The BEST Small & Quiet CPU Cooler?? ➡ NOCTUA NH-D12L Review & Thermal test w/ i9 12900k

[@christopherjackson2157]

My favourite thing about the noctua coolers is the variety of mounting options they support out of the box. Every single noctua cooler I've ever bought is still in use years later. There is no other brand I can say this for.

[@Stiegelzeine]

Every company offers mounting options for sockets from the last few years and will offer brackets to mount it in the future for atleast the next few years so it’s nothing special and you’ve clearly never seen how many sockets cpu air coolers support because be quiet even offers more sockets so it’s nothing special for an air cooler

[@christopherjackson2157]

@@Stiegelzeine I've never tried be quiet I'll keep them in mind but they are rarely in stock at msrp in my region. I definitely like the look of the down draft one they make the dark rock tf2 I think its called but it's more than double the price of the noctua option. Noctua still supports amd back to am3 and as of last year Intel back to 775.

[@NorthWolfe]

Yes, I am very much into everything Noctua, have been using them since they exist (sort of dates me) ;) Those fans are just beautiful, they almost seem to be covered in leather, reminds me of some of the 60s/70s cars I have. Noctua has to be the only brand that has never let anyone down with their products, Cheers.

[@massimo8740]

Great testing session, absolutely what I needed. Thanks!

[@thangnguyenviet5628]

Got this for my nr200p build. It's like this cooler is made for this case because of 145mm height. Keeps my 9900k cool and quiet. Just wondering how it compares with the U12A.

[@jeffbauman5447]

Would love to see a sub 150mm shootout between this cooler and the Thermalright Assassin King 120 SE and the Thermalright Silver Soul 135. Thanks!

[@zipfotoproductions2934]

Great review!! Do you happen to notice if the mounting plate for the back of the motherboard is identical for both? Would like to be able to convert a D15 to a D12L with as little fuss as possible! 🤣🤣

[@elteacher0223]

hello, thanks for sharing... I have a question. I own a i5-12400 (65w tdp), with the cooler can I use it without a fan?... I dont want to go for the NH-P1, find it too big!!!

[@Michael-xr5yx]

Love your videos and the unbiased information and bang for the buck focus. Are there any channels you would recommend for 3d modelling focused builds? Thank you!

[@Horizon-hj3yc]

Unbiased? 🙄

[@Finlandiamall]

This helped me a lot thank you

[@esk99l32]

I wonder how much performance was lost by undervolting, if any. Would be nice to know the C23 score after undervolting.

[@AJBtheSuede]

Yeah, to bad he removed the CPU clock from the HWInfo window :) But typically you GAIN performance by undervolting. MY 12700 gained 600-800 points just by undervolting by 0.08V. (edit - I was power limiting to 135W in PL2, it's a non-K 12700...)

[@BhajanAddict]

@@AJBtheSuede Can confirm. Ive done this with my nhu12a on a 12900k and gained a bit of performance which was surprising. I was power limiting the cpu to 230w.

[@professorh8398]

And did you use the cpu mounting correction bracket for 12/13 gen Intel before you installed the cpu cooler? Enjoying the video btw.

[@floe1747]

Hi thank you interesting. Is the second fan included with the purchase of the NH-D12L ?

[@45eno]

I found both the D9L and U9S for $20 each locally. I have them in some quality mid ranged Media PC's that are about the strength or better then a PS5. U9S with dual fans cooling a 5800X and D9L with a single fan cooling a 5700X. Great quality coolers with easy installation.

[@satyambhardwaj2806]

Then what would you recommand for 12900k

[@chrisk6474]

This is a very good review!!

[@OrbitalSponge]

will reducing voltage reduce performance of the 12900K for rendering a lot? I would be happy to reduce voltage. The bigger NH-D15/NH-D15s don't fit on the board I'm considering (ROG STRIX Z690-A GAMING WIFI D4)

[@markdalbey]

I edit wedding photos. I use the 10400 for two reasons. I use Luminar. It doesn't use the graphics card at all. All I need is a picture and the integrated 630 graphics in my Intel processor do the job just fine. Second is Luminar seems to be optimized for Intel over AMD, by a lot. I will probably build a new computer either when Raptorlake or Meteorlake come out. I live in Las Vegas. It may hit 22 degrees for ten minutes in January, but it is much more common to hit above 29 degrees in the summer inside. It is very common for it to hit over 45 outside. My 10400 usually idles at 40 or above to give you an idea of how hot it is here. In the summer I may start editing at 3am to avoid the afternoon heat. It is really really hot here. This is why I use an i-5. When exporting 600 pictures a couple of extra cores can come in handy though. Do you have any ideas for keeping an i-7 cool without using a water cooler. I like the reliability of air cooling.

