- Review -

03.02.2015 Modders-Inc.com

The Noctua NH-D9L performed very well considering its size being the smallest heatsink in the set. Performance level is very similar to the extremely popular and larger CM Hyper 212+ and dual NH-U9B SE2 in the standardized overclocked test. It placed last in the stock benchmarks but handled overclocks better than the dual-fan NH-U9B SE2 once additional voltage is introduced and the CPU was overclocked. Adding a second NF-A9 fan to the NH-D9L pushed performance closer to the NH-U9S. In terms of noise level, the NF-A9 fan on the NH-D9L is also the quietest and even with the added fan, it is still quieter than the previous generation NH-U9B SE2 which is running at a lower RPM.

" heatsink with such small footprint is designed primarily to be able to fit in tight-spaced situations unlike regular tower coolers so it will be unfair to just strictly look at the NH-D9L from a cooling performance standpoint but it manages to impress even out of that context. The dual-tower design also allows it to provide superior clearance even compared to the NH-U9S when it comes to either RAM, PCI-E expansion card or MOSFET heatsinks. The NH-D9L also boasts a mere 110mm height clearance which fits under 3U specifications. Coupled with the NF-A9 low noise fan, the NH-D9L not only finds usefulness inside HTPC systems but also noise sensitive audio/video production workstations." (Ron Perillo, Modders-Inc.com)