Noctua NH-L9i Low Profile CPU Cooler Review

Noctua are recommending a price of $47.90/€39.90 for the NH-L9i. For British customers this translates into approximately £33. Obviously there will be variance between retailers depending on their pricing strategies and delivery costs but generally speaking this product is coming in at £33/$48/€40. For what some may see as a glorified stock cooler, this is quite pricey indeed.

However, I want to come back to the most crucial point about this product, which is that there are very few products on the market like this – if any at all. I’d love to see another cooler that comes in under 37mm in height and offers a similar level of performance. That said Noctua have produced a very niche product here that targets a very small LGA 1155 HTPC and SFF enthusiast market.

Nonetheless it is a niche product done very well, to the usual exceptional Noctua quality standards. For that I think the price is justified, but it seems possible Noctua could have brought it to market slightly cheaper.

The NH-L9i has excellent cooling performance for the form factor, acoustics that make it ideal for a totally silent HTPC or SFF system and a price tag that is reasonable given how unique and innovative the product is. The chances are, if you’ve gone to the effort to make a super compact LGA 1155 based HTPC or SFF system, then having to spend a paltry £33 (when all the other components probably cost hundreds) is actually remarkably little.

I have really tried to find faults with this product, but I have failed more than Bulldozer in doing so. The NH-L9i is a product that delivers way more than you’d expect and serves a niche market beautifully well. For that reason I’ve decided to award the Noctua NH-L9i the eTeknix Editor’s Choice award.