Noctua NH-D14 for Intel LGA 1156, LGA1366, LGA775 and AMD AM2/AM2+/AM3 Sockets, 6 Dual Heatpipe with 140mm/120mm Dual SSO Bearing Fans, Quiet CPU Cooler – Retail
$ 76.99
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Noctua 6 Dual Heatpipe with 140mm/120mm Dual SSO Bearing Fans CPU Cooler NH-D14 – Retail
Oh my god…,
My PC, it’s noisy. Frankly, it’s too noisy. I mean, by most enthusiasts’ standards, it’s probably fairly quiet. But to me, any time I hear a whine or turbulence I get irritated. I’ve lived with this system for three years and was hesitant to do anything simply because my next upgrade would be a whole new CPU, motherboard, etc.
I was contemplating an upgrade and was fixated on Noctua’s compatibility page for motherboards given that this thing is so huge. Then it hit me — this thing fits both newer (AM3) and older (775) motherboards, and my EVGA board was on the compatibility list! Who needs to upgrade everything? I’m happy with my system and its performance.
This thing is huge. It’s colossal in every way. And you know what? It’s so very quiet! Good heavens!
Some numbers:
Running at lowest RPM, with my aged Q6600 overclocked to 3.4Ghz @ 1.5v, my CPU idles at 29-31C. Under load, it goes up maybe 10 degrees. This thing positively sucks the heat away. It’s absurd! Who needs water cooling!? Oh, and it’s so quiet. It really is bliss.
This is the state of the art in air cooling.
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|By far the best CPU cooler besides a custom watercooling kit,
This Noctua heatsink is unfortunately often overlooked, yet it deserves all the praise I can give it and then some.
Many PC builders these days are rushing to the enclosed, single piece liquid cooling setups like the H50 thinking that liquid cooling MUST be better than air cooling, but this is not the case. If you look at good standardized testbeds that take ambient air temperature into account and minimize all variables, this Noctua actually beats them by several degrees, and at a lower noise level.
The only way you can beat the temps of the Noctua is a multi-hundred dollar custom watercooling setup.
With mounting hardware for every current CPU socket, 2 top-of-the-line fans, and high quality thermal paste included, this is truly an all-in-one kit.
Pros:
-Best aircooler available
-Beats enclosed single piece liquid cooling systems like the H50 by a large margin in standardized review setups.
-Absolutely quiet, high quality ball-bearing fans
-Includes thermal paste that beats out AS5 in most tests I’ve seen
-Fits every modern CPU socket
-Outstanding packaging, instructions, 3pin splitter cable, “ultra quiet” adapters
Cons:
-Some motherboards/cases cannot use this due to size. Check their website for compatibility.
-Cost
-Kind of ugly colors on the fans
If you can fit it in your case and your budget, get this heatsink. You won’t be disappointed.
March 2012 Update: It’s been about 18 months since I installed my Noctua NH-D14 and I’m still completely satisfied. The fans have held up very well and show no signs of aging, and the cooler as a whole works as well as it did when it was brand new.
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|Amazing cooler,
Main system components:
Azza Solano 1000 Full Tower Case
ASUS P6X58D-E LGA 1366
Intel i7 950
Noctua NH-D14
Corsair XMS3 6gb 3 x 2gb
GTX 470
Installation was extremely easy, even a new system builder could manage with no problems.
I was concerned about ram compatibility so I ordered the XMS3 over the Dominator set, however this seems to depend on the placement of the cooler. I installed the cooler to exhaust out of the top of the case, and my Ram slots were completely free from obstruction.
Easily the biggest cooler I’ve ever used and for good reason. Idle the CPU stays under 30C, and under normal load and gaming rarely goes past 40-45C with an overclock of 4.03Ghz. I also used the thermal paste included with the cooler for the 950.
The fans are extremely quiet without using the included Low Noise adaptors.
Well worth the price. I can’t see how it can get better than this.
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