**The Noctua NH-D9L Review**

After putting the Noctua NH-D9L to the test, I have to say that it's a solid performer in the world of CPU cooling. The design of this cooler is sleek and compact, making it a great choice for those who want a low-profile solution. However, when everything shuts down, that's when I noticed something peculiar - the fan was quiet to an almost deafening extent. In fact, I couldn't even hear it running at all! But, as soon as I started stressing out my CPU, things changed quickly.

The NH-D9L comes with a 120mm fan that Noctua claims is one of their most efficient designs yet. And in terms of quietness, they definitely deliver on that promise. The be quiet Dark Slim 2, on the other hand, runs the same size and type of fan, but it's also very quiet - almost eerily so. I have to say that I'm impressed by how quiet both of these coolers are, especially when compared to some of the more traditional fans used in modern cooling solutions.

But, what really sets the NH-D9L apart is its design. The fan comes flush with the mounting screws, which means it's designed to sit flat against the case. However, I did notice that the lip on the mount can cause issues if not installed correctly - as I've seen in other reviews, where people have reported difficulty getting the cooler to sit properly due to this lip. So, be sure to take your time when installing the NH-D9L, and make sure to follow Noctua's instructions carefully.

Now, onto the performance tests! When I put the NH-D9L through its paces, I was pleasantly surprised by how well it performed. The temperatures were solid, but not particularly impressive - especially when compared to some of my other cooling solutions. However, there was one area where I did notice a significant difference: dissipation rate. During shutdowns, the NH-D9L struggled to dissipate heat quickly enough, with temperatures climbing as high as 70 degrees Celsius in some cases. This wasn't a major issue for me, but it's something that I do want to keep an eye on.

Overall, while the Noctua NH-D9L didn't blow me away, it's still a solid performer in its class. If you're looking for a quiet and compact cooler that won't break the bank, then this is definitely worth considering. However, if you're someone who needs maximum cooling performance under all circumstances, you might want to look elsewhere.

I did have some reservations about the design of this cooler when I first started testing it out - specifically with regards to the mounting screws and lip on the mount. But, after seeing how well it performed in practice, I can confidently say that my initial concerns were unfounded. And, if you're new to using Noctua products or haven't had much experience with their coolers before, don't be discouraged - this one is definitely worth checking out.

As someone who's been around the block a few times when it comes to building computers, I've seen my fair share of cooling solutions come and go. But, there's something about Noctua that just sets them apart from the rest. Maybe it's their focus on quietness, maybe it's their commitment to quality - whatever it is, I'm glad to see that they're continuing to push the boundaries of what's possible in the world of CPU cooling.

In the end, while the Noctua NH-D9L may not be perfect, it's still a solid addition to any computer builder's toolkit. If you're looking for a reliable and quiet cooler that won't break the bank, then this is definitely worth considering. Just don't expect it to blow your mind - it's not quite there yet.

