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Re: Noctua NH-L12 Low Profile Cooler
Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2012 7:00 pm
by Cod
What effect do the low noise adapters have? Noticeably quieter or just barely? Significant decline in cooling ability (CPU runs hotter)? I'm finally about to order this thing and trying to get a better understanding of whether or not I should use the adapters.
Re: Noctua NH-L12 Low Profile Cooler
Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2013 1:12 am
by Cod
How does the push/pull orientation work? Does the 120mm fan push air down onto the heatsink while the 92mm fan pulls air up from the CPU to the heatsink?
I'm new to dual fan CPU coolers.
Re: Noctua NH-L12 Low Profile Cooler
Posted: Sat Jan 19, 2013 7:16 am
by Mats
Both fans pushes the air down towards the CPU. This configuration is often called push-pull, since the first fan pushes the air into the heatsink, and the second fan pulls air out of the heatsink.
If you use the fans like you describe you'll end up with a tug of war situation; the fans work against each other.
Push is usually more efficient in quiet systems than pull, which is good to know when using a single fan.
It never hurts to try different setups tho, especially if you have a PSU with a fan right above the heatsink.
In short: always make sure the airflow direction is the same for all fans.
Re: Noctua NH-L12 Low Profile Cooler
Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2014 4:00 pm
by Immanuel
I just installed an NH-L12. Is it supposed to sit tight on the CPU when the screws are all the way down, or is it ok to be able to rotate the heatsink a few mm above the CPU? The later is what happens with my PC.
Re: Noctua NH-L12 Low Profile Cooler
Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2014 6:22 am
by quest_for_silence
Immanuel wrote:I just installed an NH-L12. Is it supposed to sit tight on the CPU when the screws are all the way down, or is it ok to be able to rotate the heatsink a few mm above the CPU? The later is what happens with my PC.
More often with some specific TIMs (such as the AS 5), and particularly when there's a tad of it in excess, you can *vey slightly* (1-2mm) rotate the heatsink base over the CPU heatspreader, either on the left or on the right (I mean, when the cooler screws are all the way down).
Anyway, you may easily double check your build by heating the CPU (Prime95 small FFT or IBT would work well, in case).
Re: Noctua NH-L12 Low Profile Cooler
Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2017 9:12 am
by silentbobbo
I am in need of a CPU Fan for my miniITX board + Intel G4600.
The height of my case will be around 14-15cm so the NH-L12 should fit perfectly fine.
Since this review is already a few years old I wonder if there are better alternatives now or if I should still go for the NH-L12 if I want a very silent 24/7 HTPC CPU Fan?
Thanks !