A new heatsink from Noctua is always worth more than a cursory glance, as this Austrian brand has become one of the most consistent producers of high performance CPU coolers in the past decade. The latest is a trio of tower models featuring a new 92mm fan, models obviously meant to replace the previous NH-U9B SE2: NH-U9S, NH-D9L and NH-D9DX i4 3U. Our full review of the U9S and D9L.
| Product | NH-D9L & NH-U9S Tower CPU Coolers |
| Manufacturer | Noctua |
| Street Price | US$90 |
A new heatsink from Noctua is always worth more than a cursory glance, as this
Austrian brand has become one of the most consistent producers of high performance
CPU coolers in the past decade. The latest is a trio of tower models featuring
a new 92mm fan, models obviously meant to replace the previous NH-U9B SE2: NH-U9S,
NH-D9L and NH-D9DX i4 3U.
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The U9S features a single fin-stack while the D9L and D9DX feature double fin-stacks.
The double fin-stack models are actually identical except for their mounting
hardware: The D9L is meant to mount on standard Intel and AMD motherboards while
the NH-D9DX i4 3U targets Intel Xeon LGA2011 based workstations and servers.
These are the first new coolers from Noctua since the flagship
dual 15cm fan NH-D15 was launched in spring 2014.
A scan through SPCR’s CPU heatsink review database shows that while we’ve reviewed
a fair number of 92mm and 80mm fan tower heatsinks (mostly years ago before
the 120mm fan rose to prominence), the earlier NH-U9B is not among them, a curious
omission considering our long relationship with Noctua. The new coolers are
welcome additions, given the increasing popularity of smaller mini-ITX and micro-ATX
systems for gaming platforms. An initial impression is that they have dimensions
not dissimilar to the long discontinued Scythe Ninja Mini, a most useful high
performance small tower cooler in its day. Perhaps the new Noctuas can reprise
the Ninja Mini’s role.
| NH-U9S | NH-D9L | |
| Socket compatibility | Intel LGA2011-0, LGA2011-3, LGA1156, LGA1155, LGA1150 & AMD AM2, AM2+, AM3, AM3+, FM1, FM2, FM2+ | |
| Dimensions (h x w x d) | 125 x 95 x 68.5 mm | 110x 95 x 95 mm |
| Weight w/o fan) | 524g | 428 |
| Weight w/ fan | 618g | 531 |
| Material | Copper (base and heat-pipes), aluminum (cooling fins), soldered joints & nickel plating | |
| Fan | 92x25mm; second 92mm fan optional | |
| Scope of Delivery | NF-A9 PWM premium fan Low-Noise Adaptor (L.N.A.) NT-H1 thermal compound SecuFirm2™ Mounting Kit Installation kit for second fan | |
| Warranty | 6 Years | |
| NF-A9 PWM FAN Specifications | ||
| Model | 2x Noctua NF-A15 PWM | |
| Bearing | SSO2 | |
| Max. Speed (+/- 10%) | 2000 RPM; 1550 RPM | |
| Max. Airflow | 78.9 m³/h; 62.6 m³/h with L.N.A. | |
| Max. Noise | 22.8 dB(A) 16.3 dB(A) with L.N.A. | |
| Input Power | 1.2 W | |
| MTBF | > 150,000 hrs | |
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The well-established Noctua system of orderly packaging and useful accessories
continues with these new 92mm fan coolers. The heatsink with mounted fan is
in one inner box, and a second box contains the hardware in Intel & AMD
bags, with a common set of extras. Included are an L-shaped screwdriver, a second
set of fan clips, and a low noise fan adapter. Support for a huge variety of
CPU sockets is standard, though not the old LGA775 or LGA1366. Users on these
outdated platforms are not left entirely in the cold as they are eligible for
a complimentary set of Noctua’s older NM-I3 mounting kit.
PHYSICAL DETAILS
The overall size of the new heatsinks is similar, but there are
some difference in their potential cooling power judging by the total cooling
surface area and the number of heatpipes. At 125mm, the height of the U9S is
15mm greater than the D9L. This difference makes for more fins in the former.
