Question 1

Does this cooler come with Thermal Paste pre-applied?

Accepted Answer

No it doesn't but it does come with a tube of their thermal paste which is very good.

Question 2

is this setup compatible with an LGA 1150 socket?

Accepted Answer

Yes, this works with LGA 1150.  I have it running on an ASUS Maximus VI Impact, an excellent mini-ITX board and an i5-4570.  Due to the location of the heat pipes on the Noctua NH-L12 and the special sound card of the Maximus VI Impact, there was only one orientation in which it would fit, but it did fit nicely, and didn't block the RAM (make sure to get low-profile RAM or remove tall heat spreaders).

Temps are excellent with this cooler.

Question 3

will this fan fit on my Gigabyte Z170n Gaming 5 mini-itx motherboard?

Accepted Answer

Hi Patrick,

You can check the specs and see if it will fit in that space or, even better, email both Gigabyte and Noctua for their opinions.

You need to have answers for the following questions, too:
1) will you have clearance space for the specific memory modules you intend to use?
2) will you be able to populate the motherboard memory slots that you want to use?
3) will the Noctua, just like any third-party cooling solution, fit inside your case once you have it mounted to the motherboard.

Question 4

Can you run the top 120mm fan as a case fan instead?

Accepted Answer

It is possible! I have mine using just the 92mm fan on the heat sink and the 120mm as my primary intake fan. Temps stay nominal with a low tdp part like an i3.

Question 5

Is it possible to mount the larger fan on the bottom of the heatsink?

Accepted Answer

Not really. The heat pipes get in the way. If you look at the side profile photo you'll see it's not really possible to mount a larger fan on the bottom. But even with the smaller fan it keeps my CPU running cool.

Question 6

will this fit a LGA 1151 socket  and can i put my own 120mm fan on top ?

Accepted Answer

I have personally fit a different fan on the top and have it mounted on a 6700k (socket 1151) no problem. I have a 120mm thermaltek riing fan on the top. Works great. Just make sure the fan is not one of those super thin fans and you will be fine :)

Question 7

Hello,

My MSI motherboard (MS-7596) only has on 4-pin PWM connection.  What is the best way to run this dual-fan cooler?

Thanks,
John

Accepted Answer

To be honest only one of the fans is necessary unless you are planning to overclock. If it were me, I would remove one of the fans (probably the smaller) and run it with one fan. As long as you apply the paste properly, it should work just fine.

Question 8

I am trying to finish the installation of the Noctua NH-L12., but after having setup the back plate, the spacer and screws, adding the 2 mount bars, I set up the heat sink on the top of the cpu, aligned the screw and tighted the 2 screws. After that the heat sink is still moving (side way on the cpu), even after making sure the screws are tighten.
I am using the following motherboard:
ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Intel Z77
Any suggestion?

Accepted Answer

I'm not sure how much help I can be but the things it occurs to me to check are to make sure you are using the right spacers and screws. This sink comes with everything you would ever need for any cpu/mobo combo and it would be easy to get the wrong ones on there. Also, be sure you are only using a small dot of thermal paste. Too much is detrimental. Other than that, you might be looking at a manufacturing defect. when I got mine attached, it was firmly enough attached that I could lift the board by the heat sink.

Question 9

Will this fan fit on an ASUS Z87I-PRO/DELUXE with a GTX 780 card and low profile RAM?

Accepted Answer

I installed this on an ASUS Maximus VI Impact, which is also mini-ITX.  It was an extremely tight fit, even with low profile RAM.  The video card was not an issue:  the Impact has two "daughterboards", one for power management and one is a soundcard, that protrude vertically and block some of the space that the NH-L12 wants to take.  3 of 4 orientations would not fit, but one direction did fit, although the heat pipes are in contact with the soundcard and bending it slightly.

For the Z87I-PRO, you will probably not have this problem because it does not have a secondary soundcard.  I have a 760 but the 780 should have the same width dimensions so I do not think that will be a problem.  I have low profile RAM too (43mm is the max height suggested by Noctua), but even with that low height, there is 1 orientation that won't work simply because the heat pipes get in the way.

I'm getting great temps with this cooler, it is the only good one I could find that was even possible with my case (Lian-Li Q11).

Question 10

will  this fit a 1151 socket and can i put my own 120mm top fan ?

Accepted Answer

It's big, my case was a thermal take open design. It will fit the 1151 socket. You can use any 120mm fan. I will say it runs quiet, and keeps things cool.

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