The advantage you have with these dual tower mid fan designs is that when you line up the fan with the top edge of the heatsink (so 3 out of 4 high airflow edges go through it) you also have the bottom edge sticking out below the heatsink blowing air towards the rear VRM heatsink, which is especially good in ITX where it's normally hard to get lots of airflow for the vrm section
Since the teeth are designed to optimize noise/performance flipping the fan like that might have a negative impact. I think you should also test flipping the entire heatsink vs just the fan. Also can you fit the A12x25r in the SS135? Hope you can address these in a future video.
Thanks for the video! I just installed this on my 12600k in my SFF Lian Li 185m (MC exclusive) and this was a great cooler choice for me! This was significantly quieter than the 120 PA in my situation. Loving your videos!
Any clues on how this performs vs the C14S? I'm waiting on a few parts for my NR200 build and wondering whether to use the D12L with rear intake or C14S with side intake - both (I think) will allow the side radiator/fan/hard drive mount which I need for a 3.5" drive, so the U12A is unfortunately not an option.
In the c14s the thermals where identical to the u12a using the phantecks t30. He has a video up in the channel with the same cpu and voltage. So idk i think it depends on the case. It would be interesting to see how they perform in a open test bench. Additionally the c14s help the motherboard vrm.
@@ryanlemieux3323 Dan said on the SFF Network forums that the D12L outperforms the C14S in this case. I guess it has a more optimal airflow for that case
It is true that Fuma 2 Rev.B (with its 154.5 mm height) should fit in any 4U case. However for this purpose the upper cover of the above-mentioned 4U case should be absolutely flat, without any reinforcing elements inside the case. In real life many tower cases from HP and Dell, those could be seemingly (looking at their external dimensions) compatible with 154.5 mm coolers (e.g. Dell Precision T1600), are de facto incompatible with them, mainly due to their advanced opening systems and different reinforcing elements in their covers. For such cases Noctua D12L (h = 145 mm) remains the best choice. Another option from Noctua, namely Noctua C14S, can be also used sometimes, but it requires the presence of ventilation openings in the cover for its optimal performance. Such openings are present only in some cases (e.g. Asus G11DF). If this side ventilation is totally absent (like in many Dell and HP towers), Noctua D12L remains absolutely the best.
This is cpu cooler, what I am waiting on. For now, in NR200P (2x mesh pannels), I'm useing C12P + A12x25 chromax black. It's not a tower cooler, but perform very well. Unfortunetlly, I have to wait for chromax black version of D12L - what might be at the Q4 of 2023 - so I'm waiting :) As always, great review M&M - thanks.
Since the video where the host (I really wish I knew his name) declared the NH-C14S as the honey badger of coolers for the NR200 non-P, has anything come along indicate that a different air cooler might be better?
Great NR200p videos! Thanks! Hi can I ask a quick question, does mugen 5/ NH D12L work with AM5? I am intending to use it for 7600x. Sorry if it sounds noob, this is my first time building
Hi, love your vids! Have you ever heard of darkflash DLH21? I was wondering if nh d12l can fit in the case. I'm currently using SS135 and there's a good bit of clearance.
I'm excited to check this cooler out, I just put my "old" 5800x into a Rosewill 4U rack case and this is suppose to fit. I've got a 240mm AIO in there now and I'd rather just have a air-cooler than AIO.
I have a Noctua D12L on my Sliger Cerberus. I am willing to test if the U12A would fit. Maybe it will fit seamlessly. If not, I could try using spacers or other modifications to make it fit. My specs are: R9 5950X (PBO enabled) RX 7800XT (Powercolor) Trident Z 2x32GB DDR4 (3733 Mhz) The D12L stays under 84 degrees and scores 28k in Cinebench. Quite good, but I try to push it harder. When I used my R9 5950X in my old NZXT H710i case with the NH-D15, the score was 30k (with undervolting and manual PBO settings). Maybe the U12A can get closer to that score in the Sliger Cerberus? (I mean, I am happy with my setup. It's more of a fun project to see if the U12A can push it harder).