The size of each fin on the two stacks of the D9L is approximately
9.5 x 3 cm, and there are 70 fins. The total area, counting both sides of each
fin, is ~4,000 square cm. The U9S has 41 fins measuring about 6.5 x 9 cm for
a total surface area of ~4,800 square cm, 20% more than the D9L. The U9S has
5 heatpipes which line up in two rows parallel to airflow. The D9L’s 4 heatpipes
line up parallel to the fan, and perpendicular to airflow. These difference
seem significant enough to expect the performance will not be the same.
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 Like other Noctua dual fin-stack heatsinks, both current and retired, the mounting bolts run parallel to the fan, and they are symmetrical. Four heatpipes here. |
 One consequence of the asymmetrical mounting arms of the U9S is a differently curved pair of mounting bars. The IMB3 puts the two threaded posts for the U9S spring loaded bolts a bit closer together. IMB2 bars are used in many other Noctua coolers. |
INSTALLATION
The most critical aspect of installation is that the heatsink
be securely mounted, as good contact between the cooler’s base and the CPU heatspreader
provides more efficient heat conduction. Ideally it should also be a simple
procedure with the user having to handle as few pieces of hardware as possible.
Noctua’s system is renowned for hitting all these marks.
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TESTING
Before thermal testing, we took some basic physical measurements.
| Approximate Physical Measurements | ||
| NH-U9S | NH-D9L | |
| Weight | 520 g + 100 g fan | 440 g +100 g fan |
| Height | 125 mm | 110 mm |
| Fin count | 41 | 35 x 2 |
| Fin thickness | 0.4 mm | 0.4 mm |
| Fin spacing | 1.8 mm | 1.7 mm |
| Vertical Clearance* | 40 mm | 43 mm |
| * measured from motherboard PCB to bottom fin of heatsink | ||
| Small Heatsink Comparison: Average Fin Thickness & Spacing | ||
| Heatsink | Fin Thickness | Fin Spacing |
| Scythe Big Shuriken 2 Rev.B | 0.29 mm | 1.13 mm |
| Noctua NH-L9i | 0.44 mm | 1.16 mm |
| Scythe Big Shuriken | 0.33 mm | 1.19 mm |
| Reeven Vanxie | 0.28 mm | 1.39 mm |
| Reeven Arcziel | 0.28 mm | 1.41 mm |
| Cooler Master GeminII M4 | 0.29 mm | 1.46 mm |
| Noctua NH-L12 | 0.49 mm | 1.51 mm |
| Scythe Kozuti | 0.12 mm | 1.69 mm |
| Noctua NH-D9L | 0.40 mm | 1.70 mm |
| Noctua NH-U12S | 0.45 mm | 1.72 mm |
| Scythe Samurai ZZ | 0.33 mm | 1.74 mm |
| Thermalright TRUE Spirit 120M | 0.43 mm | 1.78 mm |
| Noctua NH-U9S | 0.40 mm | 1.80 mm |
| Prolimatech Panther | 0.53 mm | 1.80 mm |
| SilverStone Argon AR02 | 0.30 mm | 1.85 mm |
| Phanteks PH-TC90LS | 0.47 mm | 1.90 mm |
Testing on smaller heatsinks like these is done on our LGA1155
heatsink testing platform. A summary of the test system and procedure
follows.
Key Components in LGA1155 Heatsink Test Platform:
- Intel Core i5-2400 Sandy Bridge core, LGA1155, 3.1 GHz, 45nm, 95W
TDP, overclocked/volted to 3.6 GHz and 1.300V. - Intel
DP67BG ATX motherboard. P67 chipset. - Asus
EAH3450 Silent graphics card. - Kingston SSDNow V 30GB 2.5″ solid-state drive.
- OCZ Platinum Extreme Low Voltage DDR3 memory. 2 x 2 GB, DDR3-1333
in dual channel. - Seasonic X-400 SS-400FL 400W ATX power supply. Passively cooled
- Noctua NT-H1 thermal compound
The system is silent under the test conditions, except for the CPU cooling
fan(s).
When appropraite, our reference fan(s) is used in place of the stock fans.
| Reference Nexus 92 mm fan Anechoic chamber measurements | ||
| Voltage | SPL@1m | RPM |
| 12V | 17 dBA | 1470 |
| 9V | 14 dBA | 1280 |
| 7V | 12 dBA | 1010 |
Measurement and Analysis Tools
- Extech 380803 AC power analyzer / data logger for measuring AC system
power. - Custom-built, four-channel variable DC power supply, used to regulate
the fan speed during the test. - PC-based spectrum analyzer:
SpectraPlus with ACO Pacific mic and M-Audio digital
audio interfaces. - Anechoic chamber
with ambient level of 11 dBA or lower - Various other tools for testing fans, as documented in our
standard fan testing methodology. - AIDA64 system monitoring utility.
