Noctua NH-L12 Ghost S1 Edition, High-Performance Low-Profile CPU Cooler

CASE, MOBO, CPU, RAM, GPU: Black Lian Li Q58, ASRock Z690M-ITX/ax, i5-12000k, Corsair LPX RAM (16GBx2)- low profile RAM, MSI 3060 TI PC USAGE: I do some light gaming, and run multiple VM's but not at the same time. Occasionally some beginner level video editing. REVIEW: If you want to air cool this case with this CPU/GPU combo or similar team RED, this is the best cooling option for you IMO. The build quality is excellent, the fan is dead quiet. I am using low profile RAM, so your mileage may vary. The case clearance is 67mm and this has a height of 66mm, and while tight, I can assure you it does not touch the case and I have no issues with turbulence. I believe there is about 1.5mm-2mm of gap between the rad and the case. The fan sits a bit lower than the top of the radiator and vents 100% to the mesh panel of the case, so pretty much ideal. The radiator is perhaps 15% obstructed when the case is closed. Mounting: attach base plate prior to installing MOBO in case (the threads on the plate are mounted up) There is provided Noctua thermal paste with at least two applications. The radiator screws down into the base plate (using a provided screwdriver) through two holes in the radiator.- Mine came with AMD4 mounting hardware as well as LGA 1700. This will likely be the last step to complete the build. Make sure you plug into all the correct headers prior to mounting because the cooler/radiator will cover some of the headers and RAM. You will not be able to see the cooler fan in the case, as it is behind the rad. PS- the green glow is a MOBO light I never notice it while working and it does not bother me at night, I think the radiator diminishes/ shadows it.

CPU: 9950x3d MB: Gigabyte x870i AORUS Case: Falcon NW Tiki Upgraded the internals of my SFF PC. Previous MB/CPU combo allowed for Corsair H50 but the upgraded MB did not allow space. PC used for gaming and work. Temperatures reached 98*C when gaming. Proceeded to underclock to 1.15V with no major detriments to performance. Did not use PBO, simply voltage underclock. Temperatures never break 70*C now. Highly recommend this but be prepared to underclock and run benchmarks to find the specs that fit your needs!

Man...NZXT should be ashamed. The 140mm rad they included in the H1 was absolutely destroyed by this thing. Dropped idle temps by 10°C easily, and I'm hovering at 75°C on a full Blender run. Legitimately the best air cooler I've ever encountered. Just be careful, the thing is...BEYOND pointy ;)

This is a great low profile CPU cooler. The AIO on my H1 V1 was end of life so I replaced it with this NH-L12 S1, and it's amazing. My 11700k idles around 34 and underload hits about 60, which is muchhh better than the stock AIO. The Noctua is also very quiet, although I can hear it spin under heavy load. Overall I'm very happy with the purchase especially since its compatible with my current setup. The height allows you to use the included 90mm fan on the underside of the heatsink, and the top side lays flush with the 140mm case fan, for a push/pull configuration. Great stuff, would recommend

It's a good cooler. It's easy to install, performs well, and the fan is quiet for its size. However, the heatsink was slightly bent sideways and not perfectly parallel with the motherboard. This could not have happened during shipping since it is packed very well and safely inside the box. It must be a manufacturing defect. Which is why I am taking away one star. It is mostly a cosmetic defect and does not affect its performance.

Update: After researching, It just fit so tight that scratching the side is inevitable but performance-wise works like a glove. I ran stress tests for 30 minutes and got a stable temperature between 70-78, I am surprised to having such a result in this case Would purchase again. And sorry. Original review: First and the last time I would purchase a Noctua cpu cooler. I don’t care if their products are best as they said. The first impression I got from this company is that I’m disappointed. It scratches my case and I can’t even close the side panel all the way through. But performance-wise is what you expected of a aftermarket cpu cooler.