I think Dan C4 SFX was designed with this cooler in mind. I'm more surprised at how good SS135 does compared to these taller coolers. It's still a solid cooler for less than $60 and you can even spend on a T30 or NF-A12x25 if you want to push it more. There are also plenty of cases from China like Jonsbo, ZZAW, SPGC, Metalfish, etc.
Yup. Don’t know when the C4 will drop but hopefully soon. As of right now the Cerberus is the one case that comes to mind… although if there’s a cooler hopefully more cases get designed into this space. The SS135 is indeed quite good. I did manage to cram the NF-A12x25 with it into my M1 but the panel bulged.
@@MrLmgh It fits SS135 perfectly: i0.hdslb.com/bfs/album/b2da05969ce7557248680e0903da59453fea89ca.jpg Even the stock clips are compatible. You can also use Thermalright TL-B9/TL-B9W as a second fan if there's space behind the heatsink, it beats Noctua's NF-A9 in heatsink/sound standardized tests.
Hi @Machine & More ! Could you make a test about the be quiet! Dark Rock TF2 in the NR200P Case? I am really looking for a build with this case and cooler but didnot find any good and detailed test like yours about this cooler in this case :(
Hi, I've just got myself a d12l for my 11700kf in NR200p build with TG panel. I have 2x Arctic P12 on top as exhaust and 2x at the bottom set as intake. What is the best orientation for the fan in the middle of thee cooler? Intake from rear or the opposite direction?
@@MachinesMore someone suggested that no shroud over the fins is letting the air escape too early. Some sort of simple paper/cardboard shroud held with blue painters type could be set up for a preliminary test to see if that could help. Basically ducting over the exposed fins.
I run a Cerebrus X with a handle and am considering this case. Trying to see if I can get by with air cooling, but liquid is better supported in this case.
Hi, I want to know if you can fit the side bracket with duo fan setup for D12L? I'm planning my setup as below: - D12L with duo fan setup (intake) - 2 fans top as exhaust - 2 Slim bottom fans as intake - 1 140mm fan as exhaust on the side bracket (PSU side) How's your thought on this setup? Been considering non-stop for my first ever NR200P build
@Seola heyyyyy sorry for such a late reply, finally got my build but with some small tweaks: - Rear Noctua 92mm fan (intake) - D12L with 1 fan setup (intake) - 2 fans top as exhaust - No bottom slim fan (my 3070Ti ROG is just too big) - 1 140mm fan as exhaust on the side bracket (PSU side) so far the temps did not disappoint me - Max CPU temp with AIDA64 test is 90C (i think my thermal paste is a little lacking) - Max GPU temp is 72C with Heaven or Superstition or even games (Cyberpunk for example) Hope this helps with your build ^^
It's kinda weird that they have seven heatpipes on the U12A but only five on this one, even more so when back when the U12A came out Noctua discussed how the heat doesn't actually spread out from the heatpipes that much and heatpipes mattered more for getting the heat off the chip first, hence why they packed seven into that cooler.
hello, thanks for sharing... I have a question. I own a i5-12400 (65w tdp), with the cooler can I use it without a fan?... I want a kind of silent build and I dont want to go for the NH-P1, find it too big!!!
I wouldn't run it without the fan. Even as gentle as the 12400 is, passive airflow won't be enough to fully cool it- the heatfin spacing just isn't designed for that. The good news is- the fan that comes with the D12L is practically silent up to 1200 RPM- try it and see how loud it is to your ears. With the 12400 I doubt you will need to run any higher unless the cooler is in the vicinity of a very very hot GPU.
@@MachinesMore I did testing... with the fan off, the cpu never goes above 42c on normal task, like web browsing file zip and unzipping. so I set the fan curve for the fan only be activated at 60c.... rest of the time is off... I have 2 Phanteks T30 -1 intake and 1 exhaust at 750rpm, on Techware Fusion case wich is full ventilated with 4 mesh panels-. eveything is dead silent!!
Sooo, what I have gleaned is the "new" u12A, is almost as good as d15/14S, and the u12S is about the same as u12a when using the fans from u12A? So this cooler will be rated as better than _____, but not as good as _____.
u12a performs well on AMD because of AMD off centered core (which touches the most front heatpipe that gets cooled instantly). this kind of dual tower is meant for Intel CPUs with centered and vertical positioned long core.
