We have had a few Noctua coolers on the bench over the last year or so, but this low profile cooler has just been released and looks like it is making a name for itself. We have had this for a while now and have used it to test a mid range or maybe even a Server build, but certainly a set up that requires a low profile cooler.
The NH-L9x65 low-profile CPU Cooler is aimed at small form factor builds and from our point of view, there are a lot of people who want this type of high end cooler for small rigs.
Before we have a look at this cooler, this is what Noctua say about it,
Continuing its recent focus on premium grade cooling components for compact systems such as ITX based gaming or Home Theater PCs, Noctua today released its new NH-L9x65 low-profile cooler and a 4-pin PWM version of its popular NF-A6x25 60mm fan. While the latter adds PWM support for automatic speed control to the proven NF-A6x25 design, the NH-L9x65 is a taller, performance-enhanced version of Noctua’s award-winning NH-L9 low-profile coolers.
Features
- 65mm low profile
- 100% RAM compatibility on Intel platforms
- 100% compatibility with PCIe cards on ITX
- Easy access to near-socket connectors
- NF-A9x14 PWM premium fan
- Low-Noise Adaptor
- SecuFirm2™ mounting system
- Compatibility with past and future sockets
- NT-H1 thermal compound
- 6 years warranty
Dimensions
- Height (without fan) 51 mm
- Width (without fan) 95 mm
- Depth (without fan) 95 mm
- Height (with fan) 65 mm
- Width (with fan) 95 mm
- Depth (with fan) 95 mm
- Fan compatibility 92x92x14, 92x92x25
Socket Compatibility
- Intel:LGA775, LGA1150, LGA1155, LGA1156, LGA1366 and LGA2011 / 2011-v3 (Square ILM)
- AMD: AM2, AM2+, AM3, AM3+, FM1, FM2 and FM2+
So, on with the product shots.
Product Shots
Noctua are positioning this at the ITX based gaming or Home Theater PC markets, so it is not going to be big. We have a few mITX builds around for gaming but we are going to test this on a mATX motherboard set up for now.
The packaging is the usual Noctua standard, very high quality for the humble CPU cooler. It is welcome and organised and when we finished testing the cooler, it all went back together, almost like new. You probably wonder why we would say that, well the packaging is of a sufficient quality that it can take some rough and tumble and still keep it all together.
Usual Noctua packaging and standards, very nice.
Small, compact and shiny, looks good so far. The design is interesting, being of a very compact nature, it is almost pushed in on itself, with only two heatpipes per side. It is very flat and square in shape, with a four pin PWM fan head in black.
Noctua NH-L9x65 low-profile CPU Cooler Review
Package - 9
Performance - 9.5
Price - 9
Consumer Experience - 9.6
9.3
If you need a low profile cooler for your server, mITX or HTPC, this will do you just fine. In fact, it will do you more than just fine, it does what a good product does well, high performance without the fuss.