Noctua announced two CPU coolers for its chroma.black range — the NH-D9L and the NH-L9x65 low-profile CPU coolers. The low-profile CPU coolers are perfect for many small form factor builds. With a black-coat on the CPU coolers, fans, vibration pads, fan clips, and mounting systems, it looks more stealthy than the nickel-plated counterparts with Noctua's signature colors on the fans.
The newer variants of these CPU coolers support the current-gen Intel and AMD CPU sockets. Underneath that painted layer, both coolers use copper base and heatpipes, aluminum cooling fins with soldered joints, and nickel plating mounting.
Same-old-but-new-ish!
We reviewed the Noctua NH-L9x65 CPU cooler some time ago, but it is tested on an older Intel LGA 1151 Coffee-Lake-based system.
The new models are no different than the original variants but with added support for current-gen Intel and AMD sockets. So naturally, end-users will be keen to know how these perform when paired with modern CPUs.
The specs of the chroma.black variants are as follows:
Both coolers are made exclusively to be paired with 92mm fans. The NH-D9L chroma.black is a vertically aligned heatsink supporting 14mm and 25mm thick fans with the ability to mount a second fan with clips included.
The NH-L9x65 chroma.black is horizontal. It's only compatible with a 92x92x14mm CPU fan. Typical with CPU coolers like Noctua, all the required tools are included, including the well-known NT-H1 thermal compound syringe that's more than enough for a typical PC enthusiast. Keeping up with Noctua's traditions, these fans use its in-house SSO2 bearing, and the CPU coolers are backed with a six-year warranty.
One should note that these are low-profile CPU coolers made specifically for mini-ITX builds. However, you can pair these on any ATX layout motherboard, but it is best to do so with certain CPUs, irrespective of the socket compatibility. Though Noctua is one of the top-notch CPU cooler manufacturers, these are made for small form factor, and HTPC builds and not high-performance overclocked systems or to be paired with certain mid-range and high-end CPUs.
Noctua did provide a CPU compatibility list for both the NH-D9L and the NH-L9x65. Though this isn't exclusive to Noctua's low-profile CPU coolers, they are one of the companies that list the required details a user will need.