- SpeedFan,
used to monitor the on-chip thermal sensors. The sensors are not calibrated,
so results are not universally applicable. The hottest core reading is used. - Prime95,
used to stress the CPU heavily, generating more heat than any real application.
All cores and threads are used to ensure full stress. - CPU-Z,
used to monitor the CPU speed to determine when overheating occurs. - Thermometers to measure the air temperature around the test platform
and near the intake of the heatsink fan.
Noise measurements are made with the fans powered from the lab’s variable DC
power supply while the rest of the system is off to ensure that system noise
do not skew the measurements.
Load testing was accomplished using Prime95 to stress the processor, and the
graph function in SpeedFan was used to ensure that the load temperature is stable
for at least ten minutes. The temperature recorded is the highest single core
reading. The stock fans were tested at various voltages to represent a good
cross-section of airflow and noise performance.
The ambient conditions during testing were 10~11 dBA and 21~23°C.
STOCK FAN MEASUREMENTS
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| Specifications: Noctua NF-A9 PWM Fan | |||
| Manufacturer | Noctua | Power Rating | 1.2 W |
| Model Number | NF-A9 PWM | Airflow Rating | 78.9 m³/h; 62.6 m³/h with L.N.A. |
| Bearing Type | SSO2 | Speed Rating | 2000 RPM 1550 RPM with L.N.A |
| Frame Size | 92 x 92 x 25 mm | Noise Rating | 22.8 dB(A) 16.3 dB(A) with L.N.A. |
| Hub Size | 34 mm | Header Type | 4-pin PWM |
| Blade Diameter | 85 mm | Starting Voltage | 4.2~4.4 V |
| Cable Length | 20 cm | Weight | 100 g |
| Corner Type | Open | Retail Availability | Yes |
Additional notes: | |||
The same NF-A9 PWM fan is used in both of these new heatsinks: A 7-blade 92mm
fan with 4 struts, good geometry for low tonality and rubber vibration-damping
corner covers. The low noise adapter (L.N.A) brings the fan speed down to about
1550 RPM, but if you plan on using PWM motherboard headers, the LNA can be better
utilized elsewhere in your system. The Noctua NF-A9 PWM fan is available as
a retail fan, packaged with a rich set of accessories: 30cm extension cable,
4-pin Y cable (for use with another fan on the same header), LNA, 4x fan screws
and 4x anti-vibration plug mounts.
 Noctua NF-A9 PWM retail fan package. |
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The stock fan’s range according to Fan Xpert2: PWM control on the top |
According to ASUS Fan Xpert2, the stock fan can effectively operate at less
than 200 RPM under PWM control. Fan Xpert2 states that the startup threshold
for voltage control is >800 RPM and we confirmed manually that our samples
could reliably start with 4.2~4.4V at ~800 RPM. Since these are PWM fans meant
to be connected to the CPU fan header on the motherboard, they were checked
for speed/noise only on PWM control. All motherboards have PWM control on the
CPU fan header these days. The % value and RPM shown in the table below were
the same whether controlled via the ASUS FanXpert 2 or SpeedFan. There’s little
point going below about 800 RPM; the fan is so quiet at this point that it’s
almost inaudible even in our anechoic chamber.
| Stock Fan Measurements | ||||
| PWM % | RPM | SPL (dBA@1m) | ||
| off cooler | on cooler | 2 fans on cooler | ||
| 100 | 2000 | 29.0 | 30.0 | 32.7 |
| 72 | 1500 | 21.2 | 21.5 | 24.5 |
| 60 | 1280 | 18.2 | 17.3 | 20.0 |
| 50 | 1080 | 15.0 | 14.0 | 16.2 |
| 40 | 870 | 12.0 | 12.2 | 13.5 |
| 35 | 780 | 11.7 | 11.8 | 12.7 |
| Measuring mic positioned 1m at diagonal angle from the center of the heatsink. Ambient noise level: 10~11 dBA. | ||||
Measuring 29 dBA@1m off the heatsink(s) in our custom frame, the stock fan
is fairly loud at their top speed of ~2,000 RPM. The smaller diameter blades,
compared to 120mm and larger fans, sound higher pitched, but it’s a fairly smooth
sounding fan. The low noise adapter reduces speed to ~1,550 RPM, which makes
the fan fairly quiet at 21~22 dBA@1m. It needs to get under ~1350 RPM to fall
below 20 dBA. By about 1100 RPM, it is close to the ambient noise level of a
very quiet room. Anything below 1000 RPM makes it near silent.