[@directionlessvelocity]

Undervolt. Maybe a CPU like a hypothetical “14700K” would be ideal for this purpose.

[@treyquattro]

I used a Noctua NH-U12A on my 5950X system. It's fine. I haven't tried under-volting either. I maxed out at just over 90C running Prime95 for 12 hours. Ambient temp is a bit cooler than yours however - less than 20C. i9-12900 gets water cooled tho.

[@BhajanAddict]

So I have a 12ua chromax on my 12900k. Depending on your motherboard youll need to do something to keep the cpu cool under the extreme stress situations like running a cinebench test. It hits max temp in the low 90s during a 10 minute cinebench test when you set the max tdp at 230. Anything over 240 is completely not doable for that sort of test. If you undervolt it you can definitely get an overclock with decent temps. For being a small cooler this thing is pretty amazing. For doing normal stuff like gaming, web browsing, general video editing though temps are great.

[@leavii5449]

Do those round fans fit the u12a cooler? Like the look of round fans more

[@max-lee]

i want to be at place where 25c is considered warm. 😆 that's a pretty nice cooler. i'm guessing it's a little better than scythe fuma 2?

[@thangnguyenviet5628]

not sure if this help but I was considering the d12l and the fuma 2 before. Ended up with the d12l and super happy with my decision. Both are great cooler tho, can't go wrong with any. From a person buying noctua product for the 1st time. I can say it gives a good premium feeling and run super quiet. Not sure if it can handle a more powerful but I'm very satisfied with the d12l. And it fits perfectly in my nr200p itx build

[@Kista79]

I really like Noctua, they are a bit more expensive but I feel they are totally worth the extra cost. I have another build I've had to put on hold that I was going to use for a PfSense box but decided to go a different route and instead purchased a mini-pc that's dedicated to that. I had built a socket 1700 i3-12100 and was going to use the NH-D15 but just realized it's a bit too tall for it to fit inside the case from what Cooler Master shows, I could've swapped the 140mm fans out for 120mm as the heatsink was 160mm, but with the fan it's 165mm, Cooler Master shows 164mm so it still would've been tight, instead of ordering replacement fans I chose this cooler as it's 145mm so it will have plenty of room to spare, the only downside is that it doesn't come with the extra fan that you get with the D15 so I spent even more money by adding it to the order. I know using the i3 it doesn't really need the extra fan but I may decide later to replace it with an i7 or possibly i9.

[@Horizon-hj3yc]

*_"I really like Noctua, they are a bit more expensive"_* A bit??? I wanted to buy the NH-D12-L, but wanted to add an extra fan, it would costs me $39 in Canada, while for $49 I decided to buy a cooler that actually can compete with a D15, and in several reviews even outperforms it. 🤣 I repeat again... that cooler costs only $10 more than a Noctua fan.... ridiculous.

[@josephjocson1385]

NF-A12 are queit, high airflow and best fan ❤

[@Jazchong2519]

hi do i need nh d12l to pair with my i5 12400 for light premier pro 1080p editing work 8hours a day? or a cooler master hyper 212 black version is good enough?

[@blkspade23]

Not at all shocked by the stock result. I put one of these on a 12600K for an ITX build, and it hits the low 70s in R23. Right about the same as a 5900X in the same case but with a NH-U12S.

[@H4ram]

how is it when gaming? Quiet? I'd like to use this cooler with a 12600K as well.

[@blkspade23]

@@H4ram I haven't personally gamed on it, as it was a productivity build for a client, but I configure the fan behavior in the UEFI for the least fan audibility under max load at an acceptable temperature. Out of the box with stock fan settings it would be audible, but not annoying. Noctua includes a low noise adapter in the box that limits rpm by voltage, but I prefer custom curves.

[@k.o.t.o.n.]

How would you describe the rtx 3090 turbo with vram repadding compared to a strix or a tuf for example Temps sound and performance, undrrvolting and overclocking, wanna build the smallest high end pc both from the smallest 3090 turbo and the new 4090 ND 13900k or ks

[@yashj8238]

Is the secondary pan provided in box?