In my country - Australia, the d12l and scythe fuma 2 are the same price. I can see both cooler perform very similar. Noctua seems better in terms of acoustic and quality so I might cop the d12l.
@EunSeo copped the d12l, totally happy with it. Use it to cool my 12600k and the temps are great as well as the noise. And noctua products are always high quality.
I am not sure how you got that the D12L performs better acoustically than the Fuma 2, considering these tests are noise normalized (everything is making the same amount of noise) and the Fuma 2 runs half a degree cooler. 8:11
I got a bit unlucky with my U12A, one of the heatpipes sticks out about 3mm further than the others so one corner of the vented panel on my NR200 keeps popping open. I wish this had existed when I built my PC last year.
When using 2 fans, could the second fan make more use if it were attached to the thicker tower?(fan-thick tower-fan-thin tower, or reversed) Does 92mm fans fit without permanent clip deformation, using stock nh-d12l fan clips?
Wow, in the 2x configuration the Noctua fans are about as loud at 1500RPM as the FUMA's fans at 1000RPM? Impressive. (Ignoring the difference the cooler itself will make to noise performance)
Yup. Much of the strength of the Noctua coolers is in their fans and the noise normalized performance. Other fans can get it done but with a huge noise penalty.
I'm looking to upgrade from my stock Wraith cooler and I have a 170mm height max but also RAM that extends ~50mm above my CPU, only leaving ~120mm for a fan to be mounted above it (not quite enough) I think this may be a good option for me.
@@Chillhoof the problem is not the performance, the problem is the price. It should cost 50-60 max, not 90$. The cromax edition will be 100$ probably. It's embarassing.
@@Chillhoof whole Noctua standardised rating is shady. As if some weird number could determine overall performance of a cooler. Whole U12A made me wonder, why didn't they just swap the fans on U12S, as that one has very bad stock fan and just swapping it with A12 fan got me -3°C. But that's Noctua - once a product is made, it's never revisited and/or upgraded.
Oh man am I excited to watch this. This is the first review I've seen of it so far from all the channels I watch. Thanks for giving it a look!
The advantage you have with these dual tower mid fan designs is that when you line up the fan with the top edge of the heatsink (so 3 out of 4 high airflow edges go through it) you also have the bottom edge sticking out below the heatsink blowing air towards the rear VRM heatsink, which is especially good in ITX where it's normally hard to get lots of airflow for the vrm section
Since the teeth are designed to optimize noise/performance flipping the fan like that might have a negative impact. I think you should also test flipping the entire heatsink vs just the fan. Also can you fit the A12x25r in the SS135? Hope you can address these in a future video.
May need to consider ram clearance. The flipping the heat sink the fat tower of the two will overhang the RAM slots.
Thanks for the video! I just installed this on my 12600k in my SFF Lian Li 185m (MC exclusive) and this was a great cooler choice for me! This was significantly quieter than the 120 PA in my situation. Loving your videos!
Yes, I would also like to see a comparison against the C14S in either single or dual fan configuration.
Any clues on how this performs vs the C14S? I'm waiting on a few parts for my NR200 build and wondering whether to use the D12L with rear intake or C14S with side intake - both (I think) will allow the side radiator/fan/hard drive mount which I need for a 3.5" drive, so the U12A is unfortunately not an option.
In the c14s the thermals where identical to the u12a using the phantecks t30. He has a video up in the channel with the same cpu and voltage. So idk i think it depends on the case. It would be interesting to see how they perform in a open test bench. Additionally the c14s help the motherboard vrm.
wish we saw this comparison as well.
This will be a perfect match for the upcoming Dan C4-SFX. It supports air cooling up to 145mm
Hopefully not too much longer!
The C14S also fits the C4-SFX at 142mm in tall config. I would be surprised if the D12L beats that.
