- Review -

11.06.2012 BCCHardware.com

Once the fans are turned up to their highest settings we see a pretty good performance increase. When compared to other coolers we've tested in the past these results are actually pretty good (you can see the full chart at the bottom of this page). While they didn't set any records they did reduce our stock temperatures by 11 degrees and was able to keep up with some coolers we've tested that are much larger. The end results of this test actually left me pleasantly surprised. Normally when a cooler claims to be "low-profile" that is a pretty good sign that the performance is going to be terrible, but in the NH-L12's case that was not true at all.

"At the end of the day I can quite easily declare the Noctua NH-L12 low-profile cooler a winner. For a cooler that sports a low profile even with both fans installed (and an even lower profile if you remove the top fan), the NH-L12 doesn't sacrifice performance like most other low-profile coolers we've tested in the past have. Thanks to great performance, a low profile, and quiet operation, the Noctua NH-L12 has easily earned our "Editor's Choice - Gold" award. If lack of space is an issue for you and you need a cooler that can fit into small spaces but still cool like a champ, you'll definitely want to check out the NH-L12 low-profile cooler from Noctua." (Jason Schneider, BCCHardware.com)