Noctua’s latest 120mm-class dual-tower cooler can squeeze into small PC builds

Why is it important: Noctua Tower CPU coolers are some of the best you can integrate into a PC build, but not all of them will fit into a smaller case. For people who like to do small form factor and mini-ITX builds, the company now offers a 120mm class cooler that should work in cases where only a 92mm class cooler would normally work.

Last year, Noctua delighted the PC enthusiast market with a massive 3.3-pound fanless tower cooler for people who love a quiet installation and are willing to give up overclocking to achieve it.

On Tuesday, the Austrian manufacturer launched a new low height dual tower CPU cooler – Noctua NH-D12L – and a matching 120mm NF-A12x25r PWM round case fan. With an overall height of 145mm, this cooler should fit into small form factor PC cases that other Noctua offerings with 158mm high 120mm fans can’t fit.

Noctua opted for an asymmetrical design for the NH-D12L, which provides plenty of room for RAM even if you choose to use tall DIMMs with large heat spreaders and RGB lighting. The company says the NH-D12L will easily outperform 92mm coolers and single tower 120mm designs such as HX-U12S And HX-U12A.

The new cooler is compatible with the Intel LGA 1700 socket and the upcoming AMD AM5 socket (LGA 1718), as well as almost all motherboards with LGA 1200/LGA115x and AM4 sockets. Noctua says all of its current coolers will support AM5, with the exception of NM-AM4-L9aL9i and NH-L9a-AM4.

The NH-D12L retails for $89.90 while the NF-A12x25r PWM fan will retail for $29.90. Both will be available directly from Noctua and on Amazon.