The first two images in this section show views of the NH-L9i taken at different angles. This shows that the cooler is barely larger than the 92mm fan, which makes sense since the cooler is listed as being 95x95mm. In one plane this extra size is made up by the array of cooling fins, while in the other plane it is mostly made up of the extension of the heatpipe tubes.
The below left image shows one side of the cooler where we find the fan power connection. The fan is really well done, from the rubber padded corners for vibration isolation, to the sleeved cable, to the special blade design for optimal airflow / noise reduction. In the below right image we see a side view of the cooler to illustrate just how slim it is... 37mm tall overall and just 23mm if you remove the fan.
The bottom of the cooler is shown in the images below. On the left we see it as it arrived, with a protective film over the contact area. On the right we see it ready to be installed (with some thermal paste applied, of course). Just barely visible in these views are the heatpipes. There are two heatpipes provided to carry heat from the CPU contact area out to the edges of the cooler to dissipate the heat as effectively as possible.
The last set of images brings the NH-L9a back for a side-by-side comparison with the NH-L9i. In each of the two images below we have the NH-L9a to the left of the NH-L9i.
