Verdict and Conclusion
The NH-L12 is a mixed bag for me. You get a tiny compact size with huge amounts of cooling potential for its size. But it also failed horribly with the heatload of a Hex core processor while overclocked. If you intend on sticking with a low power processor you should have no problems at all though.
The mounting on the NH-L12 is not too bad if you install it before mounting it in a case. Once it is mounted though it can become a pain in the butt. You must also watch out for your memory being too tall.
It does have a decent amount of height for taller memory, but some sticks are just too tall for the NH-L12 to work properly.
The price on the NH-L12 is around the $70-USD mark depending where you find it. Honestly, that price is a bit high and it would be much better around the $50 mark. It does include a couple of fans that are normally $20 each so that is a large chunk of the price there.
I really think that if you run a quad-core chip the NH-L12 might be fine for you, but a hex-core processor is just way too much heat for this poor little heatsink to dissipate.
Pros:
- Very compact size
- Great fans
- Comes with two fans
- Well packaged
- Universal mounting
Cons:
- Price a bit high
- Failed at overclocked speeds
- Taller memory does not fit
If you need a good performing heatsink for an HTPC the NH-L12 is a great choice. However, if you plan on trying to cool a big hot hex core processor anything over stock clocks will lead to skyrocketing temperatures. But for its size, it is quite an impressive heatsink.
SCORE
7.5/10
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