Mounted on either cooler, the fan makes more noise due to the turbulence effects
of the heatsink fins being so close. When two fans are used, the +3 dB rule
of a second identical noise source holds only in the upper half of the measured
points. As SPL gets closer to the ambient noise floor of the chamber (10~11
dBA), the measured difference gets smaller. This is a measurement error; below
about 15 dBA, our readings become higher than they should be. For example, if
our chamber had a noise floor of 0 dBA, the single fan would probably measure
lower than 11.8 dBA and we’d see closer to a 3 dBA difference between one fan
and two fans. In terms of perceived noise, the difference between two fans and
one on the heatsink is hard to tell at speeds below 1,000 RPM. One has to get
quite close to the cooler to differentiate. Undoubtedly, our subjective perception
is influenced by the ambient noise floor, not just our measurement gear.
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TEST RESULTS
Both NH-U9S and NH-D9L provide very good cooling for their size on our LGA1155
test system. The 31°C rise at full speed for the U9S is certainly very good
performance, and the D9L is just 2°C behind. Cooling performance remains
good as the fan is slowed; the 9°C increase for a SPL drop of 16 dBA@1m
(from 30 dBA to 14 dBA) is a very modest price. The cooling power at that fan
speed is still good enough for any stock LGA11xx CPU to be well cooled at nominal
room/in-case temperatures.
As expected, the U9S had a small but distinct edge over the dual fin-stack
D9L. The advantage isn’t entirely linear with fan speed, ranging 1~3°C.
Our test system has at least a degree of error range, so all we’d really say
is that the U9S seems to have a slight edge; the difference is likely to be
too small to be significant for most users.
| CPU Cooling: New Noctua 92mm fan Coolers | ||||
| PWM % | RPM | SPL (dBA@1m) | Thermal Rise | |
| U9S | D9L | |||
| 100 | 2000 | 30.0 | 31°C | 33°C |
| 72 | 1500 | 21.5 | 34°C | 35°C |
| 60 | 1280 | 17.3 | 36°C | 37°C |
| 50 | 1080 | 14.0 | 40°C | 41°C |
| 40 | 870 | 12.2 | 45°C | 46°C |
| 35 | 780 | 11.8 | 46°C | 49°C |
| Measuring mic positioned 1m at diagonal angle from the center of the heatsink. Ambient noise level: 10~11 dBA. | ||||
As both coolers came equipped with extra clips for a second fan, we could hardly
help trying dual-fan operation with the extra NF-A9 PWM fans Noctua also supplied.
With the U9S, there’s little question of how this is achieved: Mount the second
fan blowing in the same direction on the other side of the fin stack.
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There are more mounting options with the two fin stacks of the D9L In general,
we find cooling is slightly better when a fan exhausts into the fin stack, so
this was the way it was first mounted, both fans blowing towards what would
be the back panel of the case (if our board is installed in a case). However
as the photo below shows, the RAM prevented the second fan from seating properly
against the fin-stack, and performance was only marginally improved over the
single fan.
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So the fans were reoriented. The fin stack closer to the I/O panel was sandwiched
by the fans, which then pulled (rather than pushed) the air through the fins.
