Not only is the segment getting popular, but it has also seen an increase in the variety of components available to quench the thirst for performance. All of this increase in demand for small form factor PC’s can be attested by the fact that small form factor components are quite big on performance these days. When you can build a powerful PC that’s almost half the size of regular ones and hide it anywhere, it surely becomes an interestingly viable option.
Over the course of time, we’ve tested plenty of coolers from both – the air and liquid cooling categories and coolers from Noctua have always stood out for their quality, performance and extreme silence. In fact, the Noctua NH-D15 is the best performing CPU air cooler that we’ve ever tested and it won our best performer award in the segment not too long ago. While the NH-D15 is a full-size air cooler with a huge heatsink, this time around, Noctua sent us their NH-D9L for review which belongs to their small form-factor range of CPU coolers. And so, according to Noctua, the NH-D9L is being marketed towards people building a silent small form-factor PC as it has a humble 95x95mm width and depth. So, let’s put Noctua’s new kid on the block to test and see how it fairs.
Testing and Performance Results
As we mentioned previously, we have a standard set of components that we use for testing the CPU coolers and they remain the same for testing air as well as liquid coolers. This makes easy for you to understand and gauge the performance difference between all the coolers that we test and then take a pick depending on your usage scenario. This also ensures a level playing field between all the coolers and prevents any cooler from getting an unfair advantage over the others. Also, we make use of a digital temperature monitor to keep the ambient room temperature in check in order to make for any corrections if there is any deviation from an ambient room temperature of 28°C.
Test Components
CPU: Intel Core i7 3770K;
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme 6;
RAM: Kingston HyperX 16GB (4GB x4 sticks) 1600MHz;
Storage: Intel X25-V 40GB SSD;
Power Supply: Antec VP650P;
Cabinet: Cooler Master HAF-XM;
Operating System: Windows 8
As for the testing software, we use Real Temp and HWMonitor to keep the idle and load CPU core temperatures in check and run Prime95 for stress testing the system and note down the readings. To take a note of the idle operating temperature, we first let the system run for at least 45 minutes to an hour in order to wait for the temperature to stabilize and then measure readings.
You must know that since the Noctua NH-D9L comes with only one fan, but supports installation of two fans, we also tested the cooler in a dual-fan based setup for posterity. So let’s take a look at how it fares against Noctua’s own NH-U9S which is a similar 92MM cooler. We’ve also shown results of two of our other favourite coolers (albeit full size ones) - the Cooler Master Hyper 212X and the Noctua NH-D15 so that you can see the difference between all of them.
Over the course of time, we’ve tested plenty of coolers from both – the air and liquid cooling categories and coolers from Noctua have always stood out for their quality, performance and extreme silence. In fact, the Noctua NH-D15 is the best performing CPU air cooler that we’ve ever tested and it won our best performer award in the segment not too long ago. While the NH-D15 is a full-size air cooler with a huge heatsink, this time around, Noctua sent us their NH-D9L for review which belongs to their small form-factor range of CPU coolers. And so, according to Noctua, the NH-D9L is being marketed towards people building a silent small form-factor PC as it has a humble 95x95mm width and depth. So, let’s put Noctua’s new kid on the block to test and see how it fairs.
Testing and Performance Results
As we mentioned previously, we have a standard set of components that we use for testing the CPU coolers and they remain the same for testing air as well as liquid coolers. This makes easy for you to understand and gauge the performance difference between all the coolers that we test and then take a pick depending on your usage scenario. This also ensures a level playing field between all the coolers and prevents any cooler from getting an unfair advantage over the others. Also, we make use of a digital temperature monitor to keep the ambient room temperature in check in order to make for any corrections if there is any deviation from an ambient room temperature of 28°C.
Test Components
CPU: Intel Core i7 3770K;
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme 6;
RAM: Kingston HyperX 16GB (4GB x4 sticks) 1600MHz;
Storage: Intel X25-V 40GB SSD;
Power Supply: Antec VP650P;
Cabinet: Cooler Master HAF-XM;
Operating System: Windows 8
As for the testing software, we use Real Temp and HWMonitor to keep the idle and load CPU core temperatures in check and run Prime95 for stress testing the system and note down the readings. To take a note of the idle operating temperature, we first let the system run for at least 45 minutes to an hour in order to wait for the temperature to stabilize and then measure readings.
You must know that since the Noctua NH-D9L comes with only one fan, but supports installation of two fans, we also tested the cooler in a dual-fan based setup for posterity. So let’s take a look at how it fares against Noctua’s own NH-U9S which is a similar 92MM cooler. We’ve also shown results of two of our other favourite coolers (albeit full size ones) - the Cooler Master Hyper 212X and the Noctua NH-D15 so that you can see the difference between all of them.
Conclusion
The current CPU cooler market is over saturated with a huge number of coolers available in plenty of different price segments but when it comes to coolers that are primed for small form-factor builds using Mini-ITX and Micro-ATX boards, there aren’t many good choices available. After all, a cooler for small builds has to have certain dimensions that make it not only fit a small PC case but also allow for enough room around it for other components. And trust us when we say this that we’ve experienced an insane number of CPU air coolers that didn’t provide for any sort of RAM and PCIe clearance. So much so that we had to sacrifice one or more RAM slots that are immediately adjacent to the CPU socket owing to the big-ass size of extravagant heatsinks. But the Noctua NH-D9L doesn’t give any of this unnecessary trouble.
Not
only is the segment getting popular, but it has also seen an increase
in the variety of components available to quench the thirst for
performance. All of this increase in demand for small form factor PC’s
can be attested by the fact that small form factor components are quite
big on performance these days. When you can build a powerful PC that’s
almost half the size of regular ones and hide it anywhere, it surely
becomes an interestingly viable option.
