Noctua NH-L9x65 SE-AM4 | ITX Ryzen CPU Cooler Review

Introduction

Noctua is a company specialized in designing and producing of high end coolers and fans for PC type systems. The company was founded in 2005 by Rascom Computerdistribution and Taiwanese company Kolink International. Today Noctua is present in more than 30 countries, being one of the most known manufacturers of cooling solutions.

Official product link:

http://noctua.at/en/nh-l9x65-se-am4

Packaging and accessories

The packaging is characteristic of the Noctua products, it uses a white-beige color scheme. The front side presents the cooler with an abstract image on the background, in addition on the left side a few of the product’s features are presented alongside the name of the manufacturer.

The side of the packaging presents the features and specifications of the cooler in 9 different languages, while on the right the name and a small diagram are printed.

The backside of the packaging presents the features of the product in 8 different languages while on the left the name of the cooler is printed.

Accessories

The product comes with the following accessories: – 1x Manual – 4x AMD mounting arms – 4x screws – 4x plastic spacers – 1x Screwdriver – 1x Low noise adapter – 1x Tube of NT-H1 thermal paste – 1x Metal Noctua badge

Specifications

Model: NH-L9x65 SE-AM4 Supported sockets: Intel: N/A AMD: AM4 TDP: 95 W Heatsink: Materials: Copper (base and heat-pipes), aluminum (cooling fins), soldered joints & nickel plating Dimensions: 51mm x 65mm x 95mm Heatpipes: 4x – Ø6 mm Weight: 340g (without fan) or 413 g (with Fan installed) Fan(s): Model: NF-A9x14 PWM Dimensions: 92 x 92 x 14mm Bearing type: SSO2 Max. Rotational Speed (+/- 10%): 2500 RPM Max. Rotational Speed with L.N.A. (+/- 10%): 1800 RPM Min. Rotational Speed (PWM, +/-20%): 600 RPM Max. Acoustical Noise: 23,6 dB(A) Max. Acoustical Noise with L.N.A.: 14,8 dB(A) Connector: 4-Pin PWM Input Power: 2,52 W Voltage Range: 12 V MTBF: > 150.000 h Warranty: 6 Years

Features:

– Dedicated special edition for AM4: The NH-L9x65 SE-AM4 brings the NH-L9x65’s signature quiet cooling performance to AMD’s new AM4 platform. With its highly compact design and low profile, it is ideal for cooling lower TDP AM4 CPUs in HTPC or Small Form Factor cases. – 65mm low profile: Due to its compact heatsink and the 14mm thin NF-A9x14 low profile fan, the NH-L9x65 stands only 65mm tall (the same height as low-profile expansion cards), which makes it ideal for use in compact HTPCs or Small Form Factor cases that offer limited clearance for CPU coolers. – Low-Noise Adaptor: Allowing to reduce the maximum speed of the NF-A9x14 fan from 2500 to 1800rpm, the included (L.N.A.) makes it possible to achieve near-silent setups using CPUs with up to 65W TDP. – NF-A9x14 PWM premium fan: The highly optimised NF-A9x14 premium fan features Noctua’s proprietary AAO frame as well as sophisticated aerodynamic design measures. Supporting PWM for fully automatic speed control, the NF-A9x14 allows the NH-L9x65 to stay remarkably quiet. – SecuFirm2™ mounting system for AM4: Noctua’s SecuFirm2™ mounting systems have become synonymous with quality, safety and ease of use. In order to achieve the best compatibility and to match the airflow path inside the case, the SecuFirm2™ mounting for AM4 makes it possible to install the cooler either in standard orientation or turned by 90°. – 6-year manufacturer’s warranty: Noctua products are renowned for their impeccable quality and outstanding longevity. Like all Noctua fans, the supplied NF-A9x14 features an MTTF rating of more than 150.000 hours and the entire NH-L9x65 package comes with a full 6-year manufacturer’s warranty.

Visual inspection

The Noctua NH-L9x65 SE-AM4 is the Ryzen dedicated variant of the well-known ITX CPU cooler NH-L9x65, it comes with only the mounting system for the AMD AM4 socket. The cooler has a cooling capacity of 95W and is made out of aluminum and copper, the dimensions of the coolers are the following: 51mm x 65mm x 95mm.

The cooler uses 49 aluminum made fins, these are perforated in certain areas to allow for the heatpipes and the mounting screws to go through.

The NH-L9x65 SE-AM4 model uses 4 heatpipes each with a diameter of 6mm; these have the standard dimensions used in Noctua’s coolers. Their shape is due to the compact footprint of the cooler and to improve heat transfer.

The base of the cooler is made out of nickel plated copper, it is brushed to an almost mirror like reflective texture.

The cooler uses a single 92mm fan that is part of the NF line, model: NF-A9x14 PWM with the dimensions 92 x 92 x 14mm. The bearing used is the Noctua SSO-Bearing mechanism and features a speed between 300 RPM and 2500 RPM. The fan has rubberized corners to dampen vibrations when in use.

Testing

The following system was used to test the cooler: – Processor: AMD Ryzen 1700X @ 3.8GHz – Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty X370 Gaming-ITX-ac – RAM: Patriot Viper 4 Series 8GB DDR4 2400MHz CL15 Dual Channel Kit – GPU: GeForce GTX 1070 Founder’s Edition – SSD: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB – HDD: WD 1 TB Blue – PSU: SeaSonic Snow Silent – Display: AOC i2769VM – Case: ASRock M8 – Thermal compound: Arctic Cooling MX-4

Software used for testing the cooler: – AIDA64 Extreme Version: 5.95.4500 (Nov 27, 2017) – Intel Burn Test v2.54 – Prime95 29.1

The cooler was tested with the CPU at the default turbo frequency of 3.9 GHz and overclocked to 4.5 GHz with a core voltage of 1.187 V. Also, the included fans have been used at their maximum speed. The room temperature was approximately 26°C (78°F), with 2°C margin of error. The idle test consists of the CPU sitting idle at the desktop for 30 minutes, the temperature was measured at the end of the test. The settings of the software used are the following: Intel Burn Test v2.54 – Stress level: Maximum Prime95 29.1- small FFT AIDA64 Extreme Version – Temperature monitoring. Each test was conducted for 40 minutes.

The test results are as follows:

Idle

Full Load

The noise level was measured at three different distances from the fans (10cm, 20cm, 30cm.) the noise was measured with a margin of error of ± 5 db.

The cooler offers a good RAM compatibility, the fan does not cover the DIMM slots of the motherboard and thus, memory with tall heatsinks can be used.

Final thoughts

The NH-L9x65 SE-AM4 is one of the most silent coolers, at its maximum speed, the 92mm fan reaches just 33db. At the moment of writing this review, Noctua is one of the few manufacturers that offer a AM4 cooling system that can fit an ITX motherboard.

Just like the rest of the cooling systems offered by Noctua, this cooler features the SecuFirm 2 mounting system. It is efficient and makes the cooler easy to install, the average installation time needed is 5 minutes even in the case of an ITX system where all the components are crammed together. The accessory bundle is rich, including all the necessary components and even a metallic screwdriver, in addition, every part set is individually packaged.  The performance is good for a cooler this small; however, the size limits the total cooling capacity, the cooler itself is rated by Noctua at 95W TDP which is right in the area of the Ryzen 1700X CPU.

In conclusion, the NH-L9x65 SE-AM4 is a good small form factor cooler for the Ryzen platform and especially for a ITX workstation or gaming PC. The 92mm fan can barely be heard and the mounting system is great and intuitive. The only drawback of this cooler can be the price, however that is justified by the build quality and the overall package.