Cooling [SFF Network] High End Downdraft - How Does the Noctua NH-L12 Compare?

[confusis]

Sometimes, downdraft cooling is the best option for a SFF build. Tower coolers don't cool memory, chipset or any other board components particularly well. Downdraft coolers also have the added advantage of being able to act as an intake for slimmer cases - enabling you to use one less fan - making for a quieter system. Noctua has many downdraft style coolers, but the NH-L12 is one of their largest, second only to the not so small NH-C14S (which can hit 142mm tall!).

Read more here..

 

[GuilleAcoustic]

The Noctua NH-C14 with only the bottom fan is "only" 105mm tall. It is the same height than a PCIe bracket:

 

[confusis]

I'm looking at the NH-C14S for a future review

 

[GuilleAcoustic]

Here is a link the the NH-C14 testes with dual fans, top fan only and bottom fan only configuration: http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1138-page5.html

 

[Phuncz]

I have the NH-L12 too, using VLP memory is almost required to be more flexible in mounting or sometimes required.

Crucial Ballistix Sport VLP in that picture.

Though I have yet to see VLP memory for DDR4, technically there are no issues to make it.

 

[Qrash]

A quick search led me to Crucial's website. I filtered using "DDR4" and "VLP" and 7 products were listed, ranging in capacity and speed, including this individual 16GB 2400MHz module .

 

[Phuncz]

Yeah I've seen those too, the problem is:

Specs: DDR4 PC4-19200 • CL=17 • Single Ranked • x4 based • Registered • ECC • DDR4-2400 • 1.2V • 2048Meg x 72 •

So you'll need a server chipset and Xeon CPU to use these. While some H170/Z170 boards support ECC on Skylake CPUs, these seem to function without ECC enabled which is only an issue if you need ECC support. But the Registered type (RDIMM) is only supported on the Xeon platform and Cxxx chipset series if I'm correct.

 

[ignsvn]

I use this NH-L12. A bit overkill for my 84 watt i5, but oh well

Built quality is superb, & installation is easy.

Mine came with wrong LGA1150 installation screws. I emailed them and they sent me the correct screws for free. No need to show recipe etc.

 

[XeaLouS]

I think it should be noted that you *can* fit the 120mm fan UNDERNEATH the cooler, but you'll need ultra low profile ram, and it is highly dependant on motherboard layout.

 

[confusis]

Not something I've tried, but in saying that, the test platform board has pretty bad layout issues!