooling thermal area, if not tripled the surface area as the stock cooler on a visual analysis of heatsink surfaces. My case currently, without spending money on another case or even considering AIO or liquid cooling, is small as it is. Much smaller than I imagined it when I purchased it initially. The cooling tower has enough gap, albeit small if by millimeters, between the top of the thermal heat pipe ends and the glass side panel, that there is no contact whatsoever. And finally, the second main reason, aside from thermal control as the primary, was to reduce the noise created by the constant needing to cool the smaller stock heatsink. For those coming along behind me, the stock cooler is smaller than 92mm of even the rear exhaust case fan. Having the cooling fans that are larger and quieter from this is so much better than ever before. Even at load, there was barely any noticeable fan noise, you might literally have to get down next to the case to hear it if you have it below your desktop surface. My older AIO system is now even louder than this now. I am very happy with this and very thankful for this new release. I didn't have to spend excess money on a new case or a new liquid cooling solution that this was able to help fulfill. As far as installation, the instructions were very detailed and the parts were very easy to identify. While I can see someone not experienced possibly being a bit overwhelmed by such a task of a swap that might cause worry, from my other experiences, this was such a breeze and easy to accomplish, that I feel that my son could do the swap.

Summer.sausage8 · 2022-04-10 · via amazon

I've typically used cheaper coolers, and for anyone seriously looking to budget price/performance, no shame in it. Some models out there might also have similar conveniences further widening the effective price gap. But I had some special circumstances. First,I am somewhat regularly changing out equipment. Set-it and forget-it year long systems this is not, so Noctua's braindead easy mounting designs are a godsend. Again, other brands may have similar mounting that allows coolers to sit even while screws are tightened without mashing out all the TIM. Second, I needed a cooler no taller than 120mm to fit into a 4U rackmount case. Options were grossly limited. If you're with me so far on requirements, honorable mentions to Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 Mini. Similar mounting hardware. ~1/3rd the price, fits in 4U chassis. If you're on a budget, strongly consider that model. Consider it outright if you are NOT intending on running your CPU at 100% near 24/7. See the following. Last, I am going to be running my hardware into the ground. While the price difference here isn't going to translate much into longevity - modern chips do a good job of throttling themselves right up to the thermal limits safely - it will translate into either better performance or lower power consumption. Lower temperatures (or else more efficient cooling) means higher clocks at lower voltages. Faster number crunching, or else more EFFICIENT number crunching. Higher clocks, or same clocks with lower voltage. The price difference in my use case will be over years in the electric bills or returns. Possibly both.

BER · 2026-01-15 · via amazon

Ive used these things for a while now. I have them in 2 hyper-v servers (one intel and one AMD) and my latest dev box with a 14th gen intel chip in it. They come with a massive radiator and can be installed blowing front to back or from bottom to top. They have a super quiet fan in them that just nestles in between the radiators and there is an option to have another fan as well if you get paranoid about heat. As far as cooling goes, these quiet fans keep my processors cool. I found liquid cooling to be overly complicated and very invasive to the computer case, plus it seemed to be very picky about where certain things had to go. With this fan unit, you just use the adapters (the instructions seem intimidating but are fairly straight forward) and the fan is pretty forgiving. I will continue to use these fans. Plus, it looks neat with all the LED lighting already in your case

CyrixLord · 2024-06-23 · via amazon

Fits great in my 4U case. Extremely quiet. A bit pricey but I believe the quality is excellent. Install is pretty easy. Fewer loose parts to align while trying to get the screws in compared to some others. There are a few very close screw holes to align for different sockets so just pay attention and look closely. I had no issues getting things right the first time. Uses a backplate so you'll need the board out of the case. Plan accordingly. I'm only using this on an i5-13400 which is very low power, so this cooler is overkill but I wanted something slightly better than the stock cooler in my potentially hot rack, and the fan can be aligned to blow front to back in concert with the rest of your case fans.

Victor H. · 2023-07-18 · via amazon

It’s big and EXTREMELY quiet. I have it paired on an older AMD Black Edition 4Gighz cpu. My temps are 50% cooler with this thing and using the Noctua paste. I’ve always used the Article silver paste but thought i’de try their paste. I checked it a year later and the paste was not dried. Great product. I replaced the original fans in my case with Noctua fans and the case is incredibly quiet. Great company.

Tommy Calloni · 2026-02-03 · via amazon

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VALUE SCORE

Price

$20

Price

$20