This Noctua cooler is a perfect example of "you get what you pay for". I replaced the stock/boxed RM1 cooler and I dropped 20 degrees Celsius off my idle, and now the i7-13700 never goes above 80 Celsius even when running stress tests. I'll probably never buy another brand of cooler or fan again. The quality is excellent and the performance speaks for itself. My CPU happily runs @ full boost when commanded now and this makes my gaming a joy.

Fits small cases great. I used it in my meshlicious, but its very tight with the ram sticks. You need to have really short sticks, or it'll push against the first one. I ultimately had to swap it out for an AIO because it couldn't cool my cpu enough, but I don't think that's fault of the CPU cooler itself! Will definitely use it in another build.

This is my second quiet fan. One is already three years old and it still run flawlessly . Money well spent.

Fajne chłodzenie choć u mnie na płycie Asus Rog Strix b760-i gaming wifi pasowało tylko w jednej pozycji. Obudowa Fractal Design Mood niekompatybilna z tym chłodzeniem i tą płytą. Ogólnie fajne ale do tej obudowy nie polecam.

I use this in my fractal ridge itx gaming pc and it does a great job of keeping my cpu cool. The fan is not too loud either. I do recommend setting a temperature limit though if your case doesn’t have any intake fans like mine. I did have a few issues with installation. The power cable connector on the fractal ridge can get in the way depending on which way up you want the cooler fitted. The second issue was the manual seems to give the wrong instructions regarding AM5. Look at my photos and you can see the AM5 set up results in some of the CPU not being cooled. I had to use the AM4 set up on my AM5 itx motherboard. Once set up properly it does its job well so no complaints. If you’re buying this make sure to research its use in your case and double check your cpu is fully covered.

Ich bin mit diesem Produkt äußerst zufrieden. Die Qualität ist hervorragend, das Design durchdacht und die Verarbeitung sehr hochwertig. Es erfüllt alle meine Erwartungen und funktioniert einwandfrei im täglichen Gebrauch. Besonders beeindruckt hat mich das ausgezeichnete Preis‑Leistungs‑Verhältnis. Ich kann dieses Produkt ohne Einschränkungen weiterempfehlen.“

Lo utilizzo nel Louqe Ghost S1, per il dissipare il calore prodotto da un I5-10600K, che ha un TDP (PL1) di 125 W e un TDP (PL2) di 182 W. Il prodotto in sè non si discute, è di una qualità eccelsa, ma bisogna tenere in considerazione le sue dimensioni, la ventola che adotta nonchè le caratteristiche del case in cui viene inserito. Premetto che non ho alcun "top hat" e che ho solo una ventola aggiuntiva, in estrazione, posta al di sotto dell'alimentatore. A sistema completato e a case chiuso, in fase di test per verifica della capacità dissipante (con il programma di CPU stress test Prime95, che crea delle condizioni che nel normale utilizzo mai si potranno verificare), utilizzando la ventola fornita in origine (NF-B9 PWM), ho riscontrato il fenomeno del "thermal throttling". Ho quindi provato a sostituire la ventola con una NF-A9 PWM, riscontrando lo stesso problema, anche se il "thermal throttling" viene raggiunto dopo un tempo leggermente superiore, segno di una efficienza migliore, ma pagando lo scotto di un aumento della rumorosità. Ho trovato la quadratura del cerchio, utilizzando la ventola NF-A12x15; le temperature del processore rimangono comunque molto elevate (96 °C), molto vicine al limite del "thermal throttling", che però non viene raggiunto. Per poter utilizzare questa configurazione, ho tolto il sistema di dissipazione ai moduli RAM Corsair LPX, il quale è più estetico che funzionale, a meno che non vogliate overcloccare pesantemente i moduli di memoria. Oltre a ciò, ho dovuto modificare, con un po' di pazienza, le due clip metalliche di aggancio, per adattarle alla ventola NF-A12x15. In questo modo, la ventola si "appoggia" alla perfezione sopra ai banchi della RAM, mantenendo la perfetta planarità. In ogni caso, per mantenere un corretto grado di sicurezza sulle temperature massime raggiungibili, anche in casi limite, dal BIOS della scheda madre ho impostato il TDP (PL2) a 160 W.