@@ryanlemieux3323 Dan said on the SFF Network forums that the D12L outperforms the C14S in this case. I guess it has a more optimal airflow for that case
Now it's out and in the pictures on the website they show the case with a U12L with 2 fans!
happy to keep my mugen 5 in my nr200 tempered glass, thanks for your reviews, you inspired me on my channel
It is true that Fuma 2 Rev.B (with its 154.5 mm height) should fit in any 4U case. However for this purpose the upper cover of the above-mentioned 4U case should be absolutely flat, without any reinforcing elements inside the case. In real life many tower cases from HP and Dell, those could be seemingly (looking at their external dimensions) compatible with 154.5 mm coolers (e.g. Dell Precision T1600), are de facto incompatible with them, mainly due to their advanced opening systems and different reinforcing elements in their covers. For such cases Noctua D12L (h = 145 mm) remains the best choice. Another option from Noctua, namely Noctua C14S, can be also used sometimes, but it requires the presence of ventilation openings in the cover for its optimal performance. Such openings are present only in some cases (e.g. Asus G11DF). If this side ventilation is totally absent (like in many Dell and HP towers), Noctua D12L remains absolutely the best.
Very nice review. Thanks for the comparison between single and dual fans. It really helps me!
Benn following you for a while and build my NR200P...today...Subscribed!!! Very informative video you got. Thank you!!!
Man Scythe Brand is Underrated. Cheap price with superb performance
This is cpu cooler, what I am waiting on. For now, in NR200P (2x mesh pannels), I'm useing C12P + A12x25 chromax black. It's not a tower cooler, but perform very well. Unfortunetlly, I have to wait for chromax black version of D12L - what might be at the Q4 of 2023 - so I'm waiting :) As always, great review M&M - thanks.
Since the video where the host (I really wish I knew his name) declared the NH-C14S as the honey badger of coolers for the NR200 non-P, has anything come along indicate that a different air cooler might be better?
Give Noctua some credit! we'll probably see the chromax version by 2025
Its gonna be released by Q4 this year
Great NR200p videos! Thanks!
Hi can I ask a quick question, does mugen 5/ NH D12L work with AM5? I am intending to use it for 7600x.
Sorry if it sounds noob, this is my first time building
Hi, love your vids! Have you ever heard of darkflash DLH21? I was wondering if nh d12l can fit in the case. I'm currently using SS135 and there's a good bit of clearance.
I'm excited to check this cooler out, I just put my "old" 5800x into a Rosewill 4U rack case and this is suppose to fit. I've got a 240mm AIO in there now and I'd rather just have a air-cooler than AIO.
I have a Noctua D12L on my Sliger Cerberus. I am willing to test if the U12A would fit. Maybe it will fit seamlessly. If not, I could try using spacers or other modifications to make it fit.
My specs are:
R9 5950X (PBO enabled)
RX 7800XT (Powercolor)
Trident Z 2x32GB DDR4 (3733 Mhz)
The D12L stays under 84 degrees and scores 28k in Cinebench. Quite good, but I try to push it harder. When I used my R9 5950X in my old NZXT H710i case with the NH-D15, the score was 30k (with undervolting and manual PBO settings). Maybe the U12A can get closer to that score in the Sliger Cerberus?
(I mean, I am happy with my setup. It's more of a fun project to see if the U12A can push it harder).
Question - Will this new Noctua fan fit in the Thermalright Silver Soul 135 cooler, and provide any performance improvement?
I think Dan C4 SFX was designed with this cooler in mind.
I'm more surprised at how good SS135 does compared to these taller coolers. It's still a solid cooler for less than $60 and you can even spend on a T30 or NF-A12x25 if you want to push it more. There are also plenty of cases from China like Jonsbo, ZZAW, SPGC, Metalfish, etc.
Yup. Don’t know when the C4 will drop but hopefully soon. As of right now the Cerberus is the one case that comes to mind… although if there’s a cooler hopefully more cases get designed into this space. The SS135 is indeed quite good. I did manage to cram the NF-A12x25 with it into my M1 but the panel bulged.
@@MachinesMore what about the new NF-A12x25r?
@@MrLmgh It fits SS135 perfectly: i0.hdslb.com/bfs/album/b2da05969ce7557248680e0903da59453fea89ca.jpg
Even the stock clips are compatible. You can also use Thermalright TL-B9/TL-B9W as a second fan if there's space behind the heatsink, it beats Noctua's NF-A9 in heatsink/sound standardized tests.
