Noctua Announces New NH-L9a-AM4 and NH-L12S Low Profile CPU Coolers To Support Ryzen AM4 Socket

Noctua recently announced the new NH-L9a-AM4 and NH-L12S silent CPU coolers, successors to the award-winning NH-L9a and NH-L12 that is tailored for the AMD Ryzen CPUs. 

The new NH-L9a-AM4 is an AM4-specific revision of Noctua’s award-winning NH-L9a low-profile CPU cooler. At a height of only 37mm, the NH-L9a is ideal for extremely slim cases and, due to its small footprint, it provides 100% RAM and PCIe compatibility as well as easy access to near-socket connectors, even on tightly packed mini-ITX motherboards. The custom-designed SecuFirm2™ mounting system for the AM4 socket makes installation child’s play and, thanks to the highly optimised NF-A9x14 92mm fan that supports fully automatic speed control via PWM, the NH-L9a-AM4 runs remarkably quietly.

The new S-version of the renowned NH-L12 not only adds AM4 support but also gives more flexibility and improved performance in low-profile mode. Thanks to the new NF-A12x15 PWM slim 120mm fan, the NH-L12S provides even better cooling than the previous model with its 92mm fan. At the same time, the NH-L12S is highly versatile: with the fan installed on top of the fins, the cooler is compatible with RAM modules of up to 45mm in height. With the fan installed underneath the fins, the total height of the cooler is only 70mm, making it suitable for use in many compact cases. Topped off with a SecuFirm2™ multi-socket mounting system for Intel LGA115x (LGA1150, LGA1151, LGA1155, LGA1156), LGA20xx (LGA2066, LGA2011-0, LGA2011-3) and AMD (AM2, AM2+, AM3, AM3+, AM4, FM1, FM2, FM2+), the NH-L12S is ideal for both Intel and AMD-based HTPC or SFF builds.

“AMD has made a big impact on the market with its Ryzen architecture and the platform will become even more interesting for compact HTPC builds when the first Ryzen-based APUs are introduced next year,” says Roland Mossig (Noctua CEO). “We’re thus updating two of our award-winning low-profile models to support Ryzen’s AM4 socket.”

Prices and availability

The suggested retail prices are EUR 39.90 / USD 39.90 for the NH-L9a-AM4 and EUR 49.90 / USD 49.00 for the NH-L12S.

ASUS Republic of Gamers Announces Its Latest AMD AM4 Motherboards - Strix X370-F Gaming and Strix B350-F Gaming

Since its release back in April, AMD’s Ryzen platform has quickly established itself as a viable option, delivering exemplary performance for daily computing and gaming. ASUS was ready for the early unveil, releasing an array of motherboards for value-packed PCs to models geared for high-end rigs. However, pressing demand for Ryzen-based systems shows a need for more options in the middle of the ASUS product stack. So today, we’re bolstering our portfolio with two new AM4 motherboards aimed squarely at gamers who wish to utilize Ryzen performance in their next PC build. 

Based on the latest AMD X370 and B350 chipsets, the ATX-sized Strix X370-F and Strix B350-F include all the core ROG enhancements that make system setup a breeze,while offering performance that stands out from the crowd. To read more about these motherboards, please visit the link Here.

Availability & Pricing

The ROG Strix X370-F Gaming and ROG Strix B350-F Gaming is available now in Malaysia at the price of RM 999 and RM 697 respectively.

AMD's Latest "Zen" Offers 40% More Performance Over "Excavator"

At an event last night in San Francisco, AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) provided additional architectural details and a first look at the performance of its next-generation, high-performance “Zen” processor core. AMD demonstrated the “Zen” core achieving a 40% generational improvement in instructions per clock, delivering a landmark increase in processor performance. 

During the event, AMD demonstrated an 8-core, 16-thread “Summit Ridge” desktop processor (featuring AMD’s “Zen” core) outperforming a similarly configured 8-core, 16-thread Intel “Broadwell-E” processor when running the multi-threaded Blender rendering software with both CPUs set to the same clock speed. AMD also conducted the first public demonstration of its upcoming 32-core, 64-thread “Zen”-based server processor, codenamed “Naples,” in a dual processor server running the Windows® Server operating system.

“The performance and efficiency of our ‘Zen’ core showcase AMD at its best,” said Dr. Lisa Su, president and CEO of AMD. “Over the last four year we have made significant investments to develop a high-performance, multi-generation CPU roadmap that will power leadership products. Customer excitement for ‘Zen’ continues to grow as we make significant progress towards the launch of new products that will span from the datacenter to high-end PCs.” 

The “Zen” processor core features multiple architectural advances designed to increase the performance, throughput, and efficiency of AMD’s future products. “Zen” is based on a clean-sheet design and features a new cache hierarchy, improved branch prediction and simultaneous multithreading (SMT). These advances will allow the “Zen” core to scale to meet the needs of a broad range of applications, including fanless 2-in-1s, embedded systems, high-performance computing, and the data center. 

“An engineer may get one chance in their career to work on a project of this size and scope, and maybe never one with as much potential to impact the future as much as ‘Zen,’” said Mark Papermaster, senior vice president and chief technology officer at AMD. “With ‘Zen’ we aim to do what many never thought possible – deliver a 40 percent generational improvement in instructions per clock while maintaining power requirements in line with our previous generation technology.” 

“AMD invested where it counts, with an x86 core that can scale from PCs to high-performance servers,” said Linley Gwennap, principal analyst, Linley Group. “Consumers today expect to get the most out of their systems to create transformative experiences. The versatile design of ‘Zen’ delivers highly-efficient performance that should provide increased computing capabilities across the spectrum – from devices to cloud computing.”

Expected to launch first, the “Zen”-based “Summit Ridge” desktops will utilize the AMD AM4 socket, a new unified socket infrastructure that is compatible with 7th Generation AMD A-Series desktop processors – previously codenamed “Bristol Ridge” – for exceptional performance and connectivity scalability required by AMD partners and customers. The first desktop systems featuring 7th Generation AMD A-Series processors and new AM4 sockets are scheduled to ship in the second half of 2016 in OEM PC designs. 

With dedicated PCIe® lanes for cutting-edge USB, graphics, data and other I/O, the AMD AM4 platform will not steal lanes from other devices and components. This allows users to enjoy systems with improved responsiveness and benefit from future-ready technologies that the AM4 platform provides with a powerful, scalable and reliable computing solution.

AMD AM4 platform key technology features include:

• DDR4 Memory 
• PCIe Gen 3 
• USB 3.1 Gen2 10Gbps 
• NVMe 
• SATA Express

Additional “Zen” architectural features will be detailed next week in a presentation at Hot Chips 28.