Introduction and Technical Specifications
Noctua’s L9a-AM4 cooler offers impressive performance with a minimal footprint for your Ryzen-based system…
Introduction
Courtesy of Noctua
Noctua is a well respected manufacturer in the highly competitive CPU cooler space, offering products optimized for high efficiency and low-noise. Their latest release for AMD Ryzen processors offer good stock performance at minimal noise levels. The cooler's minimalistic dimensions also ensures broad compatibility with AM4-based systems. Unlike other members of the Noctua cooler line, the L9a-AM4 uses a proprietary mounting system, not the standard SecuFirm2™ mounting mechanism. With an MSRP of $39.99, the NH-L9a-AM4 comes at a premium price for its performance goals.
Courtesy of Noctua
Courtesy of Noctua
The NH-L9a-AM4 CPU cooler is single radiator cooler placed in a horizontal orientation with a single included fan. The radiator's horizontal orientation gives the cooler a lower height in comparison to a cooler with the traditional vertical radiators while maintaining equivalent cooling performance. In typical Noctua fashion, the NH-L9a-AM4 combines a copper base plate and heat pipes with aluminum finned cooling towers for an optimal hybrid cooling solution. The base plate and heat pipes are nickel-plated for looks and to prevent corrosion.
Technical Specifications (taken from the Noctua website)
Noctua NH-L9a-AM4 Cooler Specification | ||
Socket compatibility | AMD AM4 | |
Height (without fan) | 23 mm | |
Width (without fan) | 114 mm | |
Depth (without fan) | 92 mm | |
Height (with fan) | 37 mm | |
Width (with fan) | 114 mm | |
Depth (with fan) | 92 mm | |
Weight (without fan) | 390 g | |
Weight (with fan) | 465 g | |
Material | Copper (base and heat-pipes), aluminium (cooling fins), soldered joints & nickel plating | |
Fan compatibility | 92x92x14mm, 92x92x25mm | |
Scope of Delivery |
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Warranty | 6 Years | |
Fan specifications | ||
Model | Noctua NF-A9x14 PWM | |
Bearing | SSO2 | |
Max. Rotational Speed (+/- 10%) | 2500 RPM | |
Max. Rotational Speed with L.N.A. (+/- 10%) | 1800 RPM | |
Min. Rotational Speed (PWM, +/-20%) | 600 RPM | |
Max. Airflow | 57.5 m³/h | |
Max. Airflow with L.N.A. | 40.8 m³/h | |
Max. Acoustical Noise | 23.6 dB(A) | |
Max. Acoustical Noise with L.N.A. | 14.8 dB(A) | |
Input Power | 2.52 W | |
Voltage Range | 12 V | |
MTBF | > 150,000 h |
Review Terms and Disclosure All Information as of the Date of Publication |
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How product was obtained: | The product is on loan from Noctua for the purpose of this review. |
What happens to the product after review: | The product remains the property of Noctua but is on extended loan for future testing and product comparisons. |
Company involvement: | Noctua had no control over the content of the review and was not consulted prior to publication. |
PC Perspective Compensation: | Neither PC Perspective nor any of its staff were paid or compensated in any way by Noctua for this review. |
Advertising Disclosure: | Noctua has not purchased advertising at PC Perspective during the past twelve months. |
Affiliate links: | This article contains affiliate links to online retailers. PC Perspective may receive compensation for purchases through those links. |
Consulting Disclosure: | Noctua is not a current client of Shrout Research for products or services related to this review. |
Hi Morry, thanks for the
Hi Morry, thanks for the great write up. Do you have any experience with any of the Wraith coolers? Just wondering how this compares for performance and noise.
I have a 2400G for my HTPC and the wraith stealth cooler makes too much noise, I have it turned down to 15% fan speed to make it quiet enough.
Have not had any experience
Have not had any experience with the wraith cooler unfortunately. This one is much quieter than most other coolers I've tested. As far as the noise output reported by vendors, the numbers themselves may be acurrate, but how they measure them (ie, equipment used and distance to source) probably varies greatly. That would even be true between sites. For example, I use an audio app on my cell phone to measure from a 3ft distance. For all of my reviews, the sound measurements would be consistant and comparable, but probably not between my reviews and those of Sebastian (b/c he uses different gear for measurement).
In any case, this cooler, or any Noctua cooler for that matter, will be much quieter than the wraith cooler.
How much would a typical CASE
How much would a typical CASE raise the temperature?
It seems the testing was done without a case?
Assuming 25degC average that means the CPU would be roughly 68degC under load… while that leaves about 12degC (80degC is max recommended for sustained usage I believe) I suspect you would be hitting 80degC in a small case with so-so air flow.
That’s fine still for both cooling and noise (22dB is silent) though overclocking may not be feasible due to temp in some situations.
If you are looking to
If you are looking to overclock, I would not recommend using this cooler. As far as your initial question goes, it really depends on case airflow. Assuming you have decent front to back airflow (ie, fans mounted in front grill and in rear panel), you should see temps on par or may 5C higher. However, the "stress" temps reported are under extreme use scenarios. I wsa using the stress tool in AIDA64, which puts the CPU under 100% load across all cores. During normal gaming and use sitruations, you would not see anywhere near that load…