@@ailluinthethyra6139 thanks for the info, that`s what i`am aiming for in my future build.
Please make a review of ThermalRight Frost Commander 140 cooler.
i have a nzxt kraken x63 in a NR200. do u think the nh-d12L is worth changing to? im horrible at cable management and just want to free up some space
Hi @Machine & More ! Could you make a test about the be quiet! Dark Rock TF2 in the NR200P Case?
I am really looking for a build with this case and cooler but didnot find any good and detailed test like yours about this cooler in this case :(
Hi, I've just got myself a d12l for my 11700kf in NR200p build with TG panel. I have 2x Arctic P12 on top as exhaust and 2x at the bottom set as intake. What is the best orientation for the fan in the middle of thee cooler? Intake from rear or the opposite direction?
Interested in your evaluation of the Mugen 5C, wonder what’s keeping that big heat sink back, if it’s not the fan.
My thought is… the big heatsink is keeping it back. I think it’s too thick.
@@MachinesMore someone suggested that no shroud over the fins is letting the air escape too early. Some sort of simple paper/cardboard shroud held with blue painters type could be set up for a preliminary test to see if that could help. Basically ducting over the exposed fins.
Man, I share your feelings... Why is it taking so long for Noctua to launch their products in Chromax?
I run a Cerebrus X with a handle and am considering this case. Trying to see if I can get by with air cooling, but liquid is better supported in this case.
Can you make comparison of U12A and Thermalright PA120 in NR200P?
Hi, I want to know if you can fit the side bracket with duo fan setup for D12L? I'm planning my setup as below:
- D12L with duo fan setup (intake)
- 2 fans top as exhaust
- 2 Slim bottom fans as intake
- 1 140mm fan as exhaust on the side bracket (PSU side)
How's your thought on this setup? Been considering non-stop for my first ever NR200P build
@Seola heyyyyy sorry for such a late reply, finally got my build but with some small tweaks:
- Rear Noctua 92mm fan (intake)
- D12L with 1 fan setup (intake)
- 2 fans top as exhaust
- No bottom slim fan (my 3070Ti ROG is just too big)
- 1 140mm fan as exhaust on the side bracket (PSU side)
so far the temps did not disappoint me
- Max CPU temp with AIDA64 test is 90C (i think my thermal paste is a little lacking)
- Max GPU temp is 72C with Heaven or Superstition or even games (Cyberpunk for example)
Hope this helps with your build ^^
Will those round 120mm fans fit the u12a cooler?
It's kinda weird that they have seven heatpipes on the U12A but only five on this one, even more so when back when the U12A came out Noctua discussed how the heat doesn't actually spread out from the heatpipes that much and heatpipes mattered more for getting the heat off the chip first, hence why they packed seven into that cooler.
hello, thanks for sharing... I have a question. I own a i5-12400 (65w tdp), with the cooler can I use it without a fan?... I want a kind of silent build and I dont want to go for the NH-P1, find it too big!!!
I wouldn't run it without the fan. Even as gentle as the 12400 is, passive airflow won't be enough to fully cool it- the heatfin spacing just isn't designed for that. The good news is- the fan that comes with the D12L is practically silent up to 1200 RPM- try it and see how loud it is to your ears. With the 12400 I doubt you will need to run any higher unless the cooler is in the vicinity of a very very hot GPU.
@@MachinesMore thanks...
@@MachinesMore I did testing... with the fan off, the cpu never goes above 42c on normal task, like web browsing file zip and unzipping. so I set the fan curve for the fan only be activated at 60c.... rest of the time is off... I have 2 Phanteks T30 -1 intake and 1 exhaust at 750rpm, on Techware Fusion case wich is full ventilated with 4 mesh panels-. eveything is dead silent!!
The Noctua NH-D12L, I would recommend it as a good and neat replacement cooler for non-K 12gen i5-i7 Intel processors.
It turns out ss135 is equal to d12l at the same fan speed.