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With two fans, cooling performance improved a few degrees for both coolers,
but the dual-stack D9L benefitted more and caught up with the larger U9S, even
besting it by a degree at some points. (Was the slightly better contact of the
D9L with our test CPU imprint a factor in these results? This is impossible
to say with any degree of certainty.) Noise was up by about 2~3 dBA at the higher
speed test points; the overall character of the noise was a touch more tonal
but once it got below ~1100 RPM, it was too quiet for the slight increase in
tonality to be a factor. At low speeds, the difference between two fans and
one became minuscule. I had the impression that the U9S somehow sounded better,
but the difference was too subtle to confirm. Certainly without extended A/B
switching and comparisons, you’d be hard-pressed to hear any difference between
the two coolers (with one or two fans).
| CPU Cooling: New Noctua 92mm fan Coolers with 2 Fans | ||||
| PWM % | RPM | SPL (dBA@1m) | Thermal Rise | |
| U9S | D9L | |||
| 100 | 2000 | 32.7 | 28°C | 28°C |
| 72 | 1500 | 24.5 | 31°C | 30°C |
| 60 | 1280 | 20.0 | 34°C | 33°C |
| 50 | 1080 | 16.2 | 35°C | 34°C |
| 40 | 870 | 13.5 | 39°C | 38°C |
| 35 | 780 | 12.7 | 41°C | 41°C |
| Measuring mic positioned 1m at diagonal angle from the center of the heatsink. Ambient noise level: 10~11 dBA. | ||||
OTHER TEMPERATURES
Data was gathered for the motherboard sensor temperatures of the PCH, VRM and
RAM throughout the testing. This is difficult to display as there are so many
data points for two heatsinks, with one and two fans. There’s also some question
of just how relevant this data is, as the placement of these components varies
somewhat among motherboards, with some positions benefitting more from peripheral
CPU heatsink airflow.
In general, with one fan, the two heatsinks provided identical cooling for
PCH, VRM and RAM. With two fans, temperatures improved with both coolers, but
the D9L provided some 2~3°C lower temperatures across all the data points.
The only explanation that comes to mind is that because its two narrow fin stacks
don’t go as low as the single wider fin stack of the U9S, there is less impedance
for airflow near the surface of the motherboard. The increased pressure of two
fans blowing in unison reveals this difference.
| Cooling: Noctua U9S/D9L Coolers | ||||
| RPM | SPL (dBA@1m) | °C Rise over ambient | ||
| PCH | VRM | RAM | ||
| 2000 | 30.0 | 28 | 27 | 21 |
| 1500 | 21.5 | 30 | 27 | 21 |
| 1280 | 17.3 | 30 | 30 | 22 |
| 1080 | 14.0 | 30 | 33 | 22 |
| 870 | 12.2 | 31 | 37 | 23 |
| 780 | 11.8 | 32 | 39 | 27 |
| The two heatsinks with single fan provided virtually identical cooling of these components. | ||||
| Cooling: Noctua U9S/D9L Coolers w/ 2 fans | ||||||
| SPL (dBA@1m) | Thermal Rise in °C | |||||
| PCH | VRM | RAM | ||||
| U9S | D9L | U9S | D9L | U9S | D9L | |
| 32.7 | 26 | 23 | 21 | 18 | 20 | 15 |
| 24.5 | 27 | 23 | 23 | 22 | 20 | 18 |
| 20.0 | 30 | 23 | 26 | 25 | 21 | 21 |
| 16.2 | 30 | 23 | 26 | 25 | 22 | 23 |
| 13.5 | 30 | 26 | 29 | 27 | 24 | 25 |
| 12.7 | 32 | 29 | 33 | 31 | 26 | 26 |
| The two heatsinks with single fan provided virtually identical cooling of these components. | ||||||
HEATSINK COMPARISONS
The new Noctua 92mm fan tower coolers fall in the middle of our smaller heatsink
performance table. Note that other coolers ranked higher are substantially bigger,
with larger fans. With two fans, they rise a couple steps. Note that it is quite
difficult to rank the heatsinks perfectly, as relative performance varies as
fan speed (noise) is moved up and down.
