Noctua NH-D9L and NH-U9S CPU cooler review - Introduction

Small coolers - big performance

We test and review two new coolers from Noctua, the NH-D9L and NH-U9S CPU coolers. These small puppies can be used with any motherboard but focus on Micro ATX and Mini ITX. They are small, deadly silent but do pack enough punch to even cool a Core i7 4790K. And yes, you can even overclock a bit as well. Yes Sir, that would be Noctua for ya.

You know, there really aren't bad performing coolers produced anymore. For every segment and budget you can find something you need. The market stabilized and within the entire range and scope of heatpipe based coolers there's a certain comfort zone with a corresponding product available. As a result, most of these coolers available on the market are all adequate at the very least. There are always exceptions to this, there's a handful of manufacturers out there that offer the really interesting stuff, the kit and gear that really stand out from the cooling crowd, the hardware you and me crave and need so badly... that is in the enthusiast domain of gaming hardware. And that's where we need to make a stop at Noctua as they tick all those boxes.

In their long line of CPU coolers, Noctua recently introduced two new models in the small form factor range, the Noctua NH-D9L and NH-U9S coolers. Both coolers have recently been introduced into the channel to offer nice performance created with the help of some really nice airflow PWM controlled fans that are drop-dead silent with a focus on small form factor PCs. These two incredibly small products are bound to keep any CPU released to date nicely cooled and chilled, that includes even the most high-end Haswell SKUs. 

Have a peek at the two models tested, they might look a bit bulky, but trust me when I say that these are relatively small coolers (95x95mm footprint). Both are silent and well performing, even with a Core i7 4790K that we'll throw at them.