CONCLUSION

   When i took the NH-D9L out of the box i was quite impressed to see that Noctua managed to manufacture such a compact D-Type dual heatsink tower and of course i was quite interested to see how it would perform. As a matter of fact i liked the dual heatsink design so much that i really thought the NH-D9L would likely surpass the Macho 90 by Thermalright something which as you can clearly tell didn't happen. The reason of course for this is size so since the Macho 90 is quite a bit larger compared to the NH-D9L (135x102x102mm/110x95x95mm) it manages to offer increased cooling efficiency. The fan of the NH-D9L is also slight noisier compared to the one of the Macho 90 but that was to be expected since although both models can spin up to 2000RPM the NF-A9 fan by Noctua can produce higher airflow levels (39.36CFM/46.43CFM). Also let’s not forget that although you can also add a second fan to the Macho 90 you can easily add a 3rd one to the NH-D9L to close the gap in performance although i expect most people will not even add a 2nd one to the mix.

   Price is perhaps the only thing wrong with the NH-D9L D-Type CPU Cooler by Noctua since it currently retails for USD59.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 55Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk). Now normally for a high-quality product by Noctua i wouldn't consider this to be a high price tag (you pay a premium when you get a premium product after all) but when the Macho 90 retails for quite a bit less especially in the EU i really do think that Noctua should consider lowering the price of this particular model even a little bit. With that out of the way however the NH-D9L is not only one of the tiniest CPU coolers one can find in the market but it's also very good at what it does and that's why it gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Small Size (no clearance issues)
- Very Good Performance (for its size)
- Noise Levels
- Tri-Fan Solution
- Socket Compatibility
- Bundle
- 6 Years Warranty

CONS

- Price (For Some)