For sure, the Noctua NH-L9i delivers on its promises to offer a very efficient cooler for your HTPC, at least compared to Intel's stock cooler. Noctua suggests to get 65Watt TDP CPUs installed with the NH-L9i. We tested it with a 95Watt TDP CPU and still, we got almost double the performance compared to Intel's cooler. This performance also comes quietly even at full RPM. completing the overall great impression Noctua's cooler left us with.

Impressive to say the least from a 92x92mm cooler that stands only 37mm tall. As a low profile design, the NH-L9i will fit into a chassis that larger cooling cannot.

For $48 you get a high-quality cooling solution backed by a 6-year warranty. It may not be a cooler that everyone is going to rush out and have to buy one, since it has been made to fulfil the specific cooling needs of specific Intel-based small systems. Noctua has managed to bring silence, high quality, performance and simple installation into a shrunk, little package.

Pros:

+ Complete retail package
+ Includes thermal paste and noise reduction adapter
+ Great external design and aesthetics
+ Very low height even with the 92mm fan installed
+ Easy installation
+ Very good performance compared with Intel stock cooler
+ Low noise even when fan spin at full speed

Cons:

- Supports only a few Intel sockets
- Cannot be used with Intel CPUs with higher than 65watt TDP
- Price could be lower