| °C rise Comparison (CPU Temperature) | |||||||||
| SPL (dBA@1m) | 20 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 |
| Noctua NH-L12 (120 & 92 mm fans) | 33 | – | – | 34 | – | 35 | – | 36 | |
| Thermalright TRUE Spirit 120M | – | 32 | – | – | – | 34 | 36 | 38 | |
| Noctua NH-U12S | – | 33 | – | 34 | – | – | 35 | 38 | |
| Noctua NH-L12 (120 mm fan) | – | – | 37 | – | – | 38 | – | 39 | 42 |
| Noctua NH-D9L 2 fans | 33 | – | – | – | 34 | – | 39 | 41 | – |
| Noctua NH-U9S 2 fans | 34 | – | – | – | 35 | – | 38 | 41 | – |
| Prolimatech Panther | – | – | – | – | – | 35 | – | 42 | – |
| SilverStone Argon AR02 | – | – | – | – | 38 | – | – | – | 43 |
| Noctua NH-U9S | – | – | – | 36 | – | – | 40 | 45 | 46 |
| Noctua NH-D9L | – | – | – | 37 | – | – | 41 | 46 | 49 |
| Scythe Big Shuriken 2 Rev.B | – | 39 | – | – | – | 43 | – | 48 | |
| Reeven Arcziel | – | – | – | – | 42 | – | – | 47 | – |
| SilverStone Argon AR02 (ref. 92 mm fan) | 36 | – | – | 42 | – | – | – | 49 | |
| Scythe Samurai ZZ | – | – | 45 | – | – | 46 | – | 52 | |
| Noctua NH-L12 (92 mm fan) | 42 | – | 44 | – | 47 | – | 51 | 57 | |
| Scythe Big Shuriken | 43 | – | – | – | – | 46 | – | 61 | |
| Cooler Master GeminII M4 | – | – | – | 53 | 56 | – | 64 | ||
| Noctua NH-L9i | – | – | 56 | – | – | 61 | – | – | – |
| Scythe Kozuti | – | – | 57 | – | – | 62 | – | 65 | |
| Phanteks PH-TC90LS | – | – | 67 | – | – | – | 69 | – | – |
| Reeven Vanxie | – | 66 | – | – | – | – | 77 | – | F |
The new Noctua 92mm fan tower coolers fare similarly in VRM cooling.
| °C rise Comparison (VRM Temperature) | |||||||||
| SPL (dBA@1m) | 20 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 |
| Noctua NH-L12 (120 & 92 mm fans) | 17 | – | – | 19 | – | 21 | – | 23 | |
| Thermalright TRUE Spirit 120M | – | 21 | – | – | – | 24 | 26 | 27 | |
| Prolimatech Panther | – | – | – | – | – | 24 | – | 30 | – |
| Noctua NH-L12 (120 mm fan) | – | – | 24 | – | – | 26 | – | 27 | 32 |
| Noctua NH-D9L 2 fans | 25 | – | – | – | 25 | – | 27 | 31 | – |
| Noctua NH-U9S 2 fans | 26 | – | – | – | 26 | – | 29 | 33 | – |
| Noctua NH-U12S | – | 29 | – | 30 | – | – | 31 | 33 | |
| Noctua NH-D9L/U9S | – | – | – | 30 | – | – | 33 | 37 | 39 |
| Noctua NH-U12S (ref. 120 mm fan) | – | – | – | 32 | – | – | 34 | – | 34 |
| SilverStone Argon AR02 | – | – | – | – | 33 | – | – | – | 35 |
| Scythe Big Shuriken 2 Rev.B | – | 29 | – | – | – | 34 | – | 39 | |
| Noctua NH-L12 (92 mm fan) | 28 | – | 31 | – | 33 | – | 38 | 43 | |
| SilverStone Argon AR02 (ref. 92 mm fan) | 29 | – | – | 37 | – | – | – | 40 | |
| Reeven Arcziel | – | – | – | – | 38 | – | – | 41 | – |
| Scythe Big Shuriken | 28 | – | – | – | – | 30 | – | 47 | |
| Cooler Master GeminII M4 | – | – | – | 34 | 38 | – | 49 | ||
| Scythe Kozuti | – | – | 36 | – | – | 40 | – | 45 | |
| Scythe Samurai ZZ | – | – | 38 | – | – | 39 | – | 47 | |
| Noctua NH-L9i | – | – | 40 | – | – | 46 | – | – | – |
| Phanteks PH-TC90LS | – | – | 46 | – | – | – | 48 | – | – |
| Reeven Vanxie | – | 45 | – | – | – | – | 56 | – | F |
MP3 SOUND RECORDINGS
These recordings were made with a high
resolution, lab quality, digital recording system inside SPCR’s
own 11 dBA ambient anechoic chamber, then converted to LAME 128kbps
encoded MP3s. We’ve listened long and hard to ensure there is no audible degradation
from the original WAV files to these MP3s. They represent a quick snapshot of
what we heard during the review.
