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We analyzed the Noctua NH-L9x65 SE-AM4 heatsink, which is exclusive for AMD Ryzen processors, since it only has the anchor for the AM4 socket and offers really excellent dissipation power.
The arrival of AMD Ryzen processors has led to the need for the arrival of new motherboards, support for DDR4 RAM, and the need for new heatsinks or anchoring systems for current systems. Noctua, is a leading company in the manufacture and development of high quality and performance heatsinks and has launched a heatsink with anchor compatible with the new AM4 socket motherboards. It should be noted that Noctua manufactures the best heatsinks on the market and they are the most recognized among hardware fans and lovers, as in the case of the Noctua NH-L9x65 SE-AM4.
If something characterizes this Noctua NH-L9x65 SE-AM4 heatsink is its high constructive quality, made up of high-quality aluminum blocks covered by four heatpipes that start from the base of the heatsink to the upper area, which go through all the fins of the heatsink. aluminum of the dissipation block, making it an excellent heatsink that guarantees that all the heat generated by the processor will be effectively dissipated. The fan offers high air pressure, which allows very effective dissipation.
CHARACTERISTIC
The Noctua NH-L9x65 SE-AM4 is a single block tower heatsink that has a height of 650mm, which has a block of aluminum fins, which are crossed by four heatpipes. This SE-AM4 is a special edition developed to be compatible with AMD Ryzen processors, incorporating the SecuFirm2 mounting system, for the AM4 socket. The heatsink features the Noctua NF-A9x14 PWM fan, which is 92mm in size and highly silent. What makes it especially quiet is the SSO2 bearing system (which we will explain below). Along with the heatsink, the NT-H1 end paste is incorporated, which has the characteristic of being one of the best thermal pastes on the market with high efficiency in transferring the temperature from the processor to the heatsink.
It should be noted that the Noctua NH-L9x65 SE-AM4 only has the anchor for AM4 motherboards, so this heatsink does not have the anchors for Intel processors. This heatsink is compatible with all RAM memory models on the market, regardless of the heatsink that they incorporate, since the block has been developed so that it does not disturb RAM memories and graphics cards in no case, since in mini- ITX the graphics card is usually very close to the socket area and some heatsinks are not compatible with these very compact motherboards.
Regarding the fan, we must highlight that the Noctua NF-A9x14 PWM fan has a 92mm fan, which allows it to work at different speeds. This fan has a Low-Noise Adapter anchoring system that allows it to work at a speed of between 600rpm and 2500rpm. What the fan offers us is a high static pressure, which allows improving the performance of heat dissipation and the silent operation of the system. It is anchored to the heatsink by means of a system of anti-vibration panels designed so that the fan has a separation of 5mm, which allows to improve the sound level.
SPECIFICATIONS
Noctua has developed a powerful Noctua NH-L9x65 SE-AM4 heatsink, with a compact aluminum fin block, which has a maximum height of 51mm, a width of 95mm and a thickness of 95mm, all this without a fan, while with a fan the width and thickness are not altered, the height with the fan becomes 65mm. This fanless heatsink has a weight of 340 grams, while the weight with fan is 413 grams. The four heatpipes, as well as the base of the heatsink are made of copper, while the fins, as we have highlighted, are made of aluminum.
Regarding the fan, we must say that it uses the Noctua NF-A9x14 PWM, which integrates the innovative SSO2 bearings, which allow a really low noise level. This fan has a base working speed of 600RPM, while the maximum rotation speed is 2500RPM, which allows a maximum flow of 57.5 cubic meters per hour and the noise level is 23.6dBA. This fan has an effective consumption of 2.52W, with a working voltage of 12V.
BEARINGS SSO2
Fans normally use two systems, bearings and bearings. They both have problems. The bearings are very quiet in their first moments, but wear increases the noise and the useful life of the fans that incorporate them is very short and the bearings make a lot of noise, although they have a fairly long useful life. Noctua has looked for a solution that has a very long useful life and the noise level is minimal and they developed the SSO, a system of self-stabilized bearings of pressurized oil, which has been revised for improvement.
The development of this system is based on its low noise level and the quality demonstrated and tested in many products, in a large number of products. This system is based on an interesting concept of hydrodynamic oil-based bearings that integrate a magnet, which has the function of automatically stabilizing the rotor shaft. Stabilized by a magnetic field, these bearings allow for improved precision and longevity over ball bearing solutions, plain bearings and even traditional hydrodynamic systems.
Noctua has optimized and improved the SSO system in this update called SSO2. Metallic bearings and an injection molding system have been used for this renewed system. They have a magnet closer to the rotor shaft, generating a higher magnetic force on it. It offers, thanks to this system, greater stabilization, precision and durability of the fans.
BENCHMARK
CONCLUSION
Noctua heatsinks are of the highest quality, we already know that and they are the most recognized heatsinks on the market, that is why we usually recommend them. This Noctua NH-L9x65 SE-AM4 is a version of the Noctua NH-L9x65 itself, but in this case with the anchor for AMD Ryzen processors, but without the rest of the AMD anchors and none of the Intel anchors, since it is a version developed exclusively for socket AM4. We can see the dissipation quality of this processor tested with the AMD Ryzen 5 1600 processor.
This heatsink is somewhat simpler than the others that we have analyzed and although it could be a good option for the Ryzen 7, we see it rather intended for the Ryzen 5, that is why we have tested it with the Ryzen 5 1600 that we analyzed a few weeks behind. We can see that it is ideal, because without load it moves at 34ºC, reaching 58ºC on average, while during the syntactic benchmarks this heatsink has moved between 70ºC and 75ºC. It must be taken into account that the synthetic benchmarks are utilities that will be at maximum to the processor, but in real life we will not reach such levels, always moving at lower loads, therefore the temperature will be much more moderate.
The Noctua NH-L9x65 SE-AM4 has been developed, without any doubt, for low-profile configurations based on AMD Ryzen processors. Without a doubt, this is an excellent solution from Noctua, developed to offer great heat dissipation in mini-ITX or micro-ATX equipment, where the hardware is usually quite concentrated. The problem with compact equipment is the temperature, since everything is closer together, the air flow is usually reduced or it is difficult to travel, but in this case the Noctua solution will help us with this problem, since it is powerful and highly efficient.