[@nickynockyknackynoo2346]

Interesting to me... Thank you, because I am looking for a new quiet system just like this - but the main issues are that my flat room is very small, and heat definately builds up when I'm doing my most intensive tasks of ripping one of my BluRays to play back an MP4 on my iPad. I'm just not aware of anything that can cool the system WITHOUT warming up the room. Anyone know?

[@warmon6]

You probably already have your answer but for anyone else seeing this, It's certainly a complex issue that isn't as straightforward as some might think. (im only going to talk in CPU terms but it still applies to the gpu as well. just to help keep things simple). Basically, it you have a cpu generating 100w of heat and a cooler is capable of handling that, it's going to dump that 100w heat into the room. Doesn't matter if it's a custom water cooling setup or a cheap Cooler Master Hyper 212, 100w of heat is still being dumped into a room warming it up. The only difference a high end coolers like the NH-D15 does over an Hyper 212 is how fast it removes the heat from the cpu. Heat has to go somewhere, different coolers that are strictly inside the case will hardly change how much your room heats up. (Now if the cooler is undersized for the cpu, then the cpu will downclock itself, thus reducing power... Although I wouldn't recommend doing that has long term 100c isn't healthy for a cpu). Now, you do have 3 options still to reduce your computer temp while keeping your room cool. Although they all have there pro's and con's. 1. Undervolting or adjust tdp if your cpu/motherboard has that setting. Cheapest option. Reducing your power consumption (thus heat generation). Will give the room a better chance to dissipate the heat buildup. (instead of 100w, you could be down to 60w.) Biggest con is possible reduced performance and/or system instability if the voltage is too low for the given clock speed. 2. have an external solution that'll move the heat to another area (even outdoors). This can be as simple as placing your pc in some enclosure and that enclosure has ductwork to cycle air between where you want to dump the heat to and the pc. There are people using things like "Grow Tents" for that purpose. OR...... You could go crazy with some water cooling that sends hot water to a radiator that's is outdoors (You can look at an old Linus Tech Tips video "Whole Room Water Cooling" to get the idea). Cons: Could be expensive, might not have permission to do this (if in an apartment/rental), might not be easy to do. 3. Get more power efficient, lower power hardware that performs the same as your current setup. Similar to #1, more efficient hardware should use less power. Less power = less heat. Less heat = cooler room. CON: Cost, also now you're replacing perfectly functional hardware for something else. So now you have to figure out what to do with the old system...

[@nickynockyknackynoo2346]

Thanks @@warmon6. Some good thoughts. Appreciated.

[@warmon6]

@@nickynockyknackynoo2346 np. 🙂

[@casualplayerschannel1432]

thank yu for the video.

[@theTechNotice]

You're welcome

[@casualplayerschannel1432]

well cause i got a 5800x (stock) and a arctic freezer esports duo. blender starts to run at max temp. thinking if ever my channel works out. ill change my cooler first. haha!

[@eddgod4832]

nice,!!! would this work good for my i9900k is on a cooler master NR200. small case

[@farafina]

waiting for mine and will use it on my 5800x, hope it will do better than my castle360rgb v2 AIO which is now getting old

[@Slizzuh]

would this work with a ryzen 9 5950x CPU?

[@anant0089]

how is this compared to u12a ?

[@docyoda3268]

will this be compatible with quad channel RAM configuration?

[@docyoda3268]

@Tech Notice

[@oatsno]

is this fan good with a ryzen 5 5600x?

[@G_Star868]

Noctua actually makes an even more compact dual tower cooler called the NH-D9L.

[@NerdyCanadian96]

I have that on my Ryzen 5. Even though it's tiny it keeps it pretty cool.

[@Rockovissi]

Can you use any fan? Noctua says you have to use their fan with the rounded edges. I have a Cooler Master one I like but if I can’t use it with this heatsink then I won’t buy it.

[@mikem9536]

If you use a square fan it will sit a bit higher.

[@kdg6963]

question., you mentioned you dont suggest overclocking the cpu for creators but you have the 12900k. why not go with a locked chip since you wont overclock it?

[@worldwolf9909]

Good question.

[@panagiwtisn13]

Typical speaking unlocked intel cpu's have slightly better silicon than locked ones.

[@bassplayer3974]

Quite amazing really how 200w dont scramble its self inside something so small.

[@lionking7686]

what is not a good way to mount AIO for sure

[@florianristea]

bought it for a ryzen 9 3900x .i hope it will be fine :)

[@hans-dieterjung4026]

THX

[@AntonioShinShyla]

What it his maximum TDP?

[@mypeeps1965]

put the side panel on.

