From Noctua Press Release: Noctua today introduced its new NH-L12Sx77 low-profile CPU cooler for compact, powerful yet quiet Small Form Factor systems. The NH-L12Sx77 is a slightly taller variant of the award-winning NH-L12S, offering improved cooling performance as well as enhanced motherboard and RAM compatibility.
“Our NH-L12S is a popular choice for compact builds in cases like the Fractal Design Terra or Louqe RAW S1, but due to its height of only 70mm, RAM compatibility and clearance for tall motherboard components are limited. At the same time, many of these cases offer a bit of extra space”, explains Roland Mossig (Noctua CEO). “This is where the new NH-L12Sx77 steps in: It makes use of that extra space in order to provide enhanced compatibility and even better cooling performance, which comes in handy when building powerful gaming or productivity setups.”
With 6 instead of 4 heatpipes, the NH-L12Sx77 offers significantly more headroom for higher heat-loads compared to the original NH-L12S. As such, it is ideal for getting the most out of today’s high-end CPUs in compact cases where their aggressive turbo boost modes are especially challenging to handle.
The NH-L12Sx77 not only improves performance but also motherboard and RAM compatibility versus the original NH-L12S: Due to the x77 version’s taller construction, clearance for RAM modules as well as motherboard heatsinks and shrouds could be increased significantly, which makes the cooler an easy fit in most configurations.
Like the regular NH-L12S, the NH-L12Sx77 has its fan preinstalled underneath the fin stack blowing upwards, which is ideal in compact cases that typically have a perforated panel right above the cooler as hot air can be exhausted directly instead of accumulating inside the case. At the same time, this setup avoids noises from influx turbulences that occur when fans are drawing in air through perforated panels.
At a height of 77mm (7mm taller than the original NH-L12S’ 70mm), the NH-L12Sx77 is a perfect fit for Fractal Design’s Terra (with the maximum space setting for the CPU cooler), SilverStone’s Milo ML12 or Louqe’s unique, award-winning RAW S1 chassis as well as many other cases that cannot fit the larger NH-C14S (115mm in low-profile mode) or NH-D9L (110mm).
