Visual inspection
The Noctua NH-L9x65 chromax.black is the long awaited all back variant of the NH-L9x65 CPU cooler. A top flow air CPU cooler that was designed to be used in small form factor systems and inside mini-ITX motherboards. What made this CPU cooler so good was the usage of four nickeplated copper heatpipes, a solid copper baseplate and a thick heatsink. And now we have this CPU cooler in a lovely all black variant, however, this comes at a higher cost.
The Noctua NH-L9x65 chromax.black has a height of 51mm a depth of 95mm and a width of 95mm with a weight of 413g.
The heatsink of the NH-L9x65 chromax.black is made entirely out of aluminum and has its heatpipes and baseplate made from nickel-plated copper for better heat dissipation.
The cooler has a total of 49 aluminum made cooling fins which are used to dissipate the heat of the CPU. These fins have a solid build and will not bend with ease, also, you will not get injured by them as their edges have been sanded smooth.
The four heatpipes used on this CPU cooler are made from nickeplated copper and are painted in the same matte black finish as the rest of the chromax.black lineup. Each heatpipe has an outer diameter of six millimeters. All heatpipes are arranged into a circle shape around the heatsink to better move the heat away from the CPU area.
The baseplate is a solid piece of nickelplated copper. The heatpipes are making contact with the baseplate at the back. This way, optimal contact and thermal transfers are ensured as well as the best possible contact between the CPU cooler and the CPU surface.
The Noctua NH-L9x65 chromax.black uses a single 92mm fan that has a thickness of just 14mm to accommodate small form factor cases. The fan in question is a Noctua NF-A9x14 PWM chromax.black.
In terms of specifications, this fan has a minimum speed of 500RPM and a maximum speed of 2200RPM. Fortunately, the usage of a 4-pin connector and PWM functionality means that the speed of the fan can be controlled through your motherboard or a fan hub.
The fan frame is equipped with rubber pads on both sides of each corner. These are used to not only dampen vibrations created by the fan spinning but to protect the heatsink from scratches.
The cable of the Noctua NH-L9x65 chromax.black is simple, with a rubber sleeving protecting the wires. The connector used for power is a standard 4Pin PWM.