[@theTechNotice]

why hinder the cooler performance by adding the case cooling into the equation?

[@mypeeps1965]

@@theTechNotice because that's how 100% of the people will use it.

[@adityadivine9750]

@@mypeeps1965 agree 100 percent

[@artisticpurab1285]

Pls do a comparison with arctic 35 esports duo

[@theTechNotice]

35?

[@nonenone2191]

@@theTechNotice 34

[@e4300]

@tech Notice you have a great shows but you really should not be putting music in your videos. Really difficult to concentrate on music and you talking at the same time. Plus it's well know that people (including myself) can't concentrate on 2 things at once. But you do what you got to do.

[@luvoverthewall]

You should totally review more air coolers under/around $50... The Arctic esports duo is rarely every available at a reasonable price 😓

[@markdalbey]

Try the Scythe Mugen Fuma 2. It is 66.00 on Amazon in America. Sometimes it is out of stock. If you are patient it will be back in stock though.

[@eilegz]

ak620 and peerless assasin 120 pa

[@arbenbytyqi9732]

Hate liquid cooler love Noctua

[@johnpaulbacon8320]

Interesting.

[@9manny99]

Give me a chromax black variant and I'm in.

[@MrSiddhartha99]

I don't know why my 12700kf pulls 220w in cinebench

[@markdalbey]

I think it is the 12900 that he is testing.

[@MrSiddhartha99]

@@markdalbey yes...but 12700kf is pulling same power ..he said that 12700k should pull 170w ish power however my cpu 12700kf package power shows 220 w in cinebench

[@markdalbey]

@@MrSiddhartha99 I am in Las Vegas. It is a bit hot here. You talked me into sticking with an i-5.

[@adityadivine9750]

Why you bought kf varient

[@MrSiddhartha99]

@@adityadivine9750 i bought it at the time of launch.. in that time k varient was hugely overpriced.. however kf was priced reasonably

[@Jake-mn1qc]

Why install the heatsink with the motherboard already installed, and secondly, if you install it with the motherboard installed, why not laying the PC flat? And why test with a open case? You have a strange way of doing things.

[@Teluric2]

A nightmare for any rabid Apple fanboy

[@OptLab]

Why spending so much time without turning off the other fans ? You should make the test with Fanless PSU, GPU fans ON/OFF, then the whole video makes sense to test the NH-D12L. I don't understand the point of the video.

[@jcmacph4587]

25C room temp is hot? Haha. Here 33C is normal 🤣

[@kb420ps]

I have an i9-12900k with a Noctua U12a chromax black cooler. I can run Cinebench 23 and my cpu never gets above 87° without undervolting with no throttling. The case that I have may help, because I am using a Fractal Torrent case and I added a Noctua NF-A14 iPPC-3000 PWM fan as an exhaust.

[@BhajanAddict]

I have the same cooler. Ive not had the same experience. I think each motherboard can give a slightly different voltage to the cpu and in my case I was pulling 265w without changing any settings and the cooler couldnt handle it. Once I made some minor tweaks to the settings it was all good. The u12a is pretty awesome for such a small package

[@kb420ps]

@@BhajanAddict what motherboard are you using? I have an ASUS Pro Art Z690.

[@BhajanAddict]

@@kb420ps msi z690 carbon wifi

[@HarvinderSingh-yy8th]

Giant cooler is best.

[@greenmarine5]

your AIO is upside down....

[@gamerforever4837]

So it's a knock off, of other companies coolers?

[@jerryshort6380]

Noctua D9l is smaller

[@yogiwp_]

Why undervolt when your're testing the cooler? If it doesn't work without undervolting, then it doesn't work.

[@Zarabozo]

That's a bit shortsighted. There are configurations when undervolting results in a gain in performance. If a specific user is undervolting permanently with a performance gain, then this cooler works for that user. Also, there are specific scenarios where you *must* have a low height cooler and liquid cooling is not a good idea (e.g. rack mounted 4U chasis for a workstation or server that will be running 24x7), and this is probably the best solution for that right now.

[@EDYX369]

❤️🇵🇭

[@carloosgongora1701]

air coolers not working to cool down Intel 12th generation CPUs, the only solution to cool it it's getting a AIO cooling solution

[@K1NNN]

Really?

[@Moljin]

@@K1NNN nope

[@Zarabozo]

Not true at all. And liquid cooling is not a good idea for all use cases.

[@dingus_doofus]

Downvoted just for putting your hands into a running PC. Not a good example to set.