Noctua NH-L12Sx77 CPU Cooler Overview
The Noctua NH-L12Sx77 is a “C-style” cooler as it is shaped in sort of a C with the heatsink and fan at the top with heatpipes coming off making that C and ending up at the base of the cooler. If you are wondering about size the official dimensions of the cooler are 77mm x 128mm x 131mm (HxWxD) and it weighs in a 520g. At 77mm tall it is still going to be compatible with many SFF cases.
At the top of the cooler we have our heatsink stack which has the six heatpipes embedded in it. These heatpipes are actually soldered to the fins of the heatsink for the best thermal performance. The heatsink is not all that thick as you can see.
Mounted to the bottom side of the heatsink is the included Noctua NF-A12x15 slim 120mm fan. This fan will spin between 450 – 1850 RPM with a max airflow of 94.2 and a max noise level of 23.9 dBA. The fan is set to push air up through the heatsink, which is ideal for many SFF cases that have perforated side panels. In its default configuration the you’ll have clearance for memory modules as tall as 44mm. You can also run the cooler in high clearance mode where you mount the fan to the top of the cooler, enabling support for memory modules up to 56mm tall. It is also worth noting that the fan clips that come with the cooler will work with 25mm thick fans as well.
Coming out of the heatsink are the six nickel-plated copper heatpipes. As I mentioned these come down into the base of the cooler in a “C” fashion, essentially supporting the top part of the cooler.
The base of the cooler is also nickel-plated cooper and has a really nice finish to it. This means that we will have good contact with our CPU for thermal transfer.
