Short version: 37mm cooler for 65 Watt CPUs which does not overhang RAM modules or the PCI-E slot on mini-itx boards.

Press release

Product page AMD version
Product page Intel version

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I'm excited about having 3mm more compared to the Kozuti for my planned mini-itx build. This brings me closer to realising my plan to put a 7mm high 2.5'' SSD and a quiet cooler inside a M350 or EO 140 (Similar to m350, but 64mm interior height) along with an A10-5700.

Rejoice!

Noctua has release a 37mm tall HSF

http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=news_list&news_id=80&lng=en

Same here. I was looking at an M350 build with an Intel 35 W TDP CPU since those come with the low profile stock heatsink that would fit. The 65 W rating on the
"i" version of this thing would widen my options if it indeed performs decently from a cooling and noise standpoint.

Any plans for reviewing this by SPCR? Or at least the fan.

Yes

I've read a review at Radeon 3d which puts it as thermally more efficient that the respective stock coolers while being slightly louder. Running the fan at 7V appears to have little impact on thermal efficiency in a comparatively huge case. (Fractal Design Node 304) Temperature charts show delta T to ambient, noise measurements are taken from 40cm with closed case.

Looks promising. I think it would safely cool my i5 3570k cpu, despite its small size.

was thinking whether to ask here or in a new topic but anyway...

noticing that its mentioned in noctua's product page I'm going to guess that providing the case had some good airflow itself theres no problem with using the LNA cable with any T series intel cpus correct?

I think you should be OK even with no or minimal case airflow for a 35 Watt T-CPU. In the SPCR review they tested an overclocked 95 Watt CPU at 7V (1710 RPM compared to 1800 RPM with the LNA according to Noctua; 22 dBA against 34 dBA at 2500 RPM) and while the CPU temperature was 8°C higher, it was still cooling well enough.

Hence, if you can cool a 95+Watt CPU at the rotational speed of the LNA, you can also cool a 35 Watt CPU. I think SPCR tests without case and airflow doesn't really apply.

I am thinking about getting this cooler for my i3-3225 (55w tdp). As it is, I have no issues with heat; the stock cooler handles things nicely. But the stock cooler is, I wouldn't say noisy, but clearly audible in idle. I would like to get it as silent as possible. So I am interested in the NH-Li's acoustics in idle and how low rpm one can get (using pwm). The stock cooler spins at 1050 rpm and won't go any lower though I assume there is headroom for going lower (temps around 30 celcius).

The NH-L9i specification talks about 300 RPM minimum rotational speed with PWM.

According to the SPCR review the cooler produces 15 dBa at ~1300 RPM. I guess that with your 55 Watt CPU the fan doesn't need to spin very fast, so you can use the LNA with a maximum speed of 1800 RPM (~22dBa).

Thanks, yup, the SPCR review sounds promising. I read another review in which the lowest actual/recorded rpm was 800 rpm.

This might be a stupid question: will the LNA adapter lower the rpm throughout or will it only have the affect that it lowers the maximum rpm? E.g. let's say the fan spins at 1000 rpm in idle, if I then adapt the LNA adpater under the same circumstances (heat), will the fan spin at the same 1000 rpm in idle or will it spin at bit lower due to the use of the LNA adapter?

The SPCR review stated that the starting voltage of the fan is about 4.3V. Afaik, the LNA-adapter is nothing but a resistor which reduces the voltage going to the fan (and thereby limiting the maximum voltage to ~8V). So my guess is "no" or "maybe a little bit", but I do not know for sure.

The NH-L9i doesn't fit my board (Asrock Z77E-itx) by default: "A capacitor near the socket is preventing the installation of the heatsink." Do you think the functionality/performance of the NH-L9i would be affected if one would cut a "hole" for the capacitator (i.e. remove a small bit from the fins, hoping that the heatpipes are not too close to the capacitator on the board)? Here is a picture I've found showing the problem:
http://instagram.com/p/S5_T4lqb2b/#

I know I could get another cooler, but this seems like the best (silence is what I'm looking for).

reminds me of the time I desoldered the capacitor that was blocking the cpu heatsink and put it on the other side of the MB LOL... yes it fixed the heat sink problem but i then had to mod the case to "fit" ...