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Testing and Performance
Now, that we are all set up let’s take a look at how the NH-L12S performs. We will be using an Intel I7 7700K in a room at for the duration of this testing period, which with the NH-L12S installed gives us an idling temperature of 27C in our testing room which is 22.5C.
Test 1 (Default setting stress test/1 hour)
As you can see at 100% load the NH-L12S was steady around the 50C mark. Our average was 47.8C which is quite impressive compared to the Cooler Master 120 AiO test we ran last week which was running around 65C on this same stress test. So far this has peaked our interest in this cooler quite a bit!
The next thing to do is boost up the voltage and the multiplier and get this beauty overclocking. For this we used Intel’s XTU, we found stability with at 1.350V and a multiplier of 50, putting us at 5GHz. We ran this same test for the another hour.
These results once again are quite impressive considering we are talking about an air cooler with nothing but a 120mm fan on it. With an average of 70.8C it is pretty warm but very stable as you can see. This goes a long way into showing the quality of product we are dealing with here.
Our final test for the NH-L12S is to test the noise factor. The specs on the fan claim max noise of 23.9 dB/A but we have to keep in mind that doesn’t take into consideration the attaching it to the radiator and then being installed pushing air towards the components of the computer.
Unplugging the chassis fans we used our dB reader and with a max sound of 44.6 dB/A the 23.9 is a little misleading given it doesn’t have any mention of the sound the whole unit makes as a unit but still, 44.6 isn’t much and on a scale is comparable to the hum of a refrigerator or the sound of a stream. 
Final Thoughts & Analysis
We are quite impressed with the the
. Temperatures of 47c and 70c aren’t bad considering we have seen first hand how hot these i7’s are running under work load. The diversity of mounting the fan on either side of the fan is great although we ran into trouble with the mini-ITX board it’s understandable given to make it fit they would have to make a smaller rad, a smaller fan, and in turn having less cooling. 
The style of the NF-A12 fan is nice and even without it being RGB has a certain appeal to it’s look. This fan is a great deal at $49.90 and is perfect for those trying to save height clearance but also not wanting an AiO water cooler. Perfect for those looking for something a little different than the norm given it’s radiator orientation and unique look when installed. Looking forward to more from Noctua after this Silver Seal award.
CHECK OUT THE NH-L12S ON AMAZON!!!