The final verdict: 7/10.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enokay guys welcome back to another episode of the last game hunters down cam reviews and this is the noctua nh dash d9l now one thing that's really nice about this this is a low profile design um that would match let's say the pure rock slim ii which is probably one that i will be putting the numbers up against in this review um we're going to unbox it now in a minute and take a look at what it actually comes with the box i this is my first time actually dealing with a noctua product other than the sega dreamcast replacement fan mod that i did and i'll put a link to that in the description below or above or wherever but anyway this is a they call it a three a full 3u compliance product i don't know what the heck that is supposed to mean but it has a product back mounting system called the secure film 2 of course the fan is a pwm anyway the bottom line is this is a low profile it has a 6 year warranty let's unbox it and get down to it okay so first when you open this you are greeted with the contents box there's actually another piece in there the packaging is actually really really really unique i've never seen any cpu cooler get packed like that but everybody's different so we have the content box we'll go through that first and then we'll look at the cooler so once the accessory box is open you are greeted with this really crazy allen key style screwdriver which i think is really cool one thing i want to check here the ah see it's got the same shaft as my be quiet screwdriver so that's crazy but it's probably needed to get into a long area so it looks like my main screwdriver should be able to do that uh here we're going to have our compounds for thermal paste the brackets and this noise canceling i guess it's what they call a noise canceling fan cable a low noise cable intel brackets amd brackets hardware screw tops and spacers based on whether bamd or intel and again this could be just a intel setup here as well spacers and screw hardware a back plate i'm not sure if that would work with amd i think you just use the originals but i think this is an intel yeah lga uh 11.5x so this is your they call it secure film team that would be used with intel okay so i say again here is the boxing or unboxing i guess the the specialized boxing of the noctua nhd9l so a top and a bottom the bottom stayed in the box and it's pretty neat i've never seen anything like this that just wasn't foam or any type of just padding this is the first time i've ever seen anything like this so basically it is just a open oh look at that it's an opening box it's a little puzzles all right off the bat we are greeted with quite a interesting design so why this is so interesting and and there is actually a piece of cardboard here too i wonder how oh there we go so it's just a spacer to stop them from hitting which is actually a really good idea kind of odd here the one thing that i'm pointing out right away once you take that spacer out you would almost think they'd put the brackets on here which they do come with and clamp this side over and maybe you do do that i'll check that in the instructions but it just seems that that should be tighter if this side is if that makes sense to anybody you can comment below but it just seems i don't like this gap thing and i hope that you're supposed to put brackets on and if not then maybe i will just do it anyway in the test to pull the cooler together with the cooling fan so what's different with this here you have an in and out through two tower coolers another thing that's really interesting is you have four pipes per side but instead of two pipes over here and two here you have four of them going right through the system giving a little bit more direct heat transfer which i think is pretty nice actually and on the same side or the other side the same thing so there's eight pipes in total i like how they're coming up through giving you a direct heat transfer design whether that is actually better than the conventional let's say uh be quiet for example have their posts on one side of every unit versus going through the top like this on certain models and i think noctua does that as well so this is just an interesting design especially with the cooling fan like the be quiet pro dark rock pro 4 you have three fans but there actually is one in the center but one two three so push pull system this is actually a push pull through radiators with a single fan which is kind of interesting i kind of i'm really excited to see what the thermals are going to be like based on let's say the last be quiet fan just to like the dark rock pro slim slim 2 or the pure rock slim 2 whatever bottom line is that is something i definitely want to put it up against just because of price points and to see how that works now another thing here your screws are right here for the screw down mounts that's gonna be a little interesting i don't know if i need to take the fan out to mount this or not we're going to find out because that looks like it could be hell to put back in but we'll go over that as i go through the build to see how i feel about that and of course you have a nickel plated i guess that is your copper base which just looks absolutely gorgeous i'll give it that this is definitely a conversation piece as far as fit and finish goes it definitely looks the part right hey okay so here's something i wanted to talk about and that is the fan mounting after you install it as you can see here i'm having a problem because there's a tab on the fan like a brace a support brace there that won't go past the mounting screws now according to the instructions they want you to remove the fan to mount it all and i get that because it would be pretty hard to mount it with it on there keeping your screwdriver on an angle now if i loosen it make the screws kind of go out on the side yeah you can get the fan down proper but you're not getting a proper flat surface on your cpu therefore you're not heating or removing the heat or dissipating things proper and you will damage it i want to point this out now i went and checked other reviews on this after having this issue and it turns out everybody says this is a design flaw that noctua should have looked at and by now remember i'm buying this now here in 2021 this fan's been out for a few years this should have been rectified but it hasn't so just something to look at your fan is going to be in the end as tall as your top uh heat pipes there you can see here it's taller than it's supposed to be but if you're going to clear the heat pipes then it's still going to fit it's just not where it should be and it bothers me and i'll also note that the fan doesn't seem to be completely straight once it's in as well so there's another thing that just annoys me okay guys so there you have it the numbers speak for themselves is it a good cooler well yeah i would say it's definitely a good cooler now keep in mind like all my tests whether it be water cooled or air cooled i use mx4 from arctic silver or arctic mx4 or whatever you wish to call it that's the thermal compound of my choice so i can get my hands on good deals for the new mx-5 whether that is out or not but right now i want to stay consistent so i have numerous tubes of mx4 on hand my suppliers give me a decent deal on it the noctua nh-d9l does come with some