Sooo, what I have gleaned is the "new" u12A, is almost as good as d15/14S, and the u12S is about the same as u12a when using the fans from u12A? So this cooler will be rated as better than _____, but not as good as _____.
have you tried this on a 7950x3d?
Are this cooler good for non overclock i7-12700 in NR200P?
u12a performs well on AMD because of AMD off centered core (which touches the most front heatpipe that gets cooled instantly). this kind of dual tower is meant for Intel CPUs with centered and vertical positioned long core.
would looooove for you to check out the Xilence XC061 | M705D air cooler!
it looks a lot like an id cooling se 225xt :)
Have you test fit this with the Streacom DA2?
AH! I forgot about that one! I haven’t tested and you’re absolutely right about the 145mm there.
Test it with the DA2 and tempered glass lol
In my country - Australia, the d12l and scythe fuma 2 are the same price. I can see both cooler perform very similar. Noctua seems better in terms of acoustic and quality so I might cop the d12l.
@EunSeo copped the d12l, totally happy with it. Use it to cool my 12600k and the temps are great as well as the noise. And noctua products are always high quality.
I am not sure how you got that the D12L performs better acoustically than the Fuma 2, considering these tests are noise normalized (everything is making the same amount of noise) and the Fuma 2 runs half a degree cooler.
8:11
I got a bit unlucky with my U12A, one of the heatpipes sticks out about 3mm further than the others so one corner of the vented panel on my NR200 keeps popping open. I wish this had existed when I built my PC last year.
you could use ak620 without the heatfin covers for nr200 for even better performance
How does this compare to a C14s?
in my country the noctua is like 8 dollars more than the fuma 2, so I'll go for the noctua.
Can i use side panel extension nr200 with this hsf ?
Does it leave room for a fan on the side bracket with nr200?
Not over the cooler, but you could still use the bracket- which is a big plus if you want the fan on the PSU side or an HDD.
Waiting for the Chromax Black for my NR200P!
You have been waiting a long time. It just released
When using 2 fans, could the second fan make more use if it were attached to the thicker tower?(fan-thick tower-fan-thin tower, or reversed)
Does 92mm fans fit without permanent clip deformation, using stock nh-d12l fan clips?
when is the chromax version coming?
Wow, in the 2x configuration the Noctua fans are about as loud at 1500RPM as the FUMA's fans at 1000RPM? Impressive. (Ignoring the difference the cooler itself will make to noise performance)
Yup. Much of the strength of the Noctua coolers is in their fans and the noise normalized performance. Other fans can get it done but with a huge noise penalty.
I'm looking to upgrade from my stock Wraith cooler and I have a 170mm height max but also RAM that extends ~50mm above my CPU, only leaving ~120mm for a fan to be mounted above it (not quite enough) I think this may be a good option for me.
When is Chromax version coming out 😭
Made for Cerberus/Cerberus-X..:D
Can you improve your lighting always to dark to see your reviews properly struggle to see
Also too tall for the Lazer 3D LZ7 XTD.
Damn Noctua‘s prices are just ridiculous expensive. You can easily get a decent AIO for that price.
aio assemblies become clogged over time. Air coolers last forever and you don’t have to worry about leaking and breaking the pump.
Хвала!
Not a “convincing” product for the money in my opinion.
Precisely. Also add the proprietary fan. Noctua seems to be losing contact with reality.
And the 140mm fan & next gen D15 was postponed again 🤢
Yeah. Fuma 2 will probably perform better for 30$ less.
@@Smallman647 that was quite surprising, considering how 'meh' are fuma stock fans. Rev. B will be much better for sure.
@@Chillhoof the problem is not the performance, the problem is the price. It should cost 50-60 max, not 90$. The cromax edition will be 100$ probably. It's embarassing.
@@Chillhoof whole Noctua standardised rating is shady. As if some weird number could determine overall performance of a cooler. Whole U12A made me wonder, why didn't they just swap the fans on U12S, as that one has very bad stock fan and just swapping it with A12 fan got me -3°C. But that's Noctua - once a product is made, it's never revisited and/or upgraded.
dude just change ur channel name to NR200 and more lolz