Noctua NH-D9L CPU Cooler Review – Small Size, Big Cooling Performance

In our review of Noctua’s flagship NH-D15 air cooler, we found it to be among the top performing air coolers, and even stack up against high-end  AIO liquid coolers. However, all that performance did  come with some drawbacks; its large size makes it a hard sell to users with smaller chassis.

Well, in this report will be looking at a product Noctua has made to address just that issue: The NH-D9L, a small-form factor dual-tower cooler with full 3U compliance. Can this compact solution still deliver the cooling performance we’ve come to expect from Noctua’s dual-tower coolers? Let’s find out!

PACKAGING, PRICING AND SPECIFICATIONS

Taking a look at the front of the box, we see the same black/white and brown packaging design we’re use to with Noctua, complete with a shadowy close-up of the heatsink itself, as always we wish there was an actual detailed image of the cooler somewhere on the box, but seeing as how most people will be purchasing the cooler online, this is probably not a real issue.

We  have some key features, and specifications on either side, as well as a multilingual product description around back. The NH-D9L features a design which is very reminiscent of Noctua’s flagship NH-D15, in that it features a dual-tower heatsink design, except this time it offers full 3U compliance, as illustrated by the silver seal on the front of the box.

Instead of the 140mm fans included with the larger NH-D15, the NH-D9L comes with a single 92mm NF-A9 premium PWM fan, and features support for a second, which is sold separately. The cooler also uses Noctua’s standard SecuFirm2™ mounting system which features support for Intel’s LGA115x, 2011/2011-v3, and AMD’s AM2/AM2+, AM3/AM3+, FM1, FM2/FM2+ sockets.

A quick search on Amazon will bring us a current pricing of $59.95, putting this cooler in line with other premium low-profile coolers. The additional NF-A9 fan will also cost $18.73.

Inside the box we’ll find the mounting kit and accessories box packed neatly at the top, underneath that we’ll find the cooler itself with the fan pre-installed, encased in some thick cardboard packaging which should have no issues protecting it in shipping.

Inside the accessories box we’ll find the Intel and AMD installation sets packaged separately in easy tear plastic bags, a set of installation manuals, and a backplate for Intel 115x motherboards. We’ll also find the low-noise adapter for the fan which changes its maximum RPM from 2000 down to 1550, as well as a 4-pin PWM y-splitter for powering a second fan. Noctua also includes their signature Noctua case badge, a tube of Noctua’s NT-H1 thermal compound and a Phillips head screwdriver to help with installation.