Noctua NH-L12 Ghost S1 Edition CPU Cooler Review

Mike Sanders / 4 years ago

How Much Does it Cost?

Available to buy now for £49.99, the Noctua NH-L12 Ghost S1 Edition certainly represents some excellent value in terms of comparative high-performance low-profile designs. Largely because Noctua is one of the few brands to actually make low-profile coolers to this level of quality.

Given that mini-ITX builds can often have very limited cooling options, this is certainly a huge step-up from many other products out there and, if you value low-noise and high-performance, it makes this design well worth the money!

Overview

As the Noctua NH-L12 Ghost S1 Edition is a low-profile cooler, it is clearly better suited to smaller builds. Put simply, if you have a full-sized system chassis (and plenty of room around your processor), you’d be far better suited in getting one of Noctua’s more mainstream product releases. That being said, however, for such a small package, this provides a lot of performance and, better still, it’s surprisingly quiet while doing so.

In terms of high-performance low-profile designs, Noctua certainly gives you plenty to choose from. With its slightly larger radiator, however, the NH-L12 Ghost S1 Edition is certainly one of their strongest releases to date in this somewhat niché market.

Should I Buy One?

Starting with one of the factors that’ll undoubtedly be mentioned by someone at some point, the Noctua NH-L12 Ghost S1 Edition is certainly not much of a looker in terms of aesthetics. In fairness, I don’t particularly like the fact that the fan is hidden behind the radiator and less so that it doesn’t provide full coverage. Then again, as a low-profile design, some concessions always have to be made in terms of aesthetics, and, based on the performance, while it might not be the best-looking cooler around, it certainly provides some truly excellent levels of performance from a surprisingly small package!

If you are, therefore, planning your next monster micro-build, the Noctua NH-L12 Ghost S1 Edition would be a fantastic addition to ensure that your CPU runs nice and cool while also keeping noise levels nice and low! Better still with it capable of handling full-sized PCs, there’s always that option for you as well! I mean, under those remits, what more could you possibly want or ask for?…

Pros

Excellent high-quality design
Amazing levels of CPU temperature control and acoustic performance
Good value for money
Excellent features with a huge 6-year warranty
An excellent size compromise offering the best performance possible from a surprisingly small package