Noctua NH-L9a-AM5 Low-Profile Heatsink Works Great For 2U AMD Ryzen AM5 Servers

[Alexmitter]

I really love their performance but I really hate the design.

Whats wrong with the design? I love the colors. They are for and foremost a industrial manufacturer.

[Anux]

I'm not sure where the problem with the design is. You install it once and never see it again. Maybe if you're a casemodder with transparent windows and RGB shit. But then just buy all this RGB fan bullshit and get your boner from that. Noctua is the opposit of Apple, design follows function.

I am opting for AIO, but if anyone knows how well the NH-L9a-AM5 handles a 7700X or better along with noise compared to an AIO that'd be great

From their description https://noctua.at/pub/media/blfa_fil...eet_en_web.pdf:
> While it provides first-rate performance in its class, it is not suitable for overclocking and is only recommended for CPUs/APUs with up to 95W TDP (Thermal Design Power).
Juddging from this article the cooler seems to be equivalent to the wraith (not sure if X models come with the same wraith cooler?). I wouldn't put a 95 W CPU on that cooler, but that depends on your sensivity to noise. It would certainly run with a 120 W CPU but that would be over 90°C and not at full performance.

[polarathene]

From their description https://noctua.at/pub/media/blfa_fil...eet_en_web.pdf:
> While it provides first-rate performance in its class, it is not suitable for overclocking and is only recommended for CPUs/APUs with up to 95W TDP (Thermal Design Power).
Juddging from this article the cooler seems to be equivalent to the wraith (not sure if X models come with the same wraith cooler?). I wouldn't put a 95 W CPU on that cooler, but that depends on your sensivity to noise. It would certainly run with a 120 W CPU but that would be over 90°C and not at full performance.

The X models can be customized in bios (or on Windows via a desktop app), they have an ECO mode that you can select a preset such as 65W TDP (around 88W PPT I think), or manually adjust your own power limit. Some users have reported getting 15-20C lower temps at 65W ECO mode IIRC, so I'm curious how it compares to the 7700, especially since you can raise the PPT to recover the 10% perf loss (under full load, single thread unaffected) while still keeping temps down.

[Anux]

Yeah sure, but isn't the non X version cheaper and roughly the same performance as an X in ECO mode?

Edit: Now I see it, non X is less than 20€ cheaper. In that case one might as well take the X.

[torsionbar28]

I really love their performance but I really hate the design.

Why, because it's brown? This is where racism comes from. Go ahead, stand in the schoolhouse door and block any brown components from entering your all-white pc.

[CochainComplex]

Why, because it's brown? This is where racism comes from. Go ahead, stand in the schoolhouse door and block any brown components from entering your all-white pc.

I prefer an all black pc. Black mobo, black enclosure, everything black...No blue screen on error ...blackscreen! And the guilty error prompted in white.

But no RGB ...its too flashy too loud.

ok lets push it ad absurdum and twist it:
Yes I dont like brown because brown was the identification color of this specific political german party lead by a infamous austrian politician. Pun intended.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_colour#Brown.

Since when is prefered colorscheme of a computer a political statement?

[CochainComplex]

Whats wrong with the design? I love the colors. They are for and foremost a industrial manufacturer.

I do understand that some people might like the color scheme of the brand. But as with everything related to design eye of the beholder..

My point is that it does not really elegantly match the other colours of components. It might fit to green PCBs but most consumer/prosumer components are black, red, blue. Also classic colour harmony tought in arts classes does discribe it very well.

[justin_webb]

Personally I really like the color of Noctua fans. It reminds me of my dog, Bernard. He'd like to chase his own tail spinning in a circle like a big fan, actually exactly like a Noctua fan with his fur. Rest in peace Bernard, you shouldn't have jumped into that wood chipper. And I shouldn't have turned it on.

[Firnefex]

...Rest in pieces Bernard...

Fixed that for you.

[GreenReaper]

My point is that it does not really elegantly match the other colours of components. It might fit to green PCBs but most consumer/prosumer components are black, red, blue. Also classic colour harmony tought in arts classes does discribe it very well.

One reason is it goes OK with the silver heatsinks they're matched with, while making the heatsinks black costs more. Here's a Gamer's Nexus factory tour where they're electro-plating Noctua components. There's even a jab at the default colour scheme for you! Long story short, it's a lot of work, both manual and automatic. The actual electrophoretic deposition only takes 90 seconds, but the cleaning and gas+electric oven-baking at 100C to 200C before and afterwards takes over an hour.

Doubtless the general colour scheme is for brand recognition, though. It matches the colouration of their namesake, the little owl. Their intention is to stand out from other components. Not doing that means they don't get the brand recognition so you have to pay a little more for their performance instead. Or not; Arctic does some nice black and white fans that can be half the price.