CONCLUSION

    When Noctua launched the NH-L12 we were quite skeptical about using our primary rig to test it and although load results well exceeded the 60 degrees temperature mark our system kept going. For good or bad the brand new NH-L12S does not surpass its predecessor in cooling efficiency and that’s something we were expecting right from the start since simply put you can’t compare a dual fan solution with a single fan solution when the heatsink used is almost identical. Granted the NF-B9 92mm fan on its own didn’t offer much to the original NH-L12 but combined with the NF-F12 these two had a much higher impact than the new NF-A12x15 slim 120mm model. Luckily the NF-A12x15 may be a bit louder (still nearly inaudible) but it offers very good results considering it’s a 15mm slim model. Now the good news is that noone is keeping you from either adding a 2^nd fan at the top (providing you get extra mounting clips) or replacing the NF-A12x15 fan (15mm thick) with a regular (25mm thick) 120mm fan but in both cases the height of the cooler would increase substantially. That being said the NH-L12S with its NF-A12x15 fan should easily outperform the NH-L12 with just the NF-B9 fan (unfortunately we never did test the original NH-L12 with just the NF-B9).

    Consumers have always paid a small justified premium for Noctua products due to their very high quality and the NH-L12S is really no exception since it currently retails for USD49.90 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 50Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk). Sure there are many low-profile CPU coolers that cost less than the NH-L12S but you will have a really hard time finding one that combines its size, quality noise levels and performance which is also why we give it our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Good Performance (For Its Size)
- Just 70mm Tall (Low Profile)
- Noise Levels

CONS

- Not Quite As Good As The Original NH-L12