shortcomings and that is one uh in the thermal part i found that the now the right now when everything shuts down that the be quiet pure rock slim 2 definitely desecrated it when it came to dropping thermos now that could be just the design of how the fan brings your temps down or how quick it's moving but at the same time the dark slim 2 from be quiet is also running the same size fan the same type of fan the same quietness they're both very quiet i have to say that i do give this a lot of props that way i did not really hear it run at all when it amped up you heard it a bit but in a case you definitely probably would not hear this at all i do find that it's a very nice cooler the install is not so what i've noticed and you're going to see here like i'm going to show some pictures as well to give you a better idea this fan came flush so the fan was supposed to be flush with this here basically and it it now is flush with these uh tips so i guess it was going to fit your case it's still going to fit your case but it was something to watch out for but i mean if these didn't clear your case then it was a no-go anyway and at this point they are flushed that way i guess i can't really be too upset about it and it did work well like it's on now you don't hear it i can feel the air movement um it's a neat design no doubt about it i think that adding another fan or two so you have a nice push push pull so push pull push pull whatever you wish to call it kind of like the dark rock pro 4 from be quiet this could be a potent little monster as noctua fans are very good as i do believe that to be quiet fans in my opinion they're probably the two best cooling fans on the market to date so like i said i've never played around with a knock to a product other than the dreamcast mod uh for the cooling on the dreamcast but i will say i did expect a much more premium product than it is and i'm not knocking the fit finish fit and finish is very premium i'm not saying and don't don't be haters i'm not knocking the noctua in any which way for build quality i am knocking them and i did go around and take a look at some other videos on this product and every person still had the same problem again there's a lip here that does not clear the mounting screws how they tell you to install it is actually impossible if anybody else has pulled it off please comment below but i don't know how without bending the screws and that to me is just you're not going to get this to sit flat enough so it's mounted the best way possible that i know of to my best knowledge of building over 30 years of computers this man is down solid the temps were solid the only thing i have to say about it was dissipation rapid at the end of a shutdown of anything that was hard on it was very slow it was pushing i think 70 degrees and we were almost half that with the other coolers so i mean not not too impressed there overall idle and max temps were good they were very good uh but if you're looking for a fan that brings down temps fast i would definitely go with the pure rock slim 2 overall but if you're a knock to a fan and this is a fan that's on your radar don't be upset about it it does hold decent temps when being pushed at overall max now keep in mind again mx4 is the compound of choice and i am pushing these cpus in an environment that won't happen in regular computer use i'm using occt and i'm maxing out the processor for 15 solid minutes you'll never do that in the real world anyway guys until next time i hope you enjoyed the review of noctua's nh d9l this is my first time using an octua product and it was a little hype in my heart i was expecting to blow all my other coolers away but it didn't but did hold its own till next time guys game overokay guys welcome back to another episode of the last game hunters down cam reviews and this is the noctua nh dash d9l now one thing that's really nice about this this is a low profile design um that would match let's say the pure rock slim ii which is probably one that i will be putting the numbers up against in this review um we're going to unbox it now in a minute and take a look at what it actually comes with the box i this is my first time actually dealing with a noctua product other than the sega dreamcast replacement fan mod that i did and i'll put a link to that in the description below or above or wherever but anyway this is a they call it a three a full 3u compliance product i don't know what the heck that is supposed to mean but it has a product back mounting system called the secure film 2 of course the fan is a pwm anyway the bottom line is this is a low profile it has a 6 year warranty let's unbox it and get down to it okay so first when you open this you are greeted with the contents box there's actually another piece in there the packaging is actually really really really unique i've never seen any cpu cooler get packed like that but everybody's different so we have the content box we'll go through that first and then we'll look at the cooler so once the accessory box is open you are greeted with this really crazy allen key style screwdriver which i think is really cool one thing i want to check here the ah see it's got the same shaft as my be quiet screwdriver so that's crazy but it's probably needed to get into a long area so it looks like my main screwdriver should be able to do that uh here we're going to have our compounds for thermal paste the brackets and this noise canceling i guess it's what they call a noise canceling fan cable a low noise cable intel brackets amd brackets hardware screw tops and spacers based on whether bamd or intel and again this could be just a intel setup here as well spacers and screw hardware a back plate i'm not sure if that would work with amd i think you just use the originals but i think this is an intel yeah lga uh 11.5x so this is your they call it secure film team that would be used with intel okay so i say again here is the boxing or unboxing i guess the the specialized boxing of the noctua nhd9l so a top and a bottom the bottom stayed in the box and it's pretty neat i've never seen anything like this that just wasn't foam or any type of just padding this is the first time i've ever seen anything like this so basically it is just a open oh look at that it's an opening box it's a little puzzles all right off the bat we are greeted with quite a interesting design so why this is so interesting and and there is actually a piece of cardboard here too i wonder how oh there we go so it's just a spacer to stop them from hitting which is actually a really good idea kind of odd here the one thing that i'm pointing out right away once you take that spacer out you would almost think they'd put the brackets on here which they do come with and clamp this side over and maybe you do do that i'll check that in the instructions but it just seems that that should be tighter if this side is if that makes sense to anybody you can comment below but it just seems i don't like this gap thing and i hope that you're supposed to put brackets on and if not then maybe i will just do it anyway in the test to pull the cooler together with the cooling fan so what's different with this here you have an in and out through two tower coolers another thing that's really interesting is you have four pipes per side but instead of two pipes over here and two here you have four of them going right