Over the course of time, we’ve tested plenty of coolers from both – the air and liquid cooling categories and coolers from Noctua have always stood out for their quality, performance and extreme silence. In fact, the Noctua NH-D15 is the best performing CPU air cooler that we’ve ever tested and it won our best performer award in the segment not too long ago. While the NH-D15 is a full-size air cooler with a huge heatsink, this time around, Noctua sent us their NH-D9L for review which belongs to their small form-factor range of CPU coolers. And so, according to Noctua, the NH-D9L is being marketed towards people building a silent small form-factor PC as it has a humble 95x95mm width and depth. So, let’s put Noctua’s new kid on the block to test and see how it fairs.
- See more at: http://www.digit.in/pc-components/noctua-nh-d9l-review-5926.html#sthash.2Xu5hI6K.dpuf
Over the course of time, we’ve tested plenty of coolers from both – the air and liquid cooling categories and coolers from Noctua have always stood out for their quality, performance and extreme silence. In fact, the Noctua NH-D15 is the best performing CPU air cooler that we’ve ever tested and it won our best performer award in the segment not too long ago. While the NH-D15 is a full-size air cooler with a huge heatsink, this time around, Noctua sent us their NH-D9L for review which belongs to their small form-factor range of CPU coolers. And so, according to Noctua, the NH-D9L is being marketed towards people building a silent small form-factor PC as it has a humble 95x95mm width and depth. So, let’s put Noctua’s new kid on the block to test and see how it fairs.
- See more at: http://www.digit.in/pc-components/noctua-nh-d9l-review-5926.html#sthash.2Xu5hI6K.dpuf
Not
only is the segment getting popular, but it has also seen an increase
in the variety of components available to quench the thirst for
performance. All of this increase in demand for small form factor PC’s
can be attested by the fact that small form factor components are quite
big on performance these days. When you can build a powerful PC that’s
almost half the size of regular ones and hide it anywhere, it surely
becomes an interestingly viable option.
Over the course of time, we’ve tested plenty of coolers from both – the air and liquid cooling categories and coolers from Noctua have always stood out for their quality, performance and extreme silence. In fact, the Noctua NH-D15 is the best performing CPU air cooler that we’ve ever tested and it won our best performer award in the segment not too long ago. While the NH-D15 is a full-size air cooler with a huge heatsink, this time around, Noctua sent us their NH-D9L for review which belongs to their small form-factor range of CPU coolers. And so, according to Noctua, the NH-D9L is being marketed towards people building a silent small form-factor PC as it has a humble 95x95mm width and depth. So, let’s put Noctua’s new kid on the block to test and see how it fairs.
- See more at: http://www.digit.in/pc-components/noctua-nh-d9l-review-5926.html#sthash.2Xu5hI6K.dpuf
Over the course of time, we’ve tested plenty of coolers from both – the air and liquid cooling categories and coolers from Noctua have always stood out for their quality, performance and extreme silence. In fact, the Noctua NH-D15 is the best performing CPU air cooler that we’ve ever tested and it won our best performer award in the segment not too long ago. While the NH-D15 is a full-size air cooler with a huge heatsink, this time around, Noctua sent us their NH-D9L for review which belongs to their small form-factor range of CPU coolers. And so, according to Noctua, the NH-D9L is being marketed towards people building a silent small form-factor PC as it has a humble 95x95mm width and depth. So, let’s put Noctua’s new kid on the block to test and see how it fairs.
- See more at: http://www.digit.in/pc-components/noctua-nh-d9l-review-5926.html#sthash.2Xu5hI6K.dpuf
Not
only is the segment getting popular, but it has also seen an increase
in the variety of components available to quench the thirst for
performance. All of this increase in demand for small form factor PC’s
can be attested by the fact that small form factor components are quite
big on performance these days. When you can build a powerful PC that’s
almost half the size of regular ones and hide it anywhere, it surely
becomes an interestingly viable option.
Over the course of time, we’ve tested plenty of coolers from both – the air and liquid cooling categories and coolers from Noctua have always stood out for their quality, performance and extreme silence. In fact, the Noctua NH-D15 is the best performing CPU air cooler that we’ve ever tested and it won our best performer award in the segment not too long ago. While the NH-D15 is a full-size air cooler with a huge heatsink, this time around, Noctua sent us their NH-D9L for review which belongs to their small form-factor range of CPU coolers. And so, according to Noctua, the NH-D9L is being marketed towards people building a silent small form-factor PC as it has a humble 95x95mm width and depth. So, let’s put Noctua’s new kid on the block to test and see how it fairs.
- See more at: http://www.digit.in/pc-components/noctua-nh-d9l-review-5926.html#sthash.2Xu5hI6K.dpuf
Over the course of time, we’ve tested plenty of coolers from both – the air and liquid cooling categories and coolers from Noctua have always stood out for their quality, performance and extreme silence. In fact, the Noctua NH-D15 is the best performing CPU air cooler that we’ve ever tested and it won our best performer award in the segment not too long ago. While the NH-D15 is a full-size air cooler with a huge heatsink, this time around, Noctua sent us their NH-D9L for review which belongs to their small form-factor range of CPU coolers. And so, according to Noctua, the NH-D9L is being marketed towards people building a silent small form-factor PC as it has a humble 95x95mm width and depth. So, let’s put Noctua’s new kid on the block to test and see how it fairs.
- See more at: http://www.digit.in/pc-components/noctua-nh-d9l-review-5926.html#sthash.2Xu5hI6K.dpuf
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