Noctua’s NH-L12 is the top performer in all of today’s tests, though attaining that status in our noise measurements requires installing resistor wires that also raises its temperature to third place. It's also the largest cooler in today’s tests, and fits only the most spacious of small enclosures, such as SilverStone's SG08. And we’re sure SilverStone would have something to say about that, following closely behind with its own NT06-Pro.
The rest of the field fits most compact enclosures with heights of less than 3”. The best cooling-to-price ratio among these comes from the SilenX EFZ-100HA2. If this were a comparison of basic replacement parts, SilenX’s low price would make it a top contender. But hot and cheap don't win any favors in the high-end cooling market.
Second in the value charts, Zalman’s CNPS8900 Quiet is best among the sub-3” coolers in our Acoustic Efficiency chart. It also takes second place behind the SilenX EFZ-100HA2 in our cost to benefit analysis. It's barely warmer and barely noisier than Noctua’s much larger NH-L12 in its top-performing low-speed mode, and has the added advantage of fitting most compact enclosures.
Two candidates emerge for our top-honor Elite award, the Zalman CNPS8900 Quiet that fits most "slim" enclosures and Noctua NH-L12 that fits only a few. But there can only be one best. And since one of the two products also qualifies for a value award, I’m bypassing the debate between performance superiority and enclosure compatibility.

The CNPS8900 Quiet combines good cooling performance, low noise, broad case compatibility, and a moderate price to make it the smartest choice for the majority of compact system builders.
- Eight Low-Profile Heat Sinks For Your Compact PC
- Gamer Storm Gabriel
- Gabriel Installation
- Noctua NH-L12
- NH-L12 Installation
- Scythe Big Shuriken 2 Revision B
- Big Shuriken 2 Revision B Installation
- SilenX EFZ-100HA2
- EFZ-100HA2 Installation
- SilverStone Nitrogon NT06-Pro
- Nitrogon NT06-Pro Installation
- Thermalright AXP-200 And AXP-200R
- AXP-200R Installation
- Xigmatek Janus
- Janus Installation
- Zalman CNPS8900 Quiet
- CNPS8900 Quiet Installation
- Test Settings And Methodology
- Results: Cooling And Fan Speed
- Results: Noise And Acoustic Efficiency
- Cooling Value
- The Best Cooler For Compact Systems?
Also, every mini-ITX motherboard is a little different. It would take some work, but it would be nice to see coolers cross referenced with different motherboards for compatibility. Just reading reviews it is pretty common to find one or two "Didn't fit my board" comments while other reviewers found the coolers to fit perfectly.
Do you mean vicious? Because I'm fairly sure the cycle wouldn't be a thick liquid.
It's good to see consistency
I'm using one from Titan that is really small: 107x70x12.5mm (official dimensions are incorrect) for the skived copper heatsink and can use 60mm or 70mm fans...i'm using a Titan fan that is 70x70x10.
Really compact....check my build at www overclock net
I i will add soon more pics and you will see something that is really small.
I was going to post precisely that.
I have one for my A8 8350 (100W) and it does a wonderful job inside a TT SD200.
And this is the CM cooler we're talking about: CM GeminII M4
Cheers!
anyone else think its ironic that Silenx's entry was that one of the loudest?
I was going to post precisely that.
I have one for my A8 8350 (100W) and it does a wonderful job inside a TT SD200.
And this is the CM cooler we're talking about: CM GeminII M4
Cheers!
toms asked the vendors. may be coolermaster chose not to participate or didn't meet the set conditions. 8 vendors sent their samples according to the article.
Also, every mini-ITX motherboard is a little different. It would take some work, but it would be nice to see coolers cross referenced with different motherboards for compatibility. Just reading reviews it is pretty common to find one or two "Didn't fit my board" comments while other reviewers found the coolers to fit perfectly.
I agree, these need to be tested in a tight case, preferably one where the low height is needed ( so no Prodigy, no HAF XB since those can fit normal tower coolers. ) The numbers here show what they can do in a normal ATX case, and that's a valid as some people don't like the torque of a 1kg sink hanging off their CPU. But since you were specifically asking for low-profile clearance for something like the Tiki and M8, these coolers need to be tested in that type of environment.
Guppy is right, you can't test every case and mboard combo, but if you could somehow finagle a run of three common boards and cases, it'd be very appreciated.
Ths silverstone may even pull ahead since it has the lowest mounted fan in the group, the air wil still be pulled through the heatsnink. the zalman should be able to pull some air from the sides if mounted next to the lid.
the 92mm fan on the silenx is its major flaw.
As an NH-D14 owner, I can't agree more. But the fan cowling color is not "pink". It's more of a very light pale beige... almost skin colored (typical non-tanned white person's skin). I honestly don't think Noctua could have chosen a more ugly color combo. Seriously. I took mine apart and painted it with matte (flat) black model paint (cowling, fans) and it looks awesome...disappears into the case if you will and doesn't look so obnoxious.