![[H]ardOCP](/images/blank.gif){kind=small}
- Date:
- Tuesday , December 08, 2009
- Author:
- Marc Adams
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
Noctua NH-D14 CPU Cooler / Heatsink Review
Noctua's new CPU cooler works with about any Intel or AMD processor still in use by enthusiasts, and packs a lot of cooling power into a huge package. Two fans, two columns of cooling fins, and six heatpipes are engineered to give the computer hardware aficionado more cooling at less decibels.
Noctua NH-D14
As mentioned in the introduction, the NH-D14 is not your typical tower cooler. It is bigger and beefier. Whether or not this translates into better performance we’ll get to in a minute. The NH-D14 come with everything you’d expect from a top tier manufacturer like Noctua including high density array of fins, a ton of heat pipes and powerful yet quiet fans. Be sure to read over the specifications closely as this cooler is quite large and rather heavy. We had a bit of trouble with it ourselves which we describe further down the page.
Package & Specs
The packaging is your usual Noctua color scheme atop of a protective cardboard box. The only difference is once again, its massive size.
Dimensions: (L)130mm x (W)140mm x (H)160mm
Weight: 900g (w/o Fan), 1240g (w/2 Fans)
Material: Copper heat pipes & base with aluminum cooling fins
Heat Pipes: 6 - full length, 6mm heat pipes
Compatibility:
- LGA 1366
- LGA 1156
- LGA 775
Intel
- AM2
- AM2+
- AM3 (back plate required)
AMD
Fan: NF-P14
- Size: 140 x 25mm
- Speed:
- 1200 +/- 10%
- 900 +/- 10% with L.N.A.
- 750 +/- 10% with U.L.N.A.
- Noise Level:
- 19.6 dB(A)
- 13.2 dB(A) with L.N.A.
- 10.1 dB(A) with U.L.N.A.
- Max Air Flow:
- 64.9 C.F.M.
- 49.2 C.F.M. with L.N.A.
- 41.9 C.F.M. with U.L.N.A.
Fan: NF-P12
- Size: 120 x 25mm
- Speed:
- 1300 +/- 10%
- 1100 +/- 10% with L.N.A.
- 900 +/- 10% with U.L.N.A.
- Noise Level:
- 19.8 dB(A)
- 16.9 dB(A) with L.N.A.
- 12.6 dB(A) with U.L.N.A.
- Max Air Flow:
- 54.3 C.F.M.
- 46.2 C.F.M. with L.N.A.
- 37.3 C.F.M. with U.L.N.A.
Contents & Flatness
Noctua, as always, is good about including plenty of accessories to get the job done. In the case of the NH-D14, not only do they include rubber strips to minimize vibration they are also pre-installed. This is nice little touch to help you get up and running that much quicker.
The base of Noctua’s coolers comes from the factory with a textured base that makes it difficult to perform our flatness test. This texture helps to give the base slightly more surface area with which to transfer heat. It is important to note that in cases where the base has a textured finish you will usually see better performance with a more viscous thermal paste.
Photos
Some various angles of the NH-D14
Installation & Contact
Installing the NH-D14 is no easy feat and one that must be planned ahead of schedule. The mounting system Noctua uses is very solid and no more difficult to install than comparable kits from other companies. The difference here is the size of the cooler we are dealing with. In the case of our GIGABYTE board we could not orientate the cooler to fit without removing one stick of RAM. Very disappointing.
As you can see from the third photo our RAM is too tall to fit underneath the fins of the NH-D14. I pinged Noctua about the issue and they informed me that RAM under 44mm tall will work without issue. Click here for a complete FAQ regarding issues with the NH-D14.
In the fourth photo you can see we were able to install the cooler along with the RAM if we uninstalled the heat sink from the top of our DIMMs. This is not an ideal situation and one that frankly shouldn’t happen. Noctua has been in the game long enough to realize that if you are going to make a product geared for enthusiasts than you need to know what you’re dealing with. We were lucky that the heat sinks on our RAM are removable but I don’t think it excuses Noctua from not thinking this cooler through. There are sure to be many people out there who won’t be able to use this cooler due to size.
Let’s hope its size equates to its level of performance.
The cooler makes solid, even contact with our CPU. Mounting the cooler does take a bit of time but it feels very solid and our base confirms this.