The recordings are intended to give you an idea of how the product sounds in
actual use — one meter is a reasonable typical distance between a computer
or computer component and your ear. The recording contains stretches of ambient
noise that you can use to judge the relative loudness of the subject. Be aware
that very quiet subjects may not be audible — if we couldn’t hear it from
one meter, chances are we couldn’t record it either!
The recording starts with 7 second segments of room ambient noise, then the
fan at various levels in 10 second segments. For the most realistic results,
set the volume so that the starting ambient level is just barely audible, then
don’t change the volume setting again.
- Noctua NH-U9S/D9L with stock fan at 1m
— 780 RPM (11.8 dBA@1m)
— 870 RPM (12.2 dBA@1m)
— 1080 RPM (14 dBA@1m)
— 1280 RPM (17.3 dBA@1m)
— 1500 RPM (21.5 dBA@1m)
— 2000 RPM (30 dBA@1m)
- Noctua
NH-U9S/D9L with two A9 WPM fans at 1m
— 780 RPM (12.7 dBA@1m)
— 870 RPM (13.5 dBA@1m)
— 1080 RPM (16.2 dBA@1m)
— 1280 RPM (20 dBA@1m)
— 1500 RPM (24.5 dBA@1m)
— 2000 RPM (32.7 dBA@1m)
FINAL THOUGHTS
The Noctua NH-U9S and NH-D9L are welcome additions to the Noctua line of high
quality CPU coolers. They expand cooling options for Silent PC enthusiasts seeking
smaller quiet systems. Both of these coolers are very close to the size of the
long discontinued Scythe Ninja
Mini, a unique short tower heatsink in its day. The 110mm and 125mm height
clearance and small footprint of these coolers allows them to be used in much
smaller cases than tower coolers normally allow. They fare well in comparison
to both tower and top-down 120mm fan heatsinks, though they can’t challenge
the best tested on our LGA1155 platform. The improved performance with an additional
fan in push-pull mode at very low noise levels makes these coolers even more
versatile.
The big plus for the PC builder is that they’re almost as low profile as the
bigger top-down fan heatsinks, but have the advantage of blowing the heat out
towards a nearby back or top panel vent. The efficient evacuation of heat from
the case is a key element in quiet PC cooling. We’ve already used the NH-D9L
successfully in such a role in two recent small Gaming Build Guides — Quiet
Mini-ITX Gaming Build Guide #2: NCASE M1 Edition and Journey
to a Silent MicroATX Gamer. In both of these builds the only other cooler
we know of that might have fulfilled the same role is the NH-U9S.
The traditional Noctua strengths of excellent secure mounting, ease of installation
and thoughtful accessories combine with the absence of any real competition
from other brands to make them compelling. The only other similarly small tower
cooler in recent memory is the Silverstone
Argon AR02, and though it’s in the same ball park for noise and performance,
its 134mm height makes it a bit too tall for places where the 110mm D9L would
easily fit. The 120mm fan top-down Noctua
NH-L12 is a viable option if there’s enough room around the CPU and room
above for the airflow to the fan. The Scythe
Big Shuriken 2 might also work, again assuming the fins don’t bump
against anything around the CPU. Both the Sycthe and the NH-L12 bring more dimensional
issues that don’t apply to the U9S and D9L.
The Noctua NH-U9S has a suggested retail price of $59.90, and the NH-D9L lists
for $56.95. An extra A9 PWM fan carries of suggested price of $20.90, so a dual-fan
setup with either of these coolers gets right up there among the premium big
heatsinks. Still, if small and quiet is beautiful to you, these new 92mm fan
tower coolers from Noctua are tough to beat.
Our thanks to Noctua
for the NH-U9S, NH-D9L and NF-A9 PWM samples.
Noctua NH-U9S and NH-D9L receive the SPCR Editor’s Choice award.
* * *
SPCR Articles of Related Interest:
SilverStone Argon AR02
CPU Cooler
Scythe
Kotetsu CPU Cooler: A Compact King
be
quiet! Shadow Rock Slim CPU Cooler
Noctua NH-U12S Slim Tower Heatsink
Noctua NH-L12 Low Profile Cooler
Scythe Ninja Mini
Scythe Big Shuriken
2
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