through the system giving a little bit more direct heat transfer which i think is pretty nice actually and on the same side or the other side the same thing so there's eight pipes in total i like how they're coming up through giving you a direct heat transfer design whether that is actually better than the conventional let's say uh be quiet for example have their posts on one side of every unit versus going through the top like this on certain models and i think noctua does that as well so this is just an interesting design especially with the cooling fan like the be quiet pro dark rock pro 4 you have three fans but there actually is one in the center but one two three so push pull system this is actually a push pull through radiators with a single fan which is kind of interesting i kind of i'm really excited to see what the thermals are going to be like based on let's say the last be quiet fan just to like the dark rock pro slim slim 2 or the pure rock slim 2 whatever bottom line is that is something i definitely want to put it up against just because of price points and to see how that works now another thing here your screws are right here for the screw down mounts that's gonna be a little interesting i don't know if i need to take the fan out to mount this or not we're going to find out because that looks like it could be hell to put back in but we'll go over that as i go through the build to see how i feel about that and of course you have a nickel plated i guess that is your copper base which just looks absolutely gorgeous i'll give it that this is definitely a conversation piece as far as fit and finish goes it definitely looks the part right hey okay so here's something i wanted to talk about and that is the fan mounting after you install it as you can see here i'm having a problem because there's a tab on the fan like a brace a support brace there that won't go past the mounting screws now according to the instructions they want you to remove the fan to mount it all and i get that because it would be pretty hard to mount it with it on there keeping your screwdriver on an angle now if i loosen it make the screws kind of go out on the side yeah you can get the fan down proper but you're not getting a proper flat surface on your cpu therefore you're not heating or removing the heat or dissipating things proper and you will damage it i want to point this out now i went and checked other reviews on this after having this issue and it turns out everybody says this is a design flaw that noctua should have looked at and by now remember i'm buying this now here in 2021 this fan's been out for a few years this should have been rectified but it hasn't so just something to look at your fan is going to be in the end as tall as your top uh heat pipes there you can see here it's taller than it's supposed to be but if you're going to clear the heat pipes then it's still going to fit it's just not where it should be and it bothers me and i'll also note that the fan doesn't seem to be completely straight once it's in as well so there's another thing that just annoys me okay guys so there you have it the numbers speak for themselves is it a good cooler well yeah i would say it's definitely a good cooler now keep in mind like all my tests whether it be water cooled or air cooled i use mx4 from arctic silver or arctic mx4 or whatever you wish to call it that's the thermal compound of my choice so i can get my hands on good deals for the new mx-5 whether that is out or not but right now i want to stay consistent so i have numerous tubes of mx4 on hand my suppliers give me a decent deal on it the noctua nh-d9l does come with some shortcomings and that is one uh in the thermal part i found that the now the right now when everything shuts down that the be quiet pure rock slim 2 definitely desecrated it when it came to dropping thermos now that could be just the design of how the fan brings your temps down or how quick it's moving but at the same time the dark slim 2 from be quiet is also running the same size fan the same type of fan the same quietness they're both very quiet i have to say that i do give this a lot of props that way i did not really hear it run at all when it amped up you heard it a bit but in a case you definitely probably would not hear this at all i do find that it's a very nice cooler the install is not so what i've noticed and you're going to see here like i'm going to show some pictures as well to give you a better idea this fan came flush so the fan was supposed to be flush with this here basically and it it now is flush with these uh tips so i guess it was going to fit your case it's still going to fit your case but it was something to watch out for but i mean if these didn't clear your case then it was a no-go anyway and at this point they are flushed that way i guess i can't really be too upset about it and it did work well like it's on now you don't hear it i can feel the air movement um it's a neat design no doubt about it i think that adding another fan or two so you have a nice push push pull so push pull push pull whatever you wish to call it kind of like the dark rock pro 4 from be quiet this could be a potent little monster as noctua fans are very good as i do believe that to be quiet fans in my opinion they're probably the two best cooling fans on the market to date so like i said i've never played around with a knock to a product other than the dreamcast mod uh for the cooling on the dreamcast but i will say i did expect a much more premium product than it is and i'm not knocking the fit finish fit and finish is very premium i'm not saying and don't don't be haters i'm not knocking the noctua in any which way for build quality i am knocking them and i did go around and take a look at some other videos on this product and every person still had the same problem again there's a lip here that does not clear the mounting screws how they tell you to install it is actually impossible if anybody else has pulled it off please comment below but i don't know how without bending the screws and that to me is just you're not going to get this to sit flat enough so it's mounted the best way possible that i know of to my best knowledge of building over 30 years of computers this man is down solid the temps were solid the only thing i have to say about it was dissipation rapid at the end of a shutdown of anything that was hard on it was very slow it was pushing i think 70 degrees and we were almost half that with the other coolers so i mean not not too impressed there overall idle and max temps were good they were very good uh but if you're looking for a fan that brings down temps fast i would definitely go with the pure rock slim 2 overall but if you're a knock to a fan and this is a fan that's on your radar don't be upset about it it does hold decent temps when being pushed at overall max now keep in mind again mx4 is the compound of choice and i am pushing these cpus in an environment that won't happen in regular computer use i'm using occt and i'm maxing out the processor for 15 solid minutes you'll never do that in the real world anyway guys until next time i hope you enjoyed the review of noctua's nh d9l this is my first time using an octua product and it was a little hype in my heart i was expecting to blow all my other coolers away but it didn't but did hold its own till next time guys game over