Reddit reviews Noctua NH-L9a
We found 9 Reddit comments about Noctua NH-L9a. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Due to the slim 23mm heat sink and the NF-A9x14 low profile fan that measures only 14mm in thickness, the NH-L9 stands a mere 37mm tall, which makes it ideal for use in compact HTPCs or Small Form Factor cases that offer minimum clearance for CPU coolers.The NH-L9a has a 92x114mm footprint that complies to the 96x114mm keep-out zone specified by AMD. This means that it doesn’t overhang the RAM slots, so it’s fully compatible with tall memory modules.Some AMD based mini-ITX mainboards have the PCIe slot sitting close to the 96x114mm socket zone. While larger coolers that exceed this zone may block the PCIe slot, the 92x114mm sized NH-L9a provides full compatibility with PCIe cards.The highly optimized NF-A9x14 premium fan features Noctua’s proprietary AAO frame as well as sophisticated aerodynamic design measures. Supporting PWM for fully automatic speed control, the NF-A9x14 allows the NH-L9a to stay remarkably quiet.Allowing to reduce the maximum speed of the NF-A9x14 fan from 2500 to 1800rpm, the included Low-Noise Adaptor (L.N.A.) makes it possible to achieve near-silent setups using CPUs with less than 65W TDP.The NH-L9a bundles a custom-designed SecuFirm2 mounting system for AM2(+)/AM3(+)/FM1/FM2 that offers extended compatibility with mini-ITX boards and makes installation easier than ever, all while maintaining the trusted SecuFirm2 quality.Noctua's much-acclaimed NT-H1 is a well proven pro-grade TIM solution that provides minimum thermal resistance, excellent ease-of-use and outstanding reliability.
I did luck out, I thought I was doomed to the ebay bidding wars for weeks. That 970 board even has the 8+2 power phase I wanted in the 990fx boards.
Man, that really sucks about your pc. You did get a hell of a deal for it, so as long as you enjoyed your time with it, it was well worth the price.
As for a possible solution, I knew a buddy that used a low clearance cooler similar to this Noctua. But it's $50 so thats not much cheaper than the one you found. Then I was thinking you could go with a whole new motherboard like this one but if your lenovo board is propreitary, I would assume the power connector isn't a standard 24 pin so that wouldn't work. Hopefully you can find a workable solution.
Buying the newest pc components right now is not wise and I have already put off my upgrade build for a while waiting for RAM and GPUs to drop in price so I can start buying one piece at a time. But I want to wait on the mobo and cpu as my last parts for the newest tech. I suppose I should just be happy with what I have right now. First world problems lol
Good luck to you.
This should fit.
Since you specified its use as a media PC you should not have the usual problems gamers have with mini-itx cases (namely GPUs being to large).
You could go with an AMD APU like the A10-6800k (which is fairly high end for an APU and shoud handly mid level gaming without any problems) and have a decent PC which fits into your M-ITX case if you choose the right motherboard (M-ITX) for it.
The next thing you should be careful about is the PSU.
Check the manufacturers page to make sure ATX sized PSUs fit.
If these won't fit, you can buy PSUs in smaller sizes.
Keep in mind that those will come with a price markup because of their novelty size and reduced competition.
It should be noted that it could be wise to go for a M-ITX case which supports ATX-sized PSUs to avoid the price bump for smaller units.
Next up: CPU cooler size. Either use the stock cooler or go for something small (noctua has some awesome [low profile ones] (http://www.amazon.com/Noctua-Low-profile-Cooler-Retail-Cooling/dp/B009VY1R9O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372779223&sr=8-1&keywords=noctua+low+profile+amd+apu)).
And lastly if you go for an APU get some ram that clocks in a bit faster than 1600 MHZ if you're concerned with performance.
This should let you circumvent any other size issues you could have with GPUs in your M-ITX case.
Good luck and have fun building!
First make sure you get the AM4 version of the cooler, and you can see in the photos a full tube of paste is included.
450W should be enough since the estimated peak for the whole system is near 300W. But of course 600W let you use up to a 1080ti.
Cheaper fans are fine too.
Case - Antec ISK110 DC Powered
MB - ASRock FM2A88X-ITX+
APU - AMD A-10 6700 4-Core 3.7GHz 65W
Cooling - Noctua NH-L9A Low Profile
Memory - Crucial DDR3 1866 2 X 4GB
Disks(Internal) - 2 X Crucial M4 64GB SSD
Disks(External) - StarTech e-SATA enclosure w/ 2 X 1TB WD Blue HDD
Optical Disk(External) - Vantec USB2 enclosure w/ Sony Optiarc BluRay Drive
OS:
I just built one with this case, and an A10-7870k APU. Used low-profile Noctua heatsink and fan, 8GB RAM, and 60GB SSD. Works like a champ!
Noctua have great coolers that are quiet. This one is low profile and will certainly fit in your case.
https://www.amazon.com/Noctua-Low-profile-Cooler-Retail-Cooling/dp/B009VY1R9O that was the first Amazon link on Google for "fm2+ cpu cooler" so if your looking for a different style just search that
I'm just starting to research something similar for a friend. What I've made note of so far is a little above your $200 threshold but not by much.
Noctua Low-profile Quiet CPU Cooler NH-L9A $40
Antec ISK 300-150 Mini-ITX $75
AMD AMD A6-7400K $55
ASRock A88M-ITX/ac $75
I also looked at the below with an embedded CPU but doubt I'll go with it because of the lack of on board WiFi. My build has to have Wifi so if I have to spend for an adapter I might as well go with the AMD solution that already has it.
ASRock Q1900B-ITX $70
You'd still need memory, I was going to steal a single 4GB stick from another build. The Asrock A88M has an M.2 slot but I haven't investigated if it's bootable or not as I'd be using a spare 2.5" SSD I have.
I included the Noctua cooler because I don't know the size or noise level of the stock AMD cooler, if it would fit in the small box I'd be using. If you're using a larger box you